Who was the best bodyguard in wrestling history?

CM Steel

A REAL American
As far back as we all can remember wrestler's had their own personal bodyguards to walk them to the ring and have them interfere in their matches. I love those days! But in your opinion, who was the best bodyguard in wrestling history? My choice would have to be...Diesel (Kevin Nash). If I was a wrestler and I had to choose who and what kind of bodyguard I wanted having my back. It would have to be a Diesel type of guy. He just matched well with Shawn Michaels. He really came in at a good time in the WWF/E and came to HBK's rescue. Since half of the WWF/E locker room couldn't stand Shawn Michaels at the time and wanted to beat the fuck out of HBK. So Diesel's my answer.

My least would have to be Jackson Andrews being the bodyguard for Tyson Kidd. He sucked and was an ass in real-life.

But what's your answer? Who was the best bodyguard in wrestling history??
 
Diesel for the reasons noted. Also made most memorable by the fact he went on to be a six-time world champion, and the longest-reigning WWF champ of the 90s.
 
Diesel was a good one, but Virgil he was not. You can't think of The Million Dollar Man without thinking Virgil. Always there to do Dibiase's bidding with that scowl on his face and the hand full of money. I don't even think he said a word until he broke away, but he added that little extra to make The Million Dollar Man hated that much more. Diesel was probably the most successful in the ring, but the best pure bodyguard to me was Virgil.
 
Wasn't Mr. Hughes a bodyguard? I'd go with him, he always had that mean mug on his face and wrestled IN HIS SUIT!. Committed to his job.

I'm glad WWE's "Creative" didn't get their hands on him and make him some comedy bullshit.
 
Big Bubba Rogers aka Big Boss Man. He debuted in Jim Crockett Promotions as Jim Cornette's bodyguard. 6'6 300+ pounds, he has the right size. JCP went under before they could capitalize on his potential and WWE never used it correctly.

Honorable Mention: Hercules. He had the size and physique and was also one of Cornette's muscles.
 
Wasn't Mr. Hughes a bodyguard? I'd go with him, he always had that mean mug on his face and wrestled IN HIS SUIT!. Committed to his job.

I'm glad WWE's "Creative" didn't get their hands on him and make him some comedy bullshit.

Erm... they did... go back and look at 1993/94...

It depends what you're looking at... is it a bodyguard exclusively, a wrestler who was "acting" as a bodyguard or someone with the "gimmick" of the bodyguard.

Bob Orton Jr. is definitely up there, he had a great physical gimmick with the broken hand/cast but was big enough to make anyone think twice about messing with Piper. Classic "little/big man" combo that was kind of the prototype for Shawn and Diesel.

Was Diesel a better bodyguard for Shawn than Sid was? It's debatable because very quickly Diesel was his own competitor with the IC belt and then partners. The actual "bodyguard" part was quite short lived. He debuted in like April on TV and was IC champ by June. For the period he was, Sid WAS Shawn's bodyguard and was arguably more imposing in that you knew Shawn couldn't quite "control him".

Haku was always a very strong bodyguard for whoever he worked with, be it Heenan or later Parker or Kevin Sullivan, although he never expressly had "the role" till Meng in WCW.

Rick Rude would probably be my overall pick with DX. Here was a guy who looked the part with the suit, briefcase, was known for being a bad ass but also the definition of a bodyguard... ready to work for other clients... to be able to do so on 2 shows at the same time kinda wins it...

Honorable mentions for Virgil and Bigelow with Ted DiBiase and RoadDog... when he was with JJ for that inital stint he played it to perfection, again, as with Diesel he was able to turn it into more.
 
Big Daddy Cool Diesel was a great bodyguard. The greatest though was probably Chyna. Her being HHH's bodyguard was a nice twist and she never was afraid to get involved in the matches.
 
APA, they were bodyguards for hire. They were awesome, sitting back and playing cards and drinking beer, until some one hired them, and then to steal a phrase from the FF's thing, "it's Clobberin' Time".
 
I didn't count these cos they were wrestlers first... The "for hire" aspect translated mainly to having them wrestle for people, not as strict "bodyguards". Likewise, Chyna's stint as an actual bodyguard was very short cos Rude was actually working that role for the group, Chyna quickly became her own entity and wasn't officially the bodyguard for more than a few weeks before she began hacving matches herself.
 
I'm going to have to go with Test, the dude debuted as the bodyguard for Mötley Crüe. Bunch of championships, and the kicker... He almost married Steffie...
 
DIESEL, he head the look, intimidation factor and he ended up being probably the most successful once he left theta position than anyone else.
and to clarify, Rude doesn't count, he was an "insurance policy" not a bodyguard per se

and to clarify, Rude doesn't count, he was an "insurance policy" not a bodyguard per se
 
DIESEL, he head the look, intimidation factor and he ended up being probably the most successful once he left theta position than anyone else.
and to clarify, Rude doesn't count, he was an "insurance policy" not a bodyguard per se

and to clarify, Rude doesn't count, he was an "insurance policy" not a bodyguard per se

Semantics... what you call a bodyguard isn't the issue... it's about the role and Rude was playing it. Chyna had it for a couple of weeks before she started wrestling and became HHH's "squeeze", in effect she was a valet... just a very muscular one. While he was there Rude was the one not only interfering but keeping the "dregs" away from DX. Orton was never called a bodyguard but was... The Bashams were never called Bodyguards for JBL but were. Virgil was a manservant...
 
For my money, I thought Cowboy Bob Orton and Big Bubba Rogers played the role well, and probably had the most notoriety for being bodyguards. Orton's cast was a great gimmick, and Rogers just had a great look with the sunglasses and physicality in the ring. Both were also two of the only bodyguards that I remember who weren't also a pushover in the ring when it came time to fight against the babyfaces.
 
Diesel was a good one, but Virgil he was not. You can't think of The Million Dollar Man without thinking Virgil. Always there to do Dibiase's bidding with that scowl on his face and the hand full of money. I don't even think he said a word until he broke away, but he added that little extra to make The Million Dollar Man hated that much more. Diesel was probably the most successful in the ring, but the best pure bodyguard to me was Virgil.

I can see the point. If the purpose of a bodyguard is to keep trouble away from the person he's guarding, Virgil rates high up there. Of course, the problem is that he didn't necessarily beat up people on DiBiase's behalf; more often, Virgil kept Ted safe by taking the beating in his stead. Compared to Diesel, who gave out punishment to anyone who might attack HBK, Virgil functioned more as a human sacrifice......but still got the job done.

The dark horse in this question is Chyna. The uniqueness of having a female acting as bodyguard for a male puts her high up on the list.
 
Rufus, for obvious reasons.

Chris-Jericho-rufus.png


Seriously, this was Chris Jericho at his absolute best!
Was always a big fan of Diesel as well, but mostly after he broke away from Shawn.
 
Erm... they did... go back and look at 1993/94...

Was Diesel a better bodyguard for Shawn than Sid was? It's debatable because very quickly Diesel was his own competitor with the IC belt and then partners. The actual "bodyguard" part was quite short lived. He debuted in like April on TV and was IC champ by June. For the period he was, Sid WAS Shawn's bodyguard and was arguably more imposing in that you knew Shawn couldn't quite "control him".

I don't know where you got your timelines at for Diesel's and Sid's stints as Shawn's bodyguards but those are way off. Diesel debuted as Shawn's bodyguard in the Summer of 1993 (wanna say June ish), and didn't win the I-C title until April of 1994 on an episode of Superstars. Granted he was wrestling matches during the second half of 1993, but his main role was Shawn's bodyguard and sidekick. His coming out party so to speak was at the 94 Rumble when he started to become more of a prominent character on his own, but even until his I-C title he was still mainly Shawn's bodyguard. I would say after he won the I-C title that he became more known on his own rather than as Shawn's bodyguard. So he had a good 8-9 month stint as a "bodyguard."

Sid on the other hand didn't return as Shawn's bodyguard until after the 1995 Royal Rumble on the "Road to Wrestlemania." And then he turned on Shawn the night after Wrestlemania on Raw by attacking him. So Sid was Shawn's bodyguard for only like a month or two.

And as for your post on Chyna, that's debatable too. You can call her a "valet" all you want, but I think up until the start of D-X (where Rick Rude was indeed the bodyguard/insurance policy for the group) she was pretty much Triple H's bodyguard too. And she debuted at the February 97 In Your House event and D-X "officially" formed in October of 97 so that's a 8 month run as Triple H's bodyguard.


As for my pick, Diesel was the first one I thought of, and not just because he went on to have a really successful career on his own. He was a really memorable bodyguard character and really made Shawn stand out even more than he previously had.

The other choice I was thinking of was Big Bubba Rogers (Big Bossman). But there's been a lot of good choices picked.

In the end I'd go with Diesel, even if it's the most obvious answer.
 
Rufus, for obvious reasons.

Chris-Jericho-rufus.png


Seriously, this was Chris Jericho at his absolute best!
Was always a big fan of Diesel as well, but mostly after he broke away from Shawn.

His name was Ralphus! Get it right! LOL :)

That was such an awesome time for Jericho, probably my favorite of Jericho's work. He was such a great smarmy, whiny heel.

I think Sid has always been a great bodyguard. Plays a mercenary role very well.
 
i gotta go with ace cowboy bob orton, the chemistry was there between him and piper, diesel and sid were good, but better on their own imo. ace belonged with piper and wasnt the same after the split. a honorable mention goes to zeke when he was with the brian kendrick. they were entertaining and both seemed to flounder after the split
 
Chyna was also a bodyguard to other members of DX, The Outlaws and X-Pac, so her stint as a bodyguard was over a year. And she didn't start wrestling until 1999. I guess the only thing debatable is just her role during the original version of DX, but I would say both Rude & Chyna were bodyguards as she still accompanied HHH to the ring and Michaels on some occassions. Anyway, I'm not sure if I would crown Chyna as the best but she would most definitely be in my top 3. She was unique, she complimented the group very well, and made an impact in the company becoming the first woman to wrestle males, to enter a Royal Rumble match, and to win a male title.
 
When I think of someone playing the bodyguard gimmick in wrestling, I think of someone that looks like he's able to kick somebody's ass and is able to follow through if necessary. I also look at it, ideally, as a means of potentially elevating someone, giving them an opportunity to establish a presence with the audience in the arenas and on TV at home.

When it came to someone who generally looked the part the best, I mean in terms of someone who seemed to dress & behave like a "real bodyguard", was probably Rick Rude. It came about late in his career and while I found him infinitely more entertaining in his "Ravishing" days, he was still able to effectively sell himself as someone you didn't wanna screw with. He had the suit, he had the presence, the way he carried himself, the beard and that sense of seriousness & stoicism. Unfortunately, by the time this came along, Rude was in both the final period of his career and life.

Chyna would have to be considered one of the overall top ones. Even though Chyna was female, she was the kind of female that definitely stood out. During her very first appearance, when she was swinging Marlena around like a ragdoll, I thought it was a guy for a few minutes. She certainly had the physical build of a man and that square, masculine looking jawline reinforced the notion. It was unusual to see a woman in that role, plus it added a new element to the gimmick: what are you supposed to do when the bodyguard is a woman and you're raised in a society where physical violence towards women is vehemently looked down upon? She also had that sense of stoicism and seriousness about her much of the time. While HBK & Triple H were running around like a couple of frat boys on horse crank, she'd stand there with her arms crossed looking out over the crowd as if looking for trouble.

Diesel would probably have to be viewed as another of the best, at least in my view. He started out as the bodyguard but it grew from that into he & Shawn being buddies rather than "employer and employee." Diesel, AKA Kevin Nash, was in his mid 30s, legitimately close to 7'0", maybe a little over or right around the 300 lb. mark so he definitely had the look and intimidation factor going for him.
 
Chyna. I mean how much more intimidating does it get that a woman, bigger than Michaels, beating the crap out of Triple H's opponents. It was awesome. A woman who completely protected Triple H and muscled out everyone in her path. Stone cold seriousness. Jack-Hammer got it right in the beginning.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
174,851
Messages
3,300,884
Members
21,726
Latest member
chrisxenforo
Back
Top