Ray Stevens (wrestler)
Encyclopedia
Carl Ray Stevens better known as Ray "The Crippler" Stevens or Ray "Blond Bomber" Stevens, was an American professional wrestler
. Stevens was a wrestling superstar since the early years of the television era until he retired during the early 1990s. His performances and hard bumping style inspired generations of heel
wrestlers who have attempted to emulate his ability to provide high quality and heat generating matches that continuously bring in huge crowds of fans. He was well known for using two different finishing moves in his many victories: the "Bombs Away" knee drop (a diving knee drop from the top rope to the throat) and the piledriver
. Stevens wrestled as both a singles performer and in tag team matches with a variety of partners. In 2006, he was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
.
Throughout most of his working years, Stevens was a villain. He has occasionally turned into a face
. His most famous finishing move was the "Bombs Away" knee drop
which involved Ray "the Blond Bomber" jumping off the top turnbuckle and landing with his knee on the throat of his opponent. Stevens's initial foray into main event wrestling involved his matches with one of the 1950s most colorful heels, Gorgeous George
. It was a result of his work with George, that Stevens became a main event star. At this stage of his career, Ray Stevens was 17 years old.
Stevens further developed his skills in tag team
matches. He initially went into a partnership with Don Fargo as Ray and Don Stevens. In addition, on August 6, 1959, Stevens teamed up with "Professor" Roy Shire as "brother" Ray Shire to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship
from Dick the Bruiser
and Angelo Poffo. The Shire Brothers were involved in many famous angles until Roy moved on to become promoter of wrestling programs in San Francisco's Cow Palace
. One angle, which took place in Indianapolis during 1959, involved a "match" between boxer Archie Moore
, a former World Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion, and the Shire Brothers. This match did not show Ray and Roy having any significant advantage over Moore. For one thing, the Shire Brothers were required to wear boxing gloves and follow the rules of boxing when they went against professional boxer Moore. Both Ray and Roy were "knocked out" in a matter of minutes. This match did not settle the argument as to who is the superior athlete, the professional boxer or the professional wrestler. A positive outcome of this "match" was the fans, who attended this event in large numbers, having the pleasure of seeing the long awaited comeuppance of the arrogant and rule-breaking Shire Brothers.
By the end of the 1950s, Ray Stevens was ready to move on to the next stage of his wrestling career, which took place in the city of San Francisco and throughout Northern California
.
on March 4, 1961, where he was involved in an angle with Pepper Gomez and captured the NWA United States Championship
nine times and the NWA World Tag Team Championship three times. During his first televised interview on the Bay Area's KTVU
Channel Two weekly Friday night wrestling show promoting his upcoming match at the Cow Palace, Stevens, speaking with a low pitched growl, shocked the fans when he said San Francisco was a terrible place to live. He also referred to those who watched the wrestling programs as "hillbillies" and "pencil neck geeks." The insults thrown at the inhabitants of San Francisco caused a bit of a stir at the time which helped to further enhance Stevens' box office draw.
One noteworthy characteristic of Ray Stevens was his flexible use of different cities being referred to as his birth place. His actual birth place was Point Pleasant, West Virginia
. He was, shortly afterward, raised in Columbus, Ohio
by his aunt during the years of the Great Depression
. Whenever he was introduced by a wrestling program announcer in San Francisco, his birth place was New York City
. After moving to the East Coast during the early 70s, his birth place became San Francisco. This was done to plant the idea in the minds of the fans that he was an outsider instead of one of them.
The matches between Pepper Gomez and Ray Stevens, during the early part of the 1960s, certainly set the tenor for the Blond Bomber's dominance as top heel in the Bay Area
during the entire decade. Gomez, at the time, had the reputation of having a "cast iron" stomach. He constantly challenged other wrestlers to jump on his stomach and try to get him to sell. Until the Blond Bomber came along, in May 1962, to pick up on this challenge, no wrestler was able succeed in causing more than just a little discomfort from jumping on his stomach. Gomez accepted a challenge from Ray Stevens to jump on his stomach off from a twelve feet ladder which was placed in the center of the ring. Stevens did so from the half way point on the ladder, but he did not succeed in getting Gomez to sell. Drawing from his seemingly inexhaustible arsenal of nefarious tactics, Stevens then went to the top of the ladder and, instead of jumping off feet first, he quickly switched to using his Bombs Away knee drop. The impact caused Gomez to spit blood and put him out of action for several weeks. After Gomez recovered from his "injury", he and Stevens had a bout at the Cow Palace which was attended by approximately 17,000 fans with many more turned away due to lack of space. This was the largest paying crowd to have attended any events at the Cow Palace, including a musical extravaganza which starred Elvis Presley
.
During 1962, the KTVU television station, in conjunction with its Friday night wrestling program, conducted a major survey which incorporated the opinions of wrestling fans in the Bay Area. The purpose of the survey was to determine which pro wrestler was considered to be the most popular and which one was the most hated. Unsurprisingly, Ray Stevens was selected as the most hated wrestler. However, many wrestling insiders were stunned to find that Stevens was also voted in as the most popular. This vote clearly shown the impact that Stevens had on the wrestling scene in San Francisco and its growing popularity among the fans.
Another match, which took place in 1963, between Gomez and Stevens led to an unexpected ending. After a heated exchange of blows, Gomez grabbed the rather hefty time keeper's bell and spun around to take aim at Stevens’s head. Gomez apparently misjudged the weight of the bell when hitting the Blond Bomber. Stevens quickly fell to the mat and laid prone. It took a short while before it was noticed that Stevens was seriously hurt. He was taken to the hospital unconscious. Fortunately, he did not incur brain damage and eventually recovered the next day. The San Francisco Examiner's columnist Jack Rosenbaum, headlining his story about the incident as "A Touch of Realism at the Cow Palace", compared Stevens to a fallen Greek warrior from ancient times. Gomez was fined $5,000 (which was a large sum of money during those times) by the California State Athletic Commission
for his part in this mishap. Since then, Stevens and Gomez had many bouts which were always well attended by the fans.
During his San Francisco years, Stevens took on and vanquished wrestlers of such caliber as Cowboy Bob Ellis, Karl Gotch, Pat O'Connor
, Pepper Gomez, Kinji Shibuya
, Bobo Brazil
, Bruno Sammartino
(through a count out), Pedro Morales
, Dr. Big Bill Miller
, Ernie "Big Cat" Ladd
, Jose Lothario
, and many others. More than any other move, the Bombs Away knee drop was the deciding factor in his victories.
In 1965, Stevens teamed up with Pat Patterson to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship. They were known as the "Blond Bombers
." Stevens and Patterson had two runs holding the NWA World Tag Team title and one run with the AWA World Tag Team Championship
. In 1969, after making a babyface turn, Stevens went against Patterson in a number of mat wars.
On July 15, 1967, Bruno Sammartino, WWWF World Heavyweight Champion
, put his title on the line against the Blond Bomber in San Francisco. After Stevens applied the Bombs Away, Sammartino was counted out and lost the match. It was later determined, however, that, according to the WWWF rules, a champion could not lose the title due to a count out. Thus, Bruno Sammartino was able to return to the East Coast with his title still intact.
Stevens was known for using risky acrobatic moves in his matches. An example of a crowd pleasing stunt, created by the Blond Bomber in 1965, was the Turnbuckle Flip. After being arm thrown into the far corner, Stevens would go into a half somersault landing with his back on the top turnbuckle and then do a blade job
on his forehead before falling to the cement floor. This bumping technique was replicated by a few wrestlers like Ric Flair
as part of their in-ring repertoire.
Over the years, Ray Stevens has been viewed by many wrestling insiders as the best worker during the 1960s. Stevens had the ability to make any opponent look good, no matter how badly they may perform in the ring. In addition, he has been able to demonstrably convince the fans, through his ring work and his equally great interview work, that he could methodically and completely destroy anyone regardless of how strong or how big they may be.
(AWA) in 1971, where he enjoyed success as a four-time AWA World Tag Team champion
(three with Nick Bockwinkel
, one with Pat Patterson). After that, he captured three NWA World Tag Team titles in Jim Crockett Promotions
. It was on January 20, 1972 when Stevens and Nick Bockwinkel first captured the AWA World Tag Team Championship from Crusher Lisowski
and Red Bastien
in Denver, Colorado
. The team was managed by Bobby Heenan
beginning in 1974.
While working with the AWA in 1972, Stevens had a television match with a masked wrestler known as Doctor X
(Dick Beyer) in which he applied the Bombs Away coup de grâce
to win the match while Doctor X's leg was tangled between two ring ropes. This resulted in the "breaking" of Doctor X's leg (which allowed Beyer to leave the area to work with a wrestling tour in Japan as "The Destroyer"
) and also led to the outlawing of the Bombs Away maneuver by the AWA. It was shortly after that match when Ray Stevens was no longer called the Blond Bomber and became known as "The Crippler."
In 1976, Stevens and Bockwinkel were still the team to beat, but friction was growing within the team. When Bobby Heenan was named the 1976 Manager of The Year by a pro wrestling magazine on a Christmas Day episode of AWA All-Star Wrestling, Bockwinkel attacked Stevens. This happened because the Crippler pushed Heenan, while Bockwinkel was trying to congratulate Bobby on being manager of the year. This led to the eventual break up of the team.
(WWF). In the WWF, he was managed by "Classy" Freddie Blassie. Stevens and Captain Lou Albano turned on Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka
(Albano was Snuka's manager) in 1982. This angle had the Crippler piledriving Snuka onto the concrete floor (before padding was introduced) two consecutive times. At this stage of his career, the mounting physical abuse after years on the road, with multiple injuries, difficulty in maintaining optimum conditioning, and his advancing age, along with promoters beginning to favor the use of steroid enhanced behemoths, had clearly began to take its toll.
in feuding with the babyface-turned Bockwinkel, only to turn face himself after Zbyszko turned on him. Stevens was doing color commentary for ESPN
's AWA Championship Wrestling during the AWA World Heavyweight title match between champion Bockwinkel and Curt Hennig
in San Francisco on May 2, 1987 when interference by Zbyszko (who handed a roll of coins to Hennig from ringside to use against Bockwinkel) led to Hennig winning the title from Bockwinkel. Stevens and Bockwinkel protested the outcome of the match to the AWA Championship Committee, which held up the championship immediately after the match, but the original match decision was upheld days later after the committee ruled that there was no evidence that Zbyszko had illegally aided Hennig. As a result, the championship was returned to the now heel-turned Hennig. Stemming from the events of that match, Stevens feuded briefly with Zbyszko before finishing out his career in 1992, after 42 years.
On May 20, 2006, Ray "The Crippler" Stevens was posthumously honored by being inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
at Amsterdam, New York. He was the first professional wrestler to be selected for induction into two separate categories: Tag team
(with Pat Patterson) and Modern Era (for his superlative work as a singles wrestler).
He appeared in the 1974 movie The Wrestler
and the 1978 Sylvester Stallone
movie Paradise Alley
.
In 1995, the mayors of San Francisco and Oakland
jointly proclaimed April 5 "Ray Stevens Day".
On May 3, 1996, Stevens died from a heart attack while sleeping at his home in Fremont, California
. He was survived by five children: Carl, Timothy and Laura from Fremont, Roy from Sacramento, California
, and Kelly from Las Vegas, Nevada
.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
. Stevens was a wrestling superstar since the early years of the television era until he retired during the early 1990s. His performances and hard bumping style inspired generations of heel
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
wrestlers who have attempted to emulate his ability to provide high quality and heat generating matches that continuously bring in huge crowds of fans. He was well known for using two different finishing moves in his many victories: the "Bombs Away" knee drop (a diving knee drop from the top rope to the throat) and the piledriver
Piledriver (professional wrestling)
A piledriver is a professional wrestling driver move in which the wrestler grabs his opponent, turns him upside-down, and drops into a sitting or kneeling position, driving the opponent head-first into the mat. The most common piledrivers are the basic belly-to-back, or Texas piledriver, and the...
. Stevens wrestled as both a singles performer and in tag team matches with a variety of partners. In 2006, he was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is an American professional wrestling hall of fame and museum located in Amsterdam, New York. It was previously located in Schenectady, New York...
.
Early career
Stevens began his four decade-long career in 1950 at the age of 15. One of Stevens's mentors was the "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, a former NWA World Heavyweight Champion. When commenting on the ability of his long time friend, Rogers consistently said "Ray was one of the most talented and graceful wrestlers I've ever watched and been a part of. He won titles at the youngest age of any wrestler I've ever known and was a credit to the game" (Page 3 of Whatever Happened To...?, Issue Number Twenty One, May 1996).Throughout most of his working years, Stevens was a villain. He has occasionally turned into a face
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...
. His most famous finishing move was the "Bombs Away" knee drop
Professional wrestling aerial techniques
Aerial techniques are maneuvers, using the ring and its posts and ropes as aids, used in professional wrestling to show off the speed and agility of a wrestler. These moves are mainly done by smaller, quicker wrestlers who are unable to do most of the power moves. There is a wide variety of aerial...
which involved Ray "the Blond Bomber" jumping off the top turnbuckle and landing with his knee on the throat of his opponent. Stevens's initial foray into main event wrestling involved his matches with one of the 1950s most colorful heels, Gorgeous George
George Wagner
George Raymond Wagner was an American professional wrestler best known by his ring name Gorgeous George...
. It was a result of his work with George, that Stevens became a main event star. At this stage of his career, Ray Stevens was 17 years old.
Stevens further developed his skills in tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...
matches. He initially went into a partnership with Don Fargo as Ray and Don Stevens. In addition, on August 6, 1959, Stevens teamed up with "Professor" Roy Shire as "brother" Ray Shire to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship
NWA World Tag Team Championship
The National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Championship is the professional wrestling world tag team championship within the NWA framework.-History:...
from Dick the Bruiser
William Afflis
William Fritz Afflis , best known as Dick the Bruiser, was an American football player and professional wrestler.-Early life:...
and Angelo Poffo. The Shire Brothers were involved in many famous angles until Roy moved on to become promoter of wrestling programs in San Francisco's Cow Palace
Cow Palace
Cow Palace is an indoor arena, in Daly City, California, situated on the city's border with neighboring San Francisco, notable as a sporting arena.-History:...
. One angle, which took place in Indianapolis during 1959, involved a "match" between boxer Archie Moore
Archie Moore
Archie Moore, born Archibald Lee Wright , was light heavyweight world boxing champion who had one of the longest professional careers in the history of that sport....
, a former World Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion, and the Shire Brothers. This match did not show Ray and Roy having any significant advantage over Moore. For one thing, the Shire Brothers were required to wear boxing gloves and follow the rules of boxing when they went against professional boxer Moore. Both Ray and Roy were "knocked out" in a matter of minutes. This match did not settle the argument as to who is the superior athlete, the professional boxer or the professional wrestler. A positive outcome of this "match" was the fans, who attended this event in large numbers, having the pleasure of seeing the long awaited comeuppance of the arrogant and rule-breaking Shire Brothers.
By the end of the 1950s, Ray Stevens was ready to move on to the next stage of his wrestling career, which took place in the city of San Francisco and throughout Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
.
The San Francisco years
Stevens, reverting to his real name, started out in San Francisco, CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
on March 4, 1961, where he was involved in an angle with Pepper Gomez and captured the NWA United States Championship
NWA San Francisco United States Championship
The NWA San Francisco United States Championship was a version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship that was defended in San Francisco, California. The title, which originated as the American Wrestling Alliance United States Championship and was renamed in 1968, existed from 1960 until...
nine times and the NWA World Tag Team Championship three times. During his first televised interview on the Bay Area's KTVU
KTVU
KTVU, virtual channel 2 , is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the San Francisco Bay Area. Licensed to Oakland, California, the station has been owned by Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises since 1964, making it the largest Fox affiliate by market size that is not owned and operated by the...
Channel Two weekly Friday night wrestling show promoting his upcoming match at the Cow Palace, Stevens, speaking with a low pitched growl, shocked the fans when he said San Francisco was a terrible place to live. He also referred to those who watched the wrestling programs as "hillbillies" and "pencil neck geeks." The insults thrown at the inhabitants of San Francisco caused a bit of a stir at the time which helped to further enhance Stevens' box office draw.
One noteworthy characteristic of Ray Stevens was his flexible use of different cities being referred to as his birth place. His actual birth place was Point Pleasant, West Virginia
Point Pleasant, West Virginia
Point Pleasant is a city in Mason County, West Virginia, United States, at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha rivers. The population was 4,637 at the 2000 census...
. He was, shortly afterward, raised in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
by his aunt during the years of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. Whenever he was introduced by a wrestling program announcer in San Francisco, his birth place was New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. After moving to the East Coast during the early 70s, his birth place became San Francisco. This was done to plant the idea in the minds of the fans that he was an outsider instead of one of them.
The matches between Pepper Gomez and Ray Stevens, during the early part of the 1960s, certainly set the tenor for the Blond Bomber's dominance as top heel in the Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
during the entire decade. Gomez, at the time, had the reputation of having a "cast iron" stomach. He constantly challenged other wrestlers to jump on his stomach and try to get him to sell. Until the Blond Bomber came along, in May 1962, to pick up on this challenge, no wrestler was able succeed in causing more than just a little discomfort from jumping on his stomach. Gomez accepted a challenge from Ray Stevens to jump on his stomach off from a twelve feet ladder which was placed in the center of the ring. Stevens did so from the half way point on the ladder, but he did not succeed in getting Gomez to sell. Drawing from his seemingly inexhaustible arsenal of nefarious tactics, Stevens then went to the top of the ladder and, instead of jumping off feet first, he quickly switched to using his Bombs Away knee drop. The impact caused Gomez to spit blood and put him out of action for several weeks. After Gomez recovered from his "injury", he and Stevens had a bout at the Cow Palace which was attended by approximately 17,000 fans with many more turned away due to lack of space. This was the largest paying crowd to have attended any events at the Cow Palace, including a musical extravaganza which starred Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
.
During 1962, the KTVU television station, in conjunction with its Friday night wrestling program, conducted a major survey which incorporated the opinions of wrestling fans in the Bay Area. The purpose of the survey was to determine which pro wrestler was considered to be the most popular and which one was the most hated. Unsurprisingly, Ray Stevens was selected as the most hated wrestler. However, many wrestling insiders were stunned to find that Stevens was also voted in as the most popular. This vote clearly shown the impact that Stevens had on the wrestling scene in San Francisco and its growing popularity among the fans.
Another match, which took place in 1963, between Gomez and Stevens led to an unexpected ending. After a heated exchange of blows, Gomez grabbed the rather hefty time keeper's bell and spun around to take aim at Stevens’s head. Gomez apparently misjudged the weight of the bell when hitting the Blond Bomber. Stevens quickly fell to the mat and laid prone. It took a short while before it was noticed that Stevens was seriously hurt. He was taken to the hospital unconscious. Fortunately, he did not incur brain damage and eventually recovered the next day. The San Francisco Examiner's columnist Jack Rosenbaum, headlining his story about the incident as "A Touch of Realism at the Cow Palace", compared Stevens to a fallen Greek warrior from ancient times. Gomez was fined $5,000 (which was a large sum of money during those times) by the California State Athletic Commission
California State Athletic Commission
The California State Athletic Commission regulates professional boxing, professional and amateur kickboxing and professional mixed martial arts throughout the State by licensing all participants and supervising the events....
for his part in this mishap. Since then, Stevens and Gomez had many bouts which were always well attended by the fans.
During his San Francisco years, Stevens took on and vanquished wrestlers of such caliber as Cowboy Bob Ellis, Karl Gotch, Pat O'Connor
Pat O'Connor (wrestler)
Patrick John "Pat" O'Connor , was a professional wrestler from New Zealand. O'Connor was regarded as one of the premier workers of his era...
, Pepper Gomez, Kinji Shibuya
Kinji Shibuya
Kinji Shibuya was an American professional wrestler and actor.-Professional wrestling career:In 1952, promoter Al Karasick suggested Shibuya try professional wrestling. He was originally given a villainous gimmick of a Japanese bad guy after World War II. He wrestled in the United States and...
, Bobo Brazil
Bobo Brazil
Houston Harris was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Bobo Brazil. He is credited with breaking down barriers of racial segregation in professional wrestling...
, Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino is an Italian-American former professional wrestler, best known for being the longest-running champion of the World Wide Wrestling Federation , holding the title across two reigns for over 11 years in total, as well as the longest single WWE Championship reign...
(through a count out), Pedro Morales
Pedro Morales
Pedro Morales is a retired Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He began his wrestling career as a teenager in 1959 and continued through to the late 1980s...
, Dr. Big Bill Miller
Bill Miller (wrestler)
William M. Miller , better known as Dr. Bill Miller or Mr. M, was a former professional wrestler. He is a one time American Wrestling Association World champion and also wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance, the World Wrestling Association in Indianapolis and the World Wide Wrestling...
, Ernie "Big Cat" Ladd
Ernie Ladd
Ernest "Ernie" Ladd , nicknamed "The Big Cat" was an American collegiate and professional football player and a professional wrestler.-Pro Football career:...
, Jose Lothario
Jose Lothario
Guadalupe Robledo is an American professional wrestler, best known by the ring name of Jose Lothario.-Career:Lothario competed in the National Wrestling Alliance for most of his career...
, and many others. More than any other move, the Bombs Away knee drop was the deciding factor in his victories.
In 1965, Stevens teamed up with Pat Patterson to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship. They were known as the "Blond Bombers
Blond Bombers
The Blond Bombers is a name used by several tag teams in professional wrestling. The first team to use the name was the combination of Rip Hawk and Swede Hanson. It was later used by Pat Patterson and Ray Stevens, who began teaming in 1965...
." Stevens and Patterson had two runs holding the NWA World Tag Team title and one run with the AWA World Tag Team Championship
AWA World Tag Team Championship
The American Wrestling Association World Tag Team Championship was professional wrestling world tag team championship in the American Wrestling Association from 1960 until the promotion folded in 1991.-History :...
. In 1969, after making a babyface turn, Stevens went against Patterson in a number of mat wars.
On July 15, 1967, Bruno Sammartino, WWWF World Heavyweight Champion
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
, put his title on the line against the Blond Bomber in San Francisco. After Stevens applied the Bombs Away, Sammartino was counted out and lost the match. It was later determined, however, that, according to the WWWF rules, a champion could not lose the title due to a count out. Thus, Bruno Sammartino was able to return to the East Coast with his title still intact.
Stevens was known for using risky acrobatic moves in his matches. An example of a crowd pleasing stunt, created by the Blond Bomber in 1965, was the Turnbuckle Flip. After being arm thrown into the far corner, Stevens would go into a half somersault landing with his back on the top turnbuckle and then do a blade job
Blading (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, blading is the practice of intentionally cutting oneself to provoke bleeding. It is also known as juicing, gigging, or drawing color. Similarly, a blade is an object used for blading, and a bladejob is a specific act of blading...
on his forehead before falling to the cement floor. This bumping technique was replicated by a few wrestlers like Ric Flair
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well-known professional wrestlers in the world....
as part of their in-ring repertoire.
Over the years, Ray Stevens has been viewed by many wrestling insiders as the best worker during the 1960s. Stevens had the ability to make any opponent look good, no matter how badly they may perform in the ring. In addition, he has been able to demonstrably convince the fans, through his ring work and his equally great interview work, that he could methodically and completely destroy anyone regardless of how strong or how big they may be.
American Wrestling Association and National Wrestling Alliance
He then moved on to the American Wrestling AssociationAmerican Wrestling Association
The American Wrestling Association was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 to 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo...
(AWA) in 1971, where he enjoyed success as a four-time AWA World Tag Team champion
AWA World Tag Team Championship
The American Wrestling Association World Tag Team Championship was professional wrestling world tag team championship in the American Wrestling Association from 1960 until the promotion folded in 1991.-History :...
(three with Nick Bockwinkel
Nick Bockwinkel
Nicholas Warren Francis "Nick" Bockwinkel is a retired American professional wrestler. He mainly competed in the American Wrestling Association in the United States...
, one with Pat Patterson). After that, he captured three NWA World Tag Team titles in Jim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions was a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. until the late 1980s. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was the forerunner to World Championship Wrestling .-Early history:...
. It was on January 20, 1972 when Stevens and Nick Bockwinkel first captured the AWA World Tag Team Championship from Crusher Lisowski
Reginald Lisowski
Reginald Lisowski was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, The Crusher ....
and Red Bastien
Red Bastien
Rolland Bastein is a former professional wrestler, better known as Red Bastien.-Professional wrestling career:He took part in football and swimming in high school and broke in on Midwest carnivals, fighting local toughs and learning wrestling the hard way. Turning professional, he began in...
in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
. The team was managed by Bobby Heenan
Bobby Heenan
Raymond Louis "Ray" Heenan , better known as Bobby "The Brain" Heenan , is a former American professional wrestling manager and color commentator, best known for his time with the American Wrestling Association , World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation...
beginning in 1974.
While working with the AWA in 1972, Stevens had a television match with a masked wrestler known as Doctor X
Dick Beyer
Dick Beyer is a retired professional wrestler who is best known by his ring names, The Destroyer or Doctor X.-Early life:...
(Dick Beyer) in which he applied the Bombs Away coup de grâce
Coup de grâce
The expression coup de grâce means a death blow intended to end the suffering of a wounded creature. The phrase can refer to the killing of civilians or soldiers, friends or enemies, with or without the consent of the sufferer...
to win the match while Doctor X's leg was tangled between two ring ropes. This resulted in the "breaking" of Doctor X's leg (which allowed Beyer to leave the area to work with a wrestling tour in Japan as "The Destroyer"
Dick Beyer
Dick Beyer is a retired professional wrestler who is best known by his ring names, The Destroyer or Doctor X.-Early life:...
) and also led to the outlawing of the Bombs Away maneuver by the AWA. It was shortly after that match when Ray Stevens was no longer called the Blond Bomber and became known as "The Crippler."
In 1976, Stevens and Bockwinkel were still the team to beat, but friction was growing within the team. When Bobby Heenan was named the 1976 Manager of The Year by a pro wrestling magazine on a Christmas Day episode of AWA All-Star Wrestling, Bockwinkel attacked Stevens. This happened because the Crippler pushed Heenan, while Bockwinkel was trying to congratulate Bobby on being manager of the year. This led to the eventual break up of the team.
World Wrestling Federation
From there, he moved to the World Wrestling FederationWorld Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
(WWF). In the WWF, he was managed by "Classy" Freddie Blassie. Stevens and Captain Lou Albano turned on Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka
Jimmy Snuka
James William "Jimmy" Reiher is a semi-retired Fijian professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Originally from the Fiji Islands, Snuka wrestled for several promotions in the 1970s and 1980s. Snuka is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having been a...
(Albano was Snuka's manager) in 1982. This angle had the Crippler piledriving Snuka onto the concrete floor (before padding was introduced) two consecutive times. At this stage of his career, the mounting physical abuse after years on the road, with multiple injuries, difficulty in maintaining optimum conditioning, and his advancing age, along with promoters beginning to favor the use of steroid enhanced behemoths, had clearly began to take its toll.
Late career
After leaving the WWF, Stevens returned to the AWA, where he joined forces with Larry ZbyszkoLarry Zbyszko
Lawrence "Larry" Whistler is a professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Larry Zbyszko. Zbyszko is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino during the early 1980s....
in feuding with the babyface-turned Bockwinkel, only to turn face himself after Zbyszko turned on him. Stevens was doing color commentary for ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
's AWA Championship Wrestling during the AWA World Heavyweight title match between champion Bockwinkel and Curt Hennig
Curt Hennig
Curtis Michael "Curt" Hennig , also known by the ring name Mr. Perfect, was an American professional wrestler, manager and color commentator who worked for, among other promotions, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , the American Wrestling Association , World Championship Wrestling and the World...
in San Francisco on May 2, 1987 when interference by Zbyszko (who handed a roll of coins to Hennig from ringside to use against Bockwinkel) led to Hennig winning the title from Bockwinkel. Stevens and Bockwinkel protested the outcome of the match to the AWA Championship Committee, which held up the championship immediately after the match, but the original match decision was upheld days later after the committee ruled that there was no evidence that Zbyszko had illegally aided Hennig. As a result, the championship was returned to the now heel-turned Hennig. Stemming from the events of that match, Stevens feuded briefly with Zbyszko before finishing out his career in 1992, after 42 years.
On May 20, 2006, Ray "The Crippler" Stevens was posthumously honored by being inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is an American professional wrestling hall of fame and museum located in Amsterdam, New York. It was previously located in Schenectady, New York...
at Amsterdam, New York. He was the first professional wrestler to be selected for induction into two separate categories: Tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...
(with Pat Patterson) and Modern Era (for his superlative work as a singles wrestler).
Personal life
In 1952, Stevens was married to woman wrestler Theresa Theis, who also did some work as Stevens's trainer and helped to hone his skills as a professional wrestler during the initial stage of his career. They were divorced in 1972.He appeared in the 1974 movie The Wrestler
The Wrestler (1974 film)
The Wrestler is a 1974 independent film produced by professional wrestler Verne Gagne and starring Ed Asner as "Frank Bass", a wrestling promoter....
and the 1978 Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
movie Paradise Alley
Paradise Alley
Paradise Alley is a 1978 film about three brothers in Hell's Kitchen, New York City in the 1940s who become involved in professional wrestling. It was written and directed by Sylvester Stallone, and was given the green light by Universal Pictures after Stallone's success with 1976's Rocky...
.
In 1995, the mayors of San Francisco and Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
jointly proclaimed April 5 "Ray Stevens Day".
On May 3, 1996, Stevens died from a heart attack while sleeping at his home in Fremont, California
Fremont, California
Fremont is a city in Alameda County, California. It was incorporated on January 23, 1956, from the merger of five smaller communities: Centerville, Niles, Irvington, Mission San Jose, and Warm Springs...
. He was survived by five children: Carl, Timothy and Laura from Fremont, Roy from Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
, and Kelly from Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Diving knee drop
- Signature moves
- Atomic drop
- Piledriver
- NicknameNicknameA nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
s- "The Blond Bomber"
- "The Crippler"
Championships and accomplishments
- American Wrestling Alliance
- AWA United States Heavyweight ChampionshipNWA San Francisco United States ChampionshipThe NWA San Francisco United States Championship was a version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship that was defended in San Francisco, California. The title, which originated as the American Wrestling Alliance United States Championship and was renamed in 1968, existed from 1960 until...
(7 times)
- AWA United States Heavyweight Championship
- American Wrestling AssociationAmerican Wrestling AssociationThe American Wrestling Association was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 to 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo...
- AWA World Tag Team ChampionshipAWA World Tag Team ChampionshipThe American Wrestling Association World Tag Team Championship was professional wrestling world tag team championship in the American Wrestling Association from 1960 until the promotion folded in 1991.-History :...
(4 times) - with Nick BockwinkelNick BockwinkelNicholas Warren Francis "Nick" Bockwinkel is a retired American professional wrestler. He mainly competed in the American Wrestling Association in the United States...
(3) and Pat Patterson (1)
- AWA World Tag Team Championship
- Cauliflower Alley ClubCauliflower Alley ClubThe Cauliflower Alley Club is a non-profit fraternal organization, which includes a newsletter and website, comprising both retired and active professional wrestlers and boxers in North America....
- Other honoree (1995)
- Championship Wrestling from Florida
- NWA Florida Tag Team ChampionshipNWA Florida Tag Team ChampionshipThe NWA Florida Tag Team Championship is the primary tag team title in Pro Wrestling Fusion. It started out in 1968 as the main tag team title in Championship Wrestling from Florida and lasted until 1990 when it was abandoned. It was picked back up in 1997 by NWA Florida, where it was the primary...
(2 times) - with Nick Bockwinkel (1) and Mike Graham (1) - NWA Florida Television ChampionshipNWA Florida Television ChampionshipThe NWA Florida Television Championship was a secondary title in Championship Wrestling from Florida. It existed from 1970 until 1987.-Title history:The NWA Florida Television Championship was a secondary title in Championship Wrestling from Florida...
(2 times)
- NWA Florida Tag Team Championship
- Mid-Atlantic Championship WrestlingJim Crockett PromotionsJim Crockett Promotions was a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. until the late 1980s. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was the forerunner to World Championship Wrestling .-Early history:...
- NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight ChampionshipNWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight ChampionshipThe NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship contested for in Jim Crockett Promotions , a territory-promotion governed by the National Wrestling Alliance . The title was only contestable by male individual wrestlers...
(1 time) - NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (3 times) - with Greg ValentineGreg ValentineJohn Wisniski, Jr. is an American professional wrestler, better known as Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He is the son of wrestler Johnny Valentine.-Training:...
(1), Jimmy SnukaJimmy SnukaJames William "Jimmy" Reiher is a semi-retired Fijian professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Originally from the Fiji Islands, Snuka wrestled for several promotions in the 1970s and 1980s. Snuka is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having been a...
(1), and Ivan Koloff (1)
- NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship
- Midwest Wrestling AssociationNational Wrestling AllianceThe National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
- MWA American Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Don Stevens
- MWA Ohio Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Don Stevens (1) and Ed FrancisEd FrancisEd Francis was a professional wrestler and wrestling promoter in Hawaii in the 1960s. Many wrestlers who came through Hawaii in the '60s and '70s were bound to come across the name Ed Francis...
(1) - MWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Mid-Pacific PromotionsNational Wrestling AllianceThe National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
- NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Hawaii version)NWA Hawaii United States ChampionshipThe NWA Pacific International Heavyweight Championship was the primary singles championship of Mid-Pacific Promotions, the NWA territory based in Hawaii. The title was originally the Hawaiian version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship that was defended in Hawaii. It existed from 1962...
(1 time)
- NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Hawaii version)
- NWA Mid-AmericaNational Wrestling AllianceThe National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
- NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight ChampionshipNWA Southern Junior Heavyweight ChampionshipThe NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling title for lighter wrestlers, board-controlled by the National Wrestling Alliance since December 1999....
(3 times)
- NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Championship
- NWA San FranciscoNational Wrestling AllianceThe National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
- NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco version)NWA San Francisco United States ChampionshipThe NWA San Francisco United States Championship was a version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship that was defended in San Francisco, California. The title, which originated as the American Wrestling Alliance United States Championship and was renamed in 1968, existed from 1960 until...
(2 times) - NWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version) (3 timesNWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version)The San Francisco, California version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship existed from 1950 until 1961, and then from 1968 until 1979.-Title history:...
) - with Pepper Gomez (1), Peter MaiviaPeter MaiviaFanene Leifi Pita Maivia was a American Samoan professional wrestler better known as "High Chief" Peter Maivia. He was head of the famous Samoan wrestling family...
(1), and Moondog Mayne (1)
- NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco version)
- NWA Western States SportsNational Wrestling AllianceThe National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
- NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Amarillo version)NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Amarillo version)The Amarillo version of the NWA Brass Knuckles Championship was a secondary championship that was defended in Dory Funk, Sr.'s NWA Western States Sports promotion based in Amarillo, Texas. Originally created in August 1964, the title was used briefly before being abandoned. It was reactivated three...
(3 times)
- NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Amarillo version)
- Professional Wrestling Hall of FameProfessional Wrestling Hall of FameThe Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum is an American professional wrestling hall of fame and museum located in Amsterdam, New York. It was previously located in Schenectady, New York...
- Class of 2006
- Inducted under Modern Era and under Tag Team as a member of The Blond Bombers.
- Class of 2006
- Pro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...
- PWI Tag Team of the Year (1973) with Nick Bockwinkel
- PWI Tag Team of the Year (1980) with Jimmy Snuka
- World Championship Wrestling (Australia)
- IWA World Heavyweight ChampionshipIWA World Heavyweight Championship (WCW Australia)The IWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the Australian World Championship Wrestling promotion from its founding in 1964 until 1971....
(2 times) - IWA World Tag Team ChampionshipIWA World Tag Team Championship (WCW Australia)The IWA World Tag Team Championship was the top tag team professional wrestling title in the Australian World Championship Wrestling promotion from 1966 through 1971....
(1 time) - with Art Nelson
- IWA World Heavyweight Championship
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of FameWrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of FameThe Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling hall of fame that recognizes people who make significant contributions to the sport. It was founded in 1996 by Dave Meltzer, editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame is not...
(Class of 1996)
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame