Ronald Herd
Encyclopedia
Ronald Heard is a former American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional wrestler
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...

, best known under the name
Ring name
A ring name is a stage name used by a professional wrestler, martial artist, or boxer. While some ring names may have a fictitious first name and surname, others may simply be a nickname, such as The Undertaker.-Wrestling:...

 Ron Bass. His gimmick was a Texan cowboy who entered World Wrestling Federation
World 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) rings to the sound of a bullwhip
Bullwhip
A bullwhip is a single-tailed whip, usually made of braided leather, which was originally used as a tool for working with livestock.Bullwhips are pastoral tools, traditionally used to control livestock in open country...

.

Career

Heard started wrestling as Ron Bass in 1975. Throughout the 1970s, he performed primarily in National Wrestling Alliance
National Wrestling Alliance
The 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...

 territories. He was known as "Cowboy" Ron Bass, Sam Oliver Bass, and "Outlaw" Ron Bass, depending on which territory he was working at the time.

In the early 1980s, he wrestled in Florida Championship Wrestling and 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:...

, frequently teaming with Black Bart
Rick Harris
Rick Harris is a former professional wrestler better known by his ring name , Black Bart. He is the son of the late George "Two Ton" Harris.-Career:Rick Harris started wrestling in 1975...

 as The Long Riders in both promotions. He also teamed and feuded with Barry Windham
Barry Windham
Barry Clinton Windham is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and the son of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan. He is best known for his appearances with the National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling ....

 in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. Bass' feud with Barry Windham (over a saddle given to Bass by Dusty Rhodes
Dusty Rhodes (wrestler)
Virgil Riley Runnels, Jr. , better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler currently working for WWE...

) led to Windham losing a "loser-leaves-town" match to Bass and coming back to wrestle as the masked "Dirty Yellow Dog."

World Wrestling Federation

In 1987, Bass (using the "Outlaw" name) went to the World Wrestling Federation
World 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), where he voiced challenges to the likes of WWF 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...

 Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan
Terrance Gene "Terry" Bollea , better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Semi-retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....

 and Brutus Beefcake
Edward Leslie
Edward Harrison "Ed" Leslie is an American professional wrestler, best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Brutus The Barber Beefcake. He later worked for World Championship Wrestling under a variety of names, mainly as "The Disciple" of real-life best friend...

. It appeared that a feud was in the works for Bass against Blackjack Mulligan
Blackjack Mulligan
Robert Jack Windham , better known by his ring name Blackjack Mulligan is a former professional wrestler and a former American football player...

 who had just returned to WWF but the plug was pulled on the feud once Mulligan got angry with the WWF office and left to go back to the Florida wrestling promotion. At that point Bass quickly settled into a role in the midcard position, wrestling against Hillbilly Jim, Lanny Poffo and Sam Houston on many house show events. Later on he was part of the five-man team captained by The Honky Tonk Man
The Honky Tonk Man
Roy Wayne Farris , better known by his ring name The Honky Tonk Man, is an American professional wrestler. A 1975 graduate from University of Memphis with a B.S. degree in Education. Coached high school football 2 seasons at Munford High School in Munford, Tennessee...

 at the inaugural Survivor Series
Survivor Series (1987)
Survivor Series was the first Survivor Series pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1987 and was held at the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, Ohio....

 pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...

 on Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...

 1987 (he was eliminated by Beefcake). He also participated in the very first Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble (1988)
Royal Rumble was the first annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on January 24, 1988 at the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario...

 and the 20-man battle royal at WrestleMania IV
WrestleMania IV
WrestleMania IV was the fourth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on March 27, 1988 at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey....

. He was eliminated at the latter event by the Junkyard Dog
Junkyard Dog
Sylvester Ritter was an American professional wrestler and professional football player, best known for his work in Mid-South Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as The Junkyard Dog...

; a feud between the two began in the months after WrestleMania after Bass choked and dragged the Dog with his bullwhip
Bullwhip
A bullwhip is a single-tailed whip, usually made of braided leather, which was originally used as a tool for working with livestock.Bullwhips are pastoral tools, traditionally used to control livestock in open country...

, "Miss Betsy," in a sneak attack on Wrestling Challenge
WWF Wrestling Challenge
WWF Challenge is a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It was syndicated weekly and aired from 1986 to 1996. The show premiered as WWF Wrestling Challenge and became simply known as WWF Challenge in 1995. The show featured matches, pre-match...

. Was one of the rare heels during this time to not have a manager.

At the 1988 King of the Ring
King of the Ring
King of the Ring is a professional wrestling single-elimination tournament held by WWE. The tournament was held annually from 1985 to 2002, with the exception of 1990 and 1992, and from 1993 to 2002 the tournament was produced as a pay-per-view event....

 tournament, Bass qualified for the final after beating a young Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels
Michael Shawn Hickenbottom , better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American television host and retired professional wrestler. He presents the Outdoor Channel show MacMillan River Adventures, and is currently signed to WWE, where he has served in an ambassadorial role since December...

 but was paid by Ted DiBiase to fake an injury. Bass began his most notable WWF feud with Beefcake in August 1988, gouging Beefcake's head open with his spurs ("Bret" and "Bart") on an episode of Superstars of Wrestling
WWF Superstars of Wrestling
WWF Superstars of Wrestling is a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It debuted on September 6, 1986...

; the attack caused Beefcake to miss his scheduled Intercontinental championship
WWE Intercontinental Championship
The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is the original secondary title of the promotion. Currently, it is the secondary championship exclusive to the SmackDown brand...

 match against the Honky Tonk Man at the first SummerSlam
SummerSlam (1988)
SummerSlam was the first annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event. It was produced by the World Wrestling Federation and took place on August 29, 1988 in Madison Square Garden, located in New York, New York. The pay-per-view was created to help the company compete against rival...

 event on August 29. Bass and Honky co-captained a five-man contingent against a team captained by Beefcake and the Ultimate Warrior
Warrior (wrestler)
Also see Warrior .Warrior is an American retired professional wrestler who notably performed under the ring names The Ultimate Warrior and Warrior...

 at the second Survivor Series
Survivor Series (1988)
Survivor Series was the second annual Survivor Series pay-per-view professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation...

 in November. Bass and teammate Greg Valentine
Greg Valentine
John Wisniski, Jr. is an American professional wrestler, better known as Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He is the son of wrestler Johnny Valentine.-Training:...

 were eliminated by Warrior in succession in the final minute of the match. On the January 7, 1989 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, Bass lost to Beefcake via sleeperhold in a hair vs. hair match. He competed in the 1989 Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble (1989)
Royal Rumble was the second annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation , and the first one to be held on pay-per-view. It took place on January 15, 1989 at The Summit in Houston, Texas....

 (sans hair), left the WWF shortly thereafter, and wrestled in the independents before retiring in 1991.

Retirement

He eventually retired due to the injuries sustained over his career. He returned to Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....

, where he golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....

ed, became religious, and earned his bachelor's degree from Arkansas State University
Arkansas State University
Arkansas State University is a public university and is the flagship campus of the Arkansas State University System, the state's second largest college system and third largest university by enrollment. It is located atop on Crowley's Ridge at Jonesboro, Arkansas, USA...

. Subsequently, he worked in sales in Florida's construction market. He also became a successful Amway
Amway
Amway is a direct selling company and manufacturer that uses network marketing to sell a variety of products, primarily in the health, beauty, and home care markets. Amway was founded in 1959 by Jay Van Andel and Richard DeVos...

 salesman in the Tampa area.

In 2005, Bass made an appearance at WrestleReunion
WrestleReunion
WrestleReunion is the premier professional wrestling and fan convention, founded by Sal Corrente in 2005.-WrestleReunion 1:...

 on January 29 and teamed with Larry Zbyszko
Larry 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....

 to defeat Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda
Mike Rotunda
Lawrence Michael "Mike" Rotunda is a former American professional wrestler, perhaps best known under the name Irwin R. Schyster or I.R.S. for short. He is currently signed with WWE working as a road agent and making occasional appearances on WWE shows as Irwin R...

.

He has one son.

In 2007 WWE released the Outlaw Ron Bass action figure as part of its classics collection.

In 2009 the Outlaw Ron Bass wrestled on some independent wrestling shows.

In wrestling

  • Finishing maneuvers
    • Inverted suplex slam
    • Running powerslam
    • Skull vice
    • Texas Gourdbuster (Kneeling push down facebuster)

  • Managers
    Manager (professional wrestling)
    In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...

    • James J. Dillon
      James J. Dillon
      James J. "J.J." Dillon is a retired American professional wrestler and manager.He is best known for being the strategic leader of the original Four Horsemen that consisted of Nature Boy Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, Arn and Ole Anderson. He is most remembered as a manager in pro wrestling...

    • Oliver Humperdink
      Oliver Humperdink
      John Sutton , better known by his ring name Oliver Humperdink, was a professional wrestling manager who worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, Florida Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation.-Career:...


Championships and accomplishments

  • All Japan Pro Wrestling
    All Japan Pro Wrestling
    is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established in 1972. All Japan Pro Wrestling still remains one of the most popular puroresu promotions still in operation.-The Giant Baba Era :...

  • NWA International Tag Team Championship
    NWA International Tag Team Championship
    The NWA International Tag Team Championship was a National Wrestling Alliance-sanctioned title contested for in All Japan Pro Wrestling . Prior to being used in AJPW, the title was defended in the Japan Wrestling Association . The title lasted from 1962 through 1988...

     (1 time) - with Stan Hansen
    Stan Hansen
    John Stanley Hansen, Jr. is an American former professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Stan Hansen. As a wrestler, Hansen was well known for his stiff wrestling style, which he attributes to poor eyesight, as he is nearly blind without glasses...


  • Central States Wrestling
    Heart of America Sports Attractions
    Heart of America Sports Attractions, also known as the Midwest Wrestling Association, Central States Wrestling and the World Wrestling Alliance, was an American professional wrestling promotion that ran shows mainly in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa...

  • NWA Central States Tag Team Championship
    NWA Central States Tag Team Championship
    The NWA Central States Tag Team Championship was the primary tag team championship for the Heart of America Sports Attractions / Central States Wrestling promotion from 1979 until the promotion ceased to exist in 1988...

     (1 time) - with Ken Mantell

  • Championship Wrestling from Florida
  • NWA Florida Bahamian Championship
    NWA Florida Bahamian Championship
    The NWA Florida Bahamian Championship was a minor title that existed in Championship Wrestling from Florida from 1982 until 1987. It is also known as the NWA Bahamas Championship.-Title history:-See also:*National Wrestling Alliance...

     (1 time)
  • NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship
    NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship
    The NWA Florida Global Tag Team Championship was a minor tag team title in Florida Championship Wrestling from 1982 until fall 1983, when it was replaced by the NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship.-Title history:-See also:...

     (1 time) - with Barry Windham
    Barry Windham
    Barry Clinton Windham is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and the son of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan. He is best known for his appearances with the National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling ....

  • NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship
    NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship
    The NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship was a major title in Championship Wrestling from Florida, USA and is now the major title in NWA Florida. It started in 1937 and was abandoned in 1949. It was picked back up in 1966 by CWF and lasted until 1987 when the company was purchased by Jim Crockett...

     (2 times)
  • NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version) (2 times)
  • NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Florida version) (4 times) - with Black Bart (3), and One Man Gang
    George Gray (wrestler)
    George Gray is an American professional wrestler best known as One Man Gang and Akeem "the African Dream".-Early years:...

     (1)

  • Georgia Championship Wrestling
    Georgia Championship Wrestling
    Georgia Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion whose self-titled TV program aired in the 1970s and 1980s on Atlanta, U.S., superstation WTBS. Though based in Atlanta, the company also ran live wrestling shows throughout its geographic "territory" of Georgia Georgia...

  • NWA National Heavyweight Championship
    NWA National Heavyweight Championship
    The original version NWA National Heavyweight Championship was the major singles title in the NWA-affiliated Georgia Championship Wrestling from 1980 until 1986...

     (1 time)

  • Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling - Southeastern Championship Wrestling
    Continental Championship Wrestling
    Continental Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based out of Knoxville, Tennessee from 1974 until 1988 and Dothan, Alabama from 1978 to 1990, managed by Ron Fuller. When Fuller sold the promotion to David Woods, it changed name to the Continental Wrestling Federation...

  • NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Don Bass (1) and Dutch Bass (1)
  • NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship (Northern Division) (1 time)
  • NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Randy Rose
    Randy Rose
    "Ravishing" Randy Rose is a professional wrestler.-Career:Randy Rose competed in 1981 in Alabama's Southeast Championship Wrestling and formed The Midnight Express with Dennis Condrey and Norvell Austin. They dominated the tag team scene there until Condrey signed with Mid-South Wrestling in 1984...

  • NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship
    NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship
    The NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship was a secondary tag team title promoted as the name indeicates mainly in the Tennessee region from 1967 until 1977, first by Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling from 1967 to 1974 then by its successor Southeast Championship Wrestling from 1974 to 1977 when it...

     (2 times) - with Don Bass

  • Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling / 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:...

  • NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Mid-Atlantic version)
    NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Mid-Atlantic version)
    The Mid-Atlantic version of the NWA Brass Knuckles Championship was a short-lived championship that was defended sporadically and periodically in Jim Crockett, Jr.'s Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. Created in 1978, the title was used in specialty matches in which the combatants would wear...

     (1 time)
  • NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship
    NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship
    The 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 Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship
    NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship
    The NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship is the tag team title currently defended in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Mid-Atlantic territory. The championship was originally created in the summer of 1968 and was originally named the NWA Atlantic Coast Tag Team Championship...

     (1 time) - with Black Bart
    Rick Harris
    Rick Harris is a former professional wrestler better known by his ring name , Black Bart. He is the son of the late George "Two Ton" Harris.-Career:Rick Harris started wrestling in 1975...

  • NWA Television Championship
    WCW World Television Championship
    The World Championship Wrestling World Television Championship was a professional wrestling championship in World Championship Wrestling....

     (1 time)

  • NWA Hollywood Wrestling
    National Wrestling Alliance
    The 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 Americas Tag Team Championship
    NWA Americas Tag Team Championship
    The NWA Americas Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Hollywood Wrestling based out of Los Angeles, California....

     (3 times) - with Dr. Hiro Ota (1), Moondog Lonnie Mayne
    Lonnie Mayne
    Ronald Doyle "Lonnie" Mayne was an American professional wrestler in the 1960s and 1970s who frequently went by the name Moondog Mayne. Mayne wrestled in various NWA territories as well as the WWWF...

     (1), and Roddy Piper
    Roddy Piper
    Roderick George Toombs , better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler and film actor who is currently signed to WWE. In professional wrestling, he is best known for his work with WWE...

     (1)

  • NWA Mid-America - Continental Wrestling Association
    Continental Wrestling Association
    The Continental Wrestling Association was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually referred to as Mid-Southern Wrestling...

  • AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship
    AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship
    The Memphis Wrestling Southern Heavyweight Championship is a major professional wrestling title in the Memphis Wrestling promotion. The title is part of a long lineage that is best known while the title was named the AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship for Continental Wrestling Association during...

     (2 times)
  • AWA Southern Tag Team Championship
    AWA Southern Tag Team Championship
    The AWA Southern Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the Tennessee area from the 1940s through the late 1980s. It was originally named the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship from its inception through 1977, when it was renamed the AWA Southern...

     (1 time) - with Stan Lane
    Stan Lane
    Wallace Stanfield "Stan" Lane is an American professional wrestler, trained by Ric Flair, who started wrestling in 1974 in Championship Wrestling from Florida. For a brief time in Florida, he was nicknamed Nature Boy...

  • NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship
    NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship
    The NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling title defended in the US states of Tennessee and Alabama.The title began in 1957 and lasted first 1980 when it was first abandoned when Jerry Jarrett took over the Mid-American titles from Nick Gulas...

     (1 time)

  • NWA Tri-State
  • NWA Arkansas Heavyweight Championship
    NWA Arkansas Heavyweight Championship
    The NWA Arkansas Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its Arkansas territory.-Title history:Silver areas in the history indicate periods of unknown lineage....

     (1 time)

  • Pacific Northwest Wrestling
    Pacific Northwest Wrestling
    Pacific Northwest Wrestling is the common name used to refer to several different professional wrestling companies, both past and present, based in Portland, Oregon, United States. The first such company was founded by Herb Owen in 1925...

  • NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship
    NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship
    The NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S...

     (1 time)
  • NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship
    NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship
    The NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S...

     (2 times) - with John Anson (1) and Moondog Mayne
    Lonnie Mayne
    Ronald Doyle "Lonnie" Mayne was an American professional wrestler in the 1960s and 1970s who frequently went by the name Moondog Mayne. Mayne wrestled in various NWA territories as well as the WWWF...

     (1)

  • Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    Pro 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 ranked him # 294 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.

External links

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