This website is dedicated to Terry Taylor, one of the greatest athletes ever in the world of professional wrestling.
Real name: Paul W. Taylor, III
Birthdate: August 12, 1955 (Leos are SPECIAL people!)
Terry Taylor's "theme song" was......Freeze Frame (by the J. Geils Band)! :-)
The first time I ever saw Terry in action was back in the early 80s through Mid-South Wrestling. I was immediately impressed with his style. IMO, his athletic ability out shown any others in the area. I could never say enough about how I feel towards this man!! He was most definitely the best athlete Mid-South had to offer. IMO, not only did he make a name for himself, he made a name for Mid-South :-) What a shining star! Granted Mid-South was around before TT came on the scene, but the stars were just not as bright *grin* Sorry Ted DiBiase, Paul & Terry Orndorff, Junk Yard Dog, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, Steve Williams, Terry Allen, The Freebirds, The Midnight Express, and yes, even The Rock & Roll Express (my very favorite tag team from MS -- I love ya, Robert & Ricky, but.....TT won hands down *grin*)!
I refer to the Mid-South/UWF era as "The Glory Days" and how I miss them! Everything about those days was great. "Cowboy" Bill Watts, Grizzly Smith, Jim Ross, Randy Anderson, Carl Fergie, Reeser Bowden, and Boyd Pierce ruled!
Memories.......
In the fall of '85, Terry left our area for a short time to join the NWA. His fans were extremely happy to have him return to our area again!!! Not only was he a top face in the MS/UWF, I heard tell that he was also a top booker!
Terry visited World Class Wrestling for a time between UWF and WWF during which time he held the Texas Heavyweight Title from February 26, 1988 to his departure, as well as the tag team title with Iceman Parsons. I heard rumors that he ended up feuding with Kevin VonErich. I would have loved to have seen this! Dang! We didn't get the program over here :-((((( Kevin was awarded the title after Terry left that federation -- on July 4.
Terry went on to the WWF from there where he teamed up with Bobby Heenan and became "The Red Rooster" *grin* and was winning match after match. He seemed unstoppable :-) Despite the cocky attitude and his villainous style, I still loved him. Okay, I admit it -- the gimmick was not all that great (not nearly as bad as some I've witnessed); but, overlook the gimmick and take a real hard look at the athlete. WOW!!!! What a SUPERB technical wrestler! I do not remember him as "The Red Rooster" (even though he was cuter than sin!!), I remember the athlete behind the character, Terry Taylor :-) It really breaks my heart when someone bad mouths this beyond excellent athlete because of that gimmick. It was just a gimmick for goodness' sake! :-) Like it or not, **the gimmick worked** and drew tons of heat! People remember Terry Taylor :-)
In my eyes, no other single wrestler was greater. Watching Terry's greatest maneuver (the "five-arm", aka the forearm) was such a thrill. He is the master!!! I look back on my videos of so many of his matches and now I know why he suffers with terrible knees :-( Terry Taylor was a man of MANY moves from the famous five arm to sunset flips to suplexes to clothes lines to drop kicks to reverse atomic drops to the flying chicken wing and the cock of the walk (which, by the way, is now Sting's famous "Scorpion Death Lock" and Brett Hart's "Sharp Shooter"!!!!) to name a few; and when he was in the ring, there was never a dull moment. Quite the master of many great moves! More times than not, you never knew what he was going to do to his opponent next. Watching him move was always a huge high for me.
Yes, most definitely, Terry Taylor's ring skills were the best of anyone else! He was also excellent on the microphone; and let me not forget how good looking he is! :-) Oh, what a great "six pack" he had!!! :-) This man had it all! Second to his athletic abilities, he exhibited first rate CLASS!!!! :-)
After he left Heenan's clutches (what a great show that was when Terry turned on that moron -- Heenan plays such a great one, too, even today *grin*) and donned the red rooster comb on his head, I loved him even more :-) Once again, the gimmick was not so great, but the wrestler was better than ever before! I've read where some people claim Bobby Heenan made Terry do this, but my vintage videos prove otherwise. Terry didn't don the red comb till after he came down on Heenan and left the stable.
Terry blew a knee out in Summer Slam and needed arthroscopic surgery while in WWF but came back fighting hard :-)
The feud between Terry and Steve Lombardi (The Brooklyn Brawler) was a classic!
Terry went to the NWA/WCW upon leaving there, and I was really glad to see him back in this area of the country :-) Since I didn't have much choice in tv viewing, I chose NWA/WCW over WWF as it wasn't so much "show"; and they seemed to book more scientific wrestlers and not put on as much as WWF did :-(
Terry continued to shine ever so brightly and was soon ranked in the top 10, winning one match after another. His feud with Arn Anderson for the World Television Title was a classic...going the time limit with Arn Anderson several times, once Anderson pile drove Taylor AFTER the bell. Interference by Butch Reed and Company prevented Taylor from beating Anderson in a following match up for the title (Taylor won by DQ).
No matter where Terry Taylor was utilizing his skills in the ring, he was always a HUGE fan favorite. Thousands upon thousands of fans were always shouting his praises throughout his career -- yes, even as "The Red Rooster"! What an excellent athlete!!!!!!
Sometimes life isn't always fair! People get busy and move on, leaving their passions by the wayside on occasion. I did eventually grow extremely tired of the "show" and just gave up on wrestling totally. I regret it now since I missed so much of what happened to my favorite single wrestler :-( I never saw "Terrence Taylor" of the York Foundation (where he tagged with greats Tommy Rich and Ricky Morton), "The Taylor Made Man", or "Dr. Feel Good". Did I miss anything?? :-( I would have loved to see Terry in a mask!!! *g*
I think Terry Taylor is probably the most under-rated single wrestler ever; and I think it's sad that there aren't any websites dedicated to him. I found mention here and there but nothing really specific (as of 5-98).
I feel lucky to have seen him for so many years in person. I had lots of personal photos (one where he looks directly at me and sticks his tongue out when I said "Smile, Terry". I guess he wasn't in the mood to smile that night! (That was the first and ONLY time I ever approached him, too!!!!!) and others outside of the ring, like when the center was evacuated due to a bomb threat and he stood around talking to fans and drinking a Diet Dr. Pepper); and I treasured them :-) I also had photos I purchased from before I started following him (one was without blond hair -- hmmmm.....I love that blond hair!!!!).
I just treasure the superior athlete he is and wanted to create a small tribute to him.
Here are the titles he has held (There may be more but this is all I have found; and as far as I know, he never held a title in WWF or WCW. Special thanks go out to those who provided this information!!!!) -- most definitely a TRUE CHAMPION:
NWA
NATIONAL TELEVISION CHAMP
August, 22, 1980,
Atlanta, GA
NWA WORLD
JUNIOR HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP
June 7, 1981, Roanoke,
VA
SOUTHERN
HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP
November 29, 1982,
Memphis, TN
SOUTHERN
HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP
February 14, 1983,
Memphis, TN
MIDSOUTH
TELEVISION CHAMP
June 16, 1984, New Orleans,
LA
AWA
INTERNATIONAL HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP
December 30, 1984,
Memphis, TN
MID-SOUTH
TELEVISION CHAMP
January 2, 1985,
Shreveport, LA
(Vacant on 3/13/85 when
Taylor wins North American Heavyweight Title)
MID-SOUTH
NORTH AMERICAN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP
March 13, 1985, Shreveport, LA
AWA
INTERNATIONAL HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP
July 15, 1985, Memphis,
TN
NWA
NATIONAL HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP
September 9, 1985, Atlanta, GA
UNIVERSAL
TELEVISION CHAMP
May 25, 1986, Tulsa,
OK
UNIVERSAL
TAG TEAM CHAMP
With Jim Duggan, December
27, 1986, Ft. Worth, TX
(Vacant on 1/23/87 after Duggan loses
"loser-leaves-UWF" match to One Man Gang)
UNIVERSAL
TAG TEAM CHAMP
With Chris Adams, February 2,
1987, Ft. Worth, TX
(Defeated Sting & Rick Steiner in
tournament final)
UNIVERSAL
TELEVISION CHAMP
September 2, 1987, Lafayette,
LA
TEXAS
HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP
February 26, 1988, Dallas, TX
(Title vacant 7-4-88 following Taylor's departure from WC.)
WORLD
CLASS TAG TEAM CHAMP
With Iceman Parsons, 1988
NWA US TAG
TEAM CHAMP
With Greg Valentine, February
17, 1992, Rock Hill, SC
BCW CAN-AM
TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP
With Cyrus, October 10,
2001, Oldcastle, ON, CANADA
UPDATES/COMMENTS: (Last updated 04-12-09)
INTERVIEWS/ARTICLES: (Last updated 04-21-05)
PHOTOS: (Updated 04/28/05) (Please note: Someone stole a bunch of my photos, and I found them 1-10-05 @ http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/gallery/terrytaylor.html. Many of these photos have been on my site for four years, and I don't appreciate the pirating at all. Many thanks to Obsessed With Wrestling for removing them and for the link!)
LINKS: (Updated 04/24/04)
WHO AM I?: (Updated 03/06/09)
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This site was created May 23, 1998. Last updated April 12, 2009!
DISCLAIMERS: This is NOT an "official Terry
Taylor site,"
but it was the first dedication site on the net :-)
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