Terry Taylor

:about|the pro wrestler|Terry Taylor, songwriter|Terry Scott Taylor:about|the pro wrestler|the football player|Terry Taylor (football player)Infobox Wrestler
name=Paul W. Taylor IIIcite web|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/t/terry-taylor.html|title=Terry Taylor Profile|accessdate=2008-09-22|publisher=Online World Of Wrestling]


names=Dr. Feelgood
The Red Rooster
Scary Terry Taylor
Terry Taylor
Terrance Taylor
Taylor Made Man

height=6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
weight=225 lb (102 kg)
birth_date = birth date and age|1955|8|12
death_date =
birth_place =Greenville, South Carolina
death_place=
resides=
billed=Vero Beach, Florida
trainer=Self Taught
debut=1979
retired=1995|

Terry Taylor (born Paul W. Taylor III on August 12 1955), is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his time in the National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, and the World Wrestling Federation. Taylor is currently the Director of Talent Relations in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Taylor is now in charge of CWA Pro Wrestling, an Independent Wrestling promotion based out of South Carolina. Fact|date=July 2008

Career

Early career

Terry Taylor was a popular fan favorite for much of his early career in the Mid-South region and other Southern professional wrestling territories in the 1980s. Taylor was originally selected to be part of The Fabulous Ones tag team with Stan Lane. Taylor was then bypassed by Florida wrestler, Steve Keirn, for the position. Taylor then formed a tag team with Bobby Fulton calld the Fantastic Ones before he and Fulton split up and Fulton teamed up with Tommy Rodgers to form the Fantastics.Taylor made his way to the Mid-South territory in January 1984 and feuded with the team of Nikolai Volkoff and Krusher Darsow. Darsow would change his name to Krusher Khrushchev and he and Taylor would meet in the finals of a tournament to crown the first ever Mid-South T.V. champion, a match that Khrushchev would win.

National Wrestling Alliance

He made his way to the NWA in 1985 and feuded with "Nature Boy" Buddy Landel over the NWA National Heavyweight Championship. Moving on to the Mid South Region in 1986, Taylor became one of that league's biggest stars and eventually defeated Freebird Buddy Roberts for the Mid South Television Championship in September. This title was represented by a gold medal hung around the neck. It was later replaced by a conventional championship belt after the medal was thrown into a river. Later that year, he defeated Ted DiBiase for the North American Heavyweight Championship, the Mid South region's top title at the time. He vacated the Television Title upon winning the NAHC. He also won the UWF Tag Team Championship with "Gentleman" Chris Adams in early 1987 before breaking up their "Dream Team" to begin a heated rivalry. After Jim Crockett Promotions took over the Universal Wrestling Federation (née Mid-South Wrestling) later that year, Taylor (then the UWF Television Champion) initiated a dispute with Nikita Koloff over the NWA World Television Championship by stealing Koloff's belt, which led to a unification match of the two titles at Starrcade 1987 which Taylor would lose before abruptly leaving the promotion.

World Class Championship Wrestling

In early-1988, Taylor debuted in World Class Championship Wrestling, where he and Adams continued their feud, which lasted until early-June. Taylor did win the Texas heavyweight championship from Matt Borne and defended the belt against Adams, Kevin Von Erich, and others. Terry also held the tag team titles with Iceman King Parsons for a short time. Taylor eventually departed WCCW when his feud with Von Erich was about to kick into high gear.

World Wrestling Federation

In 1988, Taylor signed with the World Wrestling Federation. Debuting as babyface Scary Terry Taylor, he tag teamed with Sam Houston against The Conquistadors in his television debut. The Conquistadors pinned Sam Houston in the match and afterwards Taylor got on the mic and berated Houston for losing the match, beating him down turning heel. Taylor got Bobby Heenan as his manager and Heenan renamed him "the Red Rooster", a gimmick which saw him don red tights and ring coat, and, later, style his hair like a rooster's comb after turning babyface. Early in his Red Rooster stint, the heel Taylor was portrayed as a novice wrestler who could not navigate his way through matches without constant instructions from Bobby Heenan. Eventually, Taylor (who was actually a very talented wrestler) grew tired of Heenan's constant coaching and turned against him, defeating Heenan in a thirty second squash match at WrestleMania V. Taylor became a face as a result, though he retained the Red Rooster gimmick, and even began referring to his fans as "Rooster Boosters." He remained in the WWF until 1990. Warren Mickle did a gimmick in the independent PHWF, just going by Rooster, donning sunglasses and a red rooster bodysuit. Taylor was also the original choice for the Mr. Perfect character, but turned down the offer and was replaced by Curt Henning.

World Championship Wrestling

Taylor received a lesser push in World Championship Wrestling in 1991, when he became Terrence Taylor of The York Foundation. He feuded with Dustin Rhodes and Bobby Eaton, and won the WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championships with Richard Morton and Thomas Rich. Taylor was the senior member of the York Foundation throughout its existence. After the York Foundation disbanded, Taylor formed a tag team with Greg Valentine in 1992 and held the WCW United States Tag Team Championship for three months.

World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling: Second stints

In September 1992, Taylor returned to the WWF as "Terrific Terry Taylor." He continued wrestling as a heel. The "Red Rooster" gimmick was not referred to and Taylor, a perennial solid hand in the ring, was used primarily as an enhancement talent. He later did interviews before leaving in August 1993. Taylor turned up in WCW again soon after, wrestling as a face. He was featured in mid-card feuds for about a year.

Announcing career

He left the business for a while before becoming an announcer for the American Wrestling Federation (AWF) in 1994. A fan of wrestling announcer Gordon Solie, Taylor would often use Solie's famous phrases, pronouncing a suplex as a "soo-play" and a clothesline as a "lariat".

Taylor returned to the WWF in 1998, doing interviews backstage. He lasted in this capacity for about a year, before leaving for WCW yet again.

During this stint in WCW, Taylor co-hosted "WCW Saturday Night" with Larry Zbyszko. He remained with the company until WWF bought it out in 2001, and left the business again for about a year.

Career as a road agent

Taylor later became a road agent for World Wrestling Entertainment after his wrestling career was cut short by injury. Before his injury, he was often a regional title holder and became a major contender for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship before leaving for WWE.

After leaving WWE due to friction with other employees, namely Johnny Ace Fact|date=March 2007, Taylor began working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2003. He is the current head of talent relations, and has worked as a road agent, trainer, and interviewer.

In wrestling

*Finishing and signature moves
**"Cock of the Walk" (Sharpshooter)
**"Five Arm" (Flying forearm smash)
**"Rooster Wing" (Lifting hammerlock)
**Gutwrench powerbomb
**Jawbreaker
**Neckbreaker
**Roll-through counter into a Boston crab
**Sunset flip

*Managers
**Bobby Heenan
**Alexandra York
**Eddie Gilbert
**Stevie Wonderful

*Nicknames
**Scary
**Terrible
**Terrific
**The Mecca of Manhood
**The Taylor Made Man
**The Computerized Man of the 1990s

Championships and accomplishments

*Border City Wrestling
**BCW Can-Am Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Cyrus [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/on/bcw/bcw-t.html BCW Can-Am Tag Team Title history] At wrestling-titles.com]

*Central States Wrestling
**NWA Central States Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Bob Brown [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/centralstates/nwa/cs-t.html NWA Central States Tag Team Title history] At wrestling-titles.com]
**NWA Central States Television Championship (1 time) [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/centralstates/nwa/cs-tv.html NWA Central States Television Title history] At wrestling-titles.com]

*Continental Wrestling Association
**AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (3 times) [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tn/cwa/awa-s-h.html NWA/AWA Southern Heavyweight Title history] At wrestling-titles.com]
**AWA Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Steve Keirn [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tn/cwa/awa-s-t.html NWA Mid-America/AWA Southern Tag Team Title history] At wrestling-titles.com]
**CWA International Heavyweight Championship (2 times) [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tn/cwa/cwa-int-h.html CWA International Heavyweight Title (Memphis) history] At wrestling-titles.com]
**NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship (1 time) [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tn/nwa/midam-h.html NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Title history] At wrestling-titles.com]

*Georgia Championship Wrestling
**NWA National Heavyweight Championship (1 time) [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/nwa/others/nat-h.html NWA National Heavyweight Title history] At wrestling-titles.com]
**NWA National Television Championship (1 time) [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ga/nwa/nat-tv.html NWA National Television Title history] At wrestling-titles.com] (First)

*Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling | World Championship Wrestling
**NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/nwa/world/nwa-j.html NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title history] At wrestling-titles.com]
**WCW United States Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Greg Valentine [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wcw/wcw-us-t.html NWA/WCW United States Tag Team Title history] At wrestling-titles.com]
**WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Richard Morton and Thomas Rich [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wcw/wcw-6.html WCW World 6-Man Tag Team Title history] At wrestling-titles.com] (Last)

*Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling¹
**NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Rick Steiner

*Mid-South Wrestling Association | Universal Wrestling Federation
**Mid-South North American Heavyweight Championship (1 time) [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/midsouth/mids-na-h.html North American Heavyweight Title (Mid-South) history] At wrestling-titles.com]
**Mid-South Television Championship (2 times) [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/midsouth/mswa/mswa-tv.html Mid-South Television Ttile history] At wrestling-titles.com]
**UWF World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Chris Adams (1) and Jim Duggan (1) [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/midsouth/uwf/uwf-t.html UWF World Tag Team Title (Mid-South) history] At wrestling-titles.com]
**UWF World Television Championship (2 times) [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/midsouth/uwf/uwf-tv.html UWF World Television Title (Mid-South) history] At wrestling-titles.com]

*NWA Music City Wrestling
**NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (1 time) [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/nwa/others/na-h.html NWA North American Heavyweight Title history] At wrestling-titles.com]

*Southeastern Championship Wrestling
**NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship "(Northern Division)" (1 time) [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/al/secw/se-h.html NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Title history] At wrestling-titles.com]
**NWA Southeastern Television Championship (1 time) [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/al/secw/se-tv.html NWA Southeastern Television Title history] At wrestling-titles.com]

*World Class Wrestling Association
**WCWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (1 time) [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tx/tx-h.html Texas Heavyweight Title history] At wrestling-titles.com]
**WCWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Iceman Parsons [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tx/wcwa/wcwa-t.html WCWA World Tag Team Title history] At wrestling-titles.com]

*Pro Wrestling Illustrated
**PWI Rookie of the Year (1980)
**PWI ranked him # 197 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.

*Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
**Most Underrated (1991, 1992)
**Worst Worked Match of the Year (1991) with Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. P.N. News and Bobby Eaton at The Great American Bash¹The Mid-Atlantic promotion in which Taylor and Steiner won the NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship is not the same promotion that was once owned by Jim Crcckett, Jr. and sold to Ted Turner in 1988. That promotion went on to be renamed World Championship Wrestling and was sold to World Wrestling Entertainment in 2001. This current promotion, however, operates within the same region as the original and uses some of the same regional championships, primarily the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight and Tag Team Championships. [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/midatlantic/nwa2/ N.W.A. Mid-Atlantic (after 1990s) ] ]

Personal life

On April 12 2004, Taylor had three vertebrae in his neck fused together. Two years later, on April 3 2006, Taylor underwent a three hour cervical fusion surgery in which his sixth and seventh vertebrae were joined. Following the second operation, Taylor announced his retirement from the ring.

Terry is a born-again Christian and has appeared on some of the wrestling and religion shows that Ted DiBiase produces.

Terry and his family can now be seen advertising Splenda on a late-night infomercial, entitled [https://www.splendajourney.com/page.jhtml?id=sweettea "A Sweet Taste for Glory"] .

References

External links

* [http://www.alanwojcik.com/id113.html An Interview with Terry Taylor, conducted by Alan Wojcik]
* [http://www.tnawrestling.com/fullnews.php?home=594 "TNA News Update: AMW, Traci, Taylor and more"]