Buddy Rogers - Definition and Overview

Buddy Rogers (real name Herman Rohde) (1921 - June 26, 1992) was an early professional wrestling legend from the 1950s and 1960s. He was the first champion of the WWWF, later WWF and now WWE. He was known as the "Nature Boy", and was known for his arrogant character and his Figure-Four Leglock.

In the late 1970s, he feuded with Ric Flair. In the blowoff match of the feud, Flair defeated Rogers by using the figure-four, "winning" rights to use the "Nature Boy" gimmick. The result was generally accepted by fans as Rogers "passing the torch" to the younger Flair. Rogers continued to wrestle semi-regularly until his death.