For 20 years, Terry Taylor wore many different hats throughout his in-ring career. Whether he wrestled under his real name or was The Red Rooster, Taylor was a technician in the ring and was guaranteed to give his best effort whenever he stepped foot into the squared circle.
Taylor’s impact on the world of professional wrestling goes well beyond just inside the ring. For over two decades, Taylor has been influential behind-the-scenes. Taylor has been influential in WWE, WCW, and TNA. While he is known for jumping from promotion to promotion, Taylor has always played a hand in developing talent. Overall, there are many things wrestling fans should know about the legacy of Terry Taylor.
10 Fabulous Ones/Fantastics
Terry Taylor’s first major break in professional wrestling almost came in the 80s when he was slated to join the tag team the Fabulous Ones.
In the early 80s, Taylor was originally slated to join Stan Lane to form the Fabulous Ones. However, Taylor would be replaced by Steve Keirn, who would later be known as Skinner in WWE. While Taylor did not join the Fabulous Ones, he would go on to form the Fantastic Ones with Bobby Eaton. Later, he would form The Fantastics with Tommy Rogers.
9 Texas Heavyweight Champion
One of the biggest accomplishments of Taylor’s career was winning the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship during his time in World Class Championship Wrestling.
In 1988, Taylor defeated Matt Osbourne for the title. Osbourne would go on to be Doink the Clown in WWE. The Texas Heavyweight Championship has been in existence since the 1930s. The men who have held the title are a hall-of-fame list that includes names like Lou Thesz, Buddy Rogers, Verne Gagne, Peter Maivia, Rocky Johnson, and numerous members of the Von Erich family. Today, Chase Owens can be seen carrying the title in New Japan Pro Wrestling.
8 The Red Rooster
In 1988, Taylor joined the World Wrestling Federation. When being in the WWE, especially in the late 80s, you needed a unique character. As a result, Taylor became The Red Rooster.
When he first joined the WWE, Taylor was managed by heel manager Bobby “The Brain” Heenan. Taylor would eventually leave Heenan and would feud with his former manager. As a babyface, Taylor styled his hair like a rooster and would also strut around the ring like one as well.
7 First WWE Pay-Per-View
In his first WWE pay-per-view appearance, Taylor competed in the main event of the 1988 Survivor Series.
At the second survivor series event, the main event was a traditional 5 vs. 5 elimination match. The Red Rooster teamed with Ted Dibiase, Akeem, The Big Bossman, and Haku to battle Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Hercules, Koko B. Ware, and Hillybilly Jim. Unfortunately for Taylor, he was the first one eliminated from the match when he was pinned by Savage. The sole survivors of the match ended up being Hogan and Savage.
6 WrestleMania V
Taylor received the opportunity to complete on wrestling’s biggest stage when he performed at WrestleMania V in 1989.
At the fifth WrestleMania, Taylor competed in the second-to-last match on the card when he wrestled Bobby Heenan. Taylor took just 30 seconds to defeat his former manager. This victory would arguably be the biggest moment of The Red Rooster’s WWE run. WrestleMania V would be headlined by a WWF Championship match between Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage.
5 SummerSlam 1989
The Red Rooster had another singles match at a major pay-per-view during his first run in the WWE. At the 1989 SummerSlam, the Red Rooster wrestled Mr. Perfect.
Mr. Perfect defeated The Red Rooster in under four minutes. Taylor hurt his knee during the match and would not compete for several weeks. However, Taylor was able to compete at that year’s Survivor Series. The Red Rooster’s last pay-per-view match would be the 1990 Royal Rumble match.
4 Return To WCW
After his stint as The Red Rooster in WWE, Taylor returned to the WCW in 1990. In his return match, he defeated “Mean” Mark Callous, who would debut in the WWE later that year as The Undertaker.
Shortly after returning, Taylor feuded with Arn Anderson for the NWA World Television Championship, but Taylor was never able to win the championship. Taylor returned to pay-per-view at the 1990 Halloween Havoc. On that night he defeated Bill Irwin, who would go on to be The Goon in WWE.
3 Teamed With Steve Austin
In 1991, Taylor teamed with Steve Austin at one of WCW’s most significant pay-per-view events The Great American Bash. On that night, the team of Taylor and Austin fought P.N News and Bobby Eaton in a Capture-the-Flag Scaffold Match.
For those unfamiliar with a scaffold match, this type of match happens high in the sky with the participants on a narrow structure. While this match makes for a good visual, and excitement when it comes to whether or not someone will fall off, it is often hard for wrestlers to have great matches with the stipulation. As a result, the match won The Wrestling Observer award for “Worst Worked Match of the Year.”
2 Jumping Around Promotions
Starting in 1992, Taylor spent the rest of the decade jumping from promotion to promotion. After leaving WCW, Taylor joined ECW. In the same year, Taylor returned to the WWE until 1993. From there, Taylor jumped back-and-forth between the WWE and WCW a total of five times until 2003.
In 2003, Taylor joined TNA and worked behind the scenes for the company for eight years. He worked many jobs including head of talent relations, a road agent, an interviewer, and a trainer. He worked one match in TNA, which was a 2003 victory of Kid Kash. Taylor left the promotion in 2011.
1 WWE Performance Center
In 2012, Taylor returned to the WWE to be a trainer at their Performance Center. Along with Shawn Michaels, Taylor teaches classes to future stars of the WWE.
With Taylor as a coach, WWE’s developmental brand NXT became one of the most popular wrestling shows in the world. The NXT brand would go on to sell out major arenas in the United States, similar to the other brands in the WWE. Throughout the past decade, all of the newer stars of the WWE have come through the Performance Center with Taylor’s coaching.