Terry Taylor

Paul Worden Taylor III, commonly known as Terry Taylor, was born on August 12, 1955. Throughout his prolific career as a professional wrestler, he became distinguished by that famed ring name. Taylor was a noteworthy stage player for a number of prominent wrestling events including the National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, and World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment.

In the early years of his career, Terry Taylor won the affection of fans, particularly in the Mid-South region and the Mid-Atlantic in the 1980s. Initially, Taylor was selected to join The Fabulous Ones tag team along with Stan Lane. But this role was handed over to Steve Keirn from Florida, leading Taylor to partner with Bobby Fulton to form the Fantastic Ones.

Journeying through wrestling leagues, Taylor found success in 1981 when he won the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship from Les Thornton. He also honed his craft in Georgia Championship Wrestling and Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in the early 80s. Among his notable rivals were Nikolai Volkoff and Krusher Darsow in the Mid-South in January 1984. His feud with “Nature Boy” Buddy Landel was also receives noteworthy attention regarding the NWA National Heavyweight Championship in 1985.

In 1986, Taylor returned to the Mid-South region, renamed the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF), and rapidly rose to fame. He beat Buzz Sawyer for the UWF Television Championship in May and won the UWF Tag Team Championship with Chris Adams in 1987. Later in the year, a disagreement with Nikita Koloff over the NWA World Television Championship escalated, leading to a unification match of the two titles, which Taylor lost and then left the promotion.

In 1988 Taylor took his career to World Wrestling Federation. His debut came off with a win over Tito Santana. However, a turning point came when his character turned heel after a loss to Santana which led to him attacking his teammate, Sam Houston. With Bobby “The Brain” Heenan as his manager, he was rebranded as “The Red Rooster”, a character that wore red tights and ring coat, and would mimic a rooster’s strut and hairstyle.

However, “The Red Rooster” gimmick, despite earning him some high-profile matches like against Randy Savage and Mr. Perfect, contributed to a negative effect on his career after he left the federation in June 1990.

Taylor then made his return to Jim Crockett Promotions (now World Championship Wrestling) following a sale to Turner Broadcasting System in 1990. Here, he continued wrestling and fluctuated between feuds and alliances with stars such as Arn Anderson, Michael Wallstreet, and Tom Zenk, among others. He later returned to WWF, rebranded as “Terrific Terry Taylor”, but was mostly used to enhance other talent. After a short stint as a broadcaster and backstage interviewer, he left the company in August 1993.

His dedication to wrestling stayed steadfast as he returned to WCW again in the mid and late 90s, spending a significant timeframe both in-ring and as a commentator. However, Taylor was also expanding his horizons behind the scenes, working as a road agent and a writer for Nitro and WCW pay-per-views.

In 1998, Taylor moved back to the WWF, conducting interviews backstage and sometimes doing commentary on WWF television. During his time here, he also made a few appearances in the ring during live events. His last match in the federation was against Joey Abs in 1999.

In 2002, he made one final return to the newly renamed WWE as a road agent, but his stint was brief and he was released from his contract by mid-2003. He subsequently moved to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) later that year where he contributed notably as the Head of Talent Relations along with other roles such as road agent, trainer, and interviewer.

After nearly a decade in TNA, he moved on to work as a trainer in WWE’s developmental territory, NXT in 2012. Despite the ups and downs of his career, Terry Taylor’s dedication and impact on the world of professional wrestling have undoubtedly cemented his place in the annals of sports entertainment.