Randy Baer (born January 12, 1969), better known by his

ring (The) Ring(s) may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV * ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...

and

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

RD (Real Deal) Reynolds, is an American former

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and is also the co-creator of the professional wrestling website

WrestleCrap ''WrestleCrap'' is a professional wrestling website created by R. D. Reynolds and Merle Vincent, serving as a "hall of shame" for some of the worst gimmicks and storylines in professional wrestling history. The site is currently run by Reynolds ...

, with Merle Vincent (who died in September 2000). He has also authored three books, ''WrestleCrap'',RD Reynolds listed as the author of "Wrestlecrap" at ECW Press.com.
''The Death of WCW'', co-authored with

Bryan Alvarez Bryan Alvarez (born June 12, 1975) is an American independent professional wrestler, martial artist, satellite radio host, podcaster, and journalist. Alvarez is the editor and publisher of ''Figure Four Weekly'', a fan run, online newsletter t ...

, and ''The WrestleCrap Book of Lists!'', co-authored with Blade Braxton (who died in March 2021). He has been called "the foremost authority on the worst of professional wrestling" by the

Canadian Online Explorer Canoe.com is an English-language Canadian portal site and website network, and is a subsidiary of Postmedia Network. The phrase Canadian Online Explorer appears in the header; the name is also evidently a play on words on canoe (or ''canoë'' in ...

Independent wrestling career

Baer's self-produced DVD ''The Worst of RD Reynolds'' chronicles his work in various independent wrestling promotions, most of which were in the

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

area for promoters Jeff Cohen and "Diamond" Dan Garza; primarily Cohen's Championship Wrestling of America and NWA Indianapolis. Baer worked as an interviewer, commentator, manager, and booker, meaning that he wrote storylines and set up matches. Occasionally, he performed in professional wrestling

matches A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

, some of which had special stipulations. When he became a

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exerted ...

manager, he was forced to adopt the ring name RD Reynolds due to wrestling fans leaving him angry messages on his answering machine. Baer once appeared in

Ohio Valley Wrestling Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) is an American professional wrestling promotion, professional wrestling promotion and former developmental territory based in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is currently run by Al Snow, Matt Jones (radio host), Ma ...

, a former developmental territory of

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

(WWE), managing

Mark Henry Mark Jerrold Henry (born June 12, 1971) is an American former powerlifter, Olympic weightlifter, strongman, and retired professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under a Legends contract. Henry is a two-time Olympian (1992 and 19 ...

in a match against The Big Show. Show

chokeslam A chokeslam is a type of body slam in professional wrestling, in which a wrestler grasps an opponent's neck, lifts them up, and slams them to the mat. It is common in televised wrestling because it is simple and relatively safe, yet looks powerf ...

med Baer during the course of the match and significantly injured him. Later, Baer himself took responsibility, citing his own inexperience and lack of training as the reasons for the injury.

Writing career

Baer holds a degree in broadcast journalism and sociology. In 2000, Baer and Merle Vincent launched the website WrestleCrap, which features wrestling-related articles, primarily focusing on moments in wrestling which Baer and contributors perceive to be the worst. Since the launch of the website, Baer has written four wrestling-related books. In his first book, ''WrestleCrap,'' Baer chronicles the characters and storylines from WWE and

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

which he perceives to the very worst. It features an introduction by

John Tenta John Anthony Tenta Jr. (June 22, 1963June 7, 2006) was a Canadian professional wrestler and sumo wrestler ('' rikishi'') best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation as Earthquake. After a promising start to his sumo career, u ...

. Reynolds also co-authored ''The Death of WCW'', with wrestling journalist

. The book received a positive review from Jon Waldman of SLAM! Wrestling. His third book, ''The WrestleCrap Book of Lists!'', written with Blade Braxton, was released in November 2007. He was a featured columnist for British pro wrestling and MMA magazine, ''

Fighting Spirit Magazine ''Fighting Spirit Magazine'' (''FSM'') was a monthly professional wrestling and mixed martial arts magazine published in the United Kingdom by Uncooked Media. The publication launched in 2006, becoming the UK's largest professional wrestling magazi ...

''. He has also been interviewed as an expert on wrestling gimmicks. In 2014, a 10th anniversary expanded edition of ''The Death of WCW'' was released.

Death hoax

In April 2007, Baer was the victim of an internet

hoax A hoax (plural: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible. S ...

, with various people and websites claiming that he had died from

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...

and his neighbors found him in his bathtub. In the end, Baer returned on an episode of WrestleCrap Radio with no idea how the rumor had started.

Awards and accomplishments

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards This is a list of both active and inactive ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' awards created by professional wrestling and mixed martial arts (MMA) journalist Dave Meltzer. The first fourteen awards were created in 1980 as an informal poll betwee ...

** Best Pro Wrestling Book (2005, 2014, with

) Death of WCW

Bibliography

*''WrestleCrap: The Very Worst of Pro Wrestling'' (2003) *''The Death of WCW'' (2004) (with

) *''The WrestleCrap Book of Lists!'' (2007) (with Blade Braxton) *''The Death of WCW – 10th Anniversary Edition'' (2014) (with Bryan Alvarez)

References

External links

RD Reynolds' WrestleCrap website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reynolds, R. D. American comedy writers American non-fiction writers American sports podcasters Living people Writers from Indianapolis American professional wrestling announcers Professional wrestling journalists and columnists Professional wrestling managers and valets Professional wrestling podcasters 1969 births