Ray Stevens (Dead)

Known as "The Crippler" and "Blond Bomber," Ray Stevens was born in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, and embarked on his highly influential, five-decade-long professional wrestling career in 1950 at the age of 15 and within a couple of years had a series of memorable matches with Gorgeous George that helped elevate him to superstar status. One of his mentors was "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers who once said of Stevens, "Ray was one of the most talented and graceful wrestlers I've ever watched . . ." Stevens, who spent most of his professional wrestling career as a heel, was known for his two finishing moves: the "Bombs Away" knee drop and the piledriver. He feuded with the likes of Pepper Gomez, The Crusher, Pedro Morales, Mike Paidousis, Kinji Shibuya, Big Bill Miller, Dory Funk, Jr. and many others. In 1965, he teamed up with Pat Patterson to capture the NWA World Tag Team Championship. He later won four AWA World Tag Team Championships (three with Nick Bockwinkel and one with Patterson), as well as other tag team titles. Stevens, who died of a heart attack in 1996, was posthumously inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2006.

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