Terry Taylor

''For the Songwriter Terry Taylor, see Terry Scott Taylor.

Paul W. Taylor III (born August 12, 1955 in Atlanta, Georgia), better known by his ring name, Terry Taylor, is an American retired professional wrestler. Taylor is currently the Director of Talent Relations in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

Career

Terry Taylor was a popular fan favorite for much of his early career in the Mid-South region and other Southern professional wrestling territories in the 1980s. Taylor was originally selected to be part of The Fabulous Ones tag team with Stan Lane. Taylor was then bypassed by Florida wrestler, Steve Keirn, for the position.

He made his way to the NWA in 1985 and feuded with "Nature Boy" Buddy Landell over the NWA National Heavyweight Championship. Moving on to the UWF in 1986, Taylor became one of that league's biggest stars and eventually defeated Freebird Buddy Roberts for the UWF Television Championship in September. He also won the UWF Tag Team Championship with "Gentleman" Chris Adams in early 1987 before breaking up their "Dream Team" to begin a heated rivalry. After Jim Crockett Promotions took over the UWF later that year, Taylor initiated a dispute with Nikita Koloff over the NWA Television Championship before abruptly leaving the promotion.

In early-1988, Taylor debuted in World Class Championship Wrestling, where he and Adams continued their feud, which lasted until early-June. Taylor did win the Texas heavyweight championship from Matt Borne and defended the belt against Adams, Kevin Von Erich and others. Taylor eventually departed WCCW when his feud with Von Erich was about to kick into high gear.

In 1988, Taylor signed with the World Wrestling Federation, where he was managed by Bobby Heenan and dubbed the Red Rooster, a gimmick which saw him don red tights and ring coat, and style his hair like a rooster's comb). Early in his Red Rooster stint, the heel Taylor was portrayed as a novice wrestler who could not navigate his way through matches without constant instructions from Bobby Heenan. Eventually, Taylor (who was actually a very talented wrestler) grew tired of Heenan's constant coaching and turned against him, defeating Heenan in a thirty second squash match at WrestleMania V. Taylor became a face as a result, though he retained the Red Rooster gimmick, and even began referring to his fans as "Rooster Boosters." He remained in the WWF until 1990.

It was common for wrestlers to have colorful gimmicks in order to be successful in the WWF in the 1980's. For some wrestlers it worked. For others it didn't. McMahon's booking practice was to give a wrestler a gimmick, work them for a couple of years, then job them out to the next batch of new talent. Few wrestlers escaped this fate and Taylor may be the best example of a career gone bad as a result of his time with the WWF. Prior to his stay in the WWF, Taylor was regarded throughout the wrestling world as a legitimate talent. At one point, he was even labeled the next Ric Flair. The Red Rooster character was absurd at best and Taylor's career was never the same.

Taylor received a lesser push in World Championship Wrestling in 1991, when he became Terrence Taylor of The York Foundation. He feuded with Dustin Rhodes and Bobby Eaton, and won the WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championships with Richard Morton and Thomas Rich. Taylor was the senior member of the York Foundation throughout its existence. After the York Foundation disbanded, Taylor formed a tag team with Greg Valentine in 1992 and held the WCW United States Tag Team Championships for three months.

In 1993, Taylor returned to the WWF as "Terrific Terry Taylor." He continued wrestling as a heel, coming to the ring to his old Red Rooster theme, minus the rooster howling. He later did interviews before leaving for WCW again.

Taylor turned up in WCW again, wrestling as a face. He was featured in mid-card feuds for awhile. He left the business for awhile before becoming an announcer for the American Wrestling Federation (AWF) in 1994.

Taylor returned to the WWF in 1998, doing interviews backstage. He lasted in this capacity for about a year, before leaving for WCW yet again.

During this stint in WCW, Taylor co-hosted WCW Saturday Night with Larry Zbyszko. He remained with the company until WWF bought it out in 2001, and left the business again for about a year.

Taylor later became a road agent for World Wrestling Entertainment after his wrestling career was cut short by injury. Before his injury, he was often a regional title holder and became a major contender for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship before leaving for WWE.

After leaving WWE due to friction with other employees, namely Johnny Ace, Taylor began working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in 2003. He is the current head of talent relations, and has worked as a road agent, trainer and interviewer.

On April 12, 2004, Taylor had three vertebrae in his neck fused together. Two years later, on April 3, 2006, Taylor underwent a three hour cervical fusion surgery in which his sixth and seventh vertebrae were joined. Following the second operation, Taylor announced his retirement from professional wrestling.

Terry is a born-again Christian and has appeared on some of the wrestling and religion shows that Ted DiBiase produces.