We were asked by a reader, “Which wrestler had the most wasted potential?” Find out why our pick is “Nature Boy” Buddy Landel and how poor decisions derailed a sure-shot hall-of-fame career.
The story is that Ric Flair — who was then the touring NWA world heavyweight champion — saw Buddy Landel and loved his work. Soon, Landel was on Jim Crockett’s TBS show, accompanied by J.J. Dillon and challenging Flair to see who the ‘real’ Nature Boy was.
Behind the scenes, Landel was struggling with alcohol and drugs. He eventually missed a TV taping where he was booked to be in an important angle, and Rhodes fired him, taking the national championship for himself in a phantom title switch.
Buddy Landel got his act together. He beat his addictions. He came back and headlined Smoky Mountain, winning the promotion’s heavyweight title, and even wrestled Shawn Michaels for the Intercontinental title at an SMW show.