R. D. Reynolds

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 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, some of which had special stipulations. When he became a heel 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, a former developmental territory of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), managing Mark Henry in a match against The Big Show. Show chokeslammed 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 which he perceives to the very worst. Reynolds also co-authored The Death of WCW, with wrestling journalist Bryan Alvarez. 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 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, with various people and websites claiming that he had died from heart failure 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
  • Best Pro Wrestling Book (2005, 2014, with Bryan Alvarez) Death of WCW

Bibliography

• WrestleCrap: The Very Worst of Pro Wrestling (2003)
• The Death of WCW (2004) (with Bryan Alvarez)
• The WrestleCrap Book of Lists! (2007) (with Blade Braxton)
• The Death of WCW – 10th Anniversary Edition (2014) (with Bryan Alvarez)

References

References

1. Baer, Randy. (2003). "WrestleCrap: The Very Worst of Pro Wrestling". ECW Press.
2. link. (2008-08-07)
3. Waldman, Jon. (2004-02-02). "WrestleCrap author aims for laughs". SLAM! Wrestling.
4. [http://www.ecwpress.com/books/death_wcw RD Reynolds listed as the author of "The Death of WCW" at ECW Press.com.] {{webarchive. link. (2007-10-31)
5. Kapur, Bob. (2007-12-18). "Plenty of laughs in WrestleCrap's Lists". SLAM! Wrestling.
6. Furious, Arnold. (December 2, 2007). "The Furious Flashbacks - The Worst of RD Reynolds". 411mania.com.
7. Sokol, Chris. (2005-03-21). "Baer proudly peddles WrestleCrap". SLAM! Wrestling.
8. Cardno, James. "Interviews (2003): RD Reynolds". New Zealand Pro Wrestling Informer.
9. Bakon, Jun. (2004). "R.D. Reynolds Interview". LethalWrestling.com.
10. Clevett, Jason. (2006-06-07). "John "Earthquake" Tenta dead". SLAM! Wrestling.
11. . (December 12, 2008). ["Pro Wrestling Arena's Craptacular Interview with RD Reynolds"](http://www.prowrestlingarena.com/interview-with-wrestecrap-rd-reynolds.html).
12. Waldman, Jon. (2005-01-12). "WCW's demise makes for good read". SLAM! Wrestling.
13. "About Fighting Spirit".
14. Kendall, Mark. (2004-01-22). "The right persona can turn a no-name into a wrestling star". The Press-Enterprise.
15. Reynolds, RD. (January 15, 2013). "HUGE NEWS! The Death of WCW 10th Anniversary Edition Announced!!".
16. Kraft, Paul. (March 11, 2014). "The Death of WCW: 10th Anniversary Edition is Available in Hardback, Paperback and Amazon Kindle!".
17. (May 4, 2007). "061 Botany Crap Radio: May 4, 2007". [[WrestleCrap.
18. Meltzer, Dave. (January 26, 2015). "Jan. 26, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: 2014 awards issue w/ results & Dave's commentary, Conor McGregor, and much more". [[Dave Meltzer#Wrestling Observer Newsletter.