# Butch Reed
**Butch Reed** (born Bruce Franklin Reed; 1954 – February 5, 2021) was an American professional wrestler who competed from 1978 into the 2000s, best known as "Hacksaw" Butch Reed in Mid-South Wrestling, as "The Natural" in the WWF, and as half of the masked WCW tag team Doom with [Ron Simmons](https://www.edgepedia.org/ron-simmons).[1](https://www.prowrestlingtimetunnel.com/p/issue-422-the-daily-chronicle-june) • [2](https://www.wwe.com/superstars/butchreed) He was 6'2" and billed at 262 pounds, with a hometown of [Kansas City, Missouri](https://www.edgepedia.org/kansas-city-missouri).[2](https://www.wwe.com/superstars/butchreed)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | 1954, Kansas City, Missouri; February 5, 2021, Warrensburg, Missouri, at age 66[1](https://www.prowrestlingtimetunnel.com/p/issue-422-the-daily-chronicle-june) |
| Football background | Nose guard at the University of Central Missouri, 1973–75; signed by the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs on May 21, 1976, cut on July 20, 1976, without playing a regular-season game[3](https://slamwrestling.net/legend/butch-reed/) • [4](https://slamwrestling.net/features/mat-matters-its-football-so-get-the-facts-right-on-reed/) |
| Ring debut | 1978 in the NWA's Central States territory, after training under Ronnie Etchison[2](https://www.wwe.com/superstars/butchreed) • [3](https://slamwrestling.net/legend/butch-reed/) |
| Signature personas | "Hacksaw" Butch Reed (Mid-South), "The Natural" (WWF, 1986–88), Doom #2 (WCW, 1989–91)[2](https://www.wwe.com/superstars/butchreed) • [5](https://www.thesmackdownhotel.com/wrestlers/butch-reed) |
| Championship peak | WCW World Tag Team Champion with Ron Simmons as Doom; a 281-day reign, a record that stood until WCW's demise in 2001[2](https://www.wwe.com/superstars/butchreed) |
| Retirement | Left full-time competition in 2002, aside from a few later bouts[3](https://slamwrestling.net/legend/butch-reed/) |
## Early life and the football question
Reed grew up in Missouri as a multi-sport athlete, throwing the shot put, running 100-yard dashes, and competing in football, basketball, and powerlifting.[3](https://slamwrestling.net/legend/butch-reed/) He played college football at the [University of Central Missouri](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-central-missouri) from 1973 to 1975 as a nose guard, then went unclaimed in the 1975 NFL Draft and signed with the [Kansas City Chiefs](https://www.edgepedia.org/kansas-city-chiefs) as a free agent on May 21, 1976.[3](https://slamwrestling.net/legend/butch-reed/) • [4](https://slamwrestling.net/features/mat-matters-its-football-so-get-the-facts-right-on-reed/) The Chiefs cut him on July 20, 1976, reportedly because of ankle and knee issues, and he appears in none of the team's or the league's all-time roster lists.[4](https://slamwrestling.net/features/mat-matters-its-football-so-get-the-facts-right-on-reed/)
Despite this, many obituaries, including WWE's own, stated that Reed had played in the NFL. The wrestling journalist Greg Oliver, co-founder of Slam Wrestling, checked the records and reported that Reed never played in the [National Football League](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-football-league), noting that a pro football association would only have helped Reed's career and that the claim went unexamined because wrestling has no governing body or central database for fact-checking.[4](https://slamwrestling.net/features/mat-matters-its-football-so-get-the-facts-right-on-reed/)
## Training and early career
Reed's entry into wrestling was unplanned. In 1979 he was sitting in a downtown Kansas City bar when the veteran wrestler Ronnie Etchison approached him and began training him; Reed said it took him more than a year to prove he could make it in the business.[3](https://slamwrestling.net/legend/butch-reed/) He debuted in the Central States area in 1978 and won the Central States tag titles in 1980 with Jerry Roberts, the future Jacques Rougeau Jr.[2](https://www.wwe.com/superstars/butchreed) • [3](https://slamwrestling.net/legend/butch-reed/) He was known for a flying shoulderblock and a top-rope clothesline.[3](https://slamwrestling.net/legend/butch-reed/)
After moving to Florida, he received the nickname Butch, which became his permanent ring name. On January 30, 1982, only 18 days after his Florida debut, he challenged [Ric Flair](https://www.edgepedia.org/ric-flair) for the NWA World's Heavyweight Championship in the main event at the Civic Center in [Lakeland, Florida](https://www.edgepedia.org/lakeland-florida), and faced Flair 19 times during 1982.[6](https://lastwordonsports.com/prowrestling/2021/02/03/butch-reed-legacy/)
## Mid-South Wrestling
Under promoter [Bill Watts](https://www.edgepedia.org/bill-watts), Reed became a major star in Mid-South Wrestling in the early 1980s.[2](https://www.wwe.com/superstars/butchreed) He was introduced as a protégé of the [Junkyard Dog](https://www.edgepedia.org/junkyard-dog), the territory's most popular wrestler, and his turn against JYD was a major angle that led to a main-event match at the New Orleans Superdome on July 16, 1983.[3](https://slamwrestling.net/legend/butch-reed/) He also feuded with "Hacksaw" [Jim Duggan](https://www.edgepedia.org/jim-duggan) over the right to the "Hacksaw" nickname, a rivalry WWE described as hard-hitting and fought over nothing more than the name itself.[2](https://www.wwe.com/superstars/butchreed) He held the Mid-South North American Heavyweight Championship in multiple reigns and also teamed memorably with Jim Neidhart.[7](https://www.prowrestlingtimetunnel.com/p/issue-422-the-daily-chronicle-june) • [3](https://slamwrestling.net/legend/butch-reed/)
## WWF: "The Natural"
Reed joined the WWF in late 1986, managed by Slick, with bleached-blond hair and the billing "The Natural," a reference to the dyed color.[2](https://www.wwe.com/superstars/butchreed) The look echoed the wrestler Sweet Daddy Siki.[3](https://slamwrestling.net/legend/butch-reed/) He beat [Koko B. Ware](https://www.edgepedia.org/koko-b-ware) at [WrestleMania III](https://www.edgepedia.org/wrestlemania-iii), competed in the first-ever [Survivor Series](https://www.edgepedia.org/survivor-series) and first-ever Royal Rumble matches in WWE history, and lost to Randy Savage in the first round of the WWF World Heavyweight Championship tournament at WrestleMania IV.[8](https://www.wwe.com/article/butch-reed-passes-away) After that WrestleMania IV loss, he left the company in 1988 after roughly 18 months, a run his own chroniclers describe as falling short of his earlier work.[6](https://lastwordonsports.com/prowrestling/2021/02/03/butch-reed-legacy/) • [3](https://slamwrestling.net/legend/butch-reed/)
## WCW and Doom
Reed signed with [World Championship Wrestling](https://www.edgepedia.org/world-championship-wrestling) in 1989, returning to his "Hacksaw" persona before being paired with the former football star Ron Simmons as the masked team Doom, initially accompanied by the manager Woman (Nancy Sullivan).[6](https://lastwordonsports.com/prowrestling/2021/02/03/butch-reed-legacy/) • [3](https://slamwrestling.net/legend/butch-reed/) Doom beat Rick and [Scott Steiner](https://www.edgepedia.org/scott-steiner) at Halloween Havoc '89 on October 28 in Philadelphia in their first match together, and defeated the Steiner Brothers again at Capital Combat to claim the NWA World Tag Team Championship.[3](https://slamwrestling.net/legend/butch-reed/) • [8](https://www.wwe.com/article/butch-reed-passes-away) Teddy Long later managed the duo, and the titles were renamed the WCW World Tag Team Championship while they held them.[2](https://www.wwe.com/superstars/butchreed) • [3](https://slamwrestling.net/legend/butch-reed/)
The reign lasted 281 days, a record that stood until WCW closed in 2001.[2](https://www.wwe.com/superstars/butchreed) Doom lost the titles to the Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael Hayes) at WrestleWar on February 24, 1991, in a match decided by miscommunication between Reed and Simmons, and the team broke up on WCW television afterward.[9](https://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profile/butch-reed/) • [3](https://slamwrestling.net/legend/butch-reed/) Reed and Simmons then met one-on-one in a Steel Cage Match at SuperBrawl I.[8](https://www.wwe.com/article/butch-reed-passes-away) Scott Steiner, who faced the team repeatedly, called Doom great athletes.[3](https://slamwrestling.net/legend/butch-reed/)
## Later career and death
Reed worked independents and USWA after leaving WCW, wrestled until around 2013 with a full retirement in 2002 aside from a few bouts, and stayed largely out of the convention and shoot-interview circuit.[1](https://www.prowrestlingtimetunnel.com/p/issue-422-the-daily-chronicle-june) • [3](https://slamwrestling.net/legend/butch-reed/) He suffered two massive heart attacks in January 2021 and died on February 5, 2021, at age 66 in Warrensburg, Missouri; his family attributed his death in part to a COVID-19 diagnosis around January 12.[1](https://www.prowrestlingtimetunnel.com/p/issue-422-the-daily-chronicle-june) Relatives and friends later established the Bruce Reed Memorial Fund in Warrensburg to preserve his legacy.[1](https://www.prowrestlingtimetunnel.com/p/issue-422-the-daily-chronicle-june)
## References
1. [The Life and Career of Butch Reed, Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel](https://www.prowrestlingtimetunnel.com/p/issue-422-the-daily-chronicle-june)
2. [Butch Reed, WWE.com superstar profile](https://www.wwe.com/superstars/butchreed)
3. [Butch Reed, Slam Wrestling (Greg Oliver, February 5, 2021)](https://slamwrestling.net/legend/butch-reed/)
4. [Mat Matters: It's football, so get the facts right on Reed, Slam Wrestling (Greg Oliver, February 7, 2021)](https://slamwrestling.net/features/mat-matters-its-football-so-get-the-facts-right-on-reed/)
5. [Butch Reed profile, Pro Wrestlers Database](https://www.thesmackdownhotel.com/wrestlers/butch-reed)
6. [Hacksaw, The Natural & Doom: The Legacy of Butch Reed, Last Word on Pro Wrestling](https://lastwordonsports.com/prowrestling/2021/02/03/butch-reed-legacy/)
7. [Butch Reed passes away, WWE.com](https://www.wwe.com/article/butch-reed-passes-away)
8. [Butch Reed, Online World of Wrestling profile](https://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profile/butch-reed/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Individual sports and outdoor recreation › Combat sports and professional wrestling › Professional wrestlers and stables › American wrestlers › Territorial era wrestlers*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license