Paul Bearer

Professional Wrestling/Entertainment Manager. Born William Alvin Moody, he will most likely be remembered by his ring names ‘Paul Bearer’ and ‘Percival Pringle III’, as a professional wrestling manager for World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) and World Wrestling Federation (WWF—later WWE). As a teenager, he became involved in wrestling as a ringside photographer and after high school, enlisted in the United States Air Force, serving four years and wrestling for an independent promoter during off-duty hours. In 1974 he debuted as a wrestler and went by such names as Mr. X, the Embalmer and the Mortician for a several years. After the birth of his first son, he cut back his involvement in the wrestling business in order to go to school to earn a degree in mortuary science and became certified as a funeral director and embalmer. In the mid-1980s, he resumed his career in wrestling, using his Pringle character in Florida Championship Wrestling, WCCW, and the U.S. Wrestling Association to manage several wrestlers, most notably “Ravishing” Rick Rude, The Assassin, Mark Calaway, The Great Kabuki, Blackjack Mulligan, Lex Luger, Eric Embry, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and The Ultimate Warrior. Moody made his WWF debut in 1991 as Paul Bearer, the “Manager of Champions” for The Undertaker, Kane, Vader, The Executioner and Mankind and went on to become a memorable part of that organization for the next 20 years. Moody, who at one time weighed over 500 pounds and had undergone gastric bypass surgery in 2003, was still under contract to the WWE, having signed a five-year “legends” agreement in 2011.