Doug Somers
A flamboyant 'Pretty Boy' heel whose tag team with Buddy Rose, managed by Sherri Martel, became a notorious act in 1980s AWA wrestling.
1951–2017 (age 66)·American professional wrestler·Birthday: September 22·Baby Boomers
Biography
Doug Somers found his niche in professional wrestling not as a heroic powerhouse, but as a sneering, arrogant villain. Wrestling under the ring name 'Pretty Boy' Doug Somers, he perfected a cocky, cowardly persona that audiences loved to hate. His career peaked in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) during the mid-1980s when he formed a tag team with the equally ostentatious 'Playboy' Buddy Rose. Managed by the fierce and charismatic Sherri Martel, the duo became one of the most despised and effective heel teams in the territory. Their matches were chaotic spectacles of cheating, bragging, and Martel's interference, which made their eventual comeuppance at the hands of fan favorites a weekly ritual. While his singles career never reached the same heights, Somers's role in that memorable trio left a lasting mark on the era's tag team scene.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Doug was born in 1951, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Doug Was Born
The biggest hits of 1951
#1 Movie
Quo Vadis
Best Picture
An American in Paris
#1 TV Show
Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts
Doug's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1951Born
First color TV broadcast in the US
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Too Young" — Nat King ColeBest Picture: An American in Paris
1956Started school
Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $10,050Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Heartbreak Hotel" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: Around the World in 80 Days
1964Became a teenager
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
1967Could drive
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1969Could vote
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1972Turned 21
Watergate break-in; last Apollo Moon mission
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $19,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" — Roberta FlackBest Picture: The Godfather
1981Turned 30
MTV launches; first Space Shuttle flight; AIDS identified
Gas: $1.31/galHome: $52,300Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Bette Davis Eyes" — Kim CarnesBest Picture: Chariots of Fire
1991Turned 40
Soviet Union dissolves; World Wide Web goes public
Gas: $1.14/galHome: $82,400Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" — Bryan AdamsBest Picture: The Silence of the Lambs
2001Turned 50
September 11 attacks transform the world
Gas: $1.46/galHome: $126,400Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Hanging by a Moment" — LifehouseBest Picture: A Beautiful Mind
2011Turned 60
Osama bin Laden killed; Arab Spring sweeps the Middle East
Gas: $3.53/galHome: $138,400Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Rolling in the Deep" — AdeleBest Picture: The Artist
2017Died at 66
#MeToo movement; solar eclipse crosses the US
Gas: $2.42/galHome: $195,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Shape of You" — Ed SheeranBest Picture: The Shape of Water
Key Achievements
- Won the AWA World Tag Team Championship twice with his partner 'Playboy' Buddy Rose.
- Formed a highly successful and notorious villainous tag team managed by future WWE Hall of Famer Sherri Martel.
- Was a featured performer in the American Wrestling Association during its national television expansion in the 1980s.
Did You Know?
His real name was Douglas Duane Somerson.
Before his AWA fame, he wrestled in Pacific Northwest Wrestling under the name 'Pretty Boy' Doug Somers.
He held the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship multiple times with different partners before his AWA run.
“You don't pay to see a pretty boy; you pay to see him get beat.”
