The Professional Bull Riders Heroes and Legends celebration honors five divisions in the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) and Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), including the best bucking bulls. [1] [2] [3]
The Professional Bull Riders Heroes and Legends celebration honors five divisions in the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) and Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), including the best bucking bulls. [1] [2] [3]
From 1996 through 2007, the PBR awarded the Ring of Honor in the arena during the World Finals in Las Vegas, Nevada. There was no Ring of Honor ceremony in 2008.
In 2009 and 2010, the Ring of Honor ceremony was held at the Pueblo Convention Center in conjunction with Pueblo, Colorado's Wild, Wild West Fest in May, which included a regular-season PBR Built Ford Tough Series event in said city. The Sharon Shoulders Award was first awarded in 2010, then came the Jim Shoulders Lifetime Achievement Award and Brand of Honor in 2011, and the Ty Murray Top Hand Award in 2018.
The PBR Heroes and Legends celebration debuted in 2011 and was held at the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas the day before the first round of every annual PBR World Finals. There was no Heroes and Legends celebration in 2020 because of COVID-19 restrictions, but the ceremony returned in 2021.
The PBR World Finals moved to the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex in 2022 and now take place in the spring after previously taking place in the autumn.
There was not a Heroes and Legends ceremony in 2022. However, it was announced in September of that year that the new PBR Hall of Fame would be unveiled at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, within the museum's American Rodeo Gallery. In 2023, the PBR Hall of Fame was opened to the public. That same year, the Heroes and Legends celebration was moved to the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. [4]
As of 2024, the Heroes and Legends celebration will be held every July. [5]
The PBR Ring of Honor is the equivalent of a Hall of Fame for bull riders. [6] The PBR created this award in 1996 to recognize those who have had a "significant and lasting contribution to the sport of professional bull riding". [6] Honorees may be PBR bull riders, but some PRCA bull riders have also been honored, for example, icon Lane Frost. [6] "It is both a physical ring and a fellowship of men." [6] This honor is bestowed upon "select bull riders whose contributions to the sport of bull riding last beyond their success in the competitive arena". The award is "symbolized by a custom-made, gold-and-diamond ring engraved with the honoree's name and the PBR logo". Recipients are honored with this award during a ceremony at the PBR World Finals near the end of the year. [6]
It was created in 1996 with the inaugural induction of ProRodeo Hall of Fame members Jim Shoulders and Ted Nuce. [7] [8]
The PRCA, which sanctions traditional rodeo, has the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. [9] The Bull Riding Hall of Fame located in Fort Worth, Texas, is not associated with the PBR. [10]
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This award recognizes women who have supported professional bull riding; "those whose work, partnership and faith have been as integral to the sport as the athletes themselves." These are bull rider wives who have shared the burdens of a bull rider in his life and in the sport and helped enable him to contribute to the sport. It is named for the wife of Jim Shoulders. The PBR created this award in 2010 and honored inaugural inductee Tiffany Davis. [12]
This award is named after Jim Shoulders, who won 16 world titles and is recognized in his field as possibly the greatest western-sports athlete of all time. This award recognizes some of the many non-bull riders who have made a tangible contribution to the sport and whose efforts have built the PBR, including stock contractors, contract personnel, PBR employees, and more. [14] It was first awarded in 2011. [12] [15] [16]
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First awarded in 2011 to Little Yellow Jacket, the Brand of Honor is awarded to a bull for superlative performance in the PBR. The PBR recognizes that "there are two great athletes in every ride". Brand of Honor bulls are elite athletes who have gone above and beyond in the sport. In 2016, Bushwacker was awarded the Brand of Honor. [18] This three-time World Champion bucking bull is universally considered to be the best in bull riding history. [12]
First awarded in 2018 to Trevor Brazile, Lewis Feild, and Tom Ferguson, the Ty Murray Top Hand Award, is awarded to a rodeo athlete who is not eligible for the Ring of Honor Award. The award connects the PBR with its traditional past. Athletes are chosen who represent strong values and character who have made a significant mark on the sport. The award is named after 9-time Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) World Champion and Ring of Honor inductee Ty Murray, a co-founder of the PBR.
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Heroes and Legends lists the Ring of Honor, Sharon Shoulders Award, Jim Shoulders Lifetime Achievement Award, Brand of Honor, and Ty Murray Top Hand Award. The List of Professional Bull Riders Champions article presents a list of major champions and honors won by Professional Bull Riders.
Lane Clyde Frost was an American professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding, and competed in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA). He was the 1987 PRCA World Champion bull rider. Frost was also the only rider ever to score a qualified ride on Red Rock, the 1987 PRCA Bucking Bull of the Year. During a ride in 1989 nicknamed "The Last Ride", Lane sustained fatal injuries when the bull Takin' Care of Business struck Frost with his right horn. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Bodacious #J-31 was an American bucking bull. He was known throughout the rodeo world as "the world's most dangerous bull". He was also known as "the greatest bull ever to buck". During his rodeo career, he was the 1994 and 1995 Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA) Bucking Bull of the Year, as well as the 1995 Professional Bull Riders (PBR) World Champion Bull. He and Bruiser are the only bulls who have won bucking bull world championship titles in both organizations.
The ProRodeo Hall of Fame and Museum of the American Cowboy was opened in August 1979 as a museum designed to "preserve the legacy of the cowboy contests, the heritage and culture of those original competitions, and the champions of the past, present and future." It is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and only inducts Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and Women's Professional Rodeo Association members. It is the "only museum in the world devoted exclusively to the sport of professional rodeo."
Ty Monroe Murray, is an American former professional rodeo cowboy. He competed in the three "roughstock" events; bareback bronc riding, saddle bronc riding, and bull riding. He won nine world championships in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA); seven in all-around and two in bull riding. He was also one of the co-founders and a board adviser of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR). From 2005 to 2020, he was also a regular color commentator for several televised PBR events.
Carl A. Nafzger is an American Hall of Fame horse trainer. Before he was involved in horse racing, he was a champion rodeo bull rider.
Robert Edward "Rob" Smets, known professionally as The Kamikaze Kid, is an American former professional rodeo bullfighter.
Larry Mahan was an American professional rodeo cowboy. He won six all-around world championships and two bull riding world championships in the Rodeo Cowboys Association circuit at the National Finals Rodeo.
James A. Shoulders was an American professional rodeo cowboy and rancher. He is commemorated at the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. At the time of his death, he was one of the most successful contestants in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), having won 16 World Championships, which was the most of any performer at that time. He was known as the 'Babe Ruth of rodeo'.
Cody Lambert is an American former professional rodeo cowboy. He specialized in saddle bronc riding and bull riding. He was also a co-founder and vice president of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR). He created the protective vest that professional bull riders have been required to wear for many years, after witnessing the death of his friend, Lane Frost at the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on July 30, 1989. Since 2022, Lambert has been the head coach of the Texas Rattlers during the PBR Teams Series season.
Richard Neale "Tuff" Hedeman is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specializes in bull riding. He won the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) bull riding world championship three times, as well as the 1995 Professional Bull Riders (PBR) world championship. He also won the 1993 world championship for the now-defunct Bull Riders Only (BRO) organization. He is also one of the co-founders of the PBR and is known for having been one of rodeo icon Lane Frost's closest friends. Hedeman and the infamous bucking bull Bodacious had a few historic clashes. He later served as the President of the PBR and then the President and Ambassador of Championship Bull Riding (CBR). In 2018, he formed his own bull riding organization: the Tuff Hedeman Bull Riding Tour (THBRT).
Adriano Silva Morães is a Brazilian former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding. He was one of the leading bull riders in the world from the mid-1990s to 2000s, with two titles at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) and three Professional Bull Riders (PBR) world titles to his credit.
DonaldGay is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding. He won eight Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) bull riding world championships; a record as of 2024. His father, Neal Gay, was a well-known rodeo competitor and later rodeo producer and stock contractor. Don was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1979; Neal was inducted in 1993, becoming the only father and son to receive that honor. In 2015, Don was inducted into the Bull Riding Hall of Fame.
Charles "Charlie" Sampson is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding. He was the 1982 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) World Champion bull rider. He is the first African American cowboy to win a world championship in professional rodeo. He was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1996.
Ted Nuce is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding. He was the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) World Champion bull rider in 1985, and was a co-founder of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) in 1992. He won the inaugural PBR World Finals event in 1994. In his career, he qualified for the NFR 14 consecutive times from 1982 through 1995 and qualified for the first two PBR World Finals in 1994 and 1995.
James Carroll Sharp is an American former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding. In 1988, he became the first bull rider in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA)'s National Finals Rodeo history to successfully ride each of his 10 bulls during the champion-crowning event. The record-breaking performance earned Sharp his first of two PRCA World Champion Bull Rider titles. He rode professionally for nearly 20 years, and was a co-founder of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR). He is considered among the most talented bull riders in history.
Skoal Pacific Bell #14 was an American bucking bull best known for being the only three-time consecutive Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) Bucking Bull of the Year and for only being ridden 5 times in 150 attempts. In 2007, he was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame. As of 2016, he was the seventh and most recent bull so honored. The PRCA said in an official YouTube induction video that "Skoal Pacific Bell was a crowd pleaser and a cowboy challenger."
The Bull Riding Hall of Fame, located at Cowtown Coliseum in the Fort Worth Stockyards in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, is a hall of fame for the sport of bull riding. It is incorporated as a non-profit organization in the State of Texas, and created to "recognize, memorialize, and applaud the bull riders, bullfighters, bulls, stock contractors, events, and individuals who have made a historic contribution and attained stellar performance in the sport." Membership is open to fans worldwide.
Red Wolf #112 was an American bucking bull. He won the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) Bull of the Year title in 1996 as well as other honors throughout his career. He bucked until 2000 when he was 12 years old, considered an old age for a bull to buck, and he did it at a very high level. He bucked more than 100 times at all levels, which very few bulls manage. In 2013, he was inducted into the Professional Bull Riders' Brand of Honor. He was also known for the accidental death of bull rider Brent Thurman.
Cody Snyder is a Canadian former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding. He is currently a bull-riding event producer. In 1983, Snyder became the first Canadian to win the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) bull riding world championship. He holds the highest-scored bull ride in the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA), scoring 95 points in 1983. He is an inductee of the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Ring of Honor, Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and the Bull Riding Hall of Fame. Since his athletic retirement in 1993, Snyder has produced over 400 bull-riding events under his company Bullbustin' Inc. He has also appeared as a colour commentator for televised rodeo events including the Calgary Stampede.