Hank Remington, The Cowboy Diplomat

Basic Information

• Ring name: "Cowboy Diplomat" Hank Remington
• Nicknames: The Diplomat, The Silver-Tongued Talent
• Real name: Harold "Harry" Remsberg
• Born: 1951, Lubbock, Texas
• Billed from: Lubbock, Texas
• Active: 1980 to 1993
• Territory: Great Plains
• Era: Golden Era into the Traditions Era
• Height and weight: 6'2", 235 lbs (billed at 6'3", 240 lbs)
• Finishing move: The Six-Shooter
• Championships: GWA Great Plains Championship (2 reigns), GWA Frontier Championship, GWA Western Traditions Championship, GWA Television Championship

Biography

Hank Remington arrived in the Great Western Wrestling Alliance in 1980 as a smooth-talking gentleman from the Texas plains, presenting himself as a reasonable man who resolved conflicts through diplomacy and fair play. His long-winded speeches about honour, justice and the cowboy code initially endeared him to audiences across the Great Plains territory.

It did not take long for the facade to show. Time and again he would extend his hand for an honourable handshake, then deliver a devastating cheap shot the moment his opponent let their guard down. His negotiations were stalling tactics that set up ambushes. His six-shooter metaphor referred less to frontier justice than to his willingness to take any shortcut available to him.

He worked the territory for thirteen years, retiring in 1993 alongside the alliance itself.

Persona

Remington presents himself as the height of frontier civility: a well-spoken, educated Texan who claims to represent the best of Western values. He dresses impeccably, speaks eloquently, and never misses a chance to lecture an opponent on proper conduct.

What sits behind that is considerably more cynical. He is a manipulator who uses charm and rhetorical skill to gaslight opponents and audiences alike. After every cheap shot he expresses shock and dismay, insisting it was a misunderstanding, or that his opponent provoked him into acting against his nature.

Interview Style

Remington's promos are known for their length and their pomposity. He speaks in flowery language stuffed with frontier metaphor and cowboy honour codes. Interviews open with elaborate greetings and philosophical musings and arrive at an actual point about the upcoming match some ten minutes later, if at all.

His catchphrases:

• "Now partner, let's talk this through like civilized men..."
• "Justice, like the prairie wind, cannot be stopped..."
• "I'm a man of my word, and my word is law!"

Challenged about his tactics, he grows indignant and launches into an even longer speech about being misunderstood and maligned. A representative moment, mid-promo, hat removed and held over his heart:

What I will do is this: I will extend my hand. I will offer you the chance to settle our business like men. And if you're fool enough to shake it... well, then we'll have ourselves a fair and honest competition.

Wrestling Style

Remington is technically sound but leans on psychology and dirty work. He wrestles methodically, wearing opponents down while talking continuously to them, to the referee and to the crowd. His matches follow a reliable pattern: stall early, flash genuine wrestling ability when pressed, cheat desperately late, and always find a way to make the finish look accidental.

Recurring features include extended stalling, constant appeals to the referee about imagined fouls by his opponent, hidden foreign objects he insists were planted on him, and faked injuries to draw sympathy or create an opening.

Signature Moves

• The Negotiator — a sleeper hold applied while whispering threats disguised as diplomatic overtures.
• False Treaty — an extended hand for a shake that transitions into a short-arm clothesline.
• Diplomatic Immunity — a low blow delivered while the referee is distracted, followed by innocent protestation.

Finishing Move

The Six-Shooter. A superkick delivered with theatrical flair, usually while the opponent is still distracted by Remington's monologue. He raises thumb and forefinger like a pistol, "shoots" theatrically, then kicks.

Appearance

Six foot two and a lean 235 pounds, built like an athlete who spends as much time in front of mirrors as in the gym. The boys in the back call it Hollywood muscle: country club tennis champion rather than oil rigger. Steel-blue eyes, clean-shaven angular jaw, and sandy blonde hair feathered into place with what must be a full can of Aqua Net per appearance.

In the ring he wears cream tights patterned with turquoise and burnt orange geometrics, brown Tony Lama boots with turquoise stitching, and a cream silk entrance robe with DIPLOMAT embroidered across the back in ornate turquoise. The oversized longhorn belt buckle at his waist has been the source of several accidental low blows.

Away from the ring: tailored Western shirts with pearl snaps, pressed Wranglers, a cream Stetson with a turquoise-studded band, lizard-skin boots and a bolo tie. He carries a brown leather diplomatic briefcase he claims holds contracts.

He has a tell. Just before a cheap shot, his left eye twitches almost imperceptibly and his jaw tightens. Smart fans learned to watch for it.

Championships

Remington held four championships across five reigns between 1984 and 1991, 821 days as champion in total. He called himself a champion for all thirteen of his years in the territory.

• GWA Great Plains Championship: February 18, 1984 to March 19, 1985. 395 days, the longest reign of his career. He beat Outback Jericho for it.
• GWA Great Plains Championship: April 26 to July 3, 1986. 68 days. He beat Jericho a second time, then lost the belt to Dakota ten weeks later.
• GWA Frontier Championship: February 14 to May 11, 1987. 86 days. He took it from Jake Hipp and dropped it to Big Tex Tillman.
• GWA Western Traditions Championship: February 22 to August 2, 1989. 161 days. The consolidated belt that absorbed the Great Plains, Frontier, Southwest and Sierra Nevada titles in 1988. He beat "Rocket" Roger Rush for it and lost it to Tillman.
• GWA Television Championship: August 11 to November 30, 1991. 111 days. His last title, won from "Backbeat" Bobby Ellis and lost to "Smooth" Keith Johnson. The belt was defended every week on television, which suited him.

Remington never held the GWA World Heavyweight Championship. He had four regional and alliance belts and a standing willingness to describe them as more.

The Man Behind the Diplomat

Remington dressed for a treaty signing. Cream Stetson with a turquoise band, pressed western shirt, bolo tie, and a brown leather briefcase he called his diplomatic pouch. He walked to the ring at the pace of a man with nowhere to be, stopping to shake hands with people who had paid money to boo him.

Then he talked. He opened matches by proposing terms, and he asked his opponent to agree in front of the crowd that whoever won would win clean. Most of them agreed. Referees let him run the routine because stopping him took longer than waiting him out.

He could wrestle. He preferred not to. He stalled, he argued calls that had not happened, and he produced foreign objects he swore somebody had planted on him. He discovered injuries at the moment he needed one. When he offered the handshake and his opponent took it, he threw the cheap shot on the way up.

Regulars in Great Plains buildings learned to call it before it landed. His left eye twitched. His jaw set. His tongue went across his lips. A half second later the referee turned around to find Remington on his knees with his hands spread, explaining that he had been provoked.

Legacy

Remington gave the Great Plains its most reliable villain for thirteen years. The formula never wore out because he never broke it. He arrived promising fairness, left having cheated, and explained the difference himself, at length, on television, the following week.

The record backs more of his talk than his critics allowed. He beat Outback Jericho for the Great Plains Championship in February 1984 and held it 395 days. Jericho took it back the next spring. Remington beat him for it again in April 1986 and lost it to Dakota by July. He took the Frontier Championship off Jake Hipp in 1987. In February 1989 he beat "Rocket" Roger Rush for the Western Traditions Championship, the belt that had swallowed four territorial titles the year before, and carried it through the summer. Big Tex Tillman beat him for two different championships two years apart.

Four titles, five reigns, 821 days. He talked like a man with twice that.