Other inductees include World Champion Bull Asteroid, Rodeo Legend Guy Allen, Terri Gay, and Executives Sean Gleason and Michael Gaughan
Professional Bull Riders
As the PBR (Professional Bull Rider) premier series returns to Las Vegas for the 2021 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast hosted November 3-7 at T-Mobile Arena, the league will start the highly anticipated world championship week with the ultimate celebration of those who have set new standards along with positively impacting and paving the way for others in Western Sports.
Recognized over the years as one of the top western sports awards ceremonies, the annual PBR Heroes and Legends Celebration honors categories including the coveted “Ring of Honor” awarded to a distinguished athlete, “Brand of Honor” awarded to an extraordinary animal athlete and its owner, “Jim Shoulders Lifetime Achievement Award” to those who have significantly impacted western sports, “Sharon Shoulders Award,” “Ty Murray Top Hand Award” and the newly-launched “Golden Barrel Awards.”
The 2021 PBR Heroes and Legends Celebration will be held at the South Point Showroom on Tuesday, Nov. 2 at 6 p.m. PST. Tickets for the star-studded 2021 PBR Heroes & Legends Celebration are $40 and can be purchased via pbr.com, by calling PBR Customer Service at (800) 732-1727 or by calling the South Point Showroom Box Office at 702-796-7111.
For fans unable to travel to Las Vegas to attend this one-of-a-kind night, the 2021 Heroes and Legends Celebration will be available on PBR RidePass on PlutoTV, Channel 720. Pluto TV is available for free on desktops, laptops and mobile devices via www.pluto.tv.
RING OF HONOR – ROBSON PALERMO
Robson Palermo is one of the greatest bull riders to nod his head in PBR history.
The Rio Branco, Brazil, native is the only three-time PBR World Finals event winner, and the only back-to-back winner (2011-2012). Palermo went 32-for-57 (56.14%) in 10 World Finals appearances. He also won 13 premier series events in his career and recorded 37 90-point rides on the premier series.
Now, Palermo joins an illustrious group of cowboys as the 2021 inductee into the PBR’s “Ring of Honor.” The talented veteran is the 48th rider to receive the prestigious award.
Many believe Palermo is one of the greatest bull riders to have never won a World Championship. He was a perennial world title contender from 2007-2012 before multiple shoulder surgeries three years in a row and permanent nerve damage in his riding arm forever altered his career. Despite the injury he still qualified for the World Finals three more times after undergoing season-ending surgery in 2013.
Palermo officially retired in 2018 and has coached Team Brazil at two PBR Global Cups.
BRAND OF HONOR – ASTEROID
Very few animal athletes in PBR history have been better than Asteroid.
The 2021 Brand of Honor recipient was the 2012 PBR World Champion Bull and posted some of the most incredible stats in the history of the sport. In 2012, Asteroid went an astounding 17-1 with an average bull score of 46.31 points per out. The 17 buckoffs on the premier series is the most by a PBR World Champion Bull during his championship season. Asteroid went toe-to-toe with three-time World Champion Bushwacker, challenging him for the world title in in 2011, 2013 and 2014 – finishing second in both 2011 and 2013. If not for Bushwacker, there is a belief that Asteroid could have been one of a handful of bulls with multiple world titles.
Asteroid went 67-4 in his premier series career. His record included a streak of 30 consecutive buckoffs on the premier series, and he was marked a career-best 47.5 points on four occasions. The best ride ever recorded on Asteroid belongs to three-time World Champion J.B. Mauney, who conquered the legendary bovine for 93.5 points in 2012.
JIM SHOULDERS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD – SEAN GLEASON & MICHAEL GAUGHAN
The Jim Shoulders Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes those who have contributed to the advancement of western sports in a monumental way.
PBR Commissioner & CEO Sean Gleason and South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa Owner Michael Gaughan will both receive this honor at the 2021 celebration. Their efforts include significant contributions that have had a positive and continued impact on the development and growth of the bull riding and rodeo industries.
Gleason, will be recognized for overseeing PBR’s global sports industry-leading comeback in the face of a global pandemic.
Under Gleason’s leadership, the PBR team wrote a comprehensive 41-page plan laying out new protocols to help ensure the safety of everyone present at the events as well as the surrounding community. Following the COVID-19 shut down in mid-March 2020, the PBR was the first sport back to competition on April 25 with new protocols for safe and successful, closed-to-the-public, nationally televised events that continued until mid-July when added guidelines would include fans back in the grandstands – another PBR first. PBR would deliver a full season to fans, launching the Monster Energy Team Challenge and PBR Air Force Reserve Cowboys for a Cause, and grow its TV ratings at a time when other sports struggled with viewership.
PBR fans outside of Las Vegas might not recognize the name Michael Gaughan. Just like Gleason, without him, the face of western sports would look extremely different.
Among his many other business ventures, Gaughan is the owner of the South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa, which has become a mainstay on the PBR / ABBI calendar for more than 10 years. The venue has hosted the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour Finals each year since 2016, and he also welcomed four weeks of competition during the Monster Energy Team Challenge in the summer of 2020.
In addition to his strong commitment to PBR over the years, Gaughan was also instrumental in bringing the National Finals Rodeo to Las Vegas in 1985 after convincing the rodeo to leave its long-time home of Oklahoma City.
SHARON SHOULDERS AWARD
Created in 2010, the Sharon Shoulders Award recognizes the great women of professional bull riding and western sports; those whose work, partnership, and faith have been as integral to the sport as the athletes themselves.
This year’s recipient, Terri Gay, is the wife of eight-time World Champion Donnie Gay. She has been a PRCA secretary/timer since 1977 and has timed the National Finals Rodeo and The American multiple times. She and Don now both work for the Frontier Rodeo Company, where she assists with publicity while at Frontier events. The couple has been married for 44 years and have one daughter.
TY MURRAY TOP HAND AWARD
The PBR Ty Murray Top Hand Award is given annually to individuals who have made significant and lasting contributions to enhance the sport of rodeo and is based on traditional American values and fundamental ideals such as courage, pride, respect, and hard work.
Few cowboys better fit this description than steer roper Guy Allen.
Nicknamed “Legend” by his fellow cowboys, Allen won his PRCA-record 17th world title in 2003; he had won 11 consecutive titles from 1991-2001. He went on to win one more in 2004, and missed out on No. 19 in 2005 by a mere $1.67. Allen qualified for the National Finals Rodeo 33 times, won 47 rounds, and claimed the NFR event title five times. In 2000, he set the world record for fastest steer roping time at 7.9 seconds, later broken in 2012.
GOLDEN BARREL AWARDS – FIRST EVER FAN CHOICE
In an exciting new twist for this year’s celebration, the league has added the very first fan-voted Golden Barrel Awards.
Fans are encouraged to vote here no later than midnight on Oct. 16. Categories and nominees for the most memorable moments of 2021 include:
Best Save -Frank Newsom -Lucas Teodoro -Cody Webster -Jesse Byrne
Best Winning Ride -Jose Vitor Leme rides Woopaa for 97.75 points in Tulsa -Dalton Kasel rides Woopaa for 96.75 points in San Antonio -Paulo Lima wins Iron Cowboy with 95.25 points on Woopaa -Boudreaux Campbell wins Kansas City with 95.5 points on Woopaa 7 Seconds of Agony -Keyshawn Whitehorse stops the clock at 7.96 seconds -Joao Ricardo Vieira stops the clock at 7.92 seconds -Kaique Pacheco stops the clock at 7.92 seconds -Cole Melancon stops the clock at 7.92 seconds
Following Tuesday night’s upscale celebration of the heroes and legends who help to shape the league, the intense bull riding action at the 2021 PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast begins at 6:40 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, Nov. 3 and Thursday, Nov. 4, 7:40 p.m. PDT on Friday, Nov. 5 and Saturday, Nov. 6, and 9:40 a.m. PDT on Sunday, Nov. 7 as the season comes to a climactic end.
Tickets for the five-day event range in price from $27 to $351. Fans can purchase tickets at the T-Mobile Arena Box Office, pbr.com, at AXS.com or by phone through the PBR Customer Service Department at 800-732-1727. Five-day packages are also available for fans wanting to attend the entire week.
About PBR (Professional Bull Riders):
PBR is the world’s premier bull riding organization. More than 500 bull riders compete in more than 200 events annually across the televised PBR Unleash The Beast tour (UTB), which features the top 35 bull riders in the world; the PBR Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour (PWVT); the PBR Touring Pro Division (TPD); and the PBR’s international circuits in Australia, Brazil, Canada and Mexico. PBR’s digital assets include PBR RidePass on Pluto TV, which is home to Western sports. PBR is a subsidiary of IMG, a global leader in sports, fashion, events and media. For more information, visit PBR.com, or follow on Facebook at Facebook.com/PBR, Twitter at Twitter.com/PBR, and YouTube at YouTube.com/PBR.
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