In 2014, Silvano Alves and Bushwacker each won the third world title of their respective careers.
By Justin Felisko
PUEBLO, Colo. – The PBR’s 27th season is only three weeks away with the Unleash The Beast beginning on Jan. 3 inside Madison Square Garden with the Monster Energy Buck Off at the Garden, presented by Ariat.
Before the calendar flips over to a new season, and a new decade, PBR.com will be closing out the current decade by looking back at the last 10 World Champions, World Finals event winners and Rookie of the Years.
Today, PBR.com turns the clock back to the champions of the 2014 season.
2014 World Champion & World Finals event winner: Silvano Alves
2014 Premier Series Stats Rides: 50 Attempts: 92 Riding Percentage: 54.35% Average Ride Score: 81.72 points Top Ride: 92.25 points on Rango (Nashville, Tennessee) Wins: 1 Top 5: 8 Top 10: 13 90-point rides: 1
ANOTHER FOR THE RECORD BOOKS: Silvano Alves won a record-tying third World Championship and passed Justin McBride to become the richest athlete in Western sports history ($5,266,273.59) at the time. He went a perfect 6-for-6 to also win the World Finals event title for the first time in his career.
Alves capped off his record-setting performance by riding his nemesis Asteroid for 87.25 points to end the 2012 World Champion Bull’s streak of 30 consecutive buckoffs.
Alves rode DaNutso (86.25 points), Mr. Clark (87.75 points), Here We Go (69 points), Freakster (86.25 points), Hokey Pokey (85.5 points) and Asteroid (87.25 points) on his path to victory at the Finals.
He began the Finals as the No. 3 rider in the world standings and trailed No. 1 Joao Ricardo Vieira by 511 points. Alves ended the season with 13 consecutive rides.
The World Finals victory tied Alves with Adriano Moraes as the only riders to win three world titles in PBR history. Alves also joined J.B. Mauney, Renato Nunes and Mike Lee as the only riders to win the World Championship and the Finals event title in the same season. Jess Lockwood would later do this in 2019. Mauney would later surpass Alves as the richest athlete in Western sports history.
2014 was actually Alves’ worst when it comes to his three world titles, but he still rode 54.35% of his bulls, and again posted the most qualified rides in the league.
Still, three titles in his first five seasons was a remarkable accomplishment for the then-26-year-old.
Alves began his career 264-of-439 bulls for a riding average of 60.14%. He won 11 regular-season BFTS events, his first career World Finals event title, placed in the Top 5 at 46 events and finished inside the Top 10 of 61 events.
The Pilar do Sul, Brazil, bull rider appeared well on his way to winning a fourth world title before a broken hip in 2015.
QUOTE: “They are all very special to me, but this year I did have a lot going against me to ride the best bulls. All of them have been very special to me. It means a lot for me to win this championship again.” – Silvano Alves on his third World Championship
2014 Rookie of the Year: J.W. Harris
2014 Premier Series Stats Rides: 16 Attempts: 37 Riding Percentage: 43.24% Average Ride Score: Top Ride: 93.25 points on Honey Hush (World Finals) Wins: 3 Top 5: 3 Top 10: 5 90-point rides: 2
STANDOUT ROOKIE: J.W. Harris easily could have left the Thomas & Mack Center as the top story of 2014 World Finals for his nearly impossible comeback to win the Rookie of the Year title, if not for the fact that Silvano Alves, J.B. Mauney and Bushwacker were the standout stars.
Regardless, the four-time PRCA champion went 4-for-6 to stage a remarkable come-from-behind performance at the World Finals, earning 3,736 points toward the world standings to usurp GageGay, Tanner Byrne and Brady Sims for the PBR’s top accolade for a bull rider competing in the organization for the first time.
Harris finished only 95.13 points ahead of Gay in the closest Rookie of the Year race since the PBR switched to a points-based system the previous year.
The May, Texas, bull rider was no stranger to Las Vegas after winning four PRCA championships during the National Finals Rodeo inside the Thomas & Mack Center, but even he didn’t think it would be possible to overcome a 3,428.12-point deficit at the start of the Finals, despite a potential of 5,500 points up for grabs in Las Vegas.
The untraditional rookie saved his best ride of the week for the championship round, riding Honey Hush for a season-high 93.25 points to push himself ahead of Gay. It was Harris’ second consecutive 90-point effort following a 90.5-point ride on Pound The Alarm in Round 5. Harris also rode Bootdaddy.com (88.75 points) and Hokey Pokey (88.5 points).
QUOTE: “That was the last thing in my mind. I didn’t know how the deal worked over here, so I kind of thought since I was 28 years old, we will let somebody else win it and skip me out of the picture. It is pretty cool though. Coming in here, I was kind of way back and nobody thought I would win it. I came in and had a good Finals.” – J.W. Harris on rallying for the Rookie of the Year title
2014 World Champion Bull: Bushwacker
2014 Premier Series Stats Outs: 14 Rides: 0 Average Bull Score: 45.59 Top Bull Score: 46.75 (2x), 1.13 seconds against J.B. Mauney (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) and 2.2 seconds against Joao Ricardo Vieira (Arlington, Texas) Top Ride: N/A Average Buckoff Time: 3.09 seconds Average Ride Score: N/A
GOING OUT ON TOP: It is highly unlikely Bushwacker knew he was 1.5 points behind Asteroid in the 2014 World Championship race on Championship Sunday at the 2014 World Finals.
Moreover, even if he did, it was hard to tell.
Bushwacker needed a massive performance in the championship round to overtake Asteroid and Mick E Mouse to win a record-tying third world title, and Julio Moreno’s superstar once again shined on the PBR’s grandest stage in the final out of his career.
The 8-year-old bucked off 2004 World Champion Mike Lee in 2.13 seconds for a 46.5-point score. Bushwacker was able to win the world title with a total score of 91.5 points after previously bucking off Brady Sims in 3.9 seconds for a 45-point score in Round 2.
Bushwacker’s third title tied him with Little Yellow Jacket for the most championships all time. SweetPro’s Bruiser would later join the duo in the record books when he won his third world title in 2018.
Bushwacker started off his final year in competition in style, bucking off Mauney in 1.13 seconds and scoring 46.75 points, the highest score he would receive all season. He also earned another 46.75 points for bucking off Joao Ricardo Vieira during the Dr. Pepper Iron Cowboy V in a special $1 million matchup.
He finished the year 14-0 on the premier series and 17-0 overall.
Bushwacker’s record speaks for itself. He bucked off 64 of his 66 opponents in six years on the premier series, and dumped 84 of his 87 foes since his first out in 2009.
The bovine athlete ended his career with a streak of 20 consecutive premier series buckoffs after Mauney ended his PBR-record streak of 42 consecutive buckoffs in August 2013 when he rode him for 95.25 points in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
According to Probullstats.com, Bushwacker also finished his career with the third-highest bull score in PBR history. His 46.16-point average marking ranks only behind Dillinger’s 46.83 points in 49 outs and Bodacious’s 46.4 points in five outs. Bushwacker’s average score is also slightly better than Little Yellow Jacket’s (46.13).
