Rick Williams

Infobox Wrestler
name=Rick Williams
names=Rio, Lord of the Jungle
Renegade
height=5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
weight=255 lb (116 kg)
birth_date = birth date|1965|10|16|mf=y
death_date = death date and age|1999|2|23|1965|10|16|mf=y
birth_place = Atlanta, Georgia
resides=
billed=Parts Unknown
trainer=Terry Taylor
Jody Hamilton
WCW Power Plant
debut=1992
retired=|

Richard "Rick" C. Williams (October 16, 1965 - February 23, 1999) was an American professional wrestler, better known as Renegade.

Career

Williams began wrestling in 1992 after a stint as a male stripper. He went by the name Rio, Lord of the Jungle but achieved no real success on the independent circuit.

World Championship Wrestling

The Ultimate Surprise

Williams's career peaked in 1995 when he was hired by World Championship Wrestling. During early 1995, Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage were involved in the main-event feud with the Dungeon of Doom stable. For a big upcoming tag team match, Hogan and Savage began claiming that their mystery partner would be "the Ultimate Surprise" [ [http://www.wrestlecrap.com/oldinductions.html The Renegade: Hulk Hogan's Ultimate Surprise winds up being the biggest knock off this side of Mr. Pibb.] ] and showed a silhouette of a man with long hair and tassels tied to his arms, implying that the Ultimate Warrior was the man in question. When the day arrived, fans saw a very familiar-looking man to very familiar-sounding theme music. He was called The Renegade, billed by Hogan as "the man that's gonna bring Hulkamania into the 21st Century", and wrestled in the exact same style as the Ultimate Warrior.

WCW World Television Champion and debut of the real Ultimate Warrior

Managed by Jimmy Hart, Williams soon overran many heels and eventually won the WCW World Television Championship from Arn Anderson. By this stage, however, the real Ultimate Warrior had appeared in several wrestling magazines, dispelling the belief of some fans that Williams was the Ultimate Warrior. He was forced to wrestle under a new name (like John Tenta, Ed Leslie, and Ray Traylor); his original name was trademarked by the World Wrestling Federation, as the court sided in favor of Warrior. As Renegade's fanbase quickly evaporated, he dropped the Television Championship to Diamond Dallas Page. During the November 6, 1995 edition of "Nitro", Renegade was buried on TV by a heel Jimmy Hart when Hart "re-possessed" the gimmick saying: "You're not a Renegade! You're just plain Rick!" He then receded into the background.

Decline

Over the next two years, Williams was steadily de-pushed, eventually languishing as a jobber on the WCW "b-shows" "WCW Thunder" and "WCW Saturday Night" and put in a feud with former tag team partner and jobber Joe Gomez that went nowhere. He was used as a stunt double for the Ultimate Warrior when he joined WCW for a short period in 1998.

Death

WCW opted not to renew Williams's contract in late 1998 and Williams, severely depressed, committed suicide on February 23, 1999. Arn Anderson, who initially put Williams over, would lament his death in an interview saying that too much was expected of him by WCW being where he was in his wrestling career to be pushed to the level of Hulk Hogan.

Wrestling facts

*Finishing and signature moves:*"Renegade Splash" (Diving splash):*Bearhug:*Clothesline, often multiple in succession:*Diving double axe handle:*Front powerslam:*Running or a leaping shoulder block:*Shoulderbreaker

Championships and accomplishments

*World Championship Wrestling:*WCW World Television Championship (1 time)

*Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards:*Worst Wrestler (1995)

References

External links

* [http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/r/renegade.html Renegade] at [http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/ Online World of Wrestling]