Dick Slater
Dick Slater | |
---|---|
Birth name | Richard Van Slater |
Born | Albany, New York, U.S.[1] | May 19, 1951
Died | October 18, 2018 Largo, Florida, U.S. | (aged 67)
Alma mater | University of Tampa |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Dick Slater[1][2] Mr. Florida[3] |
Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[4] |
Billed weight | 233 lb (106 kg)[4] |
Trained by | Hiro Matsuda Eddie Graham |
Debut | May 8, 1972 |
Retired | 1996 |
Richard Van Slater (May 19, 1951 – October 18, 2018)[1] better known by his ring name "Dirty" Dick Slater, was an American professional wrestler who wrestled in the 1970s, 1980s, and mid-1990s for various promotions including Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
Slater began wrestling with
In June 2004, Slater was convicted for the stabbing of his former girlfriend Theresa Halbert. He was sentenced to one year of house arrest and two years of probation. He blamed the incident on influence from painkillers.
Early life
Slater began wrestling in 1968 with Mike Graham at Thomas Richard Robinson High School in Tampa, Florida. Eddie Graham purchased a wrestling mat for his high school and started a high school wrestling program there. He wrestled in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), a program that trained young wrestlers to go to the Olympics.
Slater went to the University of Tampa, where he played football in addition to wrestling (among his teammates were John Matuszak and Paul Orndorff). He had a chance to play football for the Miami Dolphins but declined the opportunity, deciding to wrestle instead. After going to a national AAU meet, he was approached by Mike Graham, who asked him if he wanted to become a professional wrestler; Slater decided to go to the Tampa Sportatorium to train as a professional wrestler. There, he was trained by Jack Brisco, Bob Roop, Hiro Matsuda, and Bill Watts. Slater also became good friends with Dick Murdoch around this time.
Professional wrestling career
Championship Wrestling from Florida (1972-1975)
Slater debuted in 1972 with
Georgia Championship Wrestling (1972–1983)
After leaving CWF, Slater worked in California alongside
Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (1983–1985)
In 1983, Slater was working in
Slater has said that Crockett ran one of the hardest promotions to work for; in addition to wrestling for Crockett, Slater was also booking three other promotions, Bill Watts’, Joe Blanchard’s, and Paul Boesch's.[5] For a time in Mid-Atlantic, Slater was managed by Gary Hart.[8] While in Mid-Atlantic, Slater won the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship,[9] the NWA Television Championship[10] and the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship[11] He also independently declared himself the true NWA World Heavyweight Champion during Flair's title reign, creating his own belt, and was involved in another program with Flair.
Mid-South Wrestling Association (1985–1986)
In 1985, Slater left Mid-Atlantic and went to
World Wrestling Federation (1986–1987)
Slater wrestled briefly for the
All Japan Pro Wrestling (1987–1990)
After departing WWF, Slater toured All Japan Pro Wrestling on numerous occasions between 1987 and 1990. He teamed with Tommy Rich to participate in the 1988 Real World Tag League for the vacant World Tag Team Championship but the duo lost all of their matches in the tournament.[15] On May 13, 1989, Slater and Danny Spivey unsuccessfully challenged Jumbo Tsuruta and Yoshiaki Yatsu for the World Tag Team Championship.[16] Later that year, Slater formed a tag team with Joel Deaton. The duo participated in the 1990 Real World Tag League to crown the new World Tag Team Champions and won only two matches by defeating the teams of Doug Furnas and Ricky Santana and Mighty Inoue and Rusher Kimura.[17]
American Wrestling Association (1987)
Slater had a brief run in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) where he was supposedly a bodyguard for AWA champion Curt Hennig.
World Championship Wrestling (1989–1996)
J-Tex Corporation; Hardliners (1989–1991)
Slater returned to
Slater returned to WCW in the summer of 1991 and formed a tag team with
United States Tag Team Champion (1992)
On the July 4 episode of
Stud Stable (1993–1996)
Slater returned to WCW in 1993 as the injured
Slater and Buck continued to perform in the tag team division without Parker. At
Rough n Ready (1996)
Slater reunited with Col. Robert Parker in mid-1996. At
Personal life
Slater had three brothers, George, Russell and Carl Slater. He had four half-sisters, Nancy, Donna, Sandra and Catherine Slater. He had one daughter.
By 2003, Slater was largely confined to a wheelchair after a number of back surgeries. In June 2004, Slater was convicted of attacking his then-girlfriend, Theresa Halbert. On December 27, 2003, it was reported that Slater had stabbed Halbert with a butcher's knife. Slater claimed that the night before the incident, he had received "a shot of morphine and two forty milligram Oxycontins" at an emergency room, related to his numerous back injuries. In an interview with Mid-Atlantic Gateway, Slater said that "It was all drug related ... most of it all. I mean, I couldn’t tell you what happened ... if I didn’t know what happened...I really don’t know what actually took place, other than I was ... I woke up in Intensive Care in the hospital. I had gone to the hospital by ambulance the night before ... ". On June 10, 2004, Slater was sentenced to one year of house arrest and two years of probation. He was also sentenced to keep away from Halbert and pay more than $18,000 restitution.[49][50]
Before coming to Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, Slater was involved in an incident where Wahoo McDaniel shot him. Slater, McDaniel, Tommy Rich, and André the Giant were at a bar in Atlanta when someone in the bar made a comment about Rich's wife, which angered Rich and McDaniel. The man who had commented about Rich's wife got a knife, and seeing that, McDaniel got out a gun. André and Slater went out to the parking lot and watched the altercation; while they were watching McDaniel pistol-whip the man, the gun went off and Slater was hit by the bullet in the leg. Slater told the police that a sniper had shot him; he would return to the ring in just three weeks. Slater was also famous for an altercation in a bar in Tampa, Florida with John Matuszak, which Slater won.[8]
Another incident saw him beat up a rookie Sting and flush his head down a toilet after believing he was getting too close to his ex-girlfriend Dark Journey.[51]
Death
WWE released a statement on October 18, 2018, announcing that Slater had died.[52] Wrestling trainer and close friend Les Thatcher acknowledged that Slater had died on his Twitter account.[53] His death was also confirmed by on-screen adversary Ric Flair, who paid tribute on YouTube.[54] According to the NWA's Twitter account, Slater died due to heart complications.[55]
Championships and accomplishments
- All Japan Pro Wrestling
- Champion Carnival Technical Award (1979)[56]
- World's Strongest Tag Determination League Outstanding Performance Award (1980) – with Ricky Steamboat[57]
- World's Strongest Tag Determination League Fair Play Award (1980) – with Ricky Steamboat[57]
- World's Strongest Tag Determination League Technique Award (1982) – with Harley Race[58]
- World's Strongest Tag Determination League Excite Award (1990) – with Joel Deaton[59]
- Championship Wrestling from Florida
- NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Florida version) (1 time)[60]
- NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (2 times)[61]
- Toru Tanaka (1), and Johnny Weaver (1)[62]
- NWA Florida Television Championship (2 times)[63]
- NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version) (4 times)[64]
- NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Florida version) (1 time) – with Killer Karl Kox[65]
- Georgia Championship Wrestling
- International Wrestling Association of Japan
- Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling / World Championship Wrestling
- NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[71][72]
- NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[9]
- NWA Television Championship (2 times)[10]
- 1 time) – with The Barbarian[73]
- Bunkhouse Buck (1)[74]
- Mid-South Wrestling Association / Universal Wrestling Federation
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him # 153 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.[78]
- Southeastern Championship Wrestling
- Southwest Championship Wrestling
- 2 times)[81]
- SCW Southwest Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Bob Sweetan[82]
- Bruiser Brody[83]
- St. Louis Wrestling Club
- United States Wrestling Association
- 1 time)[85]
- World Wrestling Council
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Worst Tag Team (1995) with Bunkhouse Buck
References
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- ^ a b "Dick Slater". Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. Archived from the original on 2008-11-16. Retrieved 2008-09-15.
- ^ "Wrestler: Mr. Florida (1973)". cwfarchives.com. Retrieved 2008-09-15.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
- ^ a b c "Dick Slater". Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved 2008-09-15.
- ^ The Ultimate Ric Flair Collection (DVD). World Wrestling Entertainment. 2003-11-18. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
- ^ "Ric Flair: Now and Always 'The Man'". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2008-04-12. Retrieved 2008-05-04.
- ^ a b "Dick Slater". Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
- ^ a b "N.W.A. Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved 2008-09-15.
- ^ a b "N.W.A. Television Title". Wrestling-titles.com. Archived from the original on 2008-04-12. Retrieved 2008-09-15.
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- ^ a b "Dick Slater". Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
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- ^ "WCW Ring Results 1989". The History of WWE. Retrieved 2018-05-06.
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- ^ prowrestlinghistory.com (September 12, 1989). "Clash of Champions Results (VIII)".
- ^ Matt Peddycord (8 January 2011). "NWA Clash of the Champions VIII 9/12/1989". Wrestling Recaps. Retrieved 2018-05-06.
- ^ a b "Dick Slater". Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
- ^ Matt Peddycord (31 January 2011). "WCW Clash of the Champions XV 6/14/1991". Wrestling Recaps. Retrieved 2018-05-06.
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{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Slater discusses attempted murder charge". Slam! Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-09-15.[dead link]
- ^ Kaye, Griffin (2023) "Sting and Dick Slater: Their Dirty, One-Sided Backstage Fight", Pro Wrestling Stories (retrieved: December 16, 2024)
- ^ "Dick Slater passes away". WWE. Retrieved Aug 6, 2019.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-10-20. Retrieved 2018-10-18.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Whitley, David (19 October 2018). "Legendary tough guy 'Dirty' Dick Slater taps out for good". orlandosentinel.com. Retrieved Aug 6, 2019.
- ^ "'Dirty' Dick Slater passes away at 67". WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, UFC News, UFC results. 2018-10-18. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
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- ^ "N.W.A. Florida Brass Knuckles Title". Wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
- ^ "Florida Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
- ^ "Florida Tag Team Title". Wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
- ^ "N.W.A. Florida Television Title". Wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
- ^ "N.W.A. Southern Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
- ^ "N.W.A. United States Tag Team Title". Wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
- ^ "NWA Wildside Heavyweight Title NWA Georgia". NWA Wildside. Archived from the original on 2008-05-25. Retrieved 2008-09-15.
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- ^ "North American Heavyweight Title". Wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved 2008-09-15.
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- ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Top 500 Wrestlers of the PWI Years". Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on 2011-05-15. Retrieved 2008-09-15.
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External links
- Dick Slater's profile at Cagematch.net, Wrestlingdata.com, Internet Wrestling Database
- Dick Slater at IMDb