Rick Williams Richard " Rick " C . Williams ( October 16 , 1965 – February 23 , 1999 ) was an American professional wrestler . He was best known for his tenure in World Championship Wrestling under the ring name ( The ) Renegade , where he was a one time World Television Champion . Career . After a stint as a male stripper , Williams began training under Killer Kowalski in order to become a professional wrestler . After making his debut in 1990 with South Atlantic Pro Wrestling , he began performing on the independent circuit under the ring name Rio , Lord of the Jungle . World Championship Wrestling . Debut . In 1995 , Williams ' s career peaked when he was hired by World Championship Wrestling . Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage were involved in the main event feud with the Dungeon of Doom stable . Leading up to Uncensored , in which Hogan was scheduled to face Vader in a strap match in the main event , Hogan began hyping an " Ultimate Surprise " 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 . On March 19 at Uncensored , Williams , under the ring name The Renegade , was billed by Hogan as " the man that ' s gonna bring Hulkamania into the 21st Century " . World Television Champion and debut of the Ultimate Warrior . Soon after his debut , The Renegade acquired Jimmy Hart as his manager and soon overran many villains while utilizing mannerisms , moves and entrance music very similar to the Ultimate Warrior ' s . On June 18 , 1995 , Renegade defeated Arn Anderson for the World Television Championship at The Great American Bash , his first and only championship . The following month at Bash at the Beach , Renegade defeated " Mr . Wonderful " Paul Orndorff to retain his title for the first time . Under a month later on Clash of the Champions XXI , Renegade again retained his title in a rematch with Orndorff . However , a few months later , the real Ultimate Warrior had appeared in several wrestling magazines and dispelled the belief that Williams was the Ultimate Warrior . As a result , Renegade ' s momentum was virtually halted before he subsequently lost the World Television Title to Diamond Dallas Page on September 17 at Fall Brawl . On the November 6 edition of " Monday Nitro " , after losing to Kevin Sullivan , Jimmy Hart turned on Renegade before ultimately burying him by " re - possessing " the gimmick before saying " You ' re not a Renegade ! You ' re just plain Rick ! " . Williams would then not be seen on WCW television for nearly a half a year . Decline and departure . On the July 1 , 1996 edition of " Nitro " , Williams returned to television under his Renegade ring name but without the character ' s signature facepaint and singlet attire , instead sporting short trunks with tribal armbands , as he teamed up with Joe Gomez and The Rock ' n ' Roll Express in a losing effort to The Four Horsemen . Williams again disappeared from television until he returned to compete in the World War 3 battle royal , which was won by The Giant . Following this , The Renegade formed a short - lived tag team with Joe Gomez that spanned from late 1996 to early 1997 , though the team was not successful as they lost every match they were placed in . Renegade was then relegated to being an undercard talent on the WCW " B - shows " " Thunder " and " Saturday Night " before he was later put into a minor feud with former tag team partner and enhancement talent Joe Gomez . Following this , he again disappeared from television and only competed in two pay - per - view matches between 1997 and 1998 , both of which were the World War 3 battle royals of both years . When the Ultimate Warrior arrived in WCW in 1998 , Williams was used as his stunt double until the Warrior departed from the promotion soon after his debut . In late 1998 , Williams was released from his contract and he retired soon after . Death . Severely depressed following his release , Williams committed suicide on February 23 , 1999 ; he was 33 years old .