The Renegade

**Richard "Rick" Lee Wilson** (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 WCW World Television Champion.

## Early life

On October 16, 1965, Wilson was born in Marietta, Georgia and lived an abusive childhood; his father was in jail for his involvement in a car accident, and his stepfather frequently beat him. He graduated from Columbus High School in 1983 and worked as a male exotic dancer in the New England area.

## Professional wrestling career

Wilson trained to wrestle under Killer Kowalski and debuted in 1992 under the ring name "Rio, Lord of the Jungle". During his early career, Wilson wrestled for the Japanese promotion WAR.

In 1995, Wilson was signed by World Championship Wrestling. Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage were involved in the main event feud with Ric Flair and Vader. 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, Wilson, under the ring name The Renegade, was billed by Hogan as "the man that's gonna bring Hulkamania into the 21st Century."

Soon after his debut, The Renegade acquired Jimmy Hart as his manager and soon defeated several heels 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.

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 Wilson 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. He then went on to lose to Orndorff on an episode of *Main Event* preceding Halloween Havoc the next month in less than two minutes.

On the November 6 episode of *Nitro*, after losing to Kevin Sullivan, Jimmy Hart turned on Renegade before ultimately burying him by splashing water in his face to remove his facepaint before saying "You're not a Renegade! You're just plain Rick!"

Wilson returned to television on the February 26, 1996 episode of *Nitro* as The Renegade, in a losing effort to Lex Luger. Upon returning, Renegade's signature facepaint and singlet were replaced with trunks and tribal armbands.

After wrestling sporadically at house shows, Renegade returned on the July 1 episode of *Nitro*, where he teamed up with Joe Gomez and The Rock 'n' Roll Express in a losing effort to The Four Horsemen. After competing in the World War 3 battle royal, which was won by The Giant, Renegade formed a short-lived tag team with Joe Gomez in late 1996, though the team was not successful as they were relegated to being jobbers.

After their team ended in early 1997, Renegade turned heel for the first time in his career during a match with Scotty Riggs on the March 22 episode of *Saturday Night*, which he lost. Renegade remained a jobber while competing sporadically on *Nitro*, *Thunder*, and *Saturday Night*. After a five-month hiatus, Renegade returned on the August 12 episode of *Saturday Night* in a losing effort to Super Caló.

Renegade would remain utilized as a jobber throughout the rest of 1997 and 1998 before wrestling the final match of his career on the December 7 episode of *Nitro*, which he lost to Wrath. He was released from WCW soon after. He then worked as a bouncer and was training to be a farrier, a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses' hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves, if necessary.

## Death

Severe depression continued to increase for Wilson after being released from WCW as well as a financial situation, and the fact that no other wrestling companies had any contractual offers submitted to him.

Wilson died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head on February 23, 1999. Police said that he was arguing with his girlfriend, who lived with him in the home, when he suddenly pulled out a .380 caliber pistol in the kitchen and shot himself with it. He was 33 years old and had been suffering with drug issues including cocaine.