Steve Rickard
Encyclopedia
Sydney Mervin "Merv" Batt (born 3 September 1929), best known by his ring name Steve Rickard, is a retired New Zealand
professional wrestler, trainer
and promoter
. As a wrestler, he travelled throughout the world during the 1960s and '70s, often visiting countries where professional wrestling was unknown such as southeast Asia
, and was one of the top competitors to come from New Zealand during that era. Rickard was a frequent opponent for many foreign wrestlers travelling overseas including NWA World Heavyweight Champions
such as Jack Brisco
, Dory Funk, Jr.
, Harley Race
and "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair
. He also had high-profile matches with Karl Gotch, Killer Kowalski
, The Destroyer
, Andre the Giant
, Abe Jacobs
and King Kong as well.
He is a former NWA Australasian Heavyweight Champion
, a 3-time NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Champion
, and a record 8-time NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Champion
. He and Mark Lewin
were also the first NWA Australasian Tag Team Champions
in the early-1980s.
Rickard is considered one of the most influential figures in New Zealand professional wrestling
in the latter half of the 20th century. He took over the Dominion Wrestling Union
after the death of founder Walter Miller in 1959 and ran it for two years. In 1962, he established All Star Pro Wrestling, also known as NWA New Zealand internationally, which eventually succeeded the DWU and remained the country's single major promotion for the next 30 years. He and Australian promoter Jim Barnett
were responsible for bringing foreign wrestlers, especially from Canada and the United States, back to the Pacific region by the late 1960s. He was also the creator of On the Mat
, one of the country's longest running sports programmes from 1975 to 1984, and its short-lived spin-off The Main Event in 1990.
Rickard was also a successful hotelier and businessman before and after his wrestling career, most notably, establishing one the first gyms in Wellington
and running the Hutt Park Hotel for 15 years. After his in-ring retirement in 1989, he remained involved in the wrestling industry. He served as President of the NWA during the early to mid-1990s first shared between himself, Howard Brody, Dennis Coralluzzo and Jim Crockett, Jr.
from 1993 to 1995, and alone from 1995 to 1996. He was also a one-time a director of the Cauliflower Alley Club
and honoured by the organisation in 1997.
. He joined an amateur wrestling
club at age 14, and left school that same year to work three jobs to help support his mother and younger brothers. As a young man, he joined the national police force
in Napier and later transferred to Wellington
where he worked as a police detective with the Criminal Investigation Branch
. He eventually left the police force and bought the Hutt Park Hotel which he owned for the next 15 years.
Rickard started competing as an amateur wrestler in Napier during the 1940s, wrestling in the national championships New Zealand wide, and later began training wrestlers himself. According to Rickard, he "used to train the wrestlers and get some place or another where you could put a mat down" before building his own facility though "the conditions generally were not very good at all". Rickard continued his training in Wellington and eventually opened one of the city's first gyms on Cuba Street
.
. In 1963, Rickard won his first major title when he defeated Hobman for the NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Championship
. He briefly lost it to Peter Maivia
in Auckland on 3 August 1964, but regained it in Wellington three days later. Rickard eventually lost the title back to Hobman later that year. On the advice of Ricky Wallace, he later began travelling overseas. His first international tour was to Australia and then shortly afterwards went on to New Caledonia
, Tonga
, Samoa
, Fiji
, and Hawaii
. He also wrestled throughout Canada and the United States early in his career.
During the next two decades, Rickard's professional wrestling career would take him to countries throughout the world and many were where in places where professional wrestling had never been promoted before; he would make numerous trips to Australia and Singapore, and wrestle in Japan
, Taiwan
, Hong Kong
, Thailand
, Malaysia, Indonesia
, India
and most of the major Pacific Islands
including New Hebrides
, Western Samoa, American Samoa
, Tahiti
and Hawaii. He eventually became one of the top wrestlers to compete internationally during the 1960s and 70s and often faced many prominent stars of the era. He was the opponent of many NWA World Heavyweight Champions
in bouts outside North America, such as Jack Brisco
and Dory Funk, Jr.
, and was also involved in high-profile matches with The Destroyer
, Andre the Giant
, Abe Jacobs
and King Kong, the latter billed as "the uncrowned Heavyweight Champion of the World". His bouts in Australia against Killer Kowalski
were called "real blood baths". He also wrestled Karl Gotch while touring Canada in 1965 and publicly praised his scientific abilities afterwards as “a true wrestler with all the science that we are led to believe the greats of earlier generations possessed – men like Jim Londos, Dick Shikat, Stan Zbyszko and others".
. He teamed with Kurt von Stroheim, a tag team champion in the United States and Australia with his brother Karl, and lost to Giant Baba & Antonio Inoki
in both their encounters in Singapore
and Hong Kong
. On the second day of the tour, on 15 July, he and von Stroheim wrestled Giant Baba & Michiaki Yoshimura at Victoria City's South China Stadium in front of 5,000 fans. Four months later in Tokyo
, approximately 8,500 were in attendance when Rickard fought to a double-countout with Kantaro Hoshino at the Sumo Hall.
That same year, while wrestling out of Singapore, Rickard was visiting the Indonesia
n capital of Jakarta
with several other wrestlers. While arriving at an airport, he and two other wrestlers, King Kong and Mr. X, started a brawl with Shintaro Fuji, Jack Claybourne, and Charlie Londos. The local populace was unfamiliar with professional wrestling at the time and when Jack Claybourne, a French-speaking African from Martinique
, was seen being attacked by masked wrestler Mr. X it was presumed to be a racially motivated assault
. As the country was then under control of the military, truckloads of soldiers were called in and soon arrived the airport. All six wrestlers fled to the runway where Rickard flagged down a small plane getting ready to take off. Boarding the plane, the pilot refused to take off until the soldiers began firing and one of the bullets went through the plane's fuselage
. Flying back to Singapore, a friend gave Mr. X a newspaper cutting with a picture of the airport brawl. The headline read "Steve Rickard and Ku Klux Klan
gangsters from Australia in racial attack at airport". Rickard and the other wrestlers were allowed to reenter the country to appear for their match after local promoter Ranjid Singh offered a "sweetener" during a meeting with military leaders.
Rickard was involved in other incidents during his international travels. He was riding a train in India when it was bombed in a terrorist attack. He was also once stranded in Greece
when the government closed down the country's airports during trouble with Turkey.
"son" Young Kong, which was considered a great honour at the time given Kong's legendary reputation throughout Asia at the time and Rickard's bouts in India drew thousands of people. At one point, at a show in Zijayawada, he was the only non-Indian wrestler booked for the event and many of the local Indian wrestlers were favored by the crowd. Rickard was scheduled to face Tiger Sucha Singh, a top star in the area at the time, and defeated him after 50 minutes. Fans charged the ring almost immediately after the bout, but instead of reacting violently, they "hoisted on their shoulders and carried from the ring". Returning to Singapore after the tour, Rickard visited King Kong in hospital two days before his death on 16 May 1970. The next day at his funeral, he served as King Kong's pallbearer
along with five other wrestlers.
That same year, Rickard was profiled by Fight Times Magazine and which claimed that he was "rapidly becoming known as the greatest globetrotter in wrestling". At the time of the article, he was on a tour in Australia and was to travel to Japan and then return to New Zealand via the United States and Hawaii. Rickard had wrestled in the US earlier in his career and had a brief stint in the Carolinas where he teamed with fellow New Zealander Abe Jacobs
before returning to Singapore choosing to honour a prior commitment with local promoters there by opening for them in their new season. While wrestling for Frank Tunney
and Maple Leaf Wrestling
, he faced Giant Jean Ferre
in front of 14,000 people at the Maple Leaf Gardens
on 14 November 1971.
, for longtime promoter Walter Miller. After Miller's death in 1959, Rickard ran the DWU before forming his own promotion, All Star Pro Wrestling, three years later. Although he would only run cards on and off during the next few years, Rickard's organisation would eventually succeed the DWU as the country's single major wrestling promotion for the next 30 years.
Walter's death caused a decline in wrestling, not only in New Zealand, but for the entire Australasian region as appearances from foreign wrestlers declined to only a few each year. Rickard and John da Silva
, who ran the rival Central Wrestling Alliance, sought to develop their own stars during early to mid 1960s such as Al Hobman, Tony Garea, Peter Maivia
, and The Sheepherders
. He and fellow wrestler Joe Komone also discovered future Australian heavyweight champion Earl Black and who spent his rookie year for Rickard in Wellington before going to work for Australian promoters Hal Morgan and Jim Barnett
in Sydney.
Eventually, he and Jim Barnett of World Championship Wrestling in Australia were able to work together to bring back foreign wrestlers to the Pacific within a few years. By the late 1960s, New Zealand was being regularly visited by Australian wrestlers Ron Miller and Larry O'Day
of Barnett's World Championship Wrestling, Robert Bruce
from Scotland, Canadians Gordon Nelson and George Gordienko
, and French wrestler Andre the Giant
. In 1972, he helped book one of the biggest tours to date when US wrestlers Big Bad John, Bulldog Brower
, Les Wolff
, King Curtis Iaukea
, Spiros Arion
, Mark Lewin
, Thunderbolt Patterson, Sweet Daddy Siki
, Tarzan Tyler, Dewey Robertson
and Big Haystacks Calhoun
wrestled throughout the country. The American wrestlers proved very popular with the public and a few, such as Calhoun and his wife, were featured in the national media.
In 1972, Rickard's partnership with Jim Barnett ended when Barnett sold his share of Big Time Wrestling and went back to the United States. By this time, Rickard had decided to promote All Star Pro-Wrestling full-time in New Zealand as live events were proving extremely popular. His shows sold out the Wellington Winter Show Buildings ten weeks in a row and often had to turn away hundreds of spectators. On one occasion, Rickard had to rescue his wife from angry fans who, when told the show had sold out, began rocking the small ticket booth.
Many wrestlers from throughout the world, especially from Canada and the United States, would come to wrestle for Rickard's All Star Pro-Wrestling for the next decade. Not only were these some of the top wrestlers of the NWA at the time but younger wrestlers as well. Rick Martel
made one of his first international tours for Rickard in 1974 and later became a major star for his promotion.
, the program was to showcase both the country's top wrestlers and international stars of the period. He used footage taken from one of his earlier events at the Wellington Winter Show Buildings had a film pilot made which he used to "pitch" the idea to TV1 but it passed on the show. Rickard had to wait two years until the founding of a second network, TV2, which was more favourable to the idea of a wrestling program.
After meeting with then programme director Kevan Moore, Rickard developed the show with South Pacific Pictures
. The first episode of On the Mat
premiered in 1975, with Ernie Leonard and Rickard as the play-by-play announcer, and was an instant success. It remained on the air for 9 years, being broadcast in several countries, and became New Zealand's longest-running sports show. During the show's off-season, he and the All Star Pro-Wrestlers spent the three months wrestling overseas touring the Middle East, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Hawaii.
Rickard often stepped out of his role as announcer and actively competed on the show. On 22 June 1978, he defeated Toru Tanaka for the NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Champions
. He and Tanaka traded the belt twice in a two-month period and Rickard went on to hold the title a record 8-times in the next five years.
Rickard also started promoting outside New Zealand and, in June 1979, he began holding weekly matches at Block Arena in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and monthly events at the Blaisdell Center Arena
in downtown Honolulu
. He had a television contract with KGMB-TV
, retaining Lord Blears as his announcer, and featured Rick Martel, Siva Afi, "Pretty Boy" Larry Sharpe
, Don Muraco
, Rocky Johnson
, Billy White Wolf, Karl von Steiger, Ripper Collins and other NWA stars. He also used many of his own wrestlers such as The Sheepherders
and, based partly on their television appearances, were seen by US promoters and eventually brought to the United States. He sold his territorial rights in Hawaii to Peter Maivia a year later.
He also continued wrestling in New Zealand during this time meeting NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race
in Hamilton on 11 September 1979, and defeating the world champion via disqualification, and teaming with Rick Martel to defeat Mr. Fuji
& Casey Mille in Auckland a month later.
His two sons, Ricky
and Tony Rickard, were trained by Rickard and also involved in the promotion and sometimes featured in its storylines. In 1981, Steve Rickard feuded with Larry O'Day
over the NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship after O'Day broke the leg of one of his sons. Ricky Rickard, though his career was brief, became an accomplished wrestler in his own right by capturing his father's title from Butcher Brannigan two years later. On one occasion, unrelated to an ongoing storyline, Ricky was wrestling in a tag team match refereed by his brother Tony and commentated by their father.
On 8 October 1981, he and Mark Lewin
were awarded the NWA Australasian Tag Team Championship
and held the titles for nearly seven months. Though they lost the titles to King Kamaka
& Baron Von Krupp
in Auckland the following year, they regained the titles on 27 May 1982. Their second and final reign lasted two months and ended when they were beaten by King Kamaka & Ox Baker
on 19 August.
Though foreign stars, especially from the US, were becoming harder to find by the early 1980s, Rickard was able to bring in Harley Race, Abdullah the Butcher
and "The Original Sheik" Ed Farhat
as well as younger wrestlers such as Bret Hart
and Barry Darsow
. Darsow, who wrestled as Mongol Zar, later defeated him for the NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship
in 1983 but quickly regained it. That same year, the 54-year-old Rickard won the national championship from Siva Afi and vacated shortly afterwards. It had been twenty years since he had last held the title. Also, on 4 March 1983, he fought "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair
for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in Hamilton, New Zealand
.
The poor New Zealand economy, as well as the decline of the NWA in the face of the national expansion of the World Wrestling Federation, made importing foreign wrestlers extremely difficult and finally Rickard could no longer afford to produce the show and was forced to cancel On the Mat by 1984.
for NWA World champions during the 1970s and 80s. He was responsible for the unsanctioned title switch between Ric Flair and Harley Race at the Wellington Town Hall
on 21 March 1984, and in Geylang, Singapore
three days later. Race, who had been friends with Rickard for many years, agreed to this in an attempt to help revive wrestling in Australasia then in decline. Flair also went along with it later commenting "If Harley Race OK'd it, it was hard for anyone to tell them different". It has been worked out a "backroom deal", mostly to keep it a secret from wrestling "dirt sheets" such as the Wrestling Observer, however the NWA objected to being left out of the planning and refused to recognize these title changes for several years.
After the cancellation of On the Mat, Rickard continued to promote shows with All Star Pro-Wrestling and attempted several international tours. In the mid-1980s, he spent time in NWA Hawaii where he defended the Commonwealth title against Larry O'Day and Lars Anderson
. He also teamed with his son Tony against Larry O'Day & Ripper Collins in a best 2-of-3 falls match for the NWA Australasian Tag Team titles
.
Rickard retired from active competition in 1989, shortly before his 60th birthday, as a result of a series of injures sustained during his career. He underwent surjury to have had both his hips and knees replaced, and an untreated shoulder dislocation sustained during an overseas tour would continue to trouble him for many years.
. Like On the Mat, the show featured local New Zealand talent as well as international wrestlers such as the Mongolian Mauler, the Russian Brute, Al Green
, Lou Perez
, The Bull
, The Terminator
, and The Nasty Boys
(Brian Knobs & Jerry Sags
). The main star, however, was Siva Afi who won the NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship
from Canadian Stockman in Auckland on 13 July 1990. Although Rickard had a less active role in the show outside his duties as announcer he had a small role in its storylines. While serving as the guest ring announcer for a championship tournament in 1991, for example, he was attacked the Mongolian Mauler after losing to Siva Afi in the finals. The program was unable to match the ratings of its rival on TV2 (New Zealand), WWF Superstars of Wrestling
, and was cancelled after 11 episodes.
Though All Star Pro-Wrestling ceased promoting shortly after the cancellation of the show, Rickard remained a member of the NWA up until the mid-1990s. In 1994, he reappeared in NWA Hawaii where he wrestled Jerry "The King" Lawler
, with Brian Christopher
in his corner, at the Honolulu Stadium
. He also served as president of the organisation, along with Howard Brody, Dennis Coralluzzo and Jim Crockett, Jr.
from 1993 to 1995, and then alone until 1996. He was also involved with the Cauliflower Alley Club
, a professional wrestling and boxing fraternal society, and was on the board of directors
at one time; he became an official honouree of the organisation in 1997.
He continued promoting wrestling events into the 21st century running occasional events in southeast Asia. On 12 December 2004, he organised a show at the Singapore Indoor Stadium
featuring the first steel cage match held in Singapore in over a decade and headlined by Dusty Wolfe, The Honky Tonk Man
, Warlord
and The Barbarian
.
. He has been referred to as "the Vince McMahon
of New Zealand wrestling" by the New Zealand Herald and credited as "the man who turned wrestling into home entertainment" with his On the Mat program. He has also received praise from the internet wrestling community being called "one of New Zealand's greatest wrestlers" by the Pro Wrestling Torch.
In June 2007, Rickard was interviewed by KiwiProWrestling.co.nz
where he reflected on his amateur and professional career. On 13 June 2008, Rickard visited Kiwi Pro Wrestling
's "Wild 4 Wrestling" training facility where he met with KPW CEO Rip Morgan
, "Irishman" Mike Ryan and several of its students, most notably, Max "the Axe" Damage.
In early-2009, he and his wife Lorraine left their home of 30 years in Oriental Bay
and moved into a retirement home in Greenmeadows outside his birthplace of Napier. On 3 September 2009, Rickard celebrated his 80th birthday in Hawke's Bay
which was attended by around 100 guests including former wrestlers Arthur Sneddon and Joe Fau. The event was covered by the New Zealand Herald. Two months later, he was interviewed for A Kiwi Century On the Mat, an upcoming historical documentary on professional wrestling in New Zealand, a year later. That same year, Dave Cameron of Fight Times Magazine ranked him #4 of a top ten listing of New Zealand's greatest wrestlers. The New Zealand Herald included Rickard in its list of New Zealand's favourite wrestlers as did the Herald columnist Chris Rattue in his own top ten list.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
professional wrestler, trainer
Personal trainer
A personal trainer is a fitness professional involved in exercise prescription and instruction. They motivate clients by setting goals and providing feedback and accountability to clients. Trainers also measure their client's strengths and weaknesses with fitness assessments...
and promoter
Promoter (entertainment)
An entertainment promoter i.e. music, wrestling, boxing etc is a person or company in the business of marketing and promoting live events such as concerts/gigs, boxing matches, sports entertainment , festivals, raves, and nightclubs.- Business model :Promoters are typically hired as independent...
. As a wrestler, he travelled throughout the world during the 1960s and '70s, often visiting countries where professional wrestling was unknown such as southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, and was one of the top competitors to come from New Zealand during that era. Rickard was a frequent opponent for many foreign wrestlers travelling overseas including NWA World Heavyweight Champions
NWA World Heavyweight Championship
The National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the National Wrestling Alliance. Its lineage has been traced from the first World Heavyweight Championship, which traces its lineage to Georg Hackenschmidt's 1905 title and...
such as Jack Brisco
Jack Brisco
Freddie Joe Brisco was an American professional wrestler, better known as Jack Brisco or Uvalde Slim. He performed for various territories of the National Wrestling Alliance , becoming a two-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, and multi-time NWA Tag Team Champion with his brother Gerald Brisco...
, Dory Funk, Jr.
Dory Funk, Jr.
Dory Ernest Funk Jr. known professionally as Dory Funk, Jr. is a professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. He is the son of Dory Funk Sr. and brother of Terry Funk. He is credited with the invention of the Texas cloverleaf submission hold and runs the Funking Conservatory, a professional...
, Harley Race
Harley Race
Harley Leland Race is a retired American professional wrestler and current promoter and trainer. During his career as a wrestler, he held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship 7 times...
and "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well-known professional wrestlers in the world....
. He also had high-profile matches with Karl Gotch, Killer Kowalski
Killer Kowalski
Władek "Killer" Kowalski was a Canadian professional wrestler. Kowalski wrestled for numerous promotions during his career, including the NWA and WWF, and was a known heel wrestler...
, The Destroyer
Dick Beyer
Dick Beyer is a retired professional wrestler who is best known by his ring names, The Destroyer or Doctor X.-Early life:...
, Andre the Giant
André the Giant
André René Roussimoff , best known as André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. His best remembered acting role was that of Fezzik, the giant in the film The Princess Bride...
, Abe Jacobs
Abe Jacobs
Abe Jacobs is a retired New Zealand professional wrestler. He was one of the first men to follow fellow New Zealander Pat O'Connor to the United States where, like O'Connor, Jacobs became a major star in the National Wrestling Alliance during the "Golden Age of Wrestling"...
and King Kong as well.
He is a former NWA Australasian Heavyweight Champion
NWA Australasian Heavyweight Championship
The New Zealand version of the NWA Australasian Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling regional heavyweight championship recognized by the National Wrestling Alliance and competed for by wrestlers in the Australasian region. It was largely defended in New Zealand's Dominion Wrestling...
, a 3-time NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Champion
NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Championship
The NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Championship is the primary singles title in the NWA-affiliated wrestling promotion NWA New Zealand. It is the first heavyweight championship in New Zealand and one of the oldest in the world. It was first won by Gisborne Katene who defeated Frank Findlay in 1919...
, and a record 8-time NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Champion
NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship (New Zealand version)
The New Zealand version of the NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship was a professional wrestling heavyweight championship defended in the National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated Dominion Wrestling Union from 1929 to 1953 and in All Star Pro Wrestling from 1968 to 1990...
. He and Mark Lewin
Mark Lewin
-Career:Mark Lewin broke into wrestling in the early '50s and had great early success in a matinee-idol babyface tag team with Don Curtis, headlining in major territories like New York and Chicago. The team's brief heel turn was a shock to its many fans...
were also the first NWA Australasian Tag Team Champions
NWA Australasian Tag Team Championship
The New Zealand version of the NWA Austra-Asian Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team championship defended in the National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated All Star Pro Wrestling from 1981 to 1984. The titles were awarded to Steve Rickard and Mark Lewin on October 8, 1981, and...
in the early-1980s.
Rickard is considered one of the most influential figures in New Zealand professional wrestling
Professional wrestling in New Zealand
Professional wrestling in New Zealand has been promoted in the country from the early 1900s. In 1919, Gisborne Katene became the first national heavyweight champion, though the title was not recognized by the National Wrestling Association until 1925, and promoter Walter Miller began running events...
in the latter half of the 20th century. He took over the Dominion Wrestling Union
Dominion Wrestling Union
The Dominion Wrestling Union was the first professional wrestling promotion in New Zealand. It was one of two organisations first active in the Australasian region, along with Australia's Stadium Limited, and served as the country's single major promotion for 30 years until being succeeded by All...
after the death of founder Walter Miller in 1959 and ran it for two years. In 1962, he established All Star Pro Wrestling, also known as NWA New Zealand internationally, which eventually succeeded the DWU and remained the country's single major promotion for the next 30 years. He and Australian promoter Jim Barnett
Jim Barnett (wrestling)
James E. Barnett was an American professional wrestling promoter, and owner of Georgia Championship Wrestling and Australia's World Championship Wrestling.-Professional wrestling career:...
were responsible for bringing foreign wrestlers, especially from Canada and the United States, back to the Pacific region by the late 1960s. He was also the creator of On the Mat
On the Mat
On the Mat was a professional wrestling television program for the National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated All Star Pro-Wrestling , or simply NWA New Zealand, that aired on Television New Zealand's TV2 from 1975 to 1984...
, one of the country's longest running sports programmes from 1975 to 1984, and its short-lived spin-off The Main Event in 1990.
Rickard was also a successful hotelier and businessman before and after his wrestling career, most notably, establishing one the first gyms in Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
and running the Hutt Park Hotel for 15 years. After his in-ring retirement in 1989, he remained involved in the wrestling industry. He served as President of the NWA during the early to mid-1990s first shared between himself, Howard Brody, Dennis Coralluzzo and Jim Crockett, Jr.
Jim Crockett, Jr.
Jim Crockett, Jr. is a former professional wrestling promoter. From 1973 to 1988, he owned Jim Crockett Promotions , a wrestling company affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance...
from 1993 to 1995, and alone from 1995 to 1996. He was also a one-time a director of the Cauliflower Alley Club
Cauliflower Alley Club
The Cauliflower Alley Club is a non-profit fraternal organization, which includes a newsletter and website, comprising both retired and active professional wrestlers and boxers in North America....
and honoured by the organisation in 1997.
Early life and amateur career
Steve Rickard, born Sydney Mervin "Merv" Batt, grew up in Napier, New ZealandNapier, New Zealand
Napier is a New Zealand city with a seaport, located in Hawke's Bay on the eastern coast of the North Island. The population of Napier is about About 18 kilometres south of Napier is the inland city of Hastings. These two neighboring cities are often called "The Twin Cities" or "The Bay Cities"...
. He joined an amateur wrestling
Amateur wrestling
Amateur wrestling is the most widespread form of sport wrestling. There are two international wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games under the supervision of FILA : Greco-Roman and freestyle. Freestyle is possibly derived from the English Lancashire style...
club at age 14, and left school that same year to work three jobs to help support his mother and younger brothers. As a young man, he joined the national police force
New Zealand Police
The New Zealand Police is the national police force of New Zealand, responsible for enforcing criminal law, enhancing public safety, maintaining order and keeping the peace throughout New Zealand...
in Napier and later transferred to Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
where he worked as a police detective with the Criminal Investigation Branch
Criminal Investigation Branch
The Criminal Investigation Branch is one of the main branches of the New Zealand Police and it is dedicated to investigating and solving serious crime, and targeting organized crime and recidivist criminals. The CIB has existed since the civil Police Force was formed in 1886 by the Police Force...
. He eventually left the police force and bought the Hutt Park Hotel which he owned for the next 15 years.
Rickard started competing as an amateur wrestler in Napier during the 1940s, wrestling in the national championships New Zealand wide, and later began training wrestlers himself. According to Rickard, he "used to train the wrestlers and get some place or another where you could put a mat down" before building his own facility though "the conditions generally were not very good at all". Rickard continued his training in Wellington and eventually opened one of the city's first gyms on Cuba Street
Cuba Street, Wellington
Cuba Street is one of the most prominent streets in Wellington, New Zealand.-Location and origin:Named after an early settler ship to New Zealand, the Cuba, it is to the south of the CBD, but still in the inner city. Cuba Street was once the route of the Wellington trams...
.
Early career as a world journeyman
Rickard was wrestling on the amateur circuit with Ricky Walsh during this time and it was he who convinced Rickard to begin wrestling professionally. He began wrestling for local promoters in Wellington including shows for wrestler Al HobmanAl Hobman
Allan "Al" Hobman was a New Zealand professional wrestler, trainer and promoter. Hobman was one of the first homegrown stars to emerge from the Dominion Wrestling Union, and later Steve Rickard's All Star-Pro Wrestling, during the 1960s and 70s such as Tony Garea, Peter Maivia and The Sheepherders...
. In 1963, Rickard won his first major title when he defeated Hobman for the NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Championship
NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Championship
The NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Championship is the primary singles title in the NWA-affiliated wrestling promotion NWA New Zealand. It is the first heavyweight championship in New Zealand and one of the oldest in the world. It was first won by Gisborne Katene who defeated Frank Findlay in 1919...
. He briefly lost it to Peter Maivia
Peter Maivia
Fanene Leifi Pita Maivia was a American Samoan professional wrestler better known as "High Chief" Peter Maivia. He was head of the famous Samoan wrestling family...
in Auckland on 3 August 1964, but regained it in Wellington three days later. Rickard eventually lost the title back to Hobman later that year. On the advice of Ricky Wallace, he later began travelling overseas. His first international tour was to Australia and then shortly afterwards went on to New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
, Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
, Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
, Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, and Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. He also wrestled throughout Canada and the United States early in his career.
During the next two decades, Rickard's professional wrestling career would take him to countries throughout the world and many were where in places where professional wrestling had never been promoted before; he would make numerous trips to Australia and Singapore, and wrestle in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Malaysia, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and most of the major Pacific Islands
Pacific Islands
The Pacific Islands comprise 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands are also sometimes collectively called Oceania, although Oceania is sometimes defined as also including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago....
including New Hebrides
New Hebrides
New Hebrides was the colonial name for an island group in the South Pacific that now forms the nation of Vanuatu. The New Hebrides were colonized by both the British and French in the 18th century shortly after Captain James Cook visited the islands...
, Western Samoa, American Samoa
American Samoa
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
, Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
and Hawaii. He eventually became one of the top wrestlers to compete internationally during the 1960s and 70s and often faced many prominent stars of the era. He was the opponent of many NWA World Heavyweight Champions
NWA World Heavyweight Championship
The National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the National Wrestling Alliance. Its lineage has been traced from the first World Heavyweight Championship, which traces its lineage to Georg Hackenschmidt's 1905 title and...
in bouts outside North America, such as Jack Brisco
Jack Brisco
Freddie Joe Brisco was an American professional wrestler, better known as Jack Brisco or Uvalde Slim. He performed for various territories of the National Wrestling Alliance , becoming a two-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, and multi-time NWA Tag Team Champion with his brother Gerald Brisco...
and Dory Funk, Jr.
Dory Funk, Jr.
Dory Ernest Funk Jr. known professionally as Dory Funk, Jr. is a professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. He is the son of Dory Funk Sr. and brother of Terry Funk. He is credited with the invention of the Texas cloverleaf submission hold and runs the Funking Conservatory, a professional...
, and was also involved in high-profile matches with The Destroyer
Dick Beyer
Dick Beyer is a retired professional wrestler who is best known by his ring names, The Destroyer or Doctor X.-Early life:...
, Andre the Giant
André the Giant
André René Roussimoff , best known as André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. His best remembered acting role was that of Fezzik, the giant in the film The Princess Bride...
, Abe Jacobs
Abe Jacobs
Abe Jacobs is a retired New Zealand professional wrestler. He was one of the first men to follow fellow New Zealander Pat O'Connor to the United States where, like O'Connor, Jacobs became a major star in the National Wrestling Alliance during the "Golden Age of Wrestling"...
and King Kong, the latter billed as "the uncrowned Heavyweight Champion of the World". His bouts in Australia against Killer Kowalski
Killer Kowalski
Władek "Killer" Kowalski was a Canadian professional wrestler. Kowalski wrestled for numerous promotions during his career, including the NWA and WWF, and was a known heel wrestler...
were called "real blood baths". He also wrestled Karl Gotch while touring Canada in 1965 and publicly praised his scientific abilities afterwards as “a true wrestler with all the science that we are led to believe the greats of earlier generations possessed – men like Jim Londos, Dick Shikat, Stan Zbyszko and others".
Singapore and the Jakarta airport riot
In July 1969, he accompanied the Japanese Wrestling Association on its tour of Southeast AsiaSoutheast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
. He teamed with Kurt von Stroheim, a tag team champion in the United States and Australia with his brother Karl, and lost to Giant Baba & Antonio Inoki
Antonio Inoki
is a Japanese professional wrestling promoter and retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist who now resides between New York City and Tokyo. He was also the founder and former owner of New Japan Pro Wrestling before selling his controlling share in the promotion to Yukes...
in both their encounters in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. On the second day of the tour, on 15 July, he and von Stroheim wrestled Giant Baba & Michiaki Yoshimura at Victoria City's South China Stadium in front of 5,000 fans. Four months later in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, approximately 8,500 were in attendance when Rickard fought to a double-countout with Kantaro Hoshino at the Sumo Hall.
That same year, while wrestling out of Singapore, Rickard was visiting the Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n capital of Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
with several other wrestlers. While arriving at an airport, he and two other wrestlers, King Kong and Mr. X, started a brawl with Shintaro Fuji, Jack Claybourne, and Charlie Londos. The local populace was unfamiliar with professional wrestling at the time and when Jack Claybourne, a French-speaking African from Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
, was seen being attacked by masked wrestler Mr. X it was presumed to be a racially motivated assault
Hate crime
In crime and law, hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, social status or...
. As the country was then under control of the military, truckloads of soldiers were called in and soon arrived the airport. All six wrestlers fled to the runway where Rickard flagged down a small plane getting ready to take off. Boarding the plane, the pilot refused to take off until the soldiers began firing and one of the bullets went through the plane's fuselage
Fuselage
The fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...
. Flying back to Singapore, a friend gave Mr. X a newspaper cutting with a picture of the airport brawl. The headline read "Steve Rickard and Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
gangsters from Australia in racial attack at airport". Rickard and the other wrestlers were allowed to reenter the country to appear for their match after local promoter Ranjid Singh offered a "sweetener" during a meeting with military leaders.
Rickard was involved in other incidents during his international travels. He was riding a train in India when it was bombed in a terrorist attack. He was also once stranded in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
when the government closed down the country's airports during trouble with Turkey.
Touring India as Young Kong
Rickard later became a close friend of King Kong and who later asked him to take his place in a tour of India in early-1970. Kong also asked Rickard to use his name, wrestling as his kayfabeKayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...
"son" Young Kong, which was considered a great honour at the time given Kong's legendary reputation throughout Asia at the time and Rickard's bouts in India drew thousands of people. At one point, at a show in Zijayawada, he was the only non-Indian wrestler booked for the event and many of the local Indian wrestlers were favored by the crowd. Rickard was scheduled to face Tiger Sucha Singh, a top star in the area at the time, and defeated him after 50 minutes. Fans charged the ring almost immediately after the bout, but instead of reacting violently, they "hoisted on their shoulders and carried from the ring". Returning to Singapore after the tour, Rickard visited King Kong in hospital two days before his death on 16 May 1970. The next day at his funeral, he served as King Kong's pallbearer
Pallbearer
A pall-bearer is one of several funeral participants who helps carry the casket of a deceased person from a religious or memorial service or viewing either directly to a cemetery or mausoleum, or to and from the hearse which carries the coffin....
along with five other wrestlers.
That same year, Rickard was profiled by Fight Times Magazine and which claimed that he was "rapidly becoming known as the greatest globetrotter in wrestling". At the time of the article, he was on a tour in Australia and was to travel to Japan and then return to New Zealand via the United States and Hawaii. Rickard had wrestled in the US earlier in his career and had a brief stint in the Carolinas where he teamed with fellow New Zealander Abe Jacobs
Abe Jacobs
Abe Jacobs is a retired New Zealand professional wrestler. He was one of the first men to follow fellow New Zealander Pat O'Connor to the United States where, like O'Connor, Jacobs became a major star in the National Wrestling Alliance during the "Golden Age of Wrestling"...
before returning to Singapore choosing to honour a prior commitment with local promoters there by opening for them in their new season. While wrestling for Frank Tunney
Frank Tunney
Francis Martin “Frank” Tunney was a Canadian professional wrestling promoter, based in Toronto.-Early years:...
and Maple Leaf Wrestling
Maple Leaf Wrestling
Maple Leaf Wrestling was the unofficial name in the 1970s and 1980s of the professional wrestling promotion run by Frank Tunney in Toronto.-Queensbury Athletic Club:...
, he faced Giant Jean Ferre
André the Giant
André René Roussimoff , best known as André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. His best remembered acting role was that of Fezzik, the giant in the film The Princess Bride...
in front of 14,000 people at the Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens is an indoor arena that was converted into a Loblawssupermarket and Ryerson University athletic centre in Toronto, on the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto's Garden District.One of the temples of hockey, it was home to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the...
on 14 November 1971.
All Star Pro Wrestling
When not competing internationally, he also wrestled in his native New Zealand, where he became a mainstay for the country's main promotion, the Dominion Wrestling UnionDominion Wrestling Union
The Dominion Wrestling Union was the first professional wrestling promotion in New Zealand. It was one of two organisations first active in the Australasian region, along with Australia's Stadium Limited, and served as the country's single major promotion for 30 years until being succeeded by All...
, for longtime promoter Walter Miller. After Miller's death in 1959, Rickard ran the DWU before forming his own promotion, All Star Pro Wrestling, three years later. Although he would only run cards on and off during the next few years, Rickard's organisation would eventually succeed the DWU as the country's single major wrestling promotion for the next 30 years.
Walter's death caused a decline in wrestling, not only in New Zealand, but for the entire Australasian region as appearances from foreign wrestlers declined to only a few each year. Rickard and John da Silva
John da Silva
John da Silva or John Silva is a former New Zealand wrestler and boxer. He represented New Zealand in wrestling at the 1956 Olympics and at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games...
, who ran the rival Central Wrestling Alliance, sought to develop their own stars during early to mid 1960s such as Al Hobman, Tony Garea, Peter Maivia
Peter Maivia
Fanene Leifi Pita Maivia was a American Samoan professional wrestler better known as "High Chief" Peter Maivia. He was head of the famous Samoan wrestling family...
, and The Sheepherders
The Bushwhackers
The Bushwhackers were a professional wrestling tag team that also competed as The Sheepherders during their long career. They wrestled in the World Wrestling Federation and Jim Crockett Promotions as well as a nearly 40 year run on the independent wrestling circuit...
. He and fellow wrestler Joe Komone also discovered future Australian heavyweight champion Earl Black and who spent his rookie year for Rickard in Wellington before going to work for Australian promoters Hal Morgan and Jim Barnett
Jim Barnett (wrestling)
James E. Barnett was an American professional wrestling promoter, and owner of Georgia Championship Wrestling and Australia's World Championship Wrestling.-Professional wrestling career:...
in Sydney.
Eventually, he and Jim Barnett of World Championship Wrestling in Australia were able to work together to bring back foreign wrestlers to the Pacific within a few years. By the late 1960s, New Zealand was being regularly visited by Australian wrestlers Ron Miller and Larry O'Day
Larry O'Dea
Larry Davies was a professional wrestler best known as Larry O'Dea. He was one half of the tag team known as "The Australians"....
of Barnett's World Championship Wrestling, Robert Bruce
Robert Bruce (wrestler)
Robert Bruce , born John Charles Young, was a Scottish-born professional wrestler and talent agent in Auckland, New Zealand.-Biography:...
from Scotland, Canadians Gordon Nelson and George Gordienko
George Gordienko
George Gordienko was a Canadian professional wrestler and artist. Born of first generation Ukrainian and Cossack-Canadian parents in North Winnipeg, Manitoba, by age 17 Gordienko had received numerous awards for his physical prowess...
, and French wrestler Andre the Giant
André the Giant
André René Roussimoff , best known as André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. His best remembered acting role was that of Fezzik, the giant in the film The Princess Bride...
. In 1972, he helped book one of the biggest tours to date when US wrestlers Big Bad John, Bulldog Brower
Bulldog Brower
Richard Gland was an American professional wrestler who used the ring name Bulldog Brower.-Professional wrestling career:...
, Les Wolff
Buddy Wolfe
Les Wolff is a retired American football player and professional wrestler, known by his ring name "Beautiful" Buddy Wolfe, who competed in North American regional promotions including the American Wrestling Association, National Wrestling Alliance and the World Wide Wrestling Federation during the...
, King Curtis Iaukea
King Curtis Iaukea
Curtis Piehau Iaukea, III was a professional wrestler better known as King Curtis Iaukea. Iaukea won championships in several of the major regional US promotions, both as a single and in various tag team combinations, during the 1960s. He then competed in the World Wrestling Federation where he...
, Spiros Arion
Andres Labrakis
Andres Labrakis is a Greek retired professional wrestler who had extensive and successful careers in both Australia and the United States. Known as Spiros Arion and The Golden Greek, he debuted in 1961 and retired in 1978.- Europe :...
, Mark Lewin
Mark Lewin
-Career:Mark Lewin broke into wrestling in the early '50s and had great early success in a matinee-idol babyface tag team with Don Curtis, headlining in major territories like New York and Chicago. The team's brief heel turn was a shock to its many fans...
, Thunderbolt Patterson, Sweet Daddy Siki
Sweet Daddy Siki
Reginald Siki is a former professional wrestler and was born on June 16 in Montgomery, Texas.Sweet Daddy Siki started wrestling in 1955 in Artesia, New Mexico. He also did some training in Los Angeles with Sandor Szabo and Ray Ortega...
, Tarzan Tyler, Dewey Robertson
Dewey Robertson
Byron James John "Dewey" Robertson was a professional wrestler, known best for his ring name The Missing Link....
and Big Haystacks Calhoun
William Calhoun
William Dee Calhoun was a professional wrestler, who used the professional name "Haystack" or "Haystacks" Calhoun. The gargantuan wrestler was one of the foremost drawing cards during the industry’s “Golden Age” of the 1950s and 1960s while sporting his trademark white T-shirt, blue overalls, and...
wrestled throughout the country. The American wrestlers proved very popular with the public and a few, such as Calhoun and his wife, were featured in the national media.
In 1972, Rickard's partnership with Jim Barnett ended when Barnett sold his share of Big Time Wrestling and went back to the United States. By this time, Rickard had decided to promote All Star Pro-Wrestling full-time in New Zealand as live events were proving extremely popular. His shows sold out the Wellington Winter Show Buildings ten weeks in a row and often had to turn away hundreds of spectators. On one occasion, Rickard had to rescue his wife from angry fans who, when told the show had sold out, began rocking the small ticket booth.
Many wrestlers from throughout the world, especially from Canada and the United States, would come to wrestle for Rickard's All Star Pro-Wrestling for the next decade. Not only were these some of the top wrestlers of the NWA at the time but younger wrestlers as well. Rick Martel
Rick Martel
Richard Vigneault is a retired Canadian professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation between 1980 and 1995 under the ring name Rick Martel...
made one of his first international tours for Rickard in 1974 and later became a major star for his promotion.
On the Mat
Rickard's success with All Star Pro-Wrestling encouraged him to capitalize on this popularity with a nationally broadcast wrestling program. He had seen how successful televised wrestling had been in Australia and in the United States, and with Jim Barnett was involved with airing the short-lived Big Time Wrestling in 1972. Similar to Britain's World of SportWorld of Sport (UK TV series)
World of Sport was a British television sport anthology programme which ran on ITV between 2 January 1965 to 28 September 1985 in response to competition from BBC's Grandstand...
, the program was to showcase both the country's top wrestlers and international stars of the period. He used footage taken from one of his earlier events at the Wellington Winter Show Buildings had a film pilot made which he used to "pitch" the idea to TV1 but it passed on the show. Rickard had to wait two years until the founding of a second network, TV2, which was more favourable to the idea of a wrestling program.
After meeting with then programme director Kevan Moore, Rickard developed the show with South Pacific Pictures
South Pacific Pictures
South Pacific Pictures is a television production company based in New Zealand. The company produces drama series, mini-series, telemovies and feature films for the domestic market and international market....
. The first episode of On the Mat
On the Mat
On the Mat was a professional wrestling television program for the National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated All Star Pro-Wrestling , or simply NWA New Zealand, that aired on Television New Zealand's TV2 from 1975 to 1984...
premiered in 1975, with Ernie Leonard and Rickard as the play-by-play announcer, and was an instant success. It remained on the air for 9 years, being broadcast in several countries, and became New Zealand's longest-running sports show. During the show's off-season, he and the All Star Pro-Wrestlers spent the three months wrestling overseas touring the Middle East, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Hawaii.
Rickard often stepped out of his role as announcer and actively competed on the show. On 22 June 1978, he defeated Toru Tanaka for the NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Champions
NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship (New Zealand version)
The New Zealand version of the NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship was a professional wrestling heavyweight championship defended in the National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated Dominion Wrestling Union from 1929 to 1953 and in All Star Pro Wrestling from 1968 to 1990...
. He and Tanaka traded the belt twice in a two-month period and Rickard went on to hold the title a record 8-times in the next five years.
Rickard also started promoting outside New Zealand and, in June 1979, he began holding weekly matches at Block Arena in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and monthly events at the Blaisdell Center Arena
Neal S. Blaisdell Center
The Neal S. Blaisdell Center in downtown Honolulu, Honolulu CDP is a community center for the City & County of Honolulu. Constructed in 1964 on the historic Ward Estate and originally called the Hawaii International Center, the center was renamed after Mayor of Honolulu Neal S. Blaisdell...
in downtown Honolulu
Downtown Honolulu
Downtown Honolulu is the current historic, economic, governmental, and central part of Honolulu—bounded by Nuuanu Stream to the west, Ward Avenue to the east, Vineyard Boulevard to the north, and Honolulu Harbor to the south—situated within the larger Honolulu District...
. He had a television contract with KGMB-TV
KGMB
KGMB is the CBS-affiliated television station for the state of Hawaii that is licensed to Honolulu. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 23 from a transmitter in Palehua....
, retaining Lord Blears as his announcer, and featured Rick Martel, Siva Afi, "Pretty Boy" Larry Sharpe
Larry Sharpe
Larry Weil is an American retired professional wrestler, manager and trainer better known under his ring name, "Pretty Boy" Larry Sharpe. He currently runs the Monster Factory professional wrestling school...
, Don Muraco
Don Muraco
Donald Muraco , better known by his ring name "The Rock" Don Muraco, is a retired American professional wrestler...
, Rocky Johnson
Rocky Johnson
Rocky Johnson is a retired Canadian professional wrestler. Quite popular in his own right in the 1970s and 1980s, he is also known for being the father of actor and professional wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson...
, Billy White Wolf, Karl von Steiger, Ripper Collins and other NWA stars. He also used many of his own wrestlers such as The Sheepherders
The Bushwhackers
The Bushwhackers were a professional wrestling tag team that also competed as The Sheepherders during their long career. They wrestled in the World Wrestling Federation and Jim Crockett Promotions as well as a nearly 40 year run on the independent wrestling circuit...
and, based partly on their television appearances, were seen by US promoters and eventually brought to the United States. He sold his territorial rights in Hawaii to Peter Maivia a year later.
He also continued wrestling in New Zealand during this time meeting NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race
Harley Race
Harley Leland Race is a retired American professional wrestler and current promoter and trainer. During his career as a wrestler, he held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship 7 times...
in Hamilton on 11 September 1979, and defeating the world champion via disqualification, and teaming with Rick Martel to defeat Mr. Fuji
Mr. Fuji
Harry Fujiwara is an American former professional wrestler and manager, best known by his ring name Mr. Fuji. He was infamous for often throwing salt in the eyes of face wrestlers...
& Casey Mille in Auckland a month later.
His two sons, Ricky
Ricky Rickard
Rick "Ricky" Rickard is a retired New Zealand professional wrestler who competed in the National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated All Star-Pro Wrestling, promoted by his father Steve Rickard, as well as touring Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and the United States during the 1970s and early 80s...
and Tony Rickard, were trained by Rickard and also involved in the promotion and sometimes featured in its storylines. In 1981, Steve Rickard feuded with Larry O'Day
Larry O'Dea
Larry Davies was a professional wrestler best known as Larry O'Dea. He was one half of the tag team known as "The Australians"....
over the NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship after O'Day broke the leg of one of his sons. Ricky Rickard, though his career was brief, became an accomplished wrestler in his own right by capturing his father's title from Butcher Brannigan two years later. On one occasion, unrelated to an ongoing storyline, Ricky was wrestling in a tag team match refereed by his brother Tony and commentated by their father.
On 8 October 1981, he and Mark Lewin
Mark Lewin
-Career:Mark Lewin broke into wrestling in the early '50s and had great early success in a matinee-idol babyface tag team with Don Curtis, headlining in major territories like New York and Chicago. The team's brief heel turn was a shock to its many fans...
were awarded the NWA Australasian Tag Team Championship
NWA Australasian Tag Team Championship
The New Zealand version of the NWA Austra-Asian Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team championship defended in the National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated All Star Pro Wrestling from 1981 to 1984. The titles were awarded to Steve Rickard and Mark Lewin on October 8, 1981, and...
and held the titles for nearly seven months. Though they lost the titles to King Kamaka
Tor Kamata
McRonald Kamaka was an American/Canadian professional wrestler known by the ring name Tor Kamata. He won several Heavyweight and Tag Team championships, including one World Tag Team title. He was a classic "bad guy" wrestler...
& Baron Von Krupp
Killer Karl Krupp
George Momberg , better known by the ring name Killer Karl Krupp, was a Dutch-born professional wrestler famous during the 1970s and early 1980s.-Early life:...
in Auckland the following year, they regained the titles on 27 May 1982. Their second and final reign lasted two months and ended when they were beaten by King Kamaka & Ox Baker
Ox Baker
Douglas A. Baker better known professionally as Ox Baker, is an American former professional wrestler and actor, and was feared for his dreaded finishing move, the Heart Punch, sometimes called the "Hurt Punch", after Baker's famous catchphrase "I love to hurt people!" He has appeared in several...
on 19 August.
Though foreign stars, especially from the US, were becoming harder to find by the early 1980s, Rickard was able to bring in Harley Race, Abdullah the Butcher
Abdullah the Butcher
Lawrence Robert "Larry" Shreve best known as Abdullah the Butcher, and also at times The Madman from the Sudan, is a semi-retired Canadian professional wrestler known as one of the most brutal or "hardcore" professional wrestlers of all-time...
and "The Original Sheik" Ed Farhat
Ed Farhat
Edward George Farhat was an American professional wrestler best known as by his ring name The Sheik...
as well as younger wrestlers such as Bret Hart
Bret Hart
Bret Hart is a Canadian on-screen personality, writer, actor and Semi-retired professional wrestler. Like others in the Hart wrestling family, Hart has an amateur wrestling background, including wrestling at Ernest Manning High School and Mount Royal College...
and Barry Darsow
Barry Darsow
Barry Darsow is a former American professional wrestler who is known as Smash, one half of the tag team Demolition, and as Krusher Kruschev, Repo Man, and The Blacktop Bully...
. Darsow, who wrestled as Mongol Zar, later defeated him for the NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship
NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship (New Zealand version)
The New Zealand version of the NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship was a professional wrestling heavyweight championship defended in the National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated Dominion Wrestling Union from 1929 to 1953 and in All Star Pro Wrestling from 1968 to 1990...
in 1983 but quickly regained it. That same year, the 54-year-old Rickard won the national championship from Siva Afi and vacated shortly afterwards. It had been twenty years since he had last held the title. Also, on 4 March 1983, he fought "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well-known professional wrestlers in the world....
for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in Hamilton, New Zealand
Hamilton, New Zealand
Hamilton is the centre of New Zealand's fourth largest urban area, and Hamilton City is the country's fourth largest territorial authority. Hamilton is in the Waikato Region of the North Island, approximately south of Auckland...
.
The poor New Zealand economy, as well as the decline of the NWA in the face of the national expansion of the World Wrestling Federation, made importing foreign wrestlers extremely difficult and finally Rickard could no longer afford to produce the show and was forced to cancel On the Mat by 1984.
Later career and retirement
As a member of the National Wrestling Alliance, Rickard was involved in arrainging title defences in the Australasian regionAustralasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
for NWA World champions during the 1970s and 80s. He was responsible for the unsanctioned title switch between Ric Flair and Harley Race at the Wellington Town Hall
Wellington Town Hall
The Wellington Town Hall is a concert hall and part of the municipal complex in Wellington, New Zealand. The foundation stone for the building was laid in 1901 and construction began the following year. It was officially opened on 7 December 1904....
on 21 March 1984, and in Geylang, Singapore
Geylang
Geylang is a neighbourhood in the city-state of Singapore east of the Central Area, Singapore's central business district. It is located to the east of the Singapore River, an area that locals have associated, from the days of Sir Stamford Raffles, as a Malay kampong opposite facing two islands...
three days later. Race, who had been friends with Rickard for many years, agreed to this in an attempt to help revive wrestling in Australasia then in decline. Flair also went along with it later commenting "If Harley Race OK'd it, it was hard for anyone to tell them different". It has been worked out a "backroom deal", mostly to keep it a secret from wrestling "dirt sheets" such as the Wrestling Observer, however the NWA objected to being left out of the planning and refused to recognize these title changes for several years.
After the cancellation of On the Mat, Rickard continued to promote shows with All Star Pro-Wrestling and attempted several international tours. In the mid-1980s, he spent time in NWA Hawaii where he defended the Commonwealth title against Larry O'Day and Lars Anderson
Lawrence Heinemi
Larry Heinemi is a retired professional wrestler better known by the name of Lars Anderson. His career spans over a decade of performing in National Wrestling Alliance territories as well as American Wrestling Association .-Career:...
. He also teamed with his son Tony against Larry O'Day & Ripper Collins in a best 2-of-3 falls match for the NWA Australasian Tag Team titles
NWA Australasian Tag Team Championship
The New Zealand version of the NWA Austra-Asian Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team championship defended in the National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated All Star Pro Wrestling from 1981 to 1984. The titles were awarded to Steve Rickard and Mark Lewin on October 8, 1981, and...
.
Rickard retired from active competition in 1989, shortly before his 60th birthday, as a result of a series of injures sustained during his career. He underwent surjury to have had both his hips and knees replaced, and an untreated shoulder dislocation sustained during an overseas tour would continue to trouble him for many years.
The Main Event and NWA
In 1990, Rickard attempted another wrestling program called "The Main Event" which aired on TV3TV3 (New Zealand)
TV3 is a New Zealand commercial television network, owned by MediaWorks New Zealand. Launched on 26 November 1989, the first private television network in New Zealand...
. Like On the Mat, the show featured local New Zealand talent as well as international wrestlers such as the Mongolian Mauler, the Russian Brute, Al Green
Al Green (wrestler)
Al Green is a professional wrestler who has performed in North America, Europe and Japan under a variety of gimmicks the most well known being "Rage" , Blade one half of the Master Blasters with Steel and the Dog in World Championship Wrestling at the turn of the millennium.-Career:Green was trained...
, Lou Perez
Lou Perez
Lou Perez is an American professional wrestler who has competed in North American promotions including the National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling during the late 1980s and early 1990s as well as the Puerto Rican-based promotion IWA Puerto Rico.Although billed as the younger...
, The Bull
Curtis Hughes
Curtis Hughes is an American professional wrestler, better known under the ring name Mr. Hughes. He is best known for his stints in the World Wrestling Federation. In addition to the WWF, Hughes has also worked for World Championship Wrestling, the American Wrestling Association, the American...
, The Terminator
Johnny Ace
Johnny Ace , born John Marshall Alexander, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee, was an American rhythm and blues singer. He scored a string of hit singles in the mid-1950s before dying of an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound....
, and The Nasty Boys
The Nasty Boys
The Nasty Boys are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags, active from the mid to late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. Their gimmick was that of anti-social punks who specialized in hardcore wrestling and brawling...
(Brian Knobs & Jerry Sags
Jerry Sags
Jerome Saganovich is an American professional wrestler best known as Jerry Sags. He is one half of the tag team The Nasty Boys along with Brian Knobbs.-Career:...
). The main star, however, was Siva Afi who won the NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship
NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship (New Zealand version)
The New Zealand version of the NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship was a professional wrestling heavyweight championship defended in the National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated Dominion Wrestling Union from 1929 to 1953 and in All Star Pro Wrestling from 1968 to 1990...
from Canadian Stockman in Auckland on 13 July 1990. Although Rickard had a less active role in the show outside his duties as announcer he had a small role in its storylines. While serving as the guest ring announcer for a championship tournament in 1991, for example, he was attacked the Mongolian Mauler after losing to Siva Afi in the finals. The program was unable to match the ratings of its rival on TV2 (New Zealand), WWF Superstars of Wrestling
WWF Superstars of Wrestling
WWF Superstars of Wrestling is a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It debuted on September 6, 1986...
, and was cancelled after 11 episodes.
Though All Star Pro-Wrestling ceased promoting shortly after the cancellation of the show, Rickard remained a member of the NWA up until the mid-1990s. In 1994, he reappeared in NWA Hawaii where he wrestled Jerry "The King" Lawler
Jerry Lawler
Jerry O'Neil Lawler is an American professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional...
, with Brian Christopher
Brian Lawler
Brian Christopher Lawler is a professional wrestler. He is the son of color commentator and professional wrestler Jerry "The King" Lawler and brother of wrestling referee Kevin Christian...
in his corner, at the Honolulu Stadium
Honolulu Stadium
Honolulu Stadium was a stadium located in the Moiliili district of Honolulu, Hawai'i, at the corner of King and Isenberg Streets. It was opened in 1926 and demolished in 1976. It was the primary sports venue in Hawai'i preceding Aloha Stadium. Famous athletes who competed in Honolulu Stadium...
. He also served as president of the organisation, along with Howard Brody, Dennis Coralluzzo and Jim Crockett, Jr.
Jim Crockett, Jr.
Jim Crockett, Jr. is a former professional wrestling promoter. From 1973 to 1988, he owned Jim Crockett Promotions , a wrestling company affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance...
from 1993 to 1995, and then alone until 1996. He was also involved with the Cauliflower Alley Club
Cauliflower Alley Club
The Cauliflower Alley Club is a non-profit fraternal organization, which includes a newsletter and website, comprising both retired and active professional wrestlers and boxers in North America....
, a professional wrestling and boxing fraternal society, and was on the board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
at one time; he became an official honouree of the organisation in 1997.
He continued promoting wrestling events into the 21st century running occasional events in southeast Asia. On 12 December 2004, he organised a show at the Singapore Indoor Stadium
Singapore Indoor Stadium
Singapore Indoor Stadium is an indoor sports arena, located in Kallang, Singapore.It was completed in 1989 and was officially opened by the, then, prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, on 31 December 1989. The building was built at a cost of S$ 90 million...
featuring the first steel cage match held in Singapore in over a decade and headlined by Dusty Wolfe, The Honky Tonk Man
The Honky Tonk Man
Roy Wayne Farris , better known by his ring name The Honky Tonk Man, is an American professional wrestler. A 1975 graduate from University of Memphis with a B.S. degree in Education. Coached high school football 2 seasons at Munford High School in Munford, Tennessee...
, Warlord
Terry Szopinski
Terry Scott Szopinski is an American professional wrestler. He is best known by his ring name The Warlord and for his tenures in Jim Crockett Promotions and the World Wrestling Federation as one half of the Powers of Pain alongside The Barbarian.-National Wrestling Alliance / Jim Crockett...
and The Barbarian
Sione Vailahi
Sione Havea Vailahi is a professional wrestler best known in wrestling as The Barbarian.-Life and career:Born and raised in Tonga, Sione was one of five teenagers sent by the King of Tonga to Japan to study Sumo wrestling in the mid 1970s. Tonga Fifita was one of the other teenagers...
.
Recent years
In the years following his retirement, Rickard has been recognized by the national media for his contributions to professional wrestling in New ZealandProfessional wrestling in New Zealand
Professional wrestling in New Zealand has been promoted in the country from the early 1900s. In 1919, Gisborne Katene became the first national heavyweight champion, though the title was not recognized by the National Wrestling Association until 1925, and promoter Walter Miller began running events...
. He has been referred to as "the Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...
of New Zealand wrestling" by the New Zealand Herald and credited as "the man who turned wrestling into home entertainment" with his On the Mat program. He has also received praise from the internet wrestling community being called "one of New Zealand's greatest wrestlers" by the Pro Wrestling Torch.
In June 2007, Rickard was interviewed by KiwiProWrestling.co.nz
Kiwi Pro Wrestling
Kiwi Pro Wrestling is a professional wrestling promotion based in Wellington, New Zealand.-History:Started in May 2006 by veteran New Zealand wrestler Rip Morgan, KPW was formed with the express purpose of taking NZ wrestling from club level to professional level and groom local wrestling talent...
where he reflected on his amateur and professional career. On 13 June 2008, Rickard visited Kiwi Pro Wrestling
Kiwi Pro Wrestling
Kiwi Pro Wrestling is a professional wrestling promotion based in Wellington, New Zealand.-History:Started in May 2006 by veteran New Zealand wrestler Rip Morgan, KPW was formed with the express purpose of taking NZ wrestling from club level to professional level and groom local wrestling talent...
's "Wild 4 Wrestling" training facility where he met with KPW CEO Rip Morgan
Rip Morgan
Mike Morgan is a former professional wrestler from New Zealand who competed in the National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling and World Class Championship Wrestling best known as Rip Morgan. Best known as one half of the New Zealand Militia in WCW with Jack Victory...
, "Irishman" Mike Ryan and several of its students, most notably, Max "the Axe" Damage.
In early-2009, he and his wife Lorraine left their home of 30 years in Oriental Bay
Oriental Bay
Oriental Bay is a suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. Located close to the CBD on Wellington Harbour, it has the closest beach to the centre of the city and is thus a popular spot both for living and for visiting....
and moved into a retirement home in Greenmeadows outside his birthplace of Napier. On 3 September 2009, Rickard celebrated his 80th birthday in Hawke's Bay
Hawke's Bay
Hawke's Bay is a region of New Zealand. Hawke's Bay is recognised on the world stage for its award-winning wines. The regional council sits in both the cities of Napier and Hastings.-Geography:...
which was attended by around 100 guests including former wrestlers Arthur Sneddon and Joe Fau. The event was covered by the New Zealand Herald. Two months later, he was interviewed for A Kiwi Century On the Mat, an upcoming historical documentary on professional wrestling in New Zealand, a year later. That same year, Dave Cameron of Fight Times Magazine ranked him #4 of a top ten listing of New Zealand's greatest wrestlers. The New Zealand Herald included Rickard in its list of New Zealand's favourite wrestlers as did the Herald columnist Chris Rattue in his own top ten list.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
-
- Sleeper hold
Championships and accomplishments
- All Star Pro Wrestling
- NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship (New Zealand version)NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship (New Zealand version)The New Zealand version of the NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship was a professional wrestling heavyweight championship defended in the National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated Dominion Wrestling Union from 1929 to 1953 and in All Star Pro Wrestling from 1968 to 1990...
(8 times) - NWA Australasian Tag Team ChampionshipNWA Australasian Tag Team ChampionshipThe New Zealand version of the NWA Austra-Asian Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team championship defended in the National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated All Star Pro Wrestling from 1981 to 1984. The titles were awarded to Steve Rickard and Mark Lewin on October 8, 1981, and...
(2 times, first) - with Mark LewinMark Lewin-Career:Mark Lewin broke into wrestling in the early '50s and had great early success in a matinee-idol babyface tag team with Don Curtis, headlining in major territories like New York and Chicago. The team's brief heel turn was a shock to its many fans...
- Cauliflower Alley ClubCauliflower Alley ClubThe Cauliflower Alley Club is a non-profit fraternal organization, which includes a newsletter and website, comprising both retired and active professional wrestlers and boxers in North America....
- Other inductee (1997)
- National Wrestling AllianceNational Wrestling AllianceThe National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
- National
- NWA New Zealand Heavyweight ChampionshipNWA New Zealand Heavyweight ChampionshipThe NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Championship is the primary singles title in the NWA-affiliated wrestling promotion NWA New Zealand. It is the first heavyweight championship in New Zealand and one of the oldest in the world. It was first won by Gisborne Katene who defeated Frank Findlay in 1919...
(3 times)
- NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Championship
- Regional
- NWA Australasian Heavyweight ChampionshipNWA Australasian Heavyweight ChampionshipThe New Zealand version of the NWA Australasian Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling regional heavyweight championship recognized by the National Wrestling Alliance and competed for by wrestlers in the Australasian region. It was largely defended in New Zealand's Dominion Wrestling...
(1 time)
- NWA Australasian Heavyweight Championship
Further reading
- Flair, RicRic FlairRichard Morgan Fliehr is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well-known professional wrestlers in the world....
. Ric Flair: To Be the ManTo Be the ManTo Be the Man is an autobiographical book written by professional wrestler Ric Flair and Keith Elliot Greenberg, and edited by Mark Madden. It was published by WWE Books and distributed by Simon & Schuster in July 2004...
. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004. ISBN 0-7434-5691-2 - Mancer, John. Steve Rickard's Life On the Mat. 1st ed. Auckland: Rugby Press, 1979. ISBN 978-0959755343