• WCW Veteran Died By Suicide 23 Years Ago At The Age Of 33
On this day in 1999, we lost Old School WCW Veteran The Renegade (Real name: Richard Wilson) at the young age of 33 due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
He debuted for Ted Turner’s World Championship Wrestling promotion when WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan announced an “Ultimate Surprise” for ‘WCW Uncensored 1995’, thus implying that The Ultimate Warrior would join him at the PPV.
The gimmick of The Renegade was basically that of WWF Legend The Ultimate Warrior, which made him a clone and a copy-cat, completely rejected by pretty much everyone watching, critics & fans alike.
It wasn’t his fault though, but just a bad booking decision that hurt his career before it began.
Despite winning the WCW World Television Championship from WCW Legend Arn Anderson in 1995, he was eventually turned into a ‘Jobber To The Stars’ a year later in 1996.
Renegade was fired from the promotion in January 1999, which resulted in a severe depression, that led to him dying by suicide, when he himself in the head with a gun on February 23, 1999.
† REST IN PEACE
October 16, 1965 – February 23, 1999
• OLD SCHOOL VIDEO HISTORY (February 23, 1992) – WCW Main Event
On this day in 1992, Ted Turner’s World Championship Wrestling aired an episode of their weekly TV show ‘WCW Main Event’.
This episode featured pre-taped matches, interviews & storyline segments on the road to the ‘WCW SuperBrawl II’ PPV.
The card can be found below:
– Sting vs. Chuck Coats
– WCW Magazine: SuperBrawl II Preview
– P.N. News vs. Rick Rude
– The Ross Report: Brian Pillman
– Ricky Steamboat vs. Larry Zbyszko
– INTERVIEW: Jesse Ventura
– Bobby Eaton & Arn Anderson vs. Barry Windham & Ron Simmons
