Richard Van Slater (May 19, 1951 – October 18, 2018) better known by his ring name "Dirty" Dick Slater, was an American professional wrestler who wrestled in the 1970s, 1980s, and mid-1990s for various promotions including Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

(WCW). Slater began wrestling with Mike Graham at Robinson High School, in Tampa, Florida. He attended the

University of Tampa The University of Tampa (UTampa, UT or Tampa U) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UTampa offers more than 200 programs of study, including 19 master's degrees and a br ...

with

Paul Orndorff Paul Parlette Orndorff Jr. (October 29, 1949 – July 12, 2021), nicknamed "Mr. Wonderful", was an American professional wrestler and football player, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Champions ...

. From there he began wrestling in

Championship Wrestling from Florida Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida professional wrestling promotion, wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it close ...

and

Georgia Championship Wrestling Georgia Championship Wrestling is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The promotion was affiliated with what had been the world's top sanctioning body of championship titles for decades b ...

. He worked as a booker in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

after Ron Fuller sold his promotion to Jim Barnett. He wrestled in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (later

), where he appeared on the first Starrcade. He also worked in Mid-South Wrestling Association, where he was managed by Dark Journey. Slater made some trips to the

World Wrestling Council The World Wrestling Council (WWC; Spanish: "Consejo Mundial de Lucha") is a professional wrestling promotion based in Puerto Rico. It was originally established as Capitol Sports Promotions in 1973 by Carlos Colón, Victor Jovica, and Goril ...

in Puerto Rico. He wrestled briefly in the World Wrestling Federation as a babyface under a "Rebel" gimmick, but soon returned to WCW. He wrestled there until receiving his back injury that ended his career. In June 2004, Slater was convicted for the stabbing of his former girlfriend Theresa Halbert. He was sentenced to one year of house arrest and two years of probation. He blamed the incident on influence from painkillers.

Early life

Slater began

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

in 1968 with Mike Graham at Thomas Richard Robinson High School in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

Eddie Graham Edward F. Gossett (January 15, 1930 – January 21, 1985), professionally known as Eddie Graham, and Rip Rogers was an American professional wrestler. He was also the promoter and booker for Championship Wrestling from Florida and President of ...

purchased a wrestling mat for his high school and started a high school wrestling program there. He wrestled in the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

(AAU), a program that trained young wrestlers to go to the Olympics. Slater went to the

, where he played football in addition to wrestling (among his teammates were John Matuszak and

). He had a chance to play football for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

but declined the opportunity, deciding to wrestle instead. After going to a national AAU meet, he was approached by Mike Graham, who asked him if he wanted to become a professional wrestler; Slater decided to go to the Tampa Sportatorium to train as a professional wrestler. There, he was trained by Jack Brisco, Bob Roop,

Hiro Matsuda (July 22, 1937 – November 27, 1999), best known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler and trainer. Professional wrestling career Kojima played an active role as an ace pitcher at baseball in Nittai Ebara High School Baseball ...

, and

Bill Watts William F. Watts Jr. (born May 5, 1939), better known under the ring name Bill Watts, is a retired American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, promoter and former American football player. Watts garnered fame under his "Cowboy" Glos ...

. Slater also became good friends with

Dick Murdoch Hoyt Richard Murdoch (August 16, 1946 – June 15, 1996) was an American professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring names "Dirty" Dick Murdoch and "Captain Redneck". He was best known for his time in the NWA, WWE, Wo ...

around this time.

Professional wrestling career

Championship Wrestling from Florida (1972-1975)

Slater debuted in 1972 with

, which was run by

. He stayed there for three years and won the

NWA Florida Tag Team Championship The NWA Florida Tag Team Championship is the primary tag team title in NWA Florida Underground Wrestling. It started out in 1968 as the main tag team title in Championship Wrestling from Florida Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was ...

(with

Dusty Rhodes Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. (October 11, 1945 – June 11, 2015), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who worked for the National Wrestling Alliance ...

, Stan Vachon, Toru Tanaka, and Johnny Weaver) and the NWA Florida Television Championship.

Georgia Championship Wrestling (1972–1983)

After leaving CWF, Slater worked in California alongside The Von Brauners, Moondog Mayne, Pat Patterson, and Ray Stevens. From there, he went to

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

and

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

(traveling with Moondog Mayne frequently). Slater then went to

, an organization he credits with putting him on the map. He worked there for 8 years, winning the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship four times, as well as the

NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship The NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship was the top tag team championship (professional wrestling), championship in Georgia Championship Wrestling from 1968 to 1980, when it was replaced with the NWA National Tag Team Championship. The title was r ...

and NWA Macon Tag Team Championship with Bob Orton, Jr. During the time period he also won the

NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship The NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship was a singles championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's St. Louis Wrestling Club and Central States Wrestling promotions in the 1970s and 1980s. It was considered a "stepping stone" to the NWA W ...

and a number of Florida titles. Slater commented that after winning the Missouri Heavyweight Title, he was in the mix to become NWA World Heavyweight Champion, but would attribute his not winning it to "politics".

Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (1983–1985)

In 1983, Slater was working in

for Ron Fuller when Jim Barnett approached Slater with the idea of booking a television show in Atlanta for

Ted Turner Robert Edward Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and Philanthropy, philanthropist. He founded the CNN, Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, ...

. At the same time, Jim Crockett was buying out Jim Barnett; thus, Slater started working for Crockett. Around the same time,

(one of Slater's many

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

partners) became a booker for Crockett. Slater teamed up with Bob Orton, Jr., and began a feud with

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Flair's career spanned 50 years. He is ...

where they attacked with an aided piledriver in an attempt to end his career. The team collected a bounty from

Harley Race Harley Leland Race (April 11, 1943 – August 1, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling promotion, promoter, and trainer. Race wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the American Wrestling Association (AW ...

, the reigning NWA World Heavyweight Champion for apparently ending Flair's career. Flair would return and attack Slater and Orton. While Flair would go on to fight Race at Starrcade for the championship, Orton and Slater were placed in a tag team match with Mark Youngblood and Wahoo McDaniel, who sought retribution on Slater and Orton for attacking their friend Flair. At the event, Slater and Orton were victorious over Youngblood and McDaniel after Orton superplexed Youngblood. Slater has said that Crockett ran one of the hardest promotions to work for; in addition to wrestling for Crockett, Slater was also booking three other promotions,

’, Joe Blanchard’s, and Paul Boesch's. For a time in Mid-Atlantic, Slater was managed by Gary Hart. While in Mid-Atlantic, Slater won the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship, the NWA Television Championship and the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship He also independently declared himself the true NWA World Heavyweight Champion during Flair's title reign, creating his own belt, and was involved in another program with Flair.

Mid-South Wrestling Association (1985–1986)

In 1985, Slater left Mid-Atlantic and went to

Mid-South Wrestling The Universal Wrestling Federation was a 1986 re-branding of wrestler-turned-owner Bill Watts' Mid-South Wrestling promotion. Watts' goal was to elevate his promotion from a relatively smaller, regional-level business, to a national-level riv ...

(run by

). He has said that the move was because he was tired of the promotion and the multiple bookings he did. In Mid-South, Slater took on his controversial valet of Dark Journey, whom he first saw dancing at a strip club; he eventually asked her to be his valet. His relationship with her caused a great deal of legitimate

heat In thermodynamics, heat is energy in transfer between a thermodynamic system and its surroundings by such mechanisms as thermal conduction, electromagnetic radiation, and friction, which are microscopic in nature, involving sub-atomic, ato ...

(due to her being

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

). While in Mid-South, Slater engaged in a lengthy feud with

Jake Roberts Aurelian Smith Jr. (born May 30, 1955) better known by the ring name Jake "the Snake" Roberts, is an American actor, podcaster and retired professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs as the on-screen ma ...

(who would DDT Dark Journey in one of their matches); Slater would also win the Mid-South North American Championship, the Mid-South Television Championship, and the UWF World Television Championship.

World Wrestling Federation (1986–1987)

Slater wrestled briefly for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as a babyface using a Southern "Rebel" gimmick. He debuted in WWF on the July 26, 1986 episode of '' Championship Wrestling'' by defeating The Gladiator. While in the WWF, Slater had one match with Jake Roberts; however, this being 1980s WWF TV (where no mention was ever made of a wrestler's past) his Mid-South feud with Roberts was ignored. In that match, aired on a December 13, 1986 episode of WWF Superstars, Slater cleanly pinned Roberts but decision was reversed by referee Danny Davis when Roberts put his foot on the rope after the three count. Slater was then disqualified for hitting the referee. Slater defeated Mike Sharpe at The Big Event and was squashed by

Don Muraco Don Muraco (born September 10, 1949) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation from 1981 to 1988, where he held the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship on ...

in two minutes on the '' Saturday Night's Main Event VIII''. Shortly after his match with Muraco, the WWF began to use him as a jobber. His last televised appearance in WWF was on the May 4, 1987 episode of '' Prime Time Wrestling'', where he lost to Butch Reed.

All Japan Pro Wrestling (1987–1990)

After departing WWF, Slater toured

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Puroresu, Japanese professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on October 21, 1972, by Giant Baba after he left the Japanese Wrestling Association to create his own promotion. Ma ...

on numerous occasions between 1987 and 1990. He teamed with

Tommy Rich Thomas Richardson (born July 26, 1956) is an American professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Tommy "Wildfire" Rich. He is a one time former National Wrestling Alliance NWA World Heavyweight Championship, Wo ...

to participate in the 1988 Real World Tag League for the vacant

World Tag Team Championship In professional wrestling, a championship or title is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations. Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in predetermined rival ...

but the duo lost all of their matches in the tournament. On May 13, 1989, Slater and Danny Spivey unsuccessfully challenged Jumbo Tsuruta and Yoshiaki Yatsu for the World Tag Team Championship. Later that year, Slater formed a tag team with Joel Deaton. The duo participated in the 1990 Real World Tag League to crown the new World Tag Team Champions and won only two matches by defeating the teams of Doug Furnas and Ricky Santana and Mighty Inoue and Rusher Kimura.

American Wrestling Association (1987)

Slater had a brief run in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) where he was supposedly a bodyguard for AWA champion Curt Hennig.

World Championship Wrestling (1989–1996)

J-Tex Corporation; Hardliners (1989–1991)

Slater returned to

Jim Crockett Promotions Jim Crockett Promotions, at times branded as Eastern States Championship Wrestling and Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, is a Family business, family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United Sta ...

, then renamed

on the August 26, 1989 episode of ''

'' as a member of J-Tex Corporation, facing Sting in a match, which he lost by disqualification after his J-Tex teammates

Terry Funk Terrance Dee Funk (June 30, 1944 – August 23, 2023) was an American professional wrestler and actor. Widely considered one of the most influential and greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Funk was known for the longevity of his car ...

and

The Great Muta is a Japanese professional wrestling executive, actor and retired professional wrestler. He is known for his work under his real name and as his alter ego in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), as well as World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and duri ...

attacked Sting. The group primarily

feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

ed with

and Sting. He replaced an injured Terry Funk to team up with The Great Muta at Clash of the Champions VIII in a losing effort against Ric Flair and Sting. The match ended in a disqualification after Terry Funk placed a plastic bag over Ric Flair's head. Slater was fired by WCW. However, he would come back to WCW for the final portion of his career in 1991. Slater returned to WCW in the summer of 1991 and formed a tag team with

called the Hardliners. Hardliners debuted as a team on Clash of the Champions XV, by attacking Steiner Brothers, Hiroshi Hase and

Masahiro Chono is an American-born Japanese retired Professional wrestling in Japan, professional wrestler and actor best known for his 26-year stint with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). As the leader of New World Order (professional wrestling), nWo Japan, Tea ...

after an IWGP Tag Team Championship match between the two teams. Hardliners' first match as a team took place on the June 29 episode of '' WorldWide'' by defeating enhancement talents Mike Jackson and Tim Parker. Hardliners began a rivalry with Steiner Brothers but Scott suffered an injury and they wrestled Rick and his different tag team partners throughout the summer of 1991. Hardliners participated in a tournament for the vacated

, in which they wrestled The Fabulous Freebirds (

Jimmy Garvin James Williams (born September 25, 1952) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Jimmy Garvin. A member of the Fabulous Freebirds, Garvin is best known for his appearances with promotions including the America ...

and Michael Hayes) to a double count-out in the first round on the July 27 episode of ''World Championship Wrestling''. The team disbanded in the fall of 1991 and Slater competed in the Florida-based International Championship Wrestling Alliance (ICWA) for the rest of 1991.

United States Tag Team Champion (1992)

On the July 4 episode of '' Saturday Night'', Slater returned to WCW television by teaming with Greg Valentine to defeat Marcus Alexander Bagwell and Big Josh. Slater would then form an

alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...

with Valentine and The Barbarian. Later that night, Slater and Barbarian challenged The Fabulous Freebirds (

and Michael Hayes) to a match for the United States Tag Team Championship, which took place on the July 12 episode of ''

Main Event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

'', with Slater and Barbarian defeating Fabulous Freebirds to win the United States Tag Team Championship and becoming the final holders of the title as it was retired on July 31. At Clash of the Champions XX, Slater and Valentine lost to the team of

Arn Anderson Martin Anthony Lunde (born September 20, 1958), better known by his ring name Arn Anderson, is an American professional wrestling Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Agent, road agent, author, and retired professional wrestler. Although he ...

and Bobby Eaton. Slater and Valentine competed in the tag team division for the rest of 1992 before splitting up and Slater began competing as a singles competitor.

Stud Stable (1993–1996)

Slater returned to WCW in 1993 as the injured

's replacement against Ron Simmons in a match at Clash of the Champions XXIII, which Slater lost. Slater mainly competed as an enhancement talent for the rest of 1993 and most of 1994. On the December 3, 1994 episode of ''Saturday Night'', Slater replaced Terry Funk in Col. Robert Parker's group Stud Stable. Slater was placed in a tag team with Stud Stable teammate Bunkhouse Buck and the group started a feud with Harlem Heat because of a love/hate relationship between Parker and the Heat's manager, Sister Sherri. Slater and Buck faced Harlem Heat in a losing effort at The Great American Bash. On the July 22 episode of ''Saturday Night'', Slater and Buck defeated Harlem Heat to win the

due to an interference from Col. Rob Parker. After winning the titles, Slater and Buck feuded with teams such as the Nasty Boys and Stars n Stripes. At Clash of the Champions XXXI, Slater, Buck and Parker lost a match to Harlem Heat and Sister Sherri, resulting in Harlem Heat getting a title shot at Slater and Buck's World Tag Team Championship at Fall Brawl, where Slater and Buck dropped the titles back to Harlem Heat. Parker then dumped Slater and Buck for Sister Sherri. Slater and Buck continued to perform in the tag team division without Parker. At World War 3, Slater participated in the inaugural namesake match for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship, which

Randy Savage Randy Mario Poffo (November 15, 1952 – May 20, 2011), better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler and professional baseball player, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation ( ...

won. After continuing to lose matches, Buck eventually abandoned Slater during a match against The American Males on the March 2, 1996 episode of ''Saturday Night'', leading to Slater losing the handicap match to American Males, thus marking the end of the Stud Stable. On the March 30 episode of ''Saturday Night'', Slater unsuccessfully challenged Ric Flair for the World Heavyweight Championship.

Rough n Ready (1996)

Slater reunited with Col. Robert Parker in mid-1996. At

Slamboree Slamboree was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) List of NWA/WCW closed-circuit events and pay-per-view events, event from World Championship Wrestling (WCW) held from 1993 through 2000. It was originally billed as "A Legends' Reunion" b ...

, Slater and Earl Robert Eaton defeated

Alex Wright Alexander Wright (born May 17, 1975) is a German former Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and professional wrestling promotion, professional wrestling promoter. He wrestled professionally in Germany and Japan before signing with World ...

and Disco Inferno in a Lethal Lottery match and then defeated

Jim Duggan James Edward Duggan Jr. (born January 14, 1954), better known by his ring name "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best-known for his time in World Wrestling Federation (now WWE), where he won the first ...

and VK Wallstreet in the second match of the Lethal Lottery to qualify for the Battlebowl battle royal to determine the #1 contender for the World Heavyweight Championship at The Great American Bash.

Diamond Dallas Page } Dallas Page (born Page Joseph Falkinburg Jr., April 5, 1956), is an American fitness instructor, actor, and retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE under a Legends contract, under the ring name Di ...

won the Battlebowl to earn the title shot. Shortly after, Slater formed a tag team with Mike Enos called Rough 'n' Ready. The two began teaming with each other on the July 6 episode of ''Saturday Night'', where they were paired with VK Wallstreet against

Lex Luger Lawrence Wendell Pfohl (born June 2, 1958), better known by the ring name Lex Luger, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, bodybuilder, and gridiron football player. He is best known for his work with Jim Crocke ...

, Sting and

in a losing effort. Rough n Ready lost the majority of their matches but received five opportunities against Harlem Heat for the

on WCW television during the next two months but failed to win the title. In

Gainesville, Georgia Gainesville is a city and the county seat of Hall County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 42,296. Because of its large number of poultry processing plants, it has been calle ...

, Slater blew out two vertebrae during a match in October 1996. The back injury ended his wrestling career and his run with Enos.

Personal life

Slater had four brothers, George, Russell, James and Carl Slater. He had four half-sisters, Nancy, Donna, Sandra and Catherine Slater. He had one daughter. By 2003, Slater was largely confined to a wheelchair after a number of back surgeries. In June 2004, Slater was convicted of attacking his then-girlfriend, Theresa Halbert. On December 27, 2003, it was reported that Slater had stabbed Halbert with a butcher's knife. Slater claimed that the night before the incident, he had received "a shot of morphine and two forty milligram Oxycontins" at an emergency room, related to his numerous back injuries. In an interview with Mid-Atlantic Gateway, Slater said that "It was all drug related ... most of it all. I mean, I couldn’t tell you what happened ... if I didn’t know what happened...I really don’t know what actually took place, other than I was ... I woke up in Intensive Care in the hospital. I had gone to the hospital by ambulance the night before ... ". On June 10, 2004, Slater was sentenced to one year of house arrest and two years of probation. He was also sentenced to keep away from Halbert and pay more than $18,000 restitution. Before coming to Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, Slater was involved in an incident where Wahoo McDaniel shot him. Slater, McDaniel,

, and André the Giant were at a bar in Atlanta when someone in the bar made a comment about Rich's wife, which angered Rich and McDaniel. The man who had commented about Rich's wife got a knife, and seeing that, McDaniel got out a gun. André and Slater went out to the parking lot and watched the altercation; while they were watching McDaniel pistol-whip the man, the gun went off and Slater was hit by the bullet in the leg. Slater told the police that a sniper had shot him; he would return to the ring in just three weeks. Slater was also famous for an altercation in a bar in Tampa, Florida with John Matuszak, which Slater won.Les Thatcher acknowledged that Slater had died on his

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

account. His death was also confirmed by on-screen adversary Ric Flair, who paid tribute on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. According to the NWA's Twitter account, Slater died due to heart complications.

Championships and accomplishments

** Champion Carnival Technical Award (1979) ** World's Strongest Tag Determination League Outstanding Performance Award (1980) – with

Ricky Steamboat Richard Henry Blood Sr. (born February 28, 1953), better known by his ring name Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat, is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his work with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), Jim Crockett Promo ...

** World's Strongest Tag Determination League Fair Play Award (1980) – with Ricky Steamboat ** World's Strongest Tag Determination League Technique Award (1982) – with

** World's Strongest Tag Determination League Excite Award (1990) – with Joel Deaton *

** NWA Brass Knuckles Championship ''(Florida version)'' ( 1 time) ** NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship ( 2 times) **

( 4 times) – with

(1), Stan Vachon (1), Toru Tanaka (1), and Johnny Weaver (1) ** NWA Florida Television Championship ( 2 times) ** NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship ''(Florida version)'' ( 4 times) ** NWA United States Tag Team Championship ''(Florida version)'' ( 1 time) – with Killer Karl Kox *

** NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship ( 4 times) ** NWA Macon Heavyweight Championship ( 2 times) **

( 1 time) – with Bob Orton Jr. ** NWA Macon Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Bob Orton Jr. * International Wrestling Association of Japan ** IWA World Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) * Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling /

** NWA United States Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) ** NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) ** NWA Television Championship ( 2 times) ** WCW United States Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with The Barbarian ** NWA (Mid-Atlantic)/WCW World Tag Team Championship ( 2 times) – with

(1) and Bunkhouse Buck (1) * Mid-South Wrestling Association / Universal Wrestling Federation ** Mid-South North American Championship ( 2 times) ** Mid-South Television Championship ( 1 time) ** UWF World Television Championship ( 1 time) *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...

'' **PWI ranked him # 153 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003. *

Southeastern Championship Wrestling Continental Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Dothan, Alabama, from 1985 until 1989, owned by Ron Fuller. The promotion evolved out of the NWA-affiliated Southeastern Championship W ...

** NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship ''(Northern Division)'' ( 3 times) ** NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship ( 2 times) – with Jerry Blackwell (1) and

(1) * Southwest Championship Wrestling ** SCW Southwest Heavyweight Championship ( 2 times) ** SCW Southwest Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Bob Sweetan ** SCW World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Bruiser Brody * St. Louis Wrestling Club **

( 1 time) *

United States Wrestling Association The United States Wrestling Association (USWA) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. The company was founded when the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association merged with the Dallas-based World Class Champions ...

** USWA Southern Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) *

** WWC Television Championship ( 2 times) *''

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four Wee ...

'' ** Worst Tag Team (1995) with Bunkhouse Buck

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Slater, Dick 1951 births 2018 deaths 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers American shooting survivors IWA World Heavyweight Champions (IWA Japan) NWA/WCW World Television Champions NWA/WCW/WWE United States Heavyweight Champions WWC Television Champions NWA Florida Heavyweight Champions NWA Florida Tag Team Champions NWA Florida Television Champions NWA Southern Heavyweight Champions (Florida version) NWA Brass Knuckles Champions (Florida version) NWA United States Tag Team Champions (Florida version) WCW World Tag Team Champions NWA/WCW United States Tag Team Champions NWA Macon Heavyweight Champions NWA Macon Tag Team Champions NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champions NWA Georgia Tag Team Champions Professional wrestlers from Tampa, Florida Stud Stable members