Larry Richard Oliver (October 6, 1952 – March 5, 2020) was an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

, known as "Crippler" Rip Oliver, who had success in

Pacific Northwest Wrestling Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW) (also known as Big Time Wrestling and Portland Wrestling) is the common name used to refer to several different professional wrestling companies, both past and present, based in Portland, Oregon, United States. ...

(PNW).

Early life

Oliver was born in Florida. His father was Dennis Lee Oliver (December 1922 – August 1980) and his mother was Sadie Lenore Head Oliver. His parents owned Independent Fish Company, located on Seminole Place on the

Homosassa River Homosassa River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 18, 2011 river in Citrus County, Florida, in the western part of the state. Its headwaters are the Homosassa ...

. His parents are buried in Stagestand Cemetery in Homosassa.

Professional wrestling career

(PNW), he set a record for holding the

NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship The NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW), which promoted shows in the U ...

more than anyone. Oliver also had many titles in tag team competition, holding the

NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship The NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S. states of O ...

and the

NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship The NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship is a tag team professional wrestling championship previously based in NWA: Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling, although the title has been contested for in the Canadian Wrestling Federation, NWA Green ...

a combined 18 times. In 1985, Oliver went to World Class Championship Wrestling in Dallas, where he was managed by Jim Cornette. Oliver was involved in a story line with Mike Von Erich where he broke Von Erich's arm which led to their big match at Texas Stadium. In 1985 Chris Adams allowed his tag team partner

Gino Hernandez Charles Eugene Wolfe Jr. (August 8, 1957 – February 2, 1986) was an American professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Gino Hernandez. He is perhaps best known for his appearances with the Dallas, Texas-base ...

to defend the

WCCW Television Championship The WCWA Television Championship was a secondary professional wrestling championship that was used and defended in the World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). Originally created in 1979 as the NWA Television Championship, one of many television ...

against

Billy Jack Haynes William Albert Haynes III (born July 10, 1953) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Billy Jack Haynes. Professional wrestling career Early career (1982–1984) Haynes started wrestling in 1982 at the a ...

, where he lost that title, but Oliver defeated and severely injured Billy to win the television title soon thereafter. After wrestling in PNW, Oliver began to wrestle for the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

(WWF), and worked mainly as a jobber. During his run, Oliver appeared once on '' Saturday Night's Main Event XVIII'', going by the name of Super Ninja, challenging

The Ultimate Warrior Warrior (born James Brian Hellwig; June 16, 1959 – April 8, 2014) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, Bodybuilding, bodybuilder and Motivational speaker, motivational speaker. Best known by his ring name The Ultima ...

for the

WWF Intercontinental Championship The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a men's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the Raw brand division. It is one of two secondary championships for WWE's main roster, along ...

. During his many title reigns Oliver faced many wrestlers such as

Rocky Johnson Rocky Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles; August 24, 1944 – January 15, 2020) was a Canadian professional wrestler. Among many National Wrestling Alliance titles, he was the first Black NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champion as well as the NWA Tel ...

Brett Sawyer Brett Eugene Woyan (10 August 1960 – 8 September 2023) was an American professional wrestling trainer and professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Brett Sawyer. Early life Woyan grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida. He attended Di ...

Buddy Rose Paul E. Perschmann (November 27, 1952 – April 28, 2009) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Playboy Buddy Rose. He wrestled primarily for the AWA, WWF, and for promoter Don Owen in Pacific Northwest W ...

Bobby Jaggers Robert Francis Jeaudoin (January 8, 1948 – September 30, 2012) was an American professional wrestler and civil engineer, also known by the ring name of "Hangman" Bobby Jaggers. Most of his renown as a wrestler came from his appearances in var ...

Stan Stasiak George Emile Stipich (April 13, 1937 – June 19, 1997) was a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Stan "the Man" Stasiak. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in the 1970s, ...

Larry Hennig Larry Hennig (June 18, 1936 – December 6, 2018) was an American professional wrestler. He was the father of "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig, and the grandfather of Curtis Axel and Amy "Ms. Perfect" Hennig. He worked in the American Wrestling Ass ...

Curt Hennig Curtis Michael Hennig (March 28, 1958 – February 10, 2003), better known by the ring name Mr. Perfect, was an American professional wrestler. Considered one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time by peers, critics, and fans, he per ...

, Brian Adams,

Jay Youngblood Steven Nicolas Romero (June 21, 1955 – September 2, 1985) was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Jay Youngblood. He wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance's Jim Crockett Promotions in a tag team with Ricky Ste ...

Steve Regal Steve Regal (born August 25, 1951) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the American Wrestling Association. Professional wrestling career Born in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Regal started wrest ...

Roddy Piper Roderick George Toombs (April 17, 1954 – July 31, 2015), better known as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, was a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. In professional wrestling, Piper was best known to international audiences for his work with the Wo ...

Tom Zenk Thomas Erwin Zenk (November 30, 1958 – December 9, 2017) was an American professional wrestler and bodybuilder. He was a babyface for his entire career and was best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation from 1986 to 1987 ...

, and

Buzz Sawyer Bruce Alan Woyan (June 14, 1959 – February 7, 1992) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer. Professional wrestling career Sawyer started wrestling in 1978 (other sources state 1979) in the ...

. After leaving the WWF Oliver would return to PNW in 1990. He wrestled his last match on October 12, 1991, losing the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship to Demolition Crush.

Lawsuit

In July 2016, Oliver was part of a

class action A class action is a form of lawsuit. Class Action may also refer to: * ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio * Class Action (band), a garage house band * "Class Action" (''Teenage Robot''), a 2002 e ...

lawsuit filed against WWE which alleged that wrestlers incurred traumatic brain injuries during their tenure and that the company concealed the risks of injury. The suit was litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE. US District Judge Vanessa Lynne Bryant dismissed the lawsuit in September 2018.

Death

In early 2020, it was revealed that Oliver had entered into hospice care due to end-stage heart failure. He died on March 5, 2020, surrounded by his family.

Championships and accomplishments

NWA All-Star Wrestling NWA All Star Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Vancouver) is a Canadian professional wrestling promotion, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. All-Star Wrestling folded in 1989. History Early history Although other wrestling promotions e ...

NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) The Vancouver version of the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship was established in 1962 as the top tag team title in NWA All-Star Wrestling. The title held that status until late summer 1985, when the title was renamed the UWA Tag Team Champion ...

(

2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...

) - with Fidel Cortez (1) and

(1) *Oregon Wrestling Federation **OWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

( 12 times) **

( 16 times) - with Fidel Cortez (1), David Sierra (7),

(2),

Matt Borne Matthew Wade Osborne (July 27, 1957 – June 28, 2013), known professionally as Matt Borne, was an American professional wrestler. Osborne was a second generation wrestler, the son of Tony Borne, and is best known as being the first wrestler to ...

(2),

(1), Mike Miller (1), Super Ninja (1), and Larry Oliver (1) *''Ring Around The Northwest Newsletter'' **Tag Team of the Year (1981–1984) with Buddy Rose and The Assassin **Wrestler of the Year (1982–1984, 1986) *

World Class Championship Wrestling World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), later known as the World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA), was an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed McLemore, by ...

( 1 time)

References

External links

CWF Archives
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, Rip 1952 births 2020 deaths American male professional wrestlers People from Citrus County, Florida Sportspeople from Florida Professional wrestlers from Portland, Oregon Stampede Wrestling alumni WCWA Television Champions