Charles B. Sprott (March 1, 1936 – February 8, 2022) was a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by his

ring names Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

Ricky Hunter and the masked wrestler The Gladiator. He was best known for his title-winning success in

Championship Wrestling from Florida Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to as ...

in the late 1960s, and for his stint from the mid-1980s in the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

(now WWE). Sprott was active for over 30 years, mainly performing in a number of National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) promotions. He wrestled throughout the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and internationally, including in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1957–1962)

Sprott made his debut on October 16, 1957 in his hometown of

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, wrestling under a variation of his real name, Buddy Sprott. He won his first championship, the Atlas Wrestling Club junior heavyweight title, by defeating Ray Lasko in September 1958 in

Lockport, Manitoba Lockport is a small unincorporated community in Manitoba, Canada. It is located north of the city of Winnipeg along the Red River. The community is split between the Rural Municipalities of St. Andrews (west of the river) and St. Clements ( ...

. In September 1961 he teamed with George Eakin to defeat John DePaulo and Stan Mykietowich to win the Madison Wrestling Club

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 establish ...

titles in Winnipeg, losing them two months later to

Bob Brown Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is a former Australian politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian Senate on the Tasman ...

and John DePaulo.

United States (1962–1968)

In early 1962 Sprott expanded from his base in Manitoba, entering the larger wrestling market in the

. He went to train with

Verne Gagne Laverne Clarence Gagne (February 26, 1926 – April 27, 2015) was an American amateur and professional wrestler, football player, wrestling trainer, and wrestling promoter. He was the owner and promoter of the Minneapolis-based American Wrestling ...

of the

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The territory was originally part o ...

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, and Don Owen of the

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. T ...

promotion in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. He then wrestled with Ed Francis' promotion in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

and

Worldwide Wrestling Associates NWA Hollywood Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Los Angeles) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Los Angeles, California in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Southern California. It ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

run by Mike and

Gene LeBell Ivan “Judo” Gene LeBell (October 9, 1932 – August 9, 2022) was an American martial artist, stunt performer, actor, and professional wrestler. Nicknamed "The Godfather of Grappling", he popularized grappling in professional fighting circ ...

under the name Rocky Hunter, in the Pacific Northwest as Ricky Hunter, as well as still appearing in Manitoba as Buddy Sprott. During this time he faced notable opponents such as

Mad Dog Vachon Joseph Maurice Régis Vachon (September 14, 1929 − November 21, 2013) was a Canadian professional wrestler, best known by his ring name Mad Dog Vachon. He was the older brother of wrestlers Paul and Vivian Vachon, and the uncle of wrestle ...

, Pat Patterson, and

Mr. Fuji Harry Masayoshi Fujiwara (May 4, 1934 – August 28, 2016) was an American professional wrestler and manager, known professionally by his ring name Mr. Fuji (or Master Fuji to his protégés). He was famous for often throwing salt in the ey ...

. Sprott continued to develop his in-ring ability and success rate, wrestling mainly in Hawaii and the American and Canadian Pacific Northwest through to 1966, but including at least one international tour, wrestling in

in 1963. In March 1966 Sprott began wrestling in Roy Shire's NWA

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

territory, where he would remain for most of that year. Sprott credited his time in California with Shire as the point where they developed his masked wrestling character The Gladiator. In early 1967 Sprott moved onto

Central States Wrestling Heart of America Sports Attractions, also known as the Midwest Wrestling Association, Central States Wrestling and the World Wrestling Alliance, was an American professional wrestling promotion that ran shows mainly in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska ...

where he would compete with the likes of

Lou Thesz Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002) was an American professional wrestler. He was a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and held the title for a combined total of 10 years, three months and nine days (3,749 ...

and

Bob Orton Robert Keith Orton Sr. (July 21, 1929 – July 16, 2006) was an American professional wrestler. The patriarch of the Orton wrestling family, his two sons Bob Orton Jr. and Barry Orton, and grandson Randy Orton, have all wrestled professionall ...

, and later that year he entered

Georgia Championship Wrestling Georgia Championship Wrestling was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Atlanta, Georgia. The promotion was affiliated with what had been the world's top sanctioning body of championship titles for decades before, the National W ...

. At the start of 1968 he undertook an extensive tour of

, wrestling with the

Japan Wrestling Association The was the first professional wrestling promotion to be based in Japan. It operated from 1953 to 1973. History JWA under Rikidōzan (1953–1963) Rikidōzan, a former ''rikishi'' (sumo wrestling practitioner) who had debuted as a Western-st ...

, and then returned via Hawaii to again wrestle in Georgia.

Championship Wrestling from Florida (1968–1969)

At the start of November 1968 Sprott moved to the

promotion, where he started performing as his masked persona of The Gladiator. He became one of the first wrestlers to employ the inverted suplex manoeuvre, and it was in this promotion that he had his greatest success, winning multiple titles over the next year. On 23 November 1968 The Gladiator defeated Nick Kozak in

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city'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 the seat of Hillsborough County ...

to win the

NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship The NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship was a major title in Championship Wrestling from Florida, USA and is now the major title in NWA Florida Wrestling Alliance. It started in 1937 and was abandoned in 1949. It was picked back up in 1966 by C ...

for the first time. The Gladiator dropped the belt to

Hans Mortier Jacob "Jaap" Grobbe (January 28, 1924 – December 15, 2010), better known as Hans Mortier, was a Dutch professional wrestler best known for his stint in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) and his feud with WWWF Champion Bruno Sammartin ...

two-and-half months later, on 4 February 1969. Following this, on 3 April 1969 in

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

The Gladiator defeated

Boris Malenko Lawrence J. Simon (June 28, 1933 – September 1, 1994), better known by the ring name, Boris Malenko ( rus, Бори́с Маленко́, p=bɐˈrʲis mɐlˈɛnko, pron), was an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling trainer. ...

for the NWA Florida Brass Knuckles Championship, which he lost back to Malenko two weeks later on 17 April. On 23 April The Gladiator fought the reigning

NWA World Heavyweight Champion The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is i ...

and future Hall of Famer

Dory Funk, Jr. Dorrance Earnest Funk (born February 3, 1941), known professionally as Dory Funk Jr., is an American retired professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. The son of Dory Funk (Dorrance Wilhelm Funk) and brother of Terry Funk, he was the promote ...

to a sixty-minute time-limit draw, with a rematch on 21 May going for ninety minutes before The Gladiator lost by disqualification. The Gladiator teamed with Lester Welch to defeat the team of ''The Medics'' (Billy Garrett and Jim Starr) for 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 ...

on 29 April in Tampa, becoming only the second team to hold this title. The Gladiator and Welch lost these belts to the team of

Yasuhiro Kojima (July 22, 1937 – November 27, 1999) was a Japanese professional wrestler and trainer best known by his ring name . He trained many professional wrestlers including Hulk Hogan, The Great Muta, "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, Scott Hall, Lex Lu ...

and

The Missouri Mauler Larry "Rocky" Hamilton (April 1, 1931 – July 20, 1996), better known by his ring name the Missouri Mauler, was an American professional wrestler who competed in the National Wrestling Alliance as well as Florida Championship Wrestling and Jim ...

on 27 May. The Gladiator then regained the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship by defeating Mortier on 13 June 1969 to become a two time heavyweight champion, but shortly after again lost the belt back to Mortier.

Around the territories (1969–1985)

Hawaii, Texas and the Pacific Coast (1969-1973)

Following his successful run in Florida, Sprott again moved around the wrestling territories of the time. Throughout the remainder of 1969 and 1970 he returned to Hawaii as Ricky Hunter, and fought through Shire's San Francisco territory as The Gladiator. In early 1971 he again toured Japan as Ricky Hunter, and then spent several months in the

NWA Western States Western States Sports (also known as the Amarillo Territory) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Amarillo, Texas in the United States. Founded by Dory Detton in 1946, the promotion enjoyed its greatest success in the 1960s and ...

promotion, based in

Amarillo, Texas Amarillo ( ; Spanish for "yellow") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Potter County. It is the 14th-most populous city in Texas and the largest city in the Texas Panhandle. A portion of the city extends into Randall County ...

, famous as the home territory of the Funks. Wrestling as The Spartan, on 14 April 1971 he defeated Pak Song to win the

NWA Western States Heavyweight Championship The NWA Western States Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling title in the National Wrestling Alliance's Amarillo, Texas territory, Western States Sports. The title was in use from 1969, when it replaced Amarillo's version of the ...

, losing the belt to

Terry Funk Terrence Funk (born June 30, 1944) is an American retired professional wrestler, rapper, disc jockey and actor. Funk is known for the longevity of his career – which spanned more than 50 years and included multiple short-lived retirements – a ...

in May. He returned to the Hawaii and California territories through to 1972, wrestling again as Ricky Hunter. In April 1972 he returned to the Pacific Northwest, where he remained for the rest of the year. In 1973 he moved onto

World Class Championship Wrestling World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), later known as the World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA) (1986–1991) was an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed ...

based in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

All-South Wrestling Alliance (1973-1974)

In mid-1973, adopting the new moniker of The Super Gladiator, he entered the recently created independent All-South Wrestling Alliance (ASWA) based in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, a non- National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) competitor to Georgia Championship Wrestling. On 31 July 1973 in Atlanta The Super Gladiator teamed with Tommy Seigler to beat Rock Hunter and Assassin #2 to win the ASWA Georgia Tag Team Championship, which they would hold until 9 October before losing it back to the same opponents. On Friday, 24 August 1973 The Atlanta Constitution & Journal reported that Sprott had

sued - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil acti ...

the reigning

Jack Brisco Freddie Joe "Jack" Brisco (September 21, 1941 – February 1, 2010) was an American amateur wrestling, amateur and Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. As an amateur for Oklahoma State, Brisco was two-time All-American and won the Natio ...

for

slander Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

and

harassment Harassment covers a wide range of behaviors of offensive nature. It is commonly understood as behavior that demeans, humiliates or embarrasses a person, and it is characteristically identified by its unlikelihood in terms of social and moral ...

, seeking a $75,000 payment plus losses. The lawsuit arose from an alleged incident in the parking lot of WTCG-TV the previous month, where Sprott claimed Brisco had called him names "in hearing distance of a number of wrestling fans" waiting for a wrestling television taping. The result of the case is not known, but the alleged incident would have occurred at the height of tensions between the NWA's Georgia Championship Wrestling and Sprott's rebel independent All-South Wrestling Alliance. Just over two weeks after losing the tag team titles he shared with Tommy Seigler, on 27 October 1973 The Super Gladiator defeated Seigler to win the ASWA Georgia Television Title. He would never relinquish this title, retaining it in his last recorded title defence against

El Mongol Raul Molina (April 7, 1930 – October 6, 2016) was a Mexican-born professional wrestler better known by his ring name of El Mongol. He was most famous in the Georgia territory during the late 1960s and early '70s. Professional wrestling career ...

in March 1974. Although briefly successful and attracting several high-profile wrestlers, the ASWA was squeezed out of business by the powerful NWA, with The Super Gladiator being the last recorded television champion when the promotion closed in November 1974.

California, AWA and the Northwest (1974-1985)

In mid-1974 Sprott went back to wrestling in California as Ricky Hunter. In April 1975 he again returned to wrestle in the NWA Pacific Northwest promotion and the Canadian Northwest Wrestling promotion's NWA: All-Star Wrestling based in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. On 16 June 1975 he teamed with

Guy Mitchell Guy Mitchell (born Albert George Cernik; February 22, 1927 – July 1, 1999) was an American pop singer and actor, successful in his homeland, the UK, and Australia. He sold 44 million records, including six million-selling singles. In the fal ...

to defeat

Gene Kiniski Eugene Nicholas Kiniski (November 23, 1928 – April 14, 2010) was a Canadian athlete who played football for the Edmonton Eskimos and then became a three-time professional wrestling world heavyweight champion. "Canada's Greatest Athlete", as he b ...

and Dale Lewis for the

NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship The NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship is a National Wrestling Alliance-sanctioned tag team professional wrestling championship based mainly in the Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling promotion, although the title has been contested for in the ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. This was Sprott's first and only title as the maskless Ricky Hunter, and the last championship title he would hold; they dropped these belts to Lewis and

Mr. Saito was a Japanese professional wrestler better known as Mr. Saito or , who wrestled for 33 years around the world. He had success as a singles wrestler, winning the AWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1990, and as a tag team wrestler with multip ...

on 10 August 1975. Sprott remained wrestling chiefly in California and the Northwest until mid- to late 1979. He then spent several months in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) in Minneapolis, and from mid-1980 divided his time between the AWA and the NWA Pacific Northwest, as well as spending some time overseas, including in

. Sprott said after retiring that the Portland territory was by far his favourite, and he also enjoyed wrestling in the San Francisco territory, thus explaining the extended time he spent in these areas. Throughout this period Sprott shared the ring with many of the biggest names in wrestling, as both opponents and tag team partners. This included both past and future World Champions, and future Hall of Famers, including the likes of

André the Giant André René Roussimoff (; 19 May 1946 – 28 January 1993), better known by his ring name André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. Roussimoff was known for his great size, which was a result of gigantism caused by exce ...

, Jesse The Body Ventura,

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

Superfly Jimmy Snuka James Reiher Snuka (born James Wiley Smith; May 18, 1943 – January 15, 2017) was a Fijian American professional wrestler. He is better known by the ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Snuka wrestled for several promotions from the 1970s to 2010 ...

Superstar Billy Graham Eldridge Wayne Coleman (born June 7, 1943), better known by his ring name "Superstar" Billy Graham, is an American former professional wrestler. He gained recognition for his tenure as the WWWF Heavyweight Champion in 1977–1978. He is a thre ...

, and Soulman Rocky Johnson.

World Wrestling Federation (1985–1996)

Approaching fifty years of age, and beyond his prime, Sprott joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) (now WWE) in mid-1985, shortly after the first

WrestleMania WrestleMania is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event held annually between mid-March and mid-April by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Since premiering in 1985, 37 editions followed, mos ...

event. In the WWF he performed as both Rick Hunter and The Gladiator, with both characters taking on the role of a

jobber Jobber may refer to: Athletics * Job (professional wrestling) - A professional wrestler who routinely loses a match. * Wichita Jobbers, a minor league baseball team in the Western Association from 1905 to 1911 Commerce * A person or corporation ...

, cleanly losing to the stars of the day. Both Rick Hunter and The Gladiator made regular appearances on

WWF Championship Wrestling ''WWF Championship Wrestling'' is a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It aired from 1971 to August 30, 1986 and was the original television show of the WWF. Originally produced u ...

and the later

WWF Superstars of Wrestling ''WWF Superstars of Wrestling'' (later shortened to ''WWF Superstars'' and to ''Sunday Morning Superstars ''), also referred to as ''Maple Leaf Wrestling'' in Canada was an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by ...

, the WWF's nationally and internationally broadcast weekly television programs of the time. Despite the sustained record of losses at this time, Sprott's personas, particularly Rick Hunter, put up many creditable performances, and he was sometimes teamed with bigger name characters to take the

pinfall In wrestling, a pin is achieved by holding an opponent's shoulders to the mat for a three count. Pinfall is the term used in professional wrestling which is a way to win the match for that person or team. Background A pinfall is a victory condi ...

matches. By performing as both a masked and an unmasked wrestler, Sprott was often used as a

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower Human leg, leg. Structure To distribute the compressive for ...

or 'bad guy', losing to the big-name

face The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...

or 'good guy' characters, while his other persona could be a face, losing to the big-name heels. This, along with his ability to put on credible matches, made Sprott a very useful jobber for the bookers as he was able to take on a multitude of roles. Sprott stated that at times he would wrestle two matches in a night, one as each of his characters. Sprott's last recorded match with the WWF was on December 11, 1990 in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city'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 ...

, where he teamed with Dennis Allen losing to

The Bushwhackers The Bushwhackers are a professional wrestling tag team who competed first as the New Zealand Kiwis and then as The Sheepherders during their 36-year career as a tag team. They wrestled in the World Wrestling Federation, Jim Crockett Promotions, ...

. Despite this, Sprott stayed in the business, wrestling occasionally as a fill-in for absent or injured wrestlers in

house show A house show or live event is a professional wrestling event produced by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive du ...

s or

dark matches Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnivals and circuses. In the past, professional wrestlers used such terms in the presence o ...

, as well as assisting with setting up the

ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

. With his decades of experience, during his last five years with the WWF Sprott also took on the role of

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

. Sprott finally left the sport around 1996, stating in a 2006 interview that "... for thirty-six years I was a professional wrestler and loved every minute of it".

Personal life

Hunter was reported to have been a

firefighter A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

with the Winnipeg Fire Department from the mid-1950s to the early 1960s, when he quit to take up wrestling full-time. Sprott retired to

Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, northwest of Tampa and St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a populat ...

, and was married to Sharon, however he was a

widower A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can so ...

. He died on February 8, 2022, at the age of 85.

Championships and accomplishments

*Atlas Wrestling Club **Junior Heavyweight Champion (1 time) (as Buddy Sprott) *Madison Wrestling Club **Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with George Eakin (as Buddy Sprott) *L&G Promotions ** L&G Caribbean Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) *

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) (as The Gladiator) ** NWA Florida Brass Knuckles Championship ( 1 time) (as The Gladiator) **

( 1 time) – with Lester Welch (as The Gladiator) *All-South Wrestling Alliance **Georgia Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tommy Seigler (as The Super Gladiator) **Georgia Television Championship (1 time, undefeated) (as The Super Gladiator) *

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 but returned in 2007 no longer affiliated with the National Wr ...

** NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (''Vancouver version'') ( 1 time) – with

(as Ricky Hunter) *

Western States Sports Western States Sports (also known as the Amarillo Territory) was a professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion headquartered in Amarillo, Texas in the United States. Founded by Dory Detton in 1946, the promotion enjoyed its ...

(

) (as The Spartan) **

NWA Western States Tag Team Championship The NWA International Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling title, originally created as the NWA Western States Tag Team Championship in the National Wrestling Alliance's Amarillo, Texas territory, Western States Sports. The title wa ...

( 3 times) - with Mr. Wrestling

References

External links

A collection of programs and clippings from Sprott's successful run as The Gladiator in Florida, 1968–69
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Ricky 1936 births 2022 deaths Canadian male professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Manitoba Sportspeople from Winnipeg 20th-century professional wrestlers NWA Florida Heavyweight Champions NWA Florida Tag Team Champions NWA Brass Knuckles Champions (Florida version)