Rick "Ricky" Rickard (born 1958) is a retired
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
professional wrestler
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...
who competed in the
National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated All Star-Pro Wrestling, promoted by his father
Steve Rickard
Sydney Mervin "Merv" Batt (3 September 1929 – 5 April 2015), best known by his ring name Steve Rickard, was a New Zealand professional wrestler, trainer and promoter. As a wrestler, he traveled throughout the world during the 1960s and 1970s, ...
, as well as touring Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and the United States during the 1970s and early 1980s. He was a mainstay on his father's wrestling programme ''
On the Mat'' and briefly held the
NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship
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 ...
in 1983. Rickard also had a successful 10-year amateur career representing New Zealand as an amateur wrestler in the United States.
Career
Ricky Rickard began his career as an amateur at the age of 10 performing at Raynor Greeks Hall. As a youngster, he trained on a very small canvas mat before his father,
Steve Rickard
Sydney Mervin "Merv" Batt (3 September 1929 – 5 April 2015), best known by his ring name Steve Rickard, was a New Zealand professional wrestler, trainer and promoter. As a wrestler, he traveled throughout the world during the 1960s and 1970s, ...
, purchased a rubber round mat for several thousand dollars. Rickard went on to have a long and successful career in the amateur ranks and eventually represented New Zealand in competition in the United States.
Rickard later built a traditional mini-roped ring under his father's gym, where many local professional wrestlers trained, and decided to turn pro in 1978. He started his career wrestling for Steve Rickard's All Star-Pro Wrestling, the country's single major company and overseas territory of the
National Wrestling Alliance. He became very well known throughout his national tours with ASPW, which lasted around two years, as well as visits to Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and the United States. Rickard was also a regular on ASPW's popular wrestling programme ''
On the Mat'' where he frequently battled both local and foreign wrestlers such as
Ox Baker
Douglas Albert Baker Sr. (April 19, 1934 – October 20, 2014) was an American professional wrestler and actor, better known professionally as Ox Baker. He was famous for his distinctive eyebrows and finishing move, the Heart Punch, sometimes c ...
,
King Curtis Iaukea
Curtis Piehau Iaukea III (September 15, 1937 – December 4, 2010) was an American professional wrestler better known as King Curtis Iaukea. Iaukea won championships in several of the major regional U.S. promotions, both as a single and in vario ...
,
Larry O'Day
Larry Davies (1944 – 30 June 1997) was an Australian professional wrestler best known as Larry O'Dea. He was one half of the tag team known as "The Australians" with Ron Miller.
Larry made his professional wrestling debut in the 1960s for ...
and
Abdullah the Butcher
Lawrence Robert Shreve (born January 11, 1941), better known by the ring name Abdullah the Butcher, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He has a reputation for being involved in some of the most violent and bloody hardcore wrestling ma ...
. His toughest opponent, according to Rickard, was against
Stampede World Mid-Heavyweight Champion Bruce Hart.
He also occasionally teamed with younger wrestlers such as
Kid Hardy and
Rick Martel
Richard Vigneault (born March 18, 1956) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler, trainer, and television presenter, better known by his ring name, Rick Martel. He is best known for his appearances with the American Wrestling Association, the ...
.
Ricky Rickard's brother Tony was also involved with the promotion as a referee. One ''On the Mat'' episode in 1980 featured a tag team match with Ricky as a participant, Tony refereeing the match and their father Steve Rickard commentating. This was one of the few occurrences in pro wrestling history that members of the same family wrestled in, refereed, and commentated on the same match at the same time and being unrelated to an active
"storyline". One of the few storylines Rickard was the focus of, however, was when his leg was broken by Larry O'Day during an off-season tour in
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...
in early-1981. Steve Rickard publicly addressed the incident when ''On the Mat'' returned for a new season. In its first return episode, originally airing on March 17, 1981, Rickard read a letter from Larry O'Day who bragged about breaking his son's leg and publicly accepted O'Day's challenge to a match for the
NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship
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 ...
.
Ricky Rickard did suffer legitimate injuries during his professional career including twice breaking his nose, leg, back sockets and collar bone.
Soon returning to active competition, Rickard captured the NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship from Butcher Brannigan in 1983 before losing the title to Larry O'Day that same year.
After the cancellation of ''On the Mat'' in 1984, Rickard retired and became a
hotel manager
A hotel manager, hotelier, or lodging manager is a person who manages the operation of a hotel, motel, resort, or other lodging-related establishment. Management of a hotel operation includes, but is not limited to management of hotel staff, bu ...
. Though no longer active in professional wrestling, Rickard did grant an interview to Kiwi Pro Wrestling, one of New Zealand's three major companies, which was later published on its website in August 2007.
Three years later, one of Rickard's matches, a tag team match between him and Kid Hardy against Merv Fortune and Larry O'Day (July 29, 1980) at the Canterbury Court Stadium, was included in one of two episodes of ''On the Mat'' chosen to be shown on
NZ On Screen
NZ On Screen is a state-funded online promotional showcase of New Zealand television and film. Funded by NZ On Air, it provides free worldwide access to NZ-produced television, film and music videos. Content is streamed and the webpages provide ...
in early-2010.
The match was later used to promote the series in an internet spoof video starring
Tammy Davis
Tammy Davis is a New Zealand actor, best known for his role as Munter on the hit New Zealand comedy-drama '' Outrageous Fortune''. He grew up in Raetihi, New Zealand. In August 2021, it was announced that he would feature in the 2021 Season of
C ...
of ''
Outrageous Fortune''. On April 9, 2010,
Scoop.co.nz reported that ''On the Mat'' ranked #3 among the top 10 most watched videos on NZ on Screen.
Championships and accomplishments
*All Star Pro-Wrestling
**
NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship (New Zealand version) (1 time)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rickard, Ricky
1958 births
Living people
New Zealand male professional wrestlers
Sportspeople from Wellington City
20th-century New Zealand people
21st-century New Zealand people