Dick Slater | |
---|---|
Birth name | Richard Van Slater |
Born |
Tampa, Florida, United States |
May 19, 1951
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Dick Slater Mr. Florida |
Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
Billed weight | 233 lb (106 kg) |
Billed from | Richmond, Virginia |
Trained by |
Yasuhiro Kojima Eddie Graham Jack Brisco Bob Roop Bill Watts |
Debut | 1972 |
Retired | 1996 |
Richard Van Slater (born May 19, 1951), better known by his ring name "Dirty" Dick Slater, is a retired American professional wrestler who wrestled in the 1970s, 1980s, and mid-1990s for various promotions including Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
Slater began wrestling with Mike Graham at Robinson High School, in Tampa, Florida. He attended the University of Tampa with Paul Orndorff. From there he began wrestling in Championship Wrestling from Florida and Georgia Championship Wrestling. He worked as a booker in Knoxville, Tennessee after Ron Fuller sold his promotion to Jim Barnett. He wrestled in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (later World Championship Wrestling), where he appeared on the first Starrcade. He also worked in Mid-South Wrestling Association, where he was managed by Dark Journey. Made some trips to the World Wrestling Council 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.