Ricky Lawless | |
---|---|
Birth name | Meraldo Jim Leon Jr. |
Born | 1959 Washington, D.C., United States |
Died | November 30, 1988 Baltimore, Maryland |
(aged 28–29)
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Ricky Lawless Ricki Lawless Rikki Lawless Jim Nunna Jim Leon |
Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
Billed weight | 258 lb (117 kg) |
Medardo Jim "Jimmy" Leon Jr. (1959-November 30, 1988) was an American professional wrestler, trainer and promoter, best known by his ringname "Bad Boy" Ricky (Ricki) Lawless, who competed in Eastern, Mid-Atlantic and Southern regional territories during the early to mid-1980s, being a veteran of International Championship Wrestling and the National Wrestling Federation.
Leon was also the owner a successful wrestling school whose students included Steve "The Brawler" Lawler,"Playboy" Bobby Starr,Axl Rotten and Joey Maggs. He and Maggs later teamed together as The Heavy Metal Connection and twice captured the tag team titles in Buck Robley's Deep South Championship Wrestling. His murder in 1988, reportedly committed by a jealous husband over an extramarital affair, was featured in an exposé by Hustler.
Jim Leon was born in Washington, D.C. in 1959. He worked as a mechanic prior to becoming a professional wrestler and later lived in Charlotte, North Carolina and Baltimore, Maryland. He initially wrestled and trained only twice a week, while still a full-time mechanic, and quit three times due to his financial situation before deciding to fully commit to a career in wrestling. Throughout the 1980s, he wrestled up and down the Eastern United States and eventually became a regular in International Championship Wrestling and the National Wrestling Federation. In 1984, under the ring name Jim Nunna, he became the first heavyweight champion for the American Wrestling Federation in Georgia; while champion he began competing under his real name.