Rick Wilson

Richard L. Wilson was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his tenure in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under the ring name The Renegade, where he was a one-time WCW World Television Champion.

Wilson went to Boston to train for a wrestling career under the tutelage of Killer Kowalski, but Kowalski never trained him, so Richard Byrne, one of Kowalski's students, continued his in-ring education. Wilson debuted on May 26, 1990 for a television taping for the North Carolina-based North American Wrestling Association, losing a match to Robert Fuller, which aired on July 14. In 1992, he joined Killer Kowalski's International Wrestling Federation under the ring name "Rio, Lord of the Jungle"; the character included him banging on his chest like a gorilla and wearing a loincloth. During his early career, Wilson wrestled for the Japanese promotion WAR and the New England independent circuit. Wilson worked a try-out match for WWE on an August 18, 1993 taping of WWF Superstars, facing The Brooklyn Brawler.

In 1995, Wilson was signed by World Championship Wrestling. Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage were involved in the main event feud with Ric Flair and Vader. Leading up to Uncensored, in which Hogan was scheduled to face Vader in the main event, Hogan began hyping an "Ultimate Surprise" and showed a silhouette of a man with long hair and tassels tied to his arms, implying that The Ultimate Warrior was the man in question. On March 19 at Uncensored, Wilson, under the ring name The Renegade, was billed by Hogan as "the man that's gonna bring Hulkamania into the 21st Century."