Rick McGraw

Rick McGraw
Birth name Richard McGraw
Born (1955-03-19)March 19, 1955
Charlotte, North Carolina, United States
Died November 1, 1985(1985-11-01) (aged 30)[1]
Fair Haven East, Connecticut, United States[1]
Cause of death Heart attack[1]
Spouse(s) Lisa
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Rick McGraw
Billed height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[2]
Billed weight 235 lb (107 kg)[2]
Billed from Charlotte, North Carolina[2]
Trained by Rip Hawk
Debut 1976

Richard "Rick" McGraw (March 19, 1955 – November 1, 1985) was an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name "Quickdraw" Rick McGraw in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Professional wrestling career

McGraw began his career in 1976 in the Florida area. He adopted the nickname "Quickdraw" in reference to the cartoon character Quick Draw McGraw.

He competed in the Mid-Atlantic region a couple of years later before entering the World Wrestling Federation.[3]

McGraw defeated enhancement talent, but mostly put over heels that were ready to challenge WWF champion Bob Backlund.[4] He also competed on the Showdown at Shea show in August 1980, losing to Greg Gagne.[4]

McGraw left the WWF and competed for various regional territories of the National Wrestling Alliance.[2] He was one-half of The New York Dolls with The Dream Machine (managed by Jimmy Hart) in the World Wrestling Association, winning the WWA World Tag Team Championship in 1982.[5]

Rick then re-entered Vince McMahon Sr.'s WWF as part of the tag team called The Carolina Connection with Steve Travis.[4]

Quickdraw had notable matches with numerous top heels during his time in the WWF. He was once managed by Arnold Skaaland and also had his neck "broken" by Killer Khan in a match.[4] Towards the end of his career, McGraw teamed up with André the Giant[2] to form a lopsided tag team duo: McGraw was 5'7" with the Giant billed at 7'4".

On a 1985 episode of WWF Championship Wrestling, McGraw was a guest on the "Piper's Pit" segment and got on host "Rowdy" Roddy Piper's case about always shooting his mouth off and not wrestling on television, prompting Piper to accept a challenge to wrestle him on the show the very next week.[4] McGraw died just days after wrestling "Hot Rod" in the nationally televised match (Quickdraw wore a "Hot Rod" T-shirt to the ring) in Poughkeepsie, New York. Shortly after McGraw's death, Roddy Piper headlined a show held to benefit McGraw's family.[6]

Personal life

McGraw was married to Lisa. The couple had a single child, Ricky.

Death

McGraw died on November 1, 1985. The official cause of death was a heart attack.[1] Fellow professional wrestler Bret Hart noted in his autobiography that McGraw regularly consumed Placidyls and suggested that this resulted in McGraw's heart failing.[7]

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Irv Muchnick (2007). Wrestling Babylon: Piledriving Tales of Drugs, Sex, Death, and Scandal. ECW Press. p. 143. ISBN 978-1-55490-286-6.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. Dorling Kindersley. p. 239. ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
  3. ↑ Cawthon, Graham (2013). the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 3:Jim Crockett and the NWA World Title 1983-1989. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 149480347X.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cawthon, Graham (2013). the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 1: WWF 1963 - 1989. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 1492825972.
  5. 1 2 3 Mike Rickard (1 December 2008). Wrestling's Greatest Moments. ECW Press. p. 79. ISBN 978-1-55490-331-3.
  6. ↑ Rowdy Roddy Piper; Robert Picarello (5 November 2002). In The Pit With Piper. Penguin Publishing Group. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-4406-7329-0.
  7. ↑ Bret Hart (15 September 2009). Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling. Ebury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4070-2931-3.
  8. ↑ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). "Alabama: NWA Alabama Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  9. ↑ Harris M. Lentz III (1 January 2003). Biographical Dictionary of Professional Wrestling, 2d ed. McFarland. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-7864-1754-4.
  10. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20080616064424/http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwi500yr.htm
  11. ↑ "W.W.A. World Tag Team Title (Indianapolis)". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
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