Rick McGraw

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

Richard 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 during the 1980s.

McGraw also had a notable career in various regional territories of the National Wrestling Alliance.[1] He was one half of the New York Dolls with Troy Graham in the World Wrestling Association, winning the WWA World Tag Team Championship in 1982, the Carolina Connection with Steve Travis and later formed a tag team with André the Giant.

History

McGraw began his career in 1976 in the Florida area. He competed in the Mid-Atlantic region a couple of years later before entering the World Wrestling Federation.

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

McGraw then moved to Memphis and was part of the tag team duo called "New York Dolls" with Troy Graham. The team was managed by Jimmy Hart.

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

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. Towards the end of his career, McGraw teamed up with André the Giant[1] to form a lopsided tag team duo: McGraw was 5'7" with the Giant billed at 7'4".

McGraw was well known in the business as having a severe drug problem, and was one of the first of many in professional wrestling to die from one. In Bret Hart's autobiography Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling, Bret wrote: "Every night he'd swallow a handful of Placidyls and wind up passed out face down in his dinner...The cause of his death was labelled a heart attack, but we all knew his heart had given out under deadly dosages of downers."

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. 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. McGraw took such a beating that referee Dick Kroll stopped the match after Piper delivered numerous DDT's. Though some less savvy fans felt the match led to McGraw's death, the two incidents were not related. Shortly after McGraw's death, Roddy Piper headlined a show held to benefit McGraw's family. He had left behind a wife and a baby daughter.

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. Dorling Kindersley. p. 239. ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
  2. ↑ "Jimmy Hart profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  3. ↑ "W.W.A. World Tag Team Title (Indianapolis)". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.

External links