41 Facts About Tommy Rich

Tommy Rich is a one time former National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Champion and Smoky Mountain Wrestling Heavyweight Champion.

Tommy Rich primarily appeared in Georgia Championship Wrestling and Memphis throughout the 1980s, as well as World Championship Wrestling, Smoky Mountain Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling throughout the 1990s.

Tommy Rich is a 1974 graduate of Hendersonville High School.

Tommy Rich won dozens of NWA regional titles during this time.

Tommy Rich is best known as one of the original stars of the TBS wrestling shows from the 1970s and 1980s.

Tommy Rich dropped the belt back to former champion Harley Race four days later in Gainesville.

Tommy Rich had a feud in Georgia Championship Wrestling with "Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer for the NWA Georgia National Title.

Sawyer and Tommy Rich tried forming a team for a short period of time afterward to feud with a new team called the "Road Warriors".

Tommy Rich was later directed into a feud with Ted DiBiase.

Tommy Rich then returned to the Memphis area, where he formed a team with "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert known as "Fargo's Fabulous Ones".

Tommy Rich immediately got the upper hand, running Gilbert into the steel ringpost several times, bloodying him in the process before the cameras went to a commercial.

Tommy Rich hid under the ring for the entire event only to emerge during the cage match, causing Lawler to lose the match and his hair, which led to a heel turn for Tommy Rich.

World Championship Wrestling, having been bought by Ted Turner in late 1988, was in the middle of a face lift and Tommy Rich was part of a host of veteran wrestlers to enter the promotion during this period.

Eddie Gilbert introduced him on the June 24,1989, episode of World Championship Wrestling, and Tommy Rich announced that he would be challenging US Heavyweight Champion Lex Luger.

However only a month into his tenure, Tommy Rich found himself relegated to midcard status.

Tommy Rich came out again on the losing side of the matches and slid further down the card.

Tommy Rich made his first Clash of Champions appearance that fall, teaming with Eddie Gilbert in a loss to Doom on Clash of Champions IX in Troy, NY on November 15,1989.

Tommy Rich began 1990 with a televised win over Cactus Jack on the January 6th episode of World Championship Wrestling.

Tommy Rich then resumed teaming with Eddie Gilbert to face the New Zealand Militia, but were unsuccessful.

Tommy Rich began teaming with Johnny Ace, who himself had just lost in partner.

The summer Tommy Rich began to have a resurgence, having gotten into better shape he went on a winning streak, defeating Joe Cruz, The Samoan Savage, The Super Destroyer, and Jumbo Maretto.

Tommy Rich then rebounded to pin "Nature Boy" Buddy Landell on The Main Event on July 29,1990.

Tommy Rich then began a house show feud with Buddy Landell and was victorious, before pivoting to a less successful series against Stan Hansen.

Tommy Rich gained a measure of revenge against Harley Race as the fall of 1990 began, defeating the older wrestler in several house show encounters.

Tommy Rich beat The Blade Hunter in numerous house show matches, as well as continuing to dominate Buddy Landell.

At Starrcade 90 Rich and Morton again defeated the Freebirds, and Tommy Rich ended 1990 in a much stronger position than he had been a year earlier.

Tommy Rich separately teamed with Junkyard Dog in matches against Dr X and Moondog Rex, as well as The Royal Family.

At the inaugural SuperBrawl PPV at St Petersburg, FL on May 19,1991, Tommy Rich took on the returning Nikita Koloff and was defeated.

Tommy Rich competed in a 15-man battle royal at the Clash of the Champions XVI, which was ultimately on by El Gigante.

At Starrcade 91 Tommy Rich was one of the participants in The Lethal Lottery, a drawing that partnered wrestlers randomly in tag-team matches.

Tommy Rich found himself teaming with Ron Simmons to defeat PN News and Steve Armstrong.

Terrance Taylor was the first to leave the group, and Tommy Rich opened 1992 teaming with Richard Morton in a losing effort against Taylor and Big Josh in Atlanta, GA at The Omni.

Tommy Rich wrestled at Clash of Champions XVIII, facing Vinnie Vegas and losing in the latter's debut.

Tommy Rich began teaming with Tracy Armstrong after the former Young Pistols' teammate Steve Armstrong left WCW; the duo would engage in an unsuccessful house show series against The WCW Patriots in the spring of 1992.

Tommy Rich teamed with Dallas Page to defeat Bob Cook and Firebreaker Chip in the dark match of WrestleWar 92 in Jacksonville, FL on May 17,1992; after this Tommy Rich departed from the promotion.

Tommy Rich debuted in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling in January 1997.

Tommy Rich both managed The Full Blooded Italians and occasionally wrestled.

Since leaving ECW in 2000, Tommy Rich has worked on countless independent promotions as well as legends events and reunion events.

Tommy Rich was allegedly upset that he was booked to lose an "I Quit" match to a manager, TCW Rhea County Heritage Champion Jay West.

Tommy Rich ended up losing the match to West, before defeating Keith Hart later in the card.

On November 6,2015, in Hanover, Indiana, Tommy Rich teamed with "The Rebel" Tom Scroggins to face the team of Big N' Tasty on NWA-Supreme's Event Three Generations of Excellence featuring another NWA former World Champion, Rob Conway, and Johnny Justice.