6 great matches featuring pro wrestling stars who passed on in 2018

#4 Dirty Dick Slater

"Dirty" Dick Slater, RIP

Real Name: Richard Van Slater

Country of Origin: Florida, USA.

Trained by: Mike Graham, Paul Orndorff

Dirty Dick Slater might never have become a pro wrestler if it had not been for one Eddie Graham. The former wrestler and promoter donated a wrestling mat to the high school Dick attended along with Eddie's son, Mike.

Slater made his first foray into pro wrestling as a booker, not a performer, but that quickly changed. While modern fans are unfamiliar with Dick Slater, he won over fifty championships in promotions in the USA and Japan. Most fans are probably familiar with his late 1990s WCW run where he was part of Col. Parker's Tennessee Stud Stable.

While he never reached the same heights of fame, Slater was once a major rival of Nature Boy Ric Flair, who mentioned his passing on social media.

We remember Dirty Dick Slater with this match against the Nature Boy in the old NWA promotion. The commotion at the end of the match was noteworthy.