WCW Nitro Debut Wrestlers: Where Are They Now?

Dick Slater was never the “top guy” for any promotion he worked for, but he was a solid midcard hand for over two decades. He started his career with the NWA in the 1970s, signed with WWE in 1986, and almost saw his career go down the pan as Vince McMahon straddled him with a corny redneck gimmick. Fortunately, “The Rebel” was able to escape this purgatory the following year, and he soon signed up with WCW.

Slater’s in-ring career ended when he blew out two vertebrae while still working in WCW, and he was released shortly after. Aside from his obvious in-ring chops, Slater was known as a boisterous presence behind the scene, and he was unintentionally shot by Wahoo McDaniel during a parking lot altercation in the 1980s.

Unfortunately, Slater’s life has taken a number of dark turns since leaving wrestling. He was convicted of attacking his former girlfriend with a butcher’s knife in 2004, and was eventually sentenced to one year of house arrest and two of probation. Slater blamed the incident on the medication he’d been taking to combat his back problems, and he has been arrested multiple times since, with the most recent example coming in 2013. Today, Slater lives in a nursing home in Clearwater, Florida, and still struggles with a multitude of injuries from his wrestling days.