The Renegade: How WCW Tried (& Failed) To Copy WWE's Ultimate Warrior

WCW Teased Bringing in The Ultimate Warrior

• Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage were feuding with the Dungeon of Doom and the Four Horsemen.
• Hulk Hogan promised fans an "ultimate surprise" in WCW.
• WCW created The Renegade, confusing the audience.

In 1995, Hulk Hogan and "Macho Man" Randy Savage were in the midst of a rivalry with Kevin Sullivan (aka, The Taskmaster) and his Dungeon of Doom and The Four Horseman. The two factions joined forces in an effort to rid WCW of Hulkamania and the reunited Mega Powers forever, much in a way that wrestling fans could imagine this playing out in a more traditional old-school cartoonish storyline that was more akin to how WWE programming was at the time in the "New Generation" era.

Nevertheless, Hulk Hogan and his manager, Jimmy Hart, promised the wrestling world and the Dungeon of Doom an "ultimate surprise". Given the wording, which was done purposely and strategically to build-up hype and speculation, 99.9% of the wrestling audience immediately became excited and were led to believe that we were on the cusp of seeing the debut of the Ultimate Warrior in WCW.

Instead, at WCW Uncensored, we got the debut of a whole new character by the name of "The Renegade", portrayed by a young man by the name of Rick Williams. To WCW's credit, despite his small stature, he did resemble most characters of the Ultimate Warrior in a lot of ways, but obviously, he was a far cry from being the real deal. Many fans were left scratching their heads, wondering why on earth they brought in a knockoff character instead of the Ultimate Warrior.

The Renegade Had Some Success In WCW

• The Renegade beat Arn Anderson for the TV title.
• DDP beat The Renegade for the Television Championship.
• Jimmy Hart turned on Hulk Hogan and The Renegade.

The whole purpose of the Renegade character being brought in to WCW was so that Eric Bischoff and other Turner Executives wouldn't have to deal with the ultimate headache that was Jim Hellwig, who was known for playing hardball and being a problem behind the scenes due to money issues, character direction, creative, and all the things that Vince McMahon and WWE had to deal with that Bischoff intended to avoid.

The Renegade did go on to have some success in WCW, surprisingly. He captured the WCW Television Championship at The Great American Bash from Arn Anderson. After defeating the likes of "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff and several other jobbers and lower-card stars in WCW, The Renegade's time as WCW TV Champion came to a close as he dropped the title to Diamond Dallas Page (DDP) at Fall Brawl.

A month later, Jimmy Hart turned his back on Hulk Hogan, turning heel and joining forces with The Dungeon of Doom. Hart also had turned on The Renegade, as members of the Dungeon of Doom attacked Renegade as Jimmy Hart wiped off the "R" face paint, degrading him and essentially turning him into just another jobber in WCW beyond this point of no return.

The Renegade Died At a Young Age

• The Renegade became a jobber in WCW.
• WCW released The Renegade in 1998.
• Richard Wilson took his own life at the age of 33.

After Jimmy Hart turned on The Renegade, this became WCW's way of destroying his Ultimate Warrior-like persona and delegating him to jobber status in WCW. As such, he spent the next three years in WCW wrestling on B-shows like WCW Thunder and WCW Saturday Night as an enhancement talent, complete with no face paint and generic ring attire. The Renegade was released from WCW in December 1998, having wrestled his final match against Wrath.

After his WCW release, Richard Wilson (The Renegade) fell into a deep depression and began working as a bouncer for local bars. This depression led to substance abuse, as he began taking variations of the drug GHB, which was intended to be used as a supplement for bodybuilding and is a severe depressant. Three months later, in February 1999, Wilson died at the age of 33 after committing suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Unfortunately, the legacy of The Renegade will forever be remembered as a footnote in WCW's timeline, where the company attempted to recreate the magic WWE had before with the Ultimate Warrior, but failed and failed miserably.