Ricky Gibson 1952 - 2006
Thursday September 21, 2006
I am saddened to report that Ricky Gibson passed away last week due to a fatal heart attack. Ricky was 53 years old. Ricky used to wrestle primarily in the Southern part of the country and formed a tag team with his younger brother Robert Gibson. After a severe car injury caused Ricky’s career to end, Robert teamed up with Ricky Morton and formed the legendary Rock-n-Roll Express. The WWE has posted a touching article from Michael Hayes about his friend Ricky.
Greatest days of wrestling in Memphis!
Rick was a hero there!
Rick was great in tupelo miss he was my favorite i have pictures of the 70and80
I just came across this sad news…
I saw Ricky take on the steroids-huge and loud-mouthed bully Paul Ellering back in the day. I think it was Mid-Atlantic or Georgia Championship Wrestling, with Lance Russel and Dave Brown calling the matches in a very small arena, maybe even just a small studio room. Ellering was always bullying Lance and the smaller wrestlers.
Jimmy Valiant could probably have taken Ellering, but he wasn’t always ready to rumble. Billy Robinson, one of my all-time faves, wasn’t often around. Bill Dundee, another of my all-time faves for his toughness, wasn’t big enough physically to match Ellering… and here I was wrestling at the 80lb wt class in junior high at the time, so not like I was gonna do anything.
But then Ricky Gibson came to town to accept Ellering’s challenge, and Gibson was nearly as big, but looking like he had earned his muscles the natural way through hard work.
It was a great match, with multiple closing moves, escapes, counters, and near-pinfall combinations, until Gibson finally relented and took the 1-2-3. It was very close.
But Ellering wasn’t gloating or taunting Gibson. He had been taken to the edge by somebody as big and tough as he was, somebody who wasn’t afraid to stand up to him.
And then Ellering pretty much disappeared from the show after that match. I never saw him again until maybe 10-15 years later as a manager for the Bruise Brothers (or some similar team) in ECW, a former shell of himself now, but still mouthing off to anybody who would let him.
I kinda wanted to see Taz “T-Bone Tazplex” Ellering, but it never happened, lol… Unlike the Taz of today’s WWE, he was throwing EVERYONE onto their heads and choking them out then, be it Big Dick Dudley, Pit Bull Anthony Durante, or even 911! Actually, Taz was himself playing the big bully then, and I didn’t like that either.
Ricky Gibson always remained in my mind as somebody who was willing to stand up to the bully even if it meant ultimately losing the match and taking a few bumps. It reminded me to stand up to a few bullies in my own life, although none were as big as Ellering back then (and I was nowhere near as big as Ricky Gibson).
And I found that most bullies will back down if you just stand up to them — I can’t recall ever even receiving any bumps or bruises in the process myself, knock on wood. It gave me the confidence not to be bullied or to allow others to be bullied. That’s an important lesson in life, and I thank Ricky Gibson for helping me learn it. God bless his family (including his brother Robert, another all-time favorite of mine, teamed together with Ricky Morton).