PENN LIVE – Pro wrestling legend Rick Link has died. He was 66.
Link was a native of North Carolina, and PWI noted that he made a name for himself throughout the 1970s and 1980s wrestling in the NWA territories and overseas. The site said that Link made his pro wrestling debut a day after he turned 16.
“If you’ve been around wrestling a long time … you already know what kind of loss this is,” Steve Stasiak of Book Pro Wrestlers shared on Facebook.
“Rick wasn’t just a name. Rick wasn’t just a big man from another era. Rick was one of the boys. A true locker room guy. A tough, old-school worker who gave a lifetime to this business and earned respect everywhere he went.
“He was part of the era where the miles mattered, the rings were smaller, and the work was harder. He fought for everything he got, and he belonged in the business because he lived it” … READ MORE.
Richard Link (February 28, 1959 – January 14, 2026)
Richard Link was an American professional wrestler, trainer and promoter.
He wrestled throughout Canada and the United States for the National Wrestling Alliance during the 1970s and 1980s under a number of ring names, most notably, as M.E.B. (Man Eating Beast) in NWA Central States and as Man Mountain Link in the Continental Wrestling Association where he was among the “monster heels” who challenged AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Jerry “The King” Lawler and was involved in the ongoing feud between Lawler and Andy Kaufman.
Other promotions Link competed in included Georgia Championship Wrestling, International Championship Wrestling, the International Wrestling Association, Jim Crockett Promotions, and Stampede Wrestling.
He was also part of the NWA’s 1983 visit to New Zealand, frequently appearing on the country’s long-running wrestling programme On the Mat, and remained undefeated throughout the tour.
A North Carolina native, Rick Link became a fan of professional wrestling at a young age and was the president of the Ron Garvin Fan Club in his teens. One Man Gang was also one of his childhood friends while growing up in the Carolinas. Link started training to become a pro wrestler at the age of 15.
He was taught by Johnny Hunter, an older NWA veteran who also trained Ken Spence and George South, who set up a ring in Link’s backyard and worked out with the teenager 7 days a week unless Hunter was on the road. The training conditions, according to Link, were “brutal” as the two wrestled “stiff” and regardless of “whether it was freezing or it was in 100 degree heat”.
The lessons learned from Hunter, that hardship would teach students to have a love and old-school respect for the business, would carry over as a trainer years later … READ MORE AT WIKIPEDIA
