Journeyman wrestler Rick Link died on Wednesday after entering hospice care last month.
Link was born in Lexington, North Carolina, and became a professional wrestler at sixteen, working for many territories and venturing to Canada and New Zealand.
He was a big fan, running a fan club for Ron Garvin, before entering the industry in 1975 in the North Carolina scene.
Link wrestled for Georgia Championship Wrestling, the Poffo’s ICW group in Kentucky, and worked as Sir Richard Linkton as a British character. He left for Canada for Stampede Wrestling as Squasher Link.
His greatest fame occurred in Memphis, wrestling as Man Mountain Link and managed by Jimmy Hart.
In 1983, he flipped the Southern heavyweight title with Jerry Lawler, beginning June 13 at the Mid-South Coliseum. Later that month, Lawler brought in Austin Idol to team against Man Mountain Link & Ken Pater, and with Lawler’s win, set up a big match on July 4 with Lawler wrestling Andy Kaufman & Jimmy Hart, which drew approximately 8,700 to the Mid-South Coliseum.
Link wrapped up in the territory after a ‘Loser Leaves Town’ match with Stagger Lee (Koko Ware) in July 1983.
He headed to Central States as the Man-Eating Beast (MEB) and returned to Memphis in 1985 as the Mid-Americas champion. During this era, he worked for Championship Wrestling from Georgia, which was the offshoot of Georgia Championship Wrestling after Vince McMahon’s power play for control of the territory.
His career continued for years in the North Carolina independent scene, where he wrestled into the 2000s and came back for a match as recently as 2023.
Link opted to stop kidney dialysis and entered hospice care last month.
