Ricky Hunter

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1957–1962) Sprott made his debut on October 16, 1957 in his hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, wrestling under a variation of his real name, Buddy Sprott. He won his first championship, the Atlas Wrestling Club junior heavyweight title, by defeating Ray Lasko in September 1958 in Lockport, Manitoba. In September 1961 he teamed with George Eakin to defeat John DePaulo and Stan Mykietowich to win the Madison Wrestling Club tag team titles in Winnipeg, losing them two months later to Bob Brown and John DePaulo.

Following this, on 3 April 1969 in Jacksonville The Gladiator defeated Boris Malenko for the NWA Florida Brass Knuckles Championship, which he lost back to Malenko two weeks later on 17 April. On 23 April The Gladiator fought the reigning NWA World Heavyweight Champion and future Hall of Famer Dory Funk, Jr. to a sixty-minute time-limit draw, with a rematch on 21 May going for ninety minutes before The Gladiator lost by disqualification. The Gladiator then regained the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship by defeating Mortier on 13 June 1969 to become a two time heavyweight champion, but shortly after again lost the belt back to Mortier.

He returned to Hawaii and California territories through 1972, wrestling again as Ricky Hunter. In April 1972 he returned to the Pacific Northwest, where he remained for the rest of the year. In 1973 he moved onto World Class Championship Wrestling based in Texas.

On Friday, 24 August 1973 The Atlanta Constitution & Journal reported that Sprott had sued the reigning NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jack Brisco for slander and harassment, seeking a $75,000 payment plus losses. The lawsuit arose from an alleged incident in the parking lot of WTCG-TV the previous month, where Sprott claimed Brisco had called him names "in hearing distance of a number of wrestling fans" waiting for a wrestling television taping.

California, AWA and the Northwest (1974-1985) In mid-1974 Sprott went back to wrestling in California as Ricky Hunter. In April 1975 he again returned to wrestle in the NWA Pacific Northwest promotion and the Canadian Northwest Wrestling promotion's NWA: All-Star Wrestling based in British Columbia. On 16 June 1975 he teamed with Guy Mitchell to defeat Gene Kiniski and Dale Lewis for the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship in Vancouver. This was Sprott's first and only title as the maskless Ricky Hunter, and the last championship title he would hold; they dropped these belts to Lewis and Mr. Saito on 10 August 1975. Sprott's last recorded match with the WWF was on December 11, 1990 in Tampa, Florida, where he teamed with Dennis Allen losing to The Bushwhackers on WWF Superstars of Wrestling.

Despite this, Sprott stayed in the business, wrestling occasionally as a fill-in for absent or injured wrestlers Sprott retired to Clearwater, Florida, and was married to Sharon,

Championships and accomplishments Atlas Wrestling Club Junior Heavyweight Champion (1 time) (as Buddy Sprott) Western States Sports NWA Western States Heavyweight Championship (2 times) (as The Spartan) NWA Western States Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Mr. Wrestling