Tony Ricca

Early career

Tom Ricca grew up in Hammonton, New Jersey. He trained as a wrestler under Larry Sharpe at the Monster Factory and debuted in November 1990 as one half of the tag team called "The Hammonton Hitmen", with tag team partner Leo Petetti. His debut was an event that help benefit the troops that were serving in the Gulf War. After his debut, Ricca was asked to work independently as "The Hammonton Hitman".

World Wrestling Federation

In July 1991, Ricca was asked to wrestle for the World Wrestling Federation. Ricca's WWF Superstars of Wrestling debut as Tony Ricca was on July 29, 1991, against Hacksaw Jim Duggan at the Worcester Centrum in Worcester, Massachusetts. This was a TV taping that aired nationally on August 31, 1991, on Network Television commentated by WWE owner Vince McMahon and Roddy Piper.

Personas

After wrestling with WWE in 1991, Ricca looked to create the right persona for his career. In 1992, during Easter weekend, Ricca, watching The Ten Commandments with friends, saw the Pharaoh character. That was the start of his most popular persona known as The Pharaoh. Before debuting as The Pharaoh, he decided to further his training by taking private gymnastic lessons to execute a moonsault, which he dubbed "The Sphinx". Ricca debuted as The Pharaoh on June 12, 1992, and won using "The Sphinx". The local newspaper quoted the move as "A Spectacular Flying Backflip". Following Ricca's debut as the Pharaoh, Ricca was approached by former WWE referee Dick Woehrle to see if he was interested in working on his shows in the Caribbean, Europe and Asia. Ricca accepted and instantly became Woehrle's top prospect and was introduced in late 1992 to WWE President Gorilla Monsoon. Monsoon thought The Pharaoh would be a good fit in the WWE and invited him to the WWE Headquarters in Stamford, CT to discuss future work. In 1993, however, Ricca was injured in a motor vehicle accident and was unable to continue wrestling for an extended amount of time. Ricca was unable to take the offer.

Wrestling promoter

In June 1998, Ricca ventured further into the professional wrestling business and opened up Powerslam, a pro wrestling training center on Vine Street in Hammonton. In October 1998, Ricca promoted a wrestling event for the World of Wrestling. 2,000 plus attended the wrestling event which included headliners Jimmy Snuka and King Kong Bundy. Ricca followed with more promotions until he unveiled his new promotion, The AKW, Arena Kaged Wrestling in 2000 at the same location. Ricca brought independent wrestling to another level by adding a caged structure surrounding the fans while watching the event. Ricca had the matches taped for TV and aired on cables network WMCN until Spring of 2002. Ricca promoted many headliners including, Disco Inferno, Vito LoGrasso, Daffney, Captain Lou Albano and many undercard wrestlers. Ricca also wrestled in the AKW as Nicky Sauce using a mask. Nicky Sauce was part of a group called "The Movement", a group in Pro Wrestlings AKW, removes opponents that are voted out of the AKW from AKW's online poll.

Personal

In June 2014, Ricca's daughter Gabriella Ricca, won the USAIG/IAIGC Gymnastics International World Championships as the 12-year-old division's All-Around Champion and Bar Champion in Orlando Florida. Gabriella was the only 12-year-old to receive at least a 9.0 in each event. Gabriella was headlined in the sports section of USA TODAY, Courier-Post, Press of Atlantic City.

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments