Bio
Tony Ricca:
Thomas Ricca is an American Professional Wrestler, better known by the ring names Tony Ricca of WWE and The Pharaoh. Ricca, a Hall of Fame Professional Wrestler, is also the business founder of Women's Championship Wrestling the New Jersey-based promotion AKW Wrestling (AKW Arena Kaged Wrestling), and Cannoli World, LLC.
General Information:
Thomas Ricca born June 7, 1968. Birth Place Hammonton, NJ, USA. Height 5'9". Weight 265 lbs. Debut 1990.
Hammonton High School Alumni:
A graduate of Hammonton High School in 1986. Track and Field Pole Vaulter and rock band drummer and singer for local band Flight. He credits the bands name from his brother Michael that had the same band name and was the bass player for his band. Tom was inspired by his brother Michael's precision of playing. Tom helped form the local band The Roakers. They played at Hammonton High School dances. Playing at several dances that were for the Hammonton High School Football Team the night before their games and first School Football State Championship.
Early career:
American professional wrestler Tom Ricca grew up in Hammonton, New Jersey. He trained as a professional wrestler under Larry Sharpe at the Monster Factory and debuted in November 1990 as one half of the tag team called "The Hammonton Hitmen". 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".
WWE:
In 1991, Ricca was contracted with WWE / World Wrestling Federation. Ricca wrestled under the name Tony Ricca on house shows and on WWF Superstars of Wrestling on FOX TV Network. One of the largest venues during that year 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 FOX TV Network on August 31, 1991, during Labor Day weekend and was commentated by WWE owner Vince McMahon and commentator Roddy Piper. He continued to wrestle with the WWE until he completed his contract. He went on to pursue a persona (The Pharaoh) that would catapult him to a different level that no one had seen.
The Pharaoh:
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 his debut as The Pharaoh, he decided to further his training by taking private gymnastic lessons from an Olympic Gold Medalist from Bolivia to execute a new type of flying backflip (currently known as a moonsault) which he dubbed "The Sphinx". He was the first in Pro Wrestling to bring that fast acrobatic style to wrestling in the U.S.A. Ricca debuted as The Pharaoh on June 12, 1992, and won using "The Sphinx". 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, Africa and Asia. Ricca accepted and instantly became Woehrle's top prospect and was introduced in late 1992 to WWE (WWF) President Gorilla Monsoon. Monsoon thought The Pharaoh would be a good fit in the WWE for a long term contract and invited him to the WWE Headquarters in Stamford, CT to discuss future work for a multi year contract with WWE as he accepted as The Pharaoh. However, in 1993, Ricca was injured in a motor vehicle accident and was unable to continue wrestling for an extended amount of time. Following the contract, Ricca wrestled as The Pharaoh on the independent circuit.
Pro Wrestler Ranking:
Tom was Ranked as the Number one Wrestler in American Pro Wrestler Rankings for one year in 1991 as Tony Ricca and the following two years as The Pharaoh which he had won all of his matches.
Ring Names:
Tony Ricca of WWE, The Pharaoh, Nicky Sauce and The Hammonton Hitman.
Wrestling Promoter & Wrestling:
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. 3,000 plus attended the wrestling event which included headliners Jimmy Snuka and King Kong Bundy. Ricca followed with more promotions for the company 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, just to name a few and many mid and undercard wrestlers. Ricca also wrestled in the AKW as Tony Ricca, The Pharaoh and Nicky Sauce using a mask. Nicky Sauce was part of a group called "The Movement", a group in Pro Wrestlings AKW that removed opponents that are voted out of the AKW from AKW's online poll from fans votes through their website. The online poll was the first of its kind used in professional wrestling.
Community and Nationwide Service:
From professional wrestling and business experience, Ricca was a Public Speaker at different venues including local (Hammonton Public and private schools), regional and nationwide schools. Subjects (Choices, Awareness, Professional Sports, Success in wrestling and Business success. Volunteering local production services for Hammonton Public Schools, Hammonton local cable channel with the Mayor to show all Hammonton, NJ public services (new Town Hall, Public Works, etc.). Regional cable TV shows for annual local elections with updated website information. All services were voluntarily done by Ricca. Spearheading the Little Italy Hammonton campaign with local groups (Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Son's of Italy, Knights of Columbus, Italian Son's and Daughters, The Hammonton Business Association along with the town of Hammonton to help identify the Little Italy Hammonton district.
Currently:
Music:
Ricca, at the early age of five, would watch his sister Maria during her piano lessons. When he had the opportunity to play it, he would practice what he saw and eventually develop slight ballads and certain melodies. At five years old, he was also given a drum pad with drum sticks because his mother, Dolores Ricca (a homemaker), would get annoyed when he did drum rolls at the dinner table. He would get sheet music to just learn snare drum elements from it. His family had a piano and Tom's sister Maria Ricca, would have lessons taken with it as he watched. This fascinated him to the point of remembering what she was taught and would practice and learn on his own, though his real passion at that time was to be a drummer. He desired a drum set and asked his father for one. His father, Cosimo Ricca, a first generation Italian American, who worked on his father's (Giuseppe Ricca from Sicily, Italy) farm and at his uncles bakery as a youngster. He signed up for the US Army and was a true dedicated patriot for his country that had served as infantry and was on the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team. As a soldier in the US Army in the Korean War he earned the 11 awards in one year. He was shot in the arm, recovered after one month and returned back to the war. Was scraped in the leg by a machine gun bullet. He received the Purple Heart and citation from the President of South Korea, U.N. Medal and eight others. After returning from the war he was reassigned. After the military, he opened up a bakery and named it Vet's Sunrise Bakery (Vet's stands for Veterans, Sunrise for the battles that took place during the war and bakery - as it is a bakery). The answer to Tom's question from his father about getting a drum set was, it has to be earned before getting it. Tom's father had him work with bakers that worked there. He learned from various bakers (Pastry Chefs) of different cultures that had different methods of how they baked from start to finish. He was influenced from the bakers baking styles of Italian, French, German, Polish, Spanish, Russian, African, Asian, British and many more styles of a bakers baking methods. The bakery had their own house recipes but many of the bakers would introduce their styles. The bakery was an Italian style bakery but would provide many styles of the bakers products to showcase them. Tom would use drum sets from friends that would lend to him because they didn't use them. He would practice drum beats and uncover different patterns that would improve his skills. He was influenced by all genres. He enjoyed the musical structures of the rhythms and said he spent many hours a day learning and understanding the way they were put together. Some of his influences were music from Rush, Duran Duran, Hall & Oates, The Police, Michael Jackson, Wham, The Bee Gee's, The Pet Shop Boys, Information Society, Men at Work, Genesis, Boy George, George Michael, Journey, U2, Madonna, C&C Music Factory, The Beatles, Elvis, Sade, The Thompson Twins and the list goes on. He said no one should be left out. He also credits his brother Michael's bass skills. His precision and talent while playing the bass inspired Tom to always practice and play with precision. Once Tom showed his work ethics at the bakery to his father he was rewarded with a used drum set of his own and eventually bought a new one. Tom played drums and also sang while drumming. He got together with a few musician friends and started playing at High Schools. He would work with various bands at many gigs in the South Jersey area and the Atlantic City area. He was also a studio recording drummer. While doing that he would get to use the synthesizers and keyboards. He played with his close friend from school and incredible singer Bob Lemons. He eventually bought Keyboards and Synths, mics and everything needed to create music. He would call his close friend, singer Rich Roldan to work with him on some music that Tom had written. He said he had such a beautiful voice that he felt it blended with the style of music that he had written and was still writing. They made several songs to release but unfortunately the place they recorded at moved to another place and their music was not found. They thought about redoing everything but decided not to and during that time Tom went to start training for his Pro Wrestling career. Tom never stopped creating music even while he wrestled. He said there's nothing like it. It's very special when you can do that. He believes all can achieve if they desire too. One must put the time and dedication into it. Look for Tony's music Club Euro.
CannoliWorld.com:
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 throughout the Country and World. She has trained as a professional wrestler and is now wrestling for Women's Championship Wrestling.
Other:
Tom is a Black Belt in the art of Tae Kwon Do. He tied for Gold in the NJ States finals. Tom had taken his Black Belt Test but his results for the test was not received. He was instructed to compete against higher black belts during competitions that were 2nd degree and above, even though he didn't receive the results from his Black Belt Test as it takes time to find out. He was told that he was qualified to compete. He qualified at the NJ State and Regionals competition. The Olympics opened up the sport of Tae Kwon Do for demonstrations in 1988. To get to the Olympics, Team USA, Tom had qualified for it and was featured in many newspapers as heading to the Nationals and asked to be a demonstrator for the 1992 Olympic Games. He pursued his Black Belt Training for the Olympics in Tae Kwon Do until he entered into professional wrestling. He was thrilled and grateful of the invitation but was already Wrestling Professionally before the Olympic Games and was unable to attend. He is very thankful for Olympic invitation and enjoys the Games when they are on. Tom also enjoys the World Games, which are held yearly and are one of the same as it's the same competition in both games. He is also a World Champion.
