His bloody feuds with "Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer, Ole Anderson, Ivan Koloff, The Fabulous Freebirds, and every other major heel to come through the Georgia territory made Rich one of the most popular wrestling stars of the period.

Race stated in a shoot interview with RF Video that the title switch was to ensure a power struggle in the Georgia territory, which ended with promoter Jim Barnett victorious (Barnett was a minority holder in Georgia and the booker of the NWA title, with the fan interest and boosted live gates, shored up his position).

Afterward, Gilbert turned heel on Rich and they had a brief, but intense feud, which began on television when the two were presented with a "Tag Team of the Year" award by announcer Lance Russell and two guests.

Rich immediately got the upper hand, running Gilbert into the steel ringpost several times, bloodying him in the process before the cameras went to a commercial.

World Championship Wrestling, having been bought by Ted Turner in late 1988, was in the middle of a face lift and Rich was part of a host of veteran wrestlers to enter the promotion during this period.

Eddie Gilbert introduced him on the June 24, 1989, episode of World Championship Wrestling, and Rich announced that he would be challenging US Heavyweight Champion Lex Luger.

The push received by big names like Ricky Steamboat and Terry Funk and newly arrived younger talent like Brian Pillman and The Great Muta, essentially bumped older performers like Rich, The Iron Sheik and Wild Bill Irwin to the fringe.

His first defeat came when he teamed again with Johnny & Davey Rich and lost to Norman and The Skyscrapers on the July 29th edition of World Championship Wrestling.

As the summer progressed Rich fulfilled his on-air pledge and mounted a challenge to NWA US Champion Lex Luger in a series of title matches at various house shows.

[10] Tommy Rich began 1990 with a televised win over Cactus Jack on the January 6th episode of World Championship Wrestling.

On April 6 on the Power Hour he faced the newly arrived "Outlaw" Joel Deaton and was upset after being struck with an illegal object.

The summer Rich began to have a resurgence, having gotten into better shape he went on a winning streak, defeating Joe Cruz, The Samoan Savage, The Super Destroyer (Mike Thor), and Jumbo Maretto.

Rich gained a measure of revenge against Harley Race as the fall of 1990 began, defeating the older wrestler in several house show encounters.

He also beat The Blade Hunter (Al Green) in numerous house show matches, as well as continuing to dominate Buddy Landell.

On the October 20, 1990, episode of WCW Worldwide he teamed with the newly returned Terry Taylor, but the duo was defeated by The Nasty Boys.

The same day that Rich teamed with Taylor on Worldwide he also formed a makeshift partnership with Ricky Morton, whose regular partner Robert Gibson was out of action with injury.

On October 27, 1990, Rich and Morton defeated The Midnight Express at Halloween Havoc 90 in Chicago, IL in what would be the final WCW match for the latter team.

On February 17, 1991, Tommy Rich, Ricky Morton, and Junkyard Dog defeated Mr X (Randy Colley), Dutch Mantell, and Buddy Landell to win the newly formed WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championship.

On June 3, 1991, in Birmingham, Alabama the trio of Rich, Morton, and Junkyard Dog finally lost their World Six Man Championship to The Freebirds (Michael Hayes, Jimmy Garvin, and Badstreet (Brad Armstrong), in a match airing on WCW Main Event.

This presaged another slide down the card, as Rich found himself on the losing end of encounters with Nikita Koloff, Oz (Kevin Nash), and Steve Austin.

On the July 27, 1991, edition of World Championship Wrestling Rich teamed once more with Junkyard Dog and defeated Chuck Coates and Bob Cook.

The heel turn did not reverse his fortunes as he found himself falling in defeat to Johnny B. Badd, Big Josh, PN News, Brian Pillman, and Ron Simmons.

On the September 22, 1991, edition of The Main Event the York Foundation trio challenged current WCW Six-Man Tag-Team Champions Dustin Rhodes, Tom Zenk, and Big Josh but were unsuccessful.

Rich finally ended his losing streak on October 5 on World Championship Wrestling, pinning Brian Pillman after striking him with Alexandra York's computer.

Dustin Rhodes, Tom Zenk, and Big Josh challenged The York Foundation to a rematch and defeated them in a non-title matchup on the November 16, 1991, edition of WCW Pro.

On July 2, 2011, Rich was involved in a backstage altercation with independent wrestler J.P. Magnum at a TCW live event in Graysville, TN.

Rich was allegedly upset that he was booked to lose an "I Quit" match to a manager, TCW Rhea County Heritage Champion Jay West.

On December 15, 2015, Rich teamed with Bobby Fulton, Rob Kincaid, and Dallas Davison to face and beat Robert Applewhite, Steven Jones, Wade Castle and Vladimir Alexander at Rose City Championship Wrestling in Richmond, Indiana.