Junkyard Dog

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Junkyard Dog
Junkyard Dog, 1983.jpg
Ritter, c. 1983
Birth nameSylvester Ritter
Born(1952-12-13)December 13, 1952 [1]
Wadesboro, North Carolina, U.S. [1]
DiedJune 1, 1998(1998-06-01) (aged 45) [2]
Forest, Mississippi, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Big Daddy Ritter [3]
Junkyard Dog [3]
Leroy Rochester [3]
Stagger Lee
Billed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) [4]
Billed weight280 lb (130 kg) [4]
Billed from
Trained by Sonny King [5]
Debut1977 [4]
Retired1997

Sylvester Ritter (December 13, 1952 – June 1, 1998) was an American professional wrestler and college football player, best known for his time in Mid-South Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as the Junkyard Dog (or JYD). He was known for entering the ring with his trademark chain attached to a dog collar, headlining cards that drew large crowds and regularly sold out the Louisiana Superdome and other major venues. WWE author Brian Shields called him one of the most electrifying and charismatic wrestlers in the country, particularly during his peak in the early 1980s. [4] JYD was also known for his upper body strength, which saw him regularly bodyslam large wrestlers. The word "thump," which referred to JYD's powerslam, was prominently displayed on his wrestling trunks. He was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2004. [6]

Contents

Early life and football career

Ritter playing football in 1975 Sylvester Ritter football.jpeg
Ritter playing football in 1975

Ritter played football at Fayetteville State University, twice earning honorable mention All-American status. [1] He graduated in 1975 with a political science degree and a minor in geography. [3] [7] He then signed with the Green Bay Packers in April 1976. [8] Ritter was placed on injured reserve after suffering a knee injury during the offseason. He was waived from injured reserve in October 1976. [9]

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1977–1979)

Ritter debuted in 1977, initially wrestling for NWA Tri-State, the Continental Wrestling Association and Southeastern Championship Wrestling under his real name. [4] In late 1977, Ritter moved to Nick Gulas's NWA Mid America promotion and adopted the ring name "Leroy Rochester". [3] Afterwards, he wrestled in Germany. [1] [5] He worked for Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling promotion the following year as "Big Daddy Ritter", holding the Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship twice. [4]

Mid-South Wrestling (1979–1984)

Junkyard Dog, c. 1982 Junkyard Dog, circa 1982.png
Junkyard Dog, c. 1982

In September 1979, Ritter moved to Mid-South Wrestling, where booker "Cowboy" Bill Watts gave him the name and gimmick of Junkyard Dog, taken from Jim Croce's song "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown". [4] Sporting a long chain attached to a dog collar and white boots, he originally came to the ring pushing a cart filled with junk called the "junk wagon" and lost most of his early matches before his character caught on and became the top face in the company. [6] He feuded with some of Mid-South's top heels, including a now infamous angle with the Fabulous Freebirds where they blinded him with hair cream. At the peak of the feud, his wife gave birth to their first child, which was made part of the storyline. It was explained that JYD could not see his new daughter, increasing the heat on the Freebirds to the point where they needed police escorts in and out of arenas. [5] The feud ended with the still-blinded JYD and Freebird leader Michael "P.S." Hayes wrestling in a steel cage dog collar match at the New Orleans Superdome. [3] [4]

JYD was also involved in other notable feuds with Ted DiBiase and Butch Reed. [6] Once JYD's friend and tag team partner, DiBiase turned heel and won a loser-leaves-town match against JYD with the help of a loaded glove, which was a DiBiase calling card, forcing JYD to leave town for an extended period of time. In 1982, JYD defeated Nick Bockwinkel in a cross promotional match for NWA and AWA that aired on NWA Mid South Wrestling and AWA programming. A masked man physically resembling JYD, known as "Stagger Lee", subsequently appeared in the region and began to defeat the competition, one by one, including DiBiase. DiBiase and the other heels strongly suspected that Lee was in fact JYD, but were unable to unmask him. Stagger Lee disappeared once the loser-leave-town clause in the JYD-DiBiase match had expired, and JYD returned and reclaimed the North American Heavyweight Championship. [5]

World Wrestling Federation (1984–1988)

Junkyard Dog and Brutus Beefcake in Sydney in 1986 Brutus beef cake and JYD.jpg
Junkyard Dog and Brutus Beefcake in Sydney in 1986

In the summer of 1984, Ritter left Mid-South at the peak of his feud with Reed for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He used Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" as his theme and made a habit of interacting with the growing number of young people in attendance, often bringing them into the ring after matches and dancing with them. [4] He was eventually given his own theme, "Grab Them Cakes," which he co-sang with Vicki Sue Robinson. [6]

On March 31, 1985, he wrestled at the inaugural WrestleMania, defeating Intercontinental Champion Greg Valentine by countout, but not winning the title. [10] In July, he lost to Don Muraco in the first round of the inaugural King of the Ring tournament. [11] On November 7, JYD won The Wrestling Classic tournament by defeating The Iron Sheik, Moondog Spot and Randy Savage by countout in the finals. [12] JYD was subsequently involved in feuds with the likes of Adrian Adonis and the Funk Brothers (Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk). [13] [14] A feud with King of the Ring winner Harley Race led to a match between the two at WrestleMania III on March 29, 1987, where JYD lost and had to bow down to Race per the stipulation. [6] [15] He competed in the inaugural Royal Rumble match at the namesake event on January 24, 1988, but was eliminated by Dino Bravo. [16] Shortly after a loss to Rick Rude at the inaugural SummerSlam on August 29, he left the WWF. [17] [3]

National Wrestling Alliance / World Championship Wrestling (1988–1993)

Ritter made his debut for the National Wrestling Alliance at Clash of the Champions IV on December 7, 1988, during an altercation between The Russian Assassins and Ivan Koloff, saving the latter. [18] At Clash of the Champions VI on April 2, 1989 he defeated former rival Butch Reed. Before the match, he was accompanied to the ring by a jazz band. [19] JYD was promptly fired from the company after no-showing a live appearance and missing the WrestleWar pay-per-view in May. [3]

Following his surprise return at Capitol Combat on May 19, 1990, [20] JYD began a main event run and quickly became embroiled in a feud with Ric Flair for the World Heavyweight Championship, garnering several non-title victories. [6] [3] On June 13, JYD defeated Flair by disqualification at Clash of the Champions XI, but did not win the title. [21] JYD was then part of the short-lived Dudes with Attitudes faction along with Sting, Paul Orndorff, and El Gigante. [3] On February 17, 1991, he teamed with Ricky Morton and Tommy Rich, defeating Dr. X, Dutch Mantell and Buddy Landel to win the WCW World Six-Man Tag-Team Championship. JYD and his partners held the title until June 3, when they were defeated by The Freebirds. [22]

After dropping a significant amount of weight to improve his conditioning, Junkyard Dog returned on February 29, 1992, at SuperBrawl II, saving Ron Simmons from an attack by Abdullah the Butcher. [23] He found himself wrestling in tag-team matches with Simmons, Barry Windham, or Big Josh for the next few months. In April and again in June, JYD faced former Six-Man Championship partner Ricky Morton, defeating him on each occasion. He also formed another tag team, this time with The Big Cat. They feuded with The Vegas Connection (Diamond Dallas Page and Vinnie Vegas) the rest of the summer. In April 1993, he formed a new team with Jim Neidhart and began a feud with Dick Slater and Paul Orndorff that would last the next few months. After defeating Slater on July 28, he left the promotion.

Later career (1994–1998)

After WCW, JYD wrestled on the independent circuit, most notably for NWA Dallas and the National Wrestling Conference. He was the founder of the Dog Pound stable in an independent Mid-South promotion based in southern Louisiana. Ritter also worked at a Walmart in Las Vegas and had a part-time job repossessing cars. [2] [5] On May 3, 1998, he made his last major appearance at Extreme Championship Wrestling's Wrestlepalooza event. [7] He also trained former WWF wrestler Rodney Mack. [24]

Death

At around 11:40 a.m. on June 1, 1998, Ritter died in a single-car accident on Interstate 20 near Forest, Mississippi. [1] [7] He was returning home from his daughter LaToya's high school graduation in Wadesboro, North Carolina when his car rolled three times after he fell asleep at the wheel. He was 45 years old. [5]

Championships and accomplishments

See also

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mooneyham, Mike; Oliver, Greg. "Junkyard Dog's Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum profile". Archived from the original on May 20, 2012. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
  2. 1 2 "SYLVESTER RITTER, 45, PRO WRESTLER; KNOWN AS 'JUNK YARD DOG'". The Morning Call . June 4, 1998. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Junkyard Dog profile". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on June 2, 2013. Retrieved March 11, 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Shields, Brian (2006). Main Event: WWE in the Raging 80s . Pocket Books. pp.  65–67. ISBN   978-1-4165-3257-6.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Full JYD Bio, WCW files lawsuit against WWF, tons more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter . Campbell, California. June 15, 1998. ISSN   1083-9593. Archived from the original on June 25, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Junkyard Dog's WWE Hall of Fame profile". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on July 29, 2011. Retrieved March 29, 2011.
  7. 1 2 3 Mooneyham, Mike (June 7, 1998). "Junkyard Dog Leaves Colorful Legacy". The Wrestling Gospel According to Mike Mooneyham. Archived from the original on January 9, 2015. Retrieved January 5, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Packers Add Seven FA's". Green Bay Press-Gazette . Green Bay, Wisconsin. April 7, 1976. p. 27.
  9. ↑ Christl, Cliff (October 2, 1976). "Hansen Will Be Pack's Fourth Man in Middle". Green Bay Press-Gazette . Green Bay, Wisconsin. p. 15. In one other note, Starr said that guard Sylvester Ritter has been waived off injured reserves. Ritter injured a knee in an off-season camp and never participated in any workouts here.
  10. ↑ "Full WrestleMania I results". WWE. Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  11. ↑ "King of the Ring 1985 results". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on August 25, 2016. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  12. 1 2 "The Wrestling Classic results". Pro Wrestling History. Archived from the original on July 20, 2006. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  13. ↑ "Saturday Night's Main Event results – March 1, 1986". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on July 3, 2007. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  14. ↑ "Saturday Night's Main Event results – May 3, 1986". World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the original on June 2, 2007. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  15. ↑ "WrestleMania III Facts and Stats". WWE. Archived from the original on March 29, 2008. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  16. ↑ "Royal Rumble 1988 results". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on October 25, 2016. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  17. ↑ "SummerSlam 1988 results". WWE. Archived from the original on May 23, 2012. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  18. ↑ Dunn, J.D. (October 20, 2008). "Dark Pegasus Video Review: Clash of the Champions IV: Season's Beatings". 411Mania. Archived from the original on January 5, 2025. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  19. ↑ Nedeff, Adam (May 27, 2019). "Clash of the Champions VI Review (4.2.1989)". 411Mania. Archived from the original on May 27, 2019. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  20. ↑ Leighty Jr., Robert (October 16, 2024). "Leighty's Retro Review: NWA Capital Combat '90: Return of RoboCop". 411Mania. Archived from the original on December 30, 2024. Retrieved January 5, 2025.
  21. ↑ Leighty Jr., Robert (October 24, 2024). "Leighty's Retro Review: NWA Clash of Champions XI: Coastal Crush". 411Mania. Archived from the original on December 30, 2024. Retrieved January 5, 2025.
  22. 1 2 "WCW World 6-Man Tag Team Title". Wrestling Titles. Archived from the original on December 2, 2024. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  23. ↑ Pantoja, Kevin (May 1, 2015). "Random Network Reviews: SuperBrawl II". 411Mania. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved January 4, 2025.
  24. ↑ Giri, Raj (November 10, 2018). "Rodney Mack Talks Real Life Brawl That Led To ECW Hiring Him". Wrestling Inc. Archived from the original on November 11, 2018. Retrieved January 5, 2025.
  25. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Award Winners Inspirational Wrestler of the Year". Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on June 16, 2008. Retrieved July 27, 2008.
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