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Sylvester Ritter (December 13, 1952 – June 1, 1998) was an American
professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...
and college football player, best known for his time in
Mid-South Wrestling The Universal Wrestling Federation was a 1986 re-branding of wrestler-turned-owner Bill Watts' Mid-South Wrestling promotion. Watts' goal was to elevate his promotion from a relatively smaller, regional-level business, to a national-level riv ...
, where he would serve as a world heavyweight champion, 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 Caesars Superdome (originally Louisiana Superdome and formerly Mercedes-Benz Superdome), commonly known as the Superdome, is a domed multi-purpose stadium in the Southern United States, southern United States, located in New Orleans, Louisiana. ...
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. 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.


Early life and football career

Ritter played football at Fayetteville State University, twice earning honorable mention
All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...
n status. He graduated in 1975 with a
political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
degree and a minor in geography. He then signed with the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...
in April 1976. Ritter was placed on
injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...
after suffering a knee injury during the offseason. He was waived from injured reserve in October 1976.


Professional wrestling career


Early career (1977–1979)

Ritter debuted in 1977, initially wrestling for NWA Tri-State, the
Continental Wrestling Association Continental Wrestling Association (later the Championship Wrestling Association) was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually ...
and
Southeastern Championship Wrestling Continental Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Dothan, Alabama, from 1985 until 1989, owned by Ron Fuller. The promotion evolved out of the NWA-affiliated Southeastern Championship W ...
under his real name. In late 1977, Ritter moved to Nick Gulas's NWA Mid America promotion and adopted the
ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...
"Leroy Rochester". Afterwards, he wrestled in Germany. He worked for
Stu Hart Stewart Edward Hart (May 3, 1915 – October 16, 2003) was a Canadian sport wrestling, amateur and professional wrestling, professional wrestler, wrestling Booker (professional wrestling), booker, professional wrestling promotion, promoter, and ...
's Stampede Wrestling promotion the following year as "Big Daddy Ritter", holding the Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship twice.


Mid-South Wrestling (1979–1984)

In September 1979, Ritter moved to
Mid-South Wrestling The Universal Wrestling Federation was a 1986 re-branding of wrestler-turned-owner Bill Watts' Mid-South Wrestling promotion. Watts' goal was to elevate his promotion from a relatively smaller, regional-level business, to a national-level riv ...
, where booker "Cowboy" Bill Watts gave him the name and gimmick of Junkyard Dog, taken from
Jim Croce James Joseph Croce (; January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973) was an American Folk music, folk and rock singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, he released five studio albums and numerous singles. During this period, Croce took a series of o ...
's song " Bad, Bad Leroy Brown". 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 The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect th ...
in the company. He feuded with some of Mid-South's top heels, including a now infamous
angle In Euclidean geometry, an angle can refer to a number of concepts relating to the intersection of two straight Line (geometry), lines at a Point (geometry), point. Formally, an angle is a figure lying in a Euclidean plane, plane formed by two R ...
with the
Fabulous Freebirds The Fabulous Freebirds were a professional wrestling tag team who attained fame in the 1980s, performing into the 1990s. The team usually consisted of three wrestlers, although in different situations and points in its history, just two performed ...
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 In thermodynamics, heat is energy in transfer between a thermodynamic system and its surroundings by such mechanisms as thermal conduction, electromagnetic radiation, and friction, which are microscopic in nature, involving sub-atomic, ato ...
on the Freebirds to the point where they needed police escorts in and out of arenas. 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. A survey which was conducted among
New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
school children during the 1981-82 academic year found that JYD was the overwhelmingly preferred choice among local sports stars who New Orleans schoolchildren wanted to meet the most, even more popular than renowned local athletes
Archie Manning Elisha Archibald Manning III (born May 19, 1949) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the New Orleans Saints from 1971 to 1982. He also h ...
and "Pistol" Pete Maravich. In addition, JYD would also gain notoriety for being an African American who headlined a wrestling promotion at a time when African Americans in other wrestling promotions were billed as side acts. JYD was also involved in other notable feuds with
Ted DiBiase Theodore Marvin DiBiase Sr. (; born January 18, 1954) is an American retired professional wrestler, manager, and color commentator. He is signed to WWE as of 2024, where he works in their Legends program. DiBiase achieved championship succ ...
and Butch Reed. 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. While in Mid-South Wrestling, JYD would use various entrance themes, such as
Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...
's "
Another One Bites The Dust "Another One Bites the Dust" is a song by the British Rock music, rock band Queen (band), Queen. Written by bassist John Deacon, the song was featured on the group's eighth studio album ''The Game (Queen album), The Game'' (1980). It was a worl ...
" and George Clinton's " Atomic Dog."


World Wrestling Federation (1984–1988)

In the summer of 1984, Ritter left Mid-South at the peak of his feud with Reed for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). He initially used "Another One Bites the Dust" as his theme on a regular basis 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. He was eventually given his own theme, "Grab Them Cakes," which he co-sang with Vicki Sue Robinson. On March 31, 1985, he wrestled at the inaugural WrestleMania, defeating Intercontinental Champion Greg Valentine by countout, but not winning the title. In July, he lost to
Don Muraco Don Muraco (born September 10, 1949) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation from 1981 to 1988, where he held the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship on ...
in the first round of the inaugural King of the Ring tournament. On November 7, JYD won '' The Wrestling Classic'' tournament by defeating The Iron Sheik, Moondog Spot and
Randy Savage Randy Mario Poffo (November 15, 1952 – May 20, 2011), better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler and professional baseball player, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation ( ...
by countout in the finals. JYD was subsequently involved in feuds with the likes of Adrian Adonis and the Funk Brothers ( Dory Funk Jr. and
Terry Funk Terrance Dee Funk (June 30, 1944 – August 23, 2023) was an American professional wrestler and actor. Widely considered one of the most influential and greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Funk was known for the longevity of his car ...
). A feud with King of the Ring winner
Harley Race Harley Leland Race (April 11, 1943 – August 1, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling promotion, promoter, and trainer. Race wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the American Wrestling Association (AW ...
led to a match between the two at
WrestleMania III WrestleMania III was a 1987 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) List of WWE pay-per-view events, event produced by the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the third annual WrestleMania and held on March 29, 1987, at the ...
on March 29, 1987, where JYD lost and had to bow down to Race per the stipulation. He competed in the inaugural Royal Rumble match at the namesake event on January 24, 1988, but was eliminated by Dino Bravo. Shortly after a loss to
Rick Rude Richard Erwin Rood (December 7, 1958 – April 20, 1999), better known by his ring name "Ravishing" Rick Rude, was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler who performed for many Professional wrestling promotion, promotions, incl ...
at the inaugural
SummerSlam SummerSlam is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by the world's largest professional wrestling promotion, WWE. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is considered WWE's second biggest event of the year behind th ...
on August 29, he left the WWF.


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

Ritter made his debut for the
National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...
at Clash of the Champions IV on December 7, 1988, during an altercation between The Russian Assassins and
Ivan Koloff Oreal Donald Perras (August 25, 1942 – February 18, 2017) was a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by the ring name "the Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff, where he was billed from Russia and, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, ...
, saving the latter. 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. JYD was promptly fired from the company after no-showing a live appearance and missing the WrestleWar pay-per-view in May. Following his surprise return at Capitol Combat on May 19, 1990, JYD began a main event run and quickly became embroiled in a feud with
Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Flair's career spanned 50 years. He is ...
for the World Heavyweight Championship, garnering several non-title victories. On June 13, JYD defeated Flair by disqualification at Clash of the Champions XI, but did not win the title. JYD was then part of the short-lived Dudes with Attitudes faction along with Sting,
Paul Orndorff Paul Parlette Orndorff Jr. (October 29, 1949 – July 12, 2021), nicknamed "Mr. Wonderful", was an American professional wrestler and football player, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Champions ...
, and El Gigante. On February 17, 1991, he teamed with
Ricky Morton Richard Wendell Morton (born September 21, 1956) is an American professional wrestler, currently performing on the independent circuit. For most of his career, Morton has performed with Robert Gibson (wrestler), Robert Gibson as the Rock 'n' Roll ...
and
Tommy Rich Thomas Richardson (born July 26, 1956) is an American professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Tommy "Wildfire" Rich. He is a one time former National Wrestling Alliance NWA World Heavyweight Championship, Wo ...
, 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. After dropping a significant amount of weight to improve his conditioning, Junkyard Dog returned on February 29, 1992, at
SuperBrawl II SuperBrawl II was the second SuperBrawl professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) List of NWA/WCW closed-circuit events and pay-per-view events, event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The event took place on February 29, 1992, from ...
, saving Ron Simmons from an attack by Abdullah the Butcher. He found himself wrestling in tag-team matches with Simmons,
Barry Windham Barry Clinton Windham (born July 4, 1960) is an American retired professional wrestler. The son of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan, he is best known for his appearances with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and the World Wrestling Federation (W ...
, 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 } Dallas Page (born Page Joseph Falkinburg Jr., April 5, 1956), is an American fitness instructor, actor, and retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE under a Legends contract, under the ring name Di ...
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 Richard Van Slater (May 19, 1951 – October 18, 2018) better known by his ring name "Dirty" Dick Slater, was an American professional wrestler who wrestled in the 1970s, 1980s, and mid-1990s for various promotions including Mid-Atlantic Champ ...
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 In professional wrestling, the independent circuit (often shortened to the indie circuit or the indies) is the collective name of independently owned promotions which are deemed to be smaller and more regionalized than major national promotions. ...
, most notably for NWA Dallas and the National Wrestling Conference. He was the founder of the Dog Pound
stable A stable is a building in which working animals are kept, especially horses or oxen. The building is usually divided into stalls, and may include storage for equipment and feed. Styles There are many different types of stables in use tod ...
in an independent Mid-South promotion based in southern
Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
. Ritter also worked at a
Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...
in
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
and had a part-time job repossessing cars. On May 3, 1998, he made his last major appearance at
Extreme Championship Wrestling Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and operated by its parent company HHG Corporation. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as Nationa ...
's Wrestlepalooza event. He also trained former WWF wrestler
Rodney Mack Rodney Begnaud (born October 12, 1970) is an American professional wrestler and mixed martial artist, better known by the ring name Rodney Mack. He is signed to the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), where he performs under the ring name Damage ...
.


Death

At around 11:40 a.m. on June 1, 1998, Ritter died in a single-car accident on Interstate 20 near
Forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...
, Mississippi. 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.


Championships and accomplishments

* Mid-South Wrestling Association ** Mid-South Louisiana Championship ( 3 times) ** Mid-South North American Heavyweight Championship ( 4 times) ** Mid-South Tag Team Championship ( 8 times) – with Buck Robley (1), Terry Orndorff (1), Killer Karl Kox (1),
Dick Murdoch Hoyt Richard Murdoch (August 16, 1946 – June 15, 1996) was an American professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring names "Dirty" Dick Murdoch and "Captain Redneck". He was best known for his time in the NWA, WWE, Wo ...
(3), Mike George (1), and
Mr. Olympia Mr. Olympia is the title awarded to the winner of the professional men's bodybuilding contest in the open division at Joe Weider's Olympia Fitness & Performance Weekend—an international bodybuilding competition that is held annually and is sanct ...
(1) * Memphis Wrestling Hall of Fame **Class of 2022 *
NWA Mid-America NWA Mid-America was a professional wrestling promotion territory under the umbrella of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) that promoted shows in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama from 1940 until 1981. The company was founded in 1940 by Nick Gulas ...
** NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Gypsy Joe * ''
Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...
'' ** Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (1980) ** Ranked No. 51 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003 * Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame ** Class of 2012 * Stampede Wrestling ** Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship ( 2 times) *
United States Wrestling Association The United States Wrestling Association (USWA) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. The company was founded when the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association merged with the Dallas-based World Class Champions ...
** USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) *
World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...
** WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with
Ricky Morton Richard Wendell Morton (born September 21, 1956) is an American professional wrestler, currently performing on the independent circuit. For most of his career, Morton has performed with Robert Gibson (wrestler), Robert Gibson as the Rock 'n' Roll ...
and
Tommy Rich Thomas Richardson (born July 26, 1956) is an American professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Tommy "Wildfire" Rich. He is a one time former National Wrestling Alliance NWA World Heavyweight Championship, Wo ...
* World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment ** The Wrestling Classic (1985) **
WWE Hall of Fame The WWE Hall of Fame is a List of halls and walks of fame, hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when An ...
( Class of 2004) ** Slammy Award (1 time) *** Best Single Performer ( 1986) * ''
Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four Wee ...
'' ** Feud of the Year (1982) ** Worst Feud of the Year (1990) ** Worst Tag Team (1986)


See also

* List of gridiron football players who became professional wrestlers


See also

* List of premature professional wrestling deaths


References


External links

*
TRIBUTE PAGES for Junkyard Dog
*
Junkyard Dog Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Junkyard Dog 1952 births 1998 deaths 20th-century American male actors 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen African-American professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers American professional wrestling trainers Fayetteville State Broncos football players Green Bay Packers players Road incident deaths in Mississippi Professional wrestlers from Los Angeles Stampede Wrestling alumni People from Wadesboro, North Carolina Players of American football from Los Angeles Professional wrestlers from North Carolina Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum Stampede Wrestling North American Heavyweight Champions USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champions WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Champions WWE Hall of Fame inductees