Terry Orndorff (born October 7, 1951) is an American retired

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 ...

. He is the younger brother of the late professional wrestler and

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 ...

r "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff.

Professional wrestling career

Orndorff debuted in late 1978. He spent the early part of his career wrestling primarily in

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

for

Georgia Championship Wrestling Georgia Championship Wrestling is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The promotion was affiliated with what had been the world's top sanctioning body of championship titles for decades b ...

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 ...

, regularly teaming with his brother

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

. Throughout 1980, Orndorff wrestled for the

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

-based

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 ...

promotion, where again he occasionally teamed with his brother Paul. In September 1980, he and

Junkyard Dog Sylvester Ritter (December 13, 1952 – June 1, 1998) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and NCAA football, college football player, best known for his time in Universal Wrestling Federation (Bill Watts), Mid-South Wre ...

defeated 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 ...

for the Mid-South Tag Team Championship. They lost the titles to

Ernie Ladd Ernest L. Ladd (November 28, 1938 – March 10, 2007), nicknamed "the Big Cat", was an American professional American football, football defensive tackle and professional wrestling, professional wrestler. A standout athlete in high school, Ladd ...

and Leroy Brown the following month. In January 1981, Orndorff teamed with Chief Frank Hill to win the vacant

NWA Tri-State Tag Team Championship The NWA Tri-State Tag Team Championship was a tag team title created in 1962, and contested in the National Wrestling Alliance's Tri-State territory, which was promoted by Leroy McGuirk (Arkansas and Oklahoma) and Jack Curtis and Aurelian "Gri ...

; the titles were held up in February following a bout against Akbar's Army (Jerry Brown and Ron McFarlane), with Akbar's Army winning the titles in a follow-up match. Orndorff later turned on Junkyard Dog; the two men went on to

feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

. In July 1981, Orndorff lost to Junkyard Dog in a lights out match in the main event of a show in 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. ...

. In August 1981, Orndorff briefly moved to the

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

-based Big Time Wrestling promotion. In October 1981 at Wrestling Star Wars, he teamed with

Kerry Von Erich Kerry Gene Adkisson (February 3, 1960 – February 18, 1993), better known by his ring name Kerry Von Erich, was an American professional wrestler. He was part of the Von Erich family of professional wrestlers. He is best known for his time with ...

as a substitute for

Kevin Von Erich Kevin Ross Adkisson (born May 15, 1957) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Kevin Von Erich. A member of the Von Erich family, Adkisson is best known for his appearances with Fritz Von Erich, his father' ...

to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Texas version)'', defeating Chan Chung and

The Great Kabuki , better known as , is a Japanese retired professional wrestler. He is famous as the first to blow Asian mist in his opponents' faces. Professional wrestling career Mera was born on September 8, 1948, in Nobeoka, Japan. He started wrestling ...

. Orndorff returned to Mid-South Wrestling the following month after a disagreement with Big Time Wrestling promoter

Fritz Von Erich Jack Barton Adkisson Sr. (August 16, 1929 – September 10, 1997), better known by his ring name Fritz Von Erich, was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, wrestling promoter, and the patriarch of the Von Erich family. He was ...

; the titles were awarded to

Bill Irwin William Mills Irwin (born April 11, 1950) is an American actor, choreographer, clown, and comedian. He began as a vaudeville-style stage performer and has been noted for his contribution to the renaissance of American circus during the 1970s. ...

and Frank Dusek. He finished 1981 by resuming his feud with Junkyard Dog. During the feud, he lost a match to Junkyard Dog that obligated him to wear a "yellow mask" for 60 days; Orndorff would "load" the mask to use it as a weapon. In early-1982, Orndorff was injured in a

car accident A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. T ...

. He made a brief return to the ring in late-1982, wrestling for the St. Louis Wrestling Club in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, but ultimately retired later that year, returning to his trade as a

boilermaker A boilermaker is a Tradesman, tradesperson who Metal fabrication, fabricates steels, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bure ...

Professional wrestling style and persona

Orndorff's finishing move was the

airplane spin Professional wrestling throws are the application of professional wrestling techniques that involve lifting the opponent up and throwing or slamming them down. They are sometimes also called "power" maneuvers, as they are meant to emphasize a wrest ...

Championships and accomplishments

* Big Time Wrestling ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Texas version)'' (1 time) – with

** Mid-South Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with

(1 time) – with Chief Frank Hill

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Orndorff, Terry 1951 births American boilermakers American male professional wrestlers Living people People from Winchester, Virginia Professional wrestlers from Virginia WCWA World Tag Team Champions