Sylvester Ritter(1952-1998)

The man who would eventually become known as the Junk Yard Dog was born on December 13, 1953, in Wadesboro, North Carolina. He played football & wrestled in high school and was drafted by the Houston Oilers in 1975 after graduating from Fayetville State University, but was cut after blowing out his knee. He tried out of the Packers and held a few odd jobs until he began his wrestling career in the IWA in 1977. After stints in Memphis & Germany, he began working in Calgary for Stu Hart and spent much of 1978 working against Bret Hart, Jake Roberts, and Tommy Billington. After awhile he & Roberts traveled to Louisiana to work for Bill Watts. It was Watts who came up with the name Junk Yard Dog for Ritter. There he did a still famous angle with Michael Hayes (Michael Seitz) when it was alleged that Hayes blinded him, and the audience believed it, to the point where one fan actually pulled a gun on Hayes mid-match. He also worked with Paul Orndorff and Ted DiBiase. In his personal life, the Dog was known to be a giving, kind man, but his divorce led him into heavy cocaine use. His drawing power was fading in New Orleans, but the WWF, led by Vince McMahon soon scooped him up. He was popular, and had a match with Harley Race at WrestleMania III (1987) that drew well, but he was gaining too much weight and was eventually released. He turned up in WCW and ECW in the early 90s briefly, but was considered a has-been. He died in a car accident on June 2nd, 1998. He was 45.