Sylvester Knight

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Sylvester Knight United StatesUnited States
Sylvester "Junkyard Dog" Ritter in the mid-80s.jpg
Data
Ring name Big Daddy Knight
Junkyard Dog
Leroy Rochester
Stagger Lee
height 191 cm
Fighting weight 128 kg
birth December 13, 1952
Wadesboro , North Carolina
death June 2, 1998
Forest , Mississippi
Trained by Sonny King
debut 1977
retirement 1998

Sylvester Ritter (born December 13, 1952 in Wadesboro , North Carolina , † June 2, 1998 in Forest , Mississippi ) was an American wrestler and American football player, who was mainly known under his ring name Junkyard Dog ( junkyard dog ) got known. He has been a member of the WWE Hall of Fame since 2004 . In 1998 he was killed in a car accident.

Beginnings

Ritter began his sporting career in American football and initially played at Fayetteville State University. He graduated with a degree in political science before being brought into the National Football League by the Green Bay Packers . However, knee and back problems ended his football career early.

Wrestling career

Knight was eventually trained as a wrestler by Sonny King and made his debut in 1977 for Jerry Jarrett in Tennessee. In the following years he appeared in various territories as Leroy Rochester and Big Daddy Knight , including for Stampede Wrestling in Calgary . There he won the North American Heavyweight title twice and in 1979 played the first official ladder match of wrestling against Jake Roberts .

In the early 1980s, he finally joined the Universal Wrestling Federation , which was headed by cowboy Bill Watts . Here he got the Junkyard Dog gimmick for the first time . He wore a collar with a heavy-looking steel chain on it and brought a wagon with all sorts of junk to the ring, which of course could also be used as a weapon. First, however, he had to work as a jobber in this region before his name attracted viewers. When he finally the status of a top Faces reached, he received numerous feuds storylines written, including against The Fabulous Freebirds , Ted DiBiase and King Kong Bundy . While there was still an ongoing program against Butch Reed , Ritter went to WWF in 1984 .

Knight was also very popular in the WWF and was known for interacting a lot with the audience. He feuded against wrestling legend Harley Race , the Funk brothers, and Greg Valentine , whom he faced in an Intercontinental title fight at the first Wrestlemania . In 1988 he left the organization.

After appearances in smaller leagues, he was in WCW for a short time in 1990 (at that time still within the NWA) , where he received the Six-Men Tag Team title with Ricky Morton and Tommy Rich and with Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight title was allowed to feud.

Knight continued to compete independently until 1998 and, shortly before his death, made a guest appearance at Wrestlepalooza 1998 , an ECW event .

death

On June 2, 1998, Ritter was in a fatal car accident. He was driving back from his daughter Latoya's high school graduation when he fell asleep behind the wheel.

On March 31, 2004, his daughter accepted the WWE Hall of Fame honor for her father.

Latoya Akysha Ritter himself died at the age of 31 on October 19, 2011 while on the phone with a friend; the cause of death was not disclosed.

successes

  • Universal Wrestling Federation
  • Mid-South Louisiana Championship (3 times)
  • Mid-South North American Championship (4 times)
  • UWF Tag Team Championship 8 times - with Buck Robley (1), Terry Orndorff (1), Killer Karl Kox (1), Dick Murdoch (3), Mike George (1) and Jerry Stubbs (1)
  • NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship (1x) - with Gypsy Joe
  • Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
  • United States Wrestling Association
  • USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Ricky Morton & Tommy Rich

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Latoya Akisha Ritter Obituary (English), accessed July 29, 2014
  2. ↑ 10 MOST SHOCKING DEATHS OF PROFESSIONAL WRESTLERS (English), accessed on July 29, 2014
personal data
SURNAME Knight, New Years Eve
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Junkyard Dog
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American wrestler
DATE OF BIRTH December 13, 1952
PLACE OF BIRTH Wadesboro , North Carolina
DATE OF DEATH June 2, 1998
Place of death Forest Mississippi