1 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:18,020 In my opinion is, Jump Yard Dog was the most prominent black wrestler to ever 2 00:00:18,020 --> 00:00:19,340 lace a pair of boots. 3 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:24,820 Overcoming incredible odds, a young black wrestler rose from humble 4 00:00:24,820 --> 00:00:30,500 to become a generational superstar, achieving unimaginable heights in a 5 00:00:30,500 --> 00:00:32,320 dominated by white performers. 6 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:36,460 Yes, he did. He paid the way for all of us. You feel you're going to be wearing 7 00:00:36,460 --> 00:00:37,019 the crown? 8 00:00:37,020 --> 00:00:39,420 Just as sure as I'm black in a day's sun, I mean, Jane. 9 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:44,540 His charisma and, you know, his personality is what got him to where he 10 00:00:44,540 --> 00:00:46,800 because he was a fan favorite no matter how you looked at it. 11 00:00:47,140 --> 00:00:49,900 JYD was on top, selling it out. I mean, it was incredible. 12 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:54,040 If you guys could just hear the crowd, they'd just love it. And it couldn't 13 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:55,480 nobody stop it. He's invincible. 14 00:00:56,060 --> 00:00:59,500 It ain't nothing else I like to do or know better. And that's fire. 15 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:04,500 I've seen the stars for it because at that time there were no black 16 00:01:04,599 --> 00:01:05,600 Bill Watts. 17 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:06,760 He saw dollars. 18 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:10,540 I saw his charisma. I named him, gave him his music, and did everything, and 19 00:01:10,540 --> 00:01:11,640 was so dynamite. 20 00:01:11,900 --> 00:01:16,600 The unlikely friendship between promoter Cowboy Bill Watts and the Junkyard Dog 21 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:20,060 was tested when the Dog defects to the WWF. 22 00:01:20,580 --> 00:01:24,480 I think Dog went because there was a better opportunity. You know, there's 23 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:26,640 money, and then he was going to be a big star there. 24 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:32,320 But JYD's dreams of achieving superstar status in the big leagues fell short. 25 00:01:32,780 --> 00:01:37,880 Vince McMahon didn't use him like Bill did. I wish he had because he could have 26 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:39,680 been one of the biggest stars in the WWE. 27 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:45,800 Yeah, it broke his spirit because he went there to be that big hero again, 28 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:46,800 he didn't get it. 29 00:01:46,940 --> 00:01:50,700 How can Vince McMahon put everything on JYD? 30 00:01:50,900 --> 00:01:53,720 Because you don't know if he's going to show up or not. You're not dependable. 31 00:01:54,260 --> 00:02:00,640 Untrustworthy. Dog forgot one thing. You can't do what the white man do and keep 32 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:01,920 your job. 33 00:02:12,140 --> 00:02:17,520 When you're trying to become a star and on your way to stardom, you can fail at 34 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:20,500 a lot of things, but to be successful as a wrestler, you have to put the time 35 00:02:20,500 --> 00:02:23,820 in. You have to become known by the fans. 36 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:25,720 You have to be able to sell your product. 37 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:27,720 You have to be able to have some dialogue. 38 00:02:28,410 --> 00:02:33,370 When Junkyard Dog came to Mid -South, he had dialogue, he had style, he had 39 00:02:33,370 --> 00:02:34,370 physical attributes. 40 00:02:34,730 --> 00:02:39,250 And these things turn into box office. These things turn into money. 41 00:02:39,750 --> 00:02:43,670 Sylvester Ritter was probably the greatest star to come through the state 42 00:02:43,670 --> 00:02:48,190 Louisiana that they ever had in terms of wrestling. 43 00:02:48,550 --> 00:02:51,030 He represents the people. They all love him. 44 00:02:51,550 --> 00:02:54,670 Dog had a great following. He was universally loved. 45 00:02:54,990 --> 00:02:57,710 The gleam in his eyes, the little smile that he had. 46 00:02:58,110 --> 00:02:59,170 was infectious. 47 00:02:59,890 --> 00:03:04,030 Man, he just got over it. The people in Louisiana loved him. 48 00:03:04,370 --> 00:03:08,070 He'd get to the ring, you know, and he'd grab that top rope and lean back and 49 00:03:08,070 --> 00:03:13,150 shake his legs and his butt, and the people would just go, wow. I'm lacing up 50 00:03:13,150 --> 00:03:14,890 the boots, and the whole building's going, who that? 51 00:03:15,150 --> 00:03:20,030 Who that? Who that going to beat the dog? Who that? Boom, boom, boom. Who 52 00:03:20,190 --> 00:03:22,050 I'm lacing up my boots going, holy smokes. 53 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:28,580 More than just a wrestler, Junkyard Dog is a hero to the working class, a 54 00:03:28,580 --> 00:03:32,980 beloved figure in the city of New Orleans who became a superstar to fans 55 00:03:32,980 --> 00:03:36,780 the Southeast, transcending the sport to become an icon. 56 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:41,280 A Junkyard Dog, bro. Nobody messes with a damn Junkyard Dog. 57 00:03:41,820 --> 00:03:45,980 I'm James Snake Roberts, Hall of Famer, and I can still kick your butt. 58 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:47,280 Mid -South! 59 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:53,160 I am tired of you ripping me off and playing your stinking games with me. 60 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:55,060 New Orleans was his town, man. 61 00:03:55,380 --> 00:03:58,780 And my God, if you were wrestling him, brother, you were scared to death. 62 00:03:59,620 --> 00:04:02,020 Because you didn't know if you were going to make it out of that ring and 63 00:04:02,020 --> 00:04:03,020 to the dressing room. 64 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:06,280 Police usually had to carry the guys out, the wrestle dog. 65 00:04:06,740 --> 00:04:10,500 Because if you parked your car in that parking lot, they would destroy it. 66 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:13,340 Who the heck going to beat that dog? 67 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:14,800 Nobody. That's who. 68 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:20,060 Before becoming one of the most popular wrestlers the South had ever seen, the 69 00:04:20,060 --> 00:04:25,300 Junkyard Dog was a rookie named Big Daddy Ritter, searching for his big 70 00:04:25,300 --> 00:04:26,800 Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 71 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:30,420 Well, Dog tried to get into wrestling several times, but they're all short 72 00:04:30,420 --> 00:04:34,860 deals. He wasn't on everybody's much -wanted list because then, A, he was 73 00:04:35,020 --> 00:04:39,440 and a lot of the white promoters, and they're all white, had a quota, 74 00:04:39,620 --> 00:04:44,480 unwritten, unstated, but it was there. And so if he didn't fit their quota... 75 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:46,000 They already had a black baby face. 76 00:04:46,280 --> 00:04:47,540 I ain't going to hire another one. 77 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:50,180 That's sad to say. It's coarse. It's hurtful. 78 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:51,960 I am Jim Ross. 79 00:04:52,280 --> 00:04:54,200 Been in wrestling since 1974. 80 00:04:54,700 --> 00:04:57,540 And along the way, I got to meet the Junkyard Dog and become friends. 81 00:04:57,840 --> 00:04:59,400 It's great to have you back, Junkyard Dog. 82 00:05:00,100 --> 00:05:03,560 J .Y .D., when I first met him, it seemed like he was always smiling. 83 00:05:03,920 --> 00:05:05,300 And his skill set was limited. 84 00:05:05,540 --> 00:05:09,500 My God, the charisma and the love that he created for the fan base. 85 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:12,120 But you can't coach charisma. 86 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:13,880 You either got it or you don't. 87 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:19,980 Despite Ritter's charisma and size, only Bill Watt, the owner and promoter of 88 00:05:19,980 --> 00:05:23,740 Mid -South Wrestling, decides to take a chance on the young brawler. 89 00:05:23,980 --> 00:05:25,280 Cowboy was bigger than life. 90 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:28,460 He was a disciplinarian. He was kind of like the head coach. 91 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:32,660 You know, I never met Vince Lombardi, the famed football coach, the Packers, 92 00:05:32,680 --> 00:05:37,340 that won multiple Super Bowls. But some of my older peers said that Watt was 93 00:05:37,340 --> 00:05:38,700 Vince Lombardi -like. 94 00:05:38,940 --> 00:05:40,280 My way or the highway. 95 00:05:40,620 --> 00:05:41,599 Here are the rules. 96 00:05:41,600 --> 00:05:43,700 There are not many of them. I expect you... 97 00:05:43,950 --> 00:05:46,030 to adhere to them, and there's no negotiation. 98 00:05:46,610 --> 00:05:49,750 Bill Watts gave him the biggest break for a black man. 99 00:05:51,530 --> 00:05:53,390 Oh, let me turn this off. 100 00:05:55,330 --> 00:05:57,890 Hey, this is the Birdman Coco Beware. 101 00:05:58,470 --> 00:06:02,130 Man, you know me flying all over the place in the wrestling business. 102 00:06:02,510 --> 00:06:06,410 The Birdman Coco Beware! 103 00:06:07,290 --> 00:06:09,830 I mean, wrestling is a white man's sport. 104 00:06:11,069 --> 00:06:15,250 He wasn't a wrestler at all. He couldn't put you in a leg lock or a chicken 105 00:06:15,250 --> 00:06:18,070 wing. He don't know nothing about all that. He was a street fighter. 106 00:06:18,310 --> 00:06:23,790 Bill Watts gave him a chance to draw some money. And you know what? He busts 107 00:06:23,790 --> 00:06:24,850 Louisiana wide open. 108 00:06:25,570 --> 00:06:31,330 Mid -South sports was based on realism. So athleticism, realism, making it more 109 00:06:31,330 --> 00:06:35,470 easy to suspend your disbelief of the art form that is pro wrestling. 110 00:06:35,990 --> 00:06:38,170 Watts had a rule. You should go to a bar. 111 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:42,660 Or you get in any kind of scuffle and you get your ass whipped, you're fired. 112 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,520 The booker for Cowboy Bill Watts is Ernie Ladd. 113 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:48,380 Ernie Ladd was a philosopher. 114 00:06:48,700 --> 00:06:50,540 He was 6 '9 and 300 pounds. 115 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:52,680 So Ernie was always looking for talent. 116 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:57,200 Somebody along the way told Ernie, hey, there's this black guy, big muscular 117 00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:00,560 powerhouse, kind of guy you'd like, Ernie, that you ought to take a look at. 118 00:07:00,900 --> 00:07:05,860 So Ernie brought Dog in and he had a rough start because Cowboy didn't know 119 00:07:05,860 --> 00:07:07,840 Dog was not a great technical. 120 00:07:08,790 --> 00:07:13,030 He brought that big, fine, black specimen of a body down that aisle. 121 00:07:13,650 --> 00:07:18,030 A young gal started screaming and hollering, and we would excite the 122 00:07:18,470 --> 00:07:22,890 He was so statuesque, and he looked great. Turn your head, you wouldn't 123 00:07:22,890 --> 00:07:27,790 him. Dahl just clicked with the rest of the fans, so he knew how to connect with 124 00:07:27,790 --> 00:07:28,689 the audience. 125 00:07:28,690 --> 00:07:33,710 This is Mr. USA, WWE Hall of Famer, Tony Atlas. 126 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:39,380 So all you boys in the Mid -South, get ready for yourself because I got trouble 127 00:07:39,380 --> 00:07:44,040 here and I got trouble there and I got trouble coming your way to the Mid 128 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:45,720 -South. We gonna boogie, baby. 129 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,640 So I have to give credit for this to cowboy Bill Watts. 130 00:07:49,860 --> 00:07:51,360 Bill Watts came up with ideas. 131 00:07:51,980 --> 00:07:53,540 Dog was a hell of a football player. 132 00:07:53,900 --> 00:07:58,020 He was a hell of a street fighter. He was a brawler. So what Bill Watts did 133 00:07:58,020 --> 00:08:01,060 create matches that fit Dog's style. 134 00:08:01,550 --> 00:08:05,330 Bill wanted Dog to do a few things really well. 135 00:08:05,670 --> 00:08:10,490 Clotheslines, thumps, body slams, tackles. And so those things, based on 136 00:08:10,490 --> 00:08:13,690 football background, those things can be translated very easily into pro 137 00:08:13,690 --> 00:08:15,530 wrestling. Ooh, power slam! 138 00:08:15,950 --> 00:08:21,290 To boost Junkyard Dog's star power, Bill Watts and Ernie Ladd know they need to 139 00:08:21,290 --> 00:08:24,630 find the perfect villain for JYD to face in the ring. 140 00:08:24,910 --> 00:08:25,910 Wait a minute! 141 00:08:26,050 --> 00:08:27,050 What's he doing? 142 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:31,440 There's nothing that he couldn't do in the ring, you know, if he was in the 143 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:32,440 with the right guy. 144 00:08:32,500 --> 00:08:33,880 I am Ted DiBiase. 145 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:38,320 Towards the end of my career, I was known in the WWE as the Million Dollar 146 00:08:41,919 --> 00:08:42,400 And 147 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:49,360 the 148 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:56,180 thing that I did was I always highlighted in the ring what he did 149 00:08:56,680 --> 00:08:59,440 I mean, Bill Watts coached me. The Funks coached me. 150 00:08:59,700 --> 00:09:03,860 They would say, Teddy, you've got to basically put him in the middle of the 151 00:09:03,860 --> 00:09:08,600 and work around him and emphasize or highlight the things that you know he 152 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:13,420 very well and stay away from the things that he doesn't do so well. He had 153 00:09:13,420 --> 00:09:19,020 enough trust in me to know that I wasn't going to make him look bad out there. I 154 00:09:19,020 --> 00:09:23,160 was always going to make him look good. The dog did something, and there's the 155 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:24,160 count. 156 00:09:24,300 --> 00:09:26,680 Well, you talk about an action -packed duo. They are. 157 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:31,800 We became friends. We traveled together a lot, and so much so that when we got 158 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:34,080 married, J .Y .D. was my best man. 159 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:36,000 That's how close we were. 160 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:40,520 Put that change around his neck, put that music on, another one bite the 161 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:43,940 and he came back in there with a thump. The rest of it is history. 162 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:48,500 There he goes with that big thump. He just put him about six feet under. 163 00:09:48,740 --> 00:09:55,180 Bill Watts is the first wrestling owner, promoter, whoever featured as 164 00:09:55,180 --> 00:09:58,780 one of his very top stars, a black guy. 165 00:09:59,060 --> 00:10:02,140 This last year has kind of been the year of the dog. I don't know if it's the 166 00:10:02,140 --> 00:10:05,660 Chinese year of the dog or not, but in Mid -South wrestling, it was the year of 167 00:10:05,660 --> 00:10:09,820 the dog. Bill Watts took JYB and made him the star. 168 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:14,360 like this is because you're doing so many good things. 169 00:10:14,740 --> 00:10:17,400 They had a very, very close relationship. 170 00:10:17,780 --> 00:10:22,980 Anything that Dog needed or wanted or disliked, he would never talk to the 171 00:10:22,980 --> 00:10:26,660 wrestlers about it. He would only talk to Bill Watts. 172 00:10:26,900 --> 00:10:33,780 I don't think anyone in the business did more for an individual than Bill Watts 173 00:10:33,780 --> 00:10:36,740 as he looked at mentoring and helping Dog. 174 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:38,780 Bill looked at him like he was family. 175 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:42,240 You always go out and give 100 % for the people and for yourself. 176 00:10:42,620 --> 00:10:47,220 A lot of people were astounded that Cowboy was so friendly with a black 177 00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:51,560 And Cowboy said, I want you to know one thing. He said, my favorite color is 178 00:10:51,560 --> 00:10:55,980 green. And at that time, JYD was selling tickets, lots of them. 179 00:10:56,900 --> 00:11:01,300 Junkyard Dog's captivating presence draws capacity crowds night after night, 180 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:06,000 inspiring his fans that thought that nothing to defend their hero. The fans 181 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:07,920 only looked up to him, they worshipped him. 182 00:11:08,620 --> 00:11:12,020 I'm Jim Cornette. I've been involved in a variety of ways in professional 183 00:11:12,020 --> 00:11:14,160 wrestling over the last 40 -something years. 184 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:17,580 Because that's all you are is a yellow dog -faced liar. 185 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:21,980 You know what he just did? He just wrote a check that his rear end won't be able 186 00:11:21,980 --> 00:11:28,880 to... The downtown municipal auditorium 187 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:31,140 was the dog's house every Monday night. 188 00:11:31,620 --> 00:11:35,240 And the Freebirds come in, and they want to take over. 189 00:11:35,660 --> 00:11:37,800 The Freebirds had hair cream. 190 00:11:38,270 --> 00:11:42,810 that could remove your hair. And they said they were going to use it to take 191 00:11:42,810 --> 00:11:47,070 hair away from one of their opponents. But when Junkyard Dog came in and tried 192 00:11:47,070 --> 00:11:52,870 to do something about it, accidentally, according to the Freebirds, the cream 193 00:11:52,870 --> 00:11:54,470 wound up in his eyes. 194 00:11:54,750 --> 00:11:56,730 Hey, this is supposed to be a solution to remove hair. 195 00:11:57,150 --> 00:11:58,650 The agony he's in. 196 00:11:58,850 --> 00:12:00,470 My God, that moment right there. 197 00:12:03,390 --> 00:12:04,490 Freebirds were dead men. 198 00:12:05,100 --> 00:12:10,300 When the word got out that J .Y .D. had been blinded by the free birds, and then 199 00:12:10,300 --> 00:12:14,500 when J .Y .D. went on television and said, my daughter, my baby daughter is 200 00:12:14,500 --> 00:12:18,620 about to be born, and I'll be able to hold her, but I'll never be able to see 201 00:12:18,620 --> 00:12:23,240 her. The people wanted to kill the free birds, literally. 202 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:28,400 As the highly anticipated dog collar match with J .Y .D. against free bird 203 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:29,400 Michael Hayes approaches. 204 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:34,680 Dog plays his part at ringside until one fateful night when the line between 205 00:12:34,680 --> 00:12:37,180 fiction and reality really blurs. 206 00:12:37,380 --> 00:12:40,060 J .Y .D. himself told me this story. 207 00:12:40,380 --> 00:12:42,120 Others have disputed it. 208 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:47,240 But it sounds very typical of New Orleans and the wrestling scene at that 209 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:49,360 They're in the downtown municipal auditorium. 210 00:12:49,580 --> 00:12:54,740 And Dog is sitting at ringside. He's blind, but he's in the corner. The free 211 00:12:54,740 --> 00:12:58,560 birds look around and they see Dog sitting in the corner. And all of a 212 00:12:58,580 --> 00:13:02,820 some guy comes over the railing and is right there at Dog's shoulder. And the 213 00:13:02,820 --> 00:13:07,480 guy pulls out the biggest gun he's ever seen and said, don't worry, Dog, I got 214 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:08,480 him. 215 00:13:08,540 --> 00:13:15,100 And for two seconds, Dog is conflicted. Do I grab this guy's gun and save their 216 00:13:15,100 --> 00:13:17,780 lives, but expose that I can see? 217 00:13:18,730 --> 00:13:21,610 Or do I sit here and let him shoot him? 218 00:13:22,730 --> 00:13:26,750 And while he was conflicted, the cops came over the rail and grabbed the guy 219 00:13:26,750 --> 00:13:27,669 took him down. 220 00:13:27,670 --> 00:13:31,930 In our little world down there in the Mid -South, he became bigger than life. 221 00:13:32,510 --> 00:13:37,450 Sometimes you wonder when success comes somebody's way, is it truly a blessing 222 00:13:37,450 --> 00:13:38,450 or a curse? 223 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:51,260 Race, color, and creed. He's everybody's champion. 224 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:57,160 Under the guidance of legendary promoter Bill Watts, the Junkyard Dog has 225 00:13:57,160 --> 00:14:01,620 emerged as a main event superstar in Mid -South, drawing record -breaking crowds 226 00:14:01,620 --> 00:14:02,579 for the company. 227 00:14:02,580 --> 00:14:05,480 He was the black Hulk Hogan down there. 228 00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:08,180 Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas. 229 00:14:08,660 --> 00:14:10,900 I mean, he had all those towns just sold up. 230 00:14:11,100 --> 00:14:14,020 Let me tell you something, Buzzard, it ain't but one dog. 231 00:14:14,340 --> 00:14:17,020 Well, there wasn't many black wrestling stars when I broke into business. 232 00:14:17,550 --> 00:14:19,830 I'm WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long. 233 00:14:20,090 --> 00:14:24,510 You will go one -on -one with The Undertaker! 234 00:14:24,730 --> 00:14:30,610 God was a big draw. He had that charisma, so he brought the blacks out, 235 00:14:30,610 --> 00:14:34,350 he brought the whites out. There were whites that loved JYD, too. So Bill 236 00:14:34,350 --> 00:14:37,810 knew that was money, okay? So that's why he pushed off. 237 00:14:38,110 --> 00:14:40,250 Oh, the crowd said, who that? Who that? 238 00:14:40,570 --> 00:14:42,650 Who that? Who that? Who that? 239 00:14:43,050 --> 00:14:45,110 Who's that going to be, that junkyard dog? Who's that? 240 00:14:45,450 --> 00:14:49,710 You know, in Mid -South, we stop at a restaurant, we stop at a gas station, 241 00:14:49,770 --> 00:14:51,650 people recognize us where we went. 242 00:14:51,890 --> 00:14:55,990 We get a lot of letters at Mid -South asking that the dog and the different 243 00:14:55,990 --> 00:14:58,850 stars can drop by and visit them. I know we got a nice letter from a 244 00:14:58,850 --> 00:15:00,990 kindergarten teacher in LeCompte. 245 00:15:01,190 --> 00:15:06,290 Well, the junkyard dog found time, and when word got out in that town, they had 246 00:15:06,290 --> 00:15:08,930 Junkyard Dog Day, and I'll tell you, it was great. 247 00:15:09,210 --> 00:15:11,990 After he got his, he wanted to reach back. 248 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:17,240 help others. He got more pleasure out of helping you. Talk to the kids, give 249 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:17,879 them money. 250 00:15:17,880 --> 00:15:21,100 Very generous, not just with his money, but with his time. 251 00:15:21,420 --> 00:15:25,000 You know, you get fame and stuff, I get very well known, and I forget about the 252 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:27,520 way that I grew up, and lots of them I like to go back to school and visit. 253 00:15:28,060 --> 00:15:32,180 Long before the bright lights and roaring crowds, Sylvester Ritter, the 254 00:15:32,180 --> 00:15:36,500 behind the junkyard dog, grew up in a small North Carolina town. 255 00:15:36,860 --> 00:15:39,980 What a lot of people don't understand or don't know about it is, it's a true 256 00:15:39,980 --> 00:15:41,560 rags to riches story for him. 257 00:15:41,930 --> 00:15:44,130 My name is Jarvis Woodburn. I'm the nephew of the Junkyard Dog. 258 00:15:44,350 --> 00:15:46,870 I called him Uncle Dog. That's what he was to me. 259 00:15:48,810 --> 00:15:51,750 This was the, God, this is the old, old one, I believe. 260 00:15:52,550 --> 00:15:57,150 Yeah. He grew up without a dad. My great -grandmother, which is his grandmother, 261 00:15:57,230 --> 00:15:58,830 is the one that raised him and my mom. 262 00:15:59,170 --> 00:16:03,310 True Southern upbringing, family first, treat all people equally, and that's 263 00:16:03,310 --> 00:16:04,510 just the kind of person that he was. 264 00:16:05,250 --> 00:16:10,970 This is the home where Sylvester grew up, him a mom, my grandmother. 265 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:14,360 great -grandmother, great -great -grandmother. 266 00:16:15,300 --> 00:16:18,160 It was old school. Wake up in the middle of the night, got to go to the 267 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:20,160 bathroom, got to do number one, you're going in the bucket. 268 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:24,200 Got to do number two, you hold it, you're coming outside and using that 269 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:25,840 There you go. 270 00:16:27,100 --> 00:16:28,780 There's the source of heat right there. 271 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:33,280 And this was kind of like the living room area. 272 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:38,740 This was the bedroom here, so it's very cramped. 273 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:43,620 I mean, I remember when I was growing up, there was actually two beds in here. 274 00:16:46,060 --> 00:16:49,700 There's that wall with all of the, like, photos and stuff. 275 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:54,620 There's actually a real, real young picture of him over there. 276 00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:57,340 If these walls could talk. 277 00:16:57,720 --> 00:16:59,820 But I grew up just like everybody else with nothing. 278 00:17:00,420 --> 00:17:03,360 I grew up hard back down in South North Carolina. 279 00:17:03,880 --> 00:17:07,200 But I fought, and I'm still fighting, trying to bail on myself. 280 00:17:08,750 --> 00:17:10,930 I saw him one time to give a fan. 281 00:17:11,310 --> 00:17:16,589 He took the dog chain off his neck and gave it to a kid with a family there. 282 00:17:16,890 --> 00:17:18,450 And they just loved it. 283 00:17:19,569 --> 00:17:23,930 He still stayed humble. You know, he wasn't a guy that you couldn't talk to. 284 00:17:23,930 --> 00:17:24,848 never changed. 285 00:17:24,849 --> 00:17:28,050 He never changed. He was the same guy each and every day. 286 00:17:28,550 --> 00:17:33,470 Though fame didn't change the junkyard dog, life on the road and the days and 287 00:17:33,470 --> 00:17:35,970 weeks away from home begin to take their toll. 288 00:17:36,930 --> 00:17:39,950 He would always try to come home around, especially the holidays when my mom 289 00:17:39,950 --> 00:17:42,910 cooks. But then after that, it's just kind of like just hanging out with the 290 00:17:42,910 --> 00:17:45,230 family for as long as they can before they got to get back on the road. 291 00:17:46,410 --> 00:17:51,010 He had a daughter, Latoya. His daughter was with us since she was two going on 292 00:17:51,010 --> 00:17:54,050 three years old. He loved her to death. She loved him. She was definitely a 293 00:17:54,050 --> 00:17:57,550 daddy's girl. He was a great father. He's just on the road all the time. 294 00:17:58,410 --> 00:18:03,670 Being on the road all the time is, well, I mean, it can take a toll. 295 00:18:04,110 --> 00:18:09,450 It taxes on your body. It taxes on your mind. It taxes mostly on your 296 00:18:09,450 --> 00:18:14,330 relationships with your children, with your wife, with your family. 297 00:18:14,990 --> 00:18:19,530 You know, an average week was 1 ,500, 2 ,000 miles a week. So you're in a car a 298 00:18:19,530 --> 00:18:24,110 lot, and you're with your family a lot, and sometimes a big old fat joint was 299 00:18:24,110 --> 00:18:25,210 your solace. 300 00:18:25,890 --> 00:18:28,870 Of course, for a dog, it just created more of an appetite. 301 00:18:30,150 --> 00:18:33,150 We both were experimenting with drugs at the time. 302 00:18:33,610 --> 00:18:38,830 I remember J .Y. showing me a jar that he had over 1 ,000 hits of speed in it, 303 00:18:38,830 --> 00:18:43,350 you know. And, of course, when he came south, it came with him. 304 00:18:43,930 --> 00:18:49,190 Yeah, he was already into the speed and into the downers and sleeping pills. 305 00:18:49,470 --> 00:18:54,030 I hadn't gotten into that yet, but I was soon to start. 306 00:18:55,150 --> 00:18:58,790 There was a couple times on the road with him, he would always keep his pinky 307 00:18:58,790 --> 00:19:00,230 nailed a little bit longer. 308 00:19:00,990 --> 00:19:04,590 I'll look over and see him, and he was just about to do it, and he looked over 309 00:19:04,590 --> 00:19:07,330 at me and he goes, if I ever see you doing this, I'll kill you. 310 00:19:07,610 --> 00:19:08,610 All right. 311 00:19:08,770 --> 00:19:09,770 Ain't going to tell me twice. 312 00:19:12,070 --> 00:19:17,470 Kind of like rock and roll. I mean, I didn't know wrestlers had groupies. 313 00:19:18,670 --> 00:19:19,670 Found that out. 314 00:19:19,810 --> 00:19:22,290 It's kind of like you see on TV with these rock stars. 315 00:19:22,510 --> 00:19:24,370 It was just like anywhere they went. 316 00:19:25,340 --> 00:19:26,340 restaurants, bars. 317 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:29,980 When you got fame like this, you said, you can actually make money. I said, 318 00:19:29,980 --> 00:19:33,440 are you talking about? He said, I'm not going to sleep with them for free. 319 00:19:34,180 --> 00:19:36,060 I mean, some of these tickets would pay. 320 00:19:37,220 --> 00:19:42,280 So I started hanging out with Dahl because I got free beer, free food, and 321 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:43,280 laid. 322 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:48,120 And they paid for it. 323 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:51,100 We was... In Little Rock, Arkansas. 324 00:19:51,580 --> 00:19:55,340 And I was low on money because at that time, unfortunately, I was involved with 325 00:19:55,340 --> 00:19:58,000 drugs. And Dog said, I'll get you some money. 326 00:19:58,300 --> 00:19:58,959 I said, okay. 327 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:00,940 He said, I got some girls coming. I said, oh, thank you. 328 00:20:02,540 --> 00:20:07,720 The door opened and these three girls came in. And each one of them gave Dog 329 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:11,380 $100 a piece to get laid by the wrestlers. 330 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:17,320 So anyway, Dog said, he don't do no screwing. He like your feet. So he going 331 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:19,100 play with your feet. You like to play with your feet. That's all. 332 00:20:19,420 --> 00:20:20,420 I'm playing with the girl's feet. 333 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:23,560 Dog getting ready to do the girl, and then we hear another knock at the door. 334 00:20:25,220 --> 00:20:26,860 He thought it was one of the wrestlers. 335 00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:28,080 It was the girl's husband. 336 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:32,120 You know, he wanted to fight Dog, so he did. It didn't last long. 337 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:35,620 Dog beat the hell out of him. The girl stayed. 338 00:20:38,830 --> 00:20:42,710 The dog was one of the highest paid guys in pro wrestling at that time. He never 339 00:20:42,710 --> 00:20:46,510 made under a grand a week. I think he probably averaged more than like $2 ,000 340 00:20:46,510 --> 00:20:50,470 or $3 ,000 a week. And in a territory that size, that was pretty 341 00:20:51,030 --> 00:20:54,150 Bill, he did nice things for him, including a car. 342 00:20:54,410 --> 00:20:57,630 And when he pulled up to an arena, he got noted in a positive way. 343 00:20:58,250 --> 00:21:02,910 As one of the biggest draws in the territory, the Junkyard Dog catches the 344 00:21:02,910 --> 00:21:04,930 of WWF promoter Vince McMahon. 345 00:21:05,230 --> 00:21:06,910 In the summer of 1984, 346 00:21:07,690 --> 00:21:12,270 McMahon makes JYD an offer that's more than double what he's paid under Bill 347 00:21:12,270 --> 00:21:16,910 Watts. Vince McMahon was starting the national expansion that he started in 348 00:21:16,910 --> 00:21:19,930 1984, and Vince was trying to suck up all the talent. 349 00:21:20,990 --> 00:21:25,710 Unfortunately, the thing happened that I never believed would happen, and that 350 00:21:25,710 --> 00:21:26,750 was Dog walked out. 351 00:21:27,190 --> 00:21:32,570 He walked out on his professional savior, and he went to WWF for the cash. 352 00:21:33,690 --> 00:21:36,210 How does Bill Watts feel when JYD leaves? 353 00:21:41,770 --> 00:21:44,750 I'd love to have seen him when he got that phone call. 354 00:21:51,390 --> 00:21:56,770 A lucrative offer from the WWF proves too strong for the junkyard dog to 355 00:21:57,050 --> 00:22:02,050 as he suddenly departs Mid -South, sending shockwaves through the territory 356 00:22:02,050 --> 00:22:04,110 leaving promoter Bill Watts stunned. 357 00:22:04,670 --> 00:22:07,850 The big topic of conversation is the junkyard dog and what's happened to him. 358 00:22:07,930 --> 00:22:12,070 And we don't really know. We do know that he's left the Mid -South area. When 359 00:22:12,070 --> 00:22:14,670 Dog left Mid -South, it broke Watts' heart. 360 00:22:15,190 --> 00:22:21,150 Because he had never been as kind and as giving to anybody in his career. 361 00:22:21,510 --> 00:22:22,510 Bill went on television. 362 00:22:23,150 --> 00:22:25,310 Had a little verbal tirade directed at Dog. 363 00:22:25,630 --> 00:22:29,290 I wanted to comment one minute on the Junkyard Dog because I watched him come 364 00:22:29,290 --> 00:22:33,290 Mid -South as a youngster, and a lot of people watched him grow to become truly 365 00:22:33,290 --> 00:22:34,290 a superstar. 366 00:22:34,530 --> 00:22:38,810 But then J .Y .D. walked out, not only on Mid -South, which really hurt me 367 00:22:38,810 --> 00:22:42,190 personally because I considered him a great friend, he walked out on all the 368 00:22:42,190 --> 00:22:48,790 fans. I mean, to see a white man cry over a black man back in the day. 369 00:22:50,160 --> 00:22:54,060 I saw tears come out of Bill Watts' eyes. That just hurt him bad because 370 00:22:54,060 --> 00:22:58,740 Watts did everything he could to keep him there. And it just looked like 371 00:22:58,740 --> 00:23:00,920 overnight he was gone. 372 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:06,600 But in the aftermath of his departure, rumors circulate that his sudden exit 373 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:10,180 from the company is motivated by factors beyond money. 374 00:23:10,460 --> 00:23:13,400 Dog told me this story, the way he went to the WWF. 375 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:16,400 Dog was in the bathroom, and he was in the stall. 376 00:23:16,660 --> 00:23:20,640 Bill Watts and Grizzly Smith, they came in the bathroom, and they didn't know 377 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:21,820 Dog was in the stall. 378 00:23:22,260 --> 00:23:25,560 Grizzly Smith went to tell Bill Watts, he says, well, I think we're going to 379 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:26,519 lose Sylvester. 380 00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:30,860 I hear he's going to the WWF. He's going to New York. The next thing Bill Watts 381 00:23:30,860 --> 00:23:33,880 said to Grizzly Smith, he said, ah, don't worry about it. That nigger ain't 382 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:34,880 going nowhere. 383 00:23:35,120 --> 00:23:36,240 Dog heard that. 384 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:43,120 And so that's when he made up his mind to leave and go to Benson. 385 00:23:50,220 --> 00:23:55,620 After the Junkyard Dog leaves Mid -South in the summer of 1984, Bill Watts 386 00:23:55,620 --> 00:23:57,420 begins a search for his replacement. 387 00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:03,200 Brother, it scared him to death that his territory was going to just collapse. 388 00:24:03,420 --> 00:24:09,220 So desperate that immediately he tried to slide in another black superstar. 389 00:24:09,700 --> 00:24:15,660 Bill made, I think, a mistake in a sense that we started trying out every 390 00:24:15,660 --> 00:24:18,000 African -American wrestler that we could bring in. 391 00:24:18,460 --> 00:24:19,460 George Wells. 392 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:23,380 You can't run this dog out. I'm here to stay, and I'm here to whoop a whole lot 393 00:24:23,380 --> 00:24:24,219 of behind. 394 00:24:24,220 --> 00:24:25,220 Brickhouse Brown. 395 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:27,160 Brickhouse Brown! 396 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:30,160 And Brickhouse is silent, Joe. 397 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:33,240 They brought another guy in, called him the snowman. 398 00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:35,280 I had the pleasure of wrestling him. 399 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:39,180 Jake the Snake, he tried to take me out. These thundercookers, he can't do 400 00:24:39,180 --> 00:24:40,180 nothing with it. 401 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:41,280 Did not work. 402 00:24:41,820 --> 00:24:44,720 I want the sucker right down here in the middle of this rain right now. 403 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:47,780 Butch Reed was a very good wrestler, but he wasn't the dog. 404 00:24:48,330 --> 00:24:49,330 He was a bodybuilder. 405 00:24:49,550 --> 00:24:53,730 He was too pretty, not that big, bad son of a bitch that people could identify 406 00:24:53,730 --> 00:24:54,730 with. 407 00:24:54,990 --> 00:24:56,030 And on and on. 408 00:24:57,190 --> 00:25:00,430 So no replacing J .Y .D.? No, none. Forget about it. 409 00:25:00,810 --> 00:25:01,930 They were good guys. 410 00:25:02,130 --> 00:25:04,390 They tried, but replacing a legend? 411 00:25:05,110 --> 00:25:07,690 That's like hiring the next cowboy to replace John Wayne. 412 00:25:08,010 --> 00:25:09,070 How the hell are you going to do that? 413 00:25:10,250 --> 00:25:15,930 The fans of the WWF welcomed J .Y .D. with open arms and thunderous applause. 414 00:25:16,370 --> 00:25:17,370 This place is gone! 415 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:21,560 And he certainly has his legions of fans here by the thousands. 416 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:25,760 And these fans are with him all the way. He is perfect. 417 00:25:26,140 --> 00:25:30,260 McMahon did a phenomenal job of marketing JYD when he hired him. I will 418 00:25:30,260 --> 00:25:33,620 that. You have become one of the most popular athletes in the World Wrestling 419 00:25:33,620 --> 00:25:37,680 Federation, perhaps in the most shortest length of time as anyone ever to enter 420 00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:38,299 the ring. 421 00:25:38,300 --> 00:25:41,000 You know, I've been very fortunate to have a lot of help come from him. 422 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:44,220 Just understand that people, they get along with people, and they don't make 423 00:25:44,220 --> 00:25:45,560 difference what race or color it is. 424 00:25:46,129 --> 00:25:48,550 financially was the best move Dog ever made. 425 00:25:48,790 --> 00:25:53,470 He told me one time he was making six figures a quarter on his action figure. 426 00:25:53,710 --> 00:25:56,650 That's the third time my junkyard's been burgled this month. 427 00:25:56,930 --> 00:25:59,090 There's only one way to protect this place, amigo. 428 00:25:59,350 --> 00:26:01,310 You've got to get yourself a junkyard dog. 429 00:26:01,610 --> 00:26:04,930 I thought that was cool, seeing the cartoons on Saturday mornings, his 430 00:26:04,930 --> 00:26:08,530 figure, the music video, all that stuff. That was pretty cool as a kid to see. 431 00:26:08,910 --> 00:26:10,630 What was his tune on the album? 432 00:26:11,010 --> 00:26:14,070 Grab Them Cakes. They couldn't sing for shit, though. 433 00:26:27,139 --> 00:26:29,400 In his dreams were all being fulfilled. 434 00:26:29,940 --> 00:26:31,280 He was making money. 435 00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:33,820 He was doing it, man. He was doing it. 436 00:26:39,540 --> 00:26:40,980 Longevity wise, you know. 437 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:44,060 It's hard to stick around. Extremely competitive business. 438 00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:48,200 Everybody wants Hogan's spot, the spot below that. A lot of hungry guys. 439 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:50,240 And hard to stick around. 440 00:26:50,580 --> 00:26:56,320 As the Junkyard Dog joins a WWF roster packed with some of the biggest names in 441 00:26:56,320 --> 00:27:00,280 wrestling, his magnetic presence can only carry him so far. 442 00:27:00,620 --> 00:27:05,440 Despite his best efforts, he fails to recapture the towering heights of his 443 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:07,180 glory days in Mid -South. 444 00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:10,280 I don't think the industry was ready to go. 445 00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:17,480 That route, how can I say it, with the black 446 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:20,460 wrestler, that's just my opinion. 447 00:27:20,820 --> 00:27:26,280 I really believe that JYD thought that Vince McMahon was going to push him the 448 00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:27,640 same way as Bill Watts. 449 00:27:27,980 --> 00:27:32,960 And it didn't happen. He figured, well, I don't let Louisiana down. 450 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:34,780 I don't let my family down. 451 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:36,680 I don't let Bill Watts down. 452 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:38,300 He was just heartbreaking. 453 00:27:45,500 --> 00:27:49,560 Having left the Mid -South territory behind for the promise of even greater 454 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:55,320 fame, the Junkyard Dog fails to reach the same level of prominence in the WWF. 455 00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:59,380 Me and Dog want to be climbing the mountaintop. We want to go to the 456 00:27:59,380 --> 00:28:03,380 land. We want to be with Hulk Hogan, brother. They pushed some black 457 00:28:03,380 --> 00:28:06,860 there, but Ford's putting a black man in the money spot? 458 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:08,160 No. 459 00:28:08,900 --> 00:28:09,900 Not at all. 460 00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:11,300 They didn't go there. 461 00:28:11,660 --> 00:28:14,960 So I got to put this black and white thing together all the time. 462 00:28:15,260 --> 00:28:17,020 Because that's the only way I see it. 463 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:24,200 From 1980 to, I would say, 86, 80 % of the top wrestlers were minorities 464 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:29,880 in the Vince Senior era. Vince McMahon, senior figure, that you have to have a 465 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:34,300 person that represents every nationality of people. And that was his idea. 466 00:28:34,580 --> 00:28:41,260 Pedro Morales, Bruno San Martino, Rocky Johnson, the Wild Samoan, Mr. Fuji. 467 00:28:42,090 --> 00:28:43,090 Bob Backler. 468 00:28:43,170 --> 00:28:45,590 And that whole list, I mean, how many white people? 469 00:28:46,250 --> 00:28:50,310 One. But right now, let's begin the festivities. Without further ado, let's 470 00:28:50,310 --> 00:28:51,209 up the ringside. 471 00:28:51,210 --> 00:28:52,209 When Vince Jr. 472 00:28:52,210 --> 00:28:57,390 took over, where there wasn't many minorities on top, he came with the Hulk 473 00:28:57,390 --> 00:29:00,810 Hogan, Ronnie Piper, Bret Hart. 474 00:29:01,310 --> 00:29:04,030 He had a pecking order for Dawn. 475 00:29:04,350 --> 00:29:08,690 He needed a black wrestler, but he had to push the Caucasian wrestler. It's not 476 00:29:08,690 --> 00:29:10,670 racism. It was a business decision. 477 00:29:10,930 --> 00:29:13,720 He wanted to get... the white fans to come more. 478 00:29:14,940 --> 00:29:21,800 Vince McMahon didn't use him like Bill did. I wish he had because if he'd have 479 00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:25,180 opened that door, I think he could have been one of the biggest stars in the 480 00:29:25,180 --> 00:29:26,180 WWE. 481 00:29:26,620 --> 00:29:28,660 Do I think it affected him? Absolutely. 482 00:29:28,980 --> 00:29:32,700 And I think that was when the drugs got really bad. 483 00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:38,740 Dawg started off with pot and that led to cocaine. 484 00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:40,040 He's just smoking. 485 00:29:40,330 --> 00:29:41,870 Yeah, y 'all call it crack now. 486 00:29:43,350 --> 00:29:45,850 Once he got into the coke, the coke took him. 487 00:29:46,790 --> 00:29:48,250 He had to have it every day. 488 00:29:48,610 --> 00:29:51,830 J. White, he didn't care where he was at. He'd just pull it out and do it. 489 00:29:52,630 --> 00:29:54,690 On the airplanes and everything, man. 490 00:29:55,590 --> 00:29:57,330 He got me in trouble one time. 491 00:29:57,530 --> 00:30:00,230 They were doing a TNT thing that Vince used to do. 492 00:30:00,430 --> 00:30:02,270 He said, I want you to make sure he get there. 493 00:30:02,770 --> 00:30:05,230 They got a Lear jet for him, the nice jet. 494 00:30:05,710 --> 00:30:09,670 So when Dog landed, they got the guy with the limousine to pick us up at the 495 00:30:09,670 --> 00:30:13,370 airport. Dog said the limousine driver had to go in the ghetto to get some 496 00:30:14,470 --> 00:30:15,770 So they driving around. 497 00:30:16,290 --> 00:30:17,910 Dog, we got to get to the building, Dog. 498 00:30:18,990 --> 00:30:20,950 He found somebody selling his dope. 499 00:30:22,030 --> 00:30:26,710 The limousine driver had no idea what was going on. So Dog asked, is it okay I 500 00:30:26,710 --> 00:30:29,090 smoke? He thought it was a cigarette. 501 00:30:29,580 --> 00:30:34,360 The dog said, yeah. He took out his crack pipe and started smoking crack. 502 00:30:34,620 --> 00:30:36,460 I said, let me just talk like this. 503 00:30:37,500 --> 00:30:39,220 He don't know what the hell to do. 504 00:30:40,980 --> 00:30:43,640 We made a good dog there, but we late. 505 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:45,560 With me, I missed my match. 506 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:50,460 Dog forgot one thing that Thunderbolt Patterson tried to teach all of us black 507 00:30:50,460 --> 00:30:55,320 wrestlers. Thunderbolt used to always say, you can't do what the white man do 508 00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:57,600 and keep your job. 509 00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:04,200 By the late 1980s, the Junkyard Dog is consumed by a devastating drug 510 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:08,060 and its consequences are felt far beyond the squared circle. 511 00:31:08,460 --> 00:31:13,740 He didn't look good. He would talk, but he wasn't that cheerful dog that we 512 00:31:13,740 --> 00:31:14,740 knew. 513 00:31:14,820 --> 00:31:18,040 He just wasn't the same person. He didn't care what happened. 514 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:19,540 He didn't care at all. 515 00:31:19,740 --> 00:31:24,860 I mean, he just... Oh, my God. Yeah, he was out of control. 516 00:31:25,460 --> 00:31:26,780 I remember him. 517 00:31:27,310 --> 00:31:33,050 Sitting there in Madison Square Garden and loading a pipe up and hitting it 518 00:31:33,050 --> 00:31:34,050 right in front of everybody. 519 00:31:34,470 --> 00:31:39,310 I said, what are you doing, man? He goes, they don't even know what it is. 520 00:31:40,130 --> 00:31:42,310 He was just burnt. 521 00:31:44,690 --> 00:31:47,430 Oh, yeah. The dog came out of this hiding place. 522 00:31:47,990 --> 00:31:51,110 Started to begin to move up and down that ladder once again. 523 00:31:51,310 --> 00:31:53,110 Like I said, time and time again. 524 00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:57,120 Every dog needs a bone to chew on. 525 00:31:57,340 --> 00:32:01,240 Of course, he had a drug problem. Everybody was taking drugs back then. I 526 00:32:01,240 --> 00:32:05,500 throw no stones, A to Z. I just never had that addictive type personality. 527 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:07,280 But, dog, he struggled with that. 528 00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:13,400 He sank into it. It was more and more, and, you know, there was no talking him 529 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:14,139 out of it. 530 00:32:14,140 --> 00:32:16,240 Why has he let go from WWF? 531 00:32:16,460 --> 00:32:17,219 No shows. 532 00:32:17,220 --> 00:32:18,500 The way I understood it. 533 00:32:19,420 --> 00:32:22,200 Fred didn't care what you did with drugs. Go, go, go. 534 00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:25,560 But you miss shows, you scare me to do that. 535 00:32:26,220 --> 00:32:29,880 I didn't have no idea that he was leaving or anything like that. And 536 00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:31,600 way the wrestling business, it was like that. 537 00:32:31,820 --> 00:32:34,180 They didn't give you two weeks notice to tell you, hey, leave. 538 00:32:35,060 --> 00:32:36,700 A guy can't go buy groceries. 539 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:38,520 He don't have any money. 540 00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:40,900 And you haven't seen your family. 541 00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:42,680 It's disheartening. 542 00:32:43,620 --> 00:32:45,160 He definitely had a great soul. 543 00:32:46,020 --> 00:32:49,460 If J .Y .D.'s story isn't a cautionary tale, then people aren't paying 544 00:32:49,460 --> 00:32:50,460 attention. 545 00:32:58,570 --> 00:33:04,030 Fired from the WWF and struggling to make ends meet, JYD turns to the 546 00:33:04,030 --> 00:33:08,170 independent circuit, performing in small high school gyms for diminishing 547 00:33:08,170 --> 00:33:09,170 crowds. 548 00:33:10,110 --> 00:33:15,250 After hitting rock bottom, JYD's fortunes change with an offer to join 549 00:33:15,250 --> 00:33:19,930 Championship Wrestling, where his old friend and mentor Bill Watts is now in 550 00:33:19,930 --> 00:33:23,790 charge. Bill Watts came in and he knew that he could make his mark if he 551 00:33:23,790 --> 00:33:25,170 recaptured that black superstar. 552 00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:31,040 He was a likable as hell. Everybody there was happy to try to resurrect him, 553 00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:34,880 shall we say. I knew that his days of working on top were over. He didn't know 554 00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:38,520 that. He didn't seem like he wanted to admit it, but you ain't the same guy. 555 00:33:40,040 --> 00:33:41,180 And you look bloated. 556 00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:43,180 You're not in JYD right now. 557 00:33:43,780 --> 00:33:47,300 And at some point, you hold out hope for somebody that you love and respect. 558 00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:48,840 Well, they'll see the light. 559 00:33:49,220 --> 00:33:50,360 But let me tell you something. 560 00:33:50,580 --> 00:33:53,220 As my daddy would say, they got to carry their share of the water. 561 00:33:54,760 --> 00:33:58,760 I get mad when I pull up stories about the first thing people say, drugs this, 562 00:33:58,880 --> 00:33:59,599 drugs that. 563 00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:01,960 You got a guy that came from nothing. 564 00:34:02,540 --> 00:34:06,600 They pulled him out of that environment, gave him all this money, not making 565 00:34:06,600 --> 00:34:08,860 excuses, but yeah, he did drugs. 566 00:34:09,260 --> 00:34:10,260 Whoopee. 567 00:34:10,500 --> 00:34:11,940 I mean, everybody got demons. 568 00:34:13,060 --> 00:34:18,340 I'm pretty sure the last time I seen him was like 1995, and I came in and he was 569 00:34:18,340 --> 00:34:19,340 just mumbling. 570 00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:22,500 That was about it, man. 571 00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:25,620 They went back to where he was sitting. They said, he's in the ring. 572 00:34:25,940 --> 00:34:28,500 I went out to watch. They were ringing the bell. It was over. 573 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:31,500 After about two minutes, that's all he gave them. 574 00:34:32,060 --> 00:34:34,940 And he came back, grabbed his money, and walked out the door. 575 00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:39,100 Didn't say bye, didn't say hi, didn't say nothing. 576 00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:43,639 And I know exactly where he was at. He was wanting to get outside so he could 577 00:34:43,639 --> 00:34:44,639 get high again. 578 00:34:44,659 --> 00:34:45,659 Been there. 579 00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:47,040 Been there. 580 00:34:47,659 --> 00:34:48,880 He had his drug fixed. 581 00:34:49,100 --> 00:34:52,620 He was perfectly happy to go into isolation until he needed the money. 582 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:56,679 They didn't work a show for some independent promoter for the cash. 583 00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:03,000 You see, the pain that you get from the cocaine is because you look in the 584 00:35:03,000 --> 00:35:06,740 mirror every now and then, a moment of clarity, and you'll look at yourself and 585 00:35:06,740 --> 00:35:09,220 you'll see just how far down you've gone. 586 00:35:09,700 --> 00:35:10,700 That's painful. 587 00:35:10,820 --> 00:35:13,340 And it's also shameful. 588 00:35:14,180 --> 00:35:16,660 And those two things, man, will kill you. 589 00:35:18,250 --> 00:35:24,510 In just over a decade, J .Y .D. goes from headlining the Superdome to working 590 00:35:24,510 --> 00:35:26,490 part -time job at a local Walmart. 591 00:35:26,910 --> 00:35:31,530 Dog is used to being treated a certain way for a long period of time, from his 592 00:35:31,530 --> 00:35:33,830 football career to his wrestling career. 593 00:35:34,050 --> 00:35:37,070 And then all of a sudden, all that is taken away from him. You have to get 594 00:35:37,070 --> 00:35:40,510 to being treated like shit, pretty much. 595 00:35:41,310 --> 00:35:43,870 When I hit that spot, I tried to commit suicide. 596 00:35:45,180 --> 00:35:47,920 I was homeless for a year and a half. I slept in the park. 597 00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:51,880 Didn't shower or bathe or brush my teeth or comb my hair for a year and a half. 598 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:55,400 That was right before the start of December. So Dahl was going through the 599 00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:58,600 thing. He didn't save his money. Dahl was very careless with money. He would 600 00:35:58,600 --> 00:36:00,440 make $8 ,000, $10 ,000 a week. 601 00:36:01,380 --> 00:36:05,600 It just came so easy to him. And all of us felt the same way, not just Dahl, 602 00:36:05,660 --> 00:36:06,920 that it would never end. 603 00:36:07,300 --> 00:36:09,060 We figured this would never end. 604 00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:10,480 That we always... 605 00:36:10,970 --> 00:36:13,950 Going to be making money. We're always going to be big stars. 606 00:36:14,250 --> 00:36:15,490 This would never end. 607 00:36:16,750 --> 00:36:21,290 So the phone rings one day and I get a call from J .W .D. I hadn't talked to 608 00:36:21,290 --> 00:36:26,090 in quite a while. And he knows by now that, you know, I've had this change in 609 00:36:26,090 --> 00:36:30,430 life and that I'm out not only doing school assemblies, but I'm speaking in 610 00:36:30,430 --> 00:36:33,530 churches. If you're a wrestling fan, you may have remembered the Million Dollar 611 00:36:33,530 --> 00:36:36,370 Man. How many in this room would say you remember that guy? 612 00:36:36,770 --> 00:36:37,770 Yeah! 613 00:36:38,060 --> 00:36:43,160 And he says, I want you to encourage those kids you're talking to not to do 614 00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:44,160 I did. 615 00:36:44,620 --> 00:36:48,120 And I was just like, wow. 616 00:36:48,740 --> 00:36:51,460 I did what he asked me to do. That's sin. 617 00:36:51,900 --> 00:36:55,680 That one that goes away for a week or a month and then it rears its ugly head 618 00:36:55,680 --> 00:36:56,680 and it's back. 619 00:36:56,860 --> 00:36:58,900 Or maybe even worse, it's there every day. 620 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:01,320 Drugs, alcohol, addiction. 621 00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:07,200 Here's a guy who was the biggest name and succumbed to drugs. 622 00:37:07,830 --> 00:37:11,290 And, of course, that was probably one of the last conversations we had. 623 00:37:12,690 --> 00:37:15,590 The last time he came home was for his daughter's graduation. 624 00:37:16,050 --> 00:37:17,310 He was coming from Mississippi. 625 00:37:18,530 --> 00:37:22,430 Dog was real proud of his daughter. He wanted to make sure that he was at his 626 00:37:22,430 --> 00:37:25,550 daughter's graduation because, I mean, she would have wanted that too. I mean, 627 00:37:25,550 --> 00:37:29,830 you've got to feel real proud if your dad is a junkyard dog and he walks into 628 00:37:29,830 --> 00:37:30,830 your graduation. 629 00:37:31,230 --> 00:37:35,870 It don't get no better than that. So he was certainly determined to get there. 630 00:37:37,630 --> 00:37:41,170 From where he was living out in Mississippi to Charlotte, North 631 00:37:41,170 --> 00:37:44,450 about a nine -hour drive one way. He misses the graduation. 632 00:37:45,030 --> 00:37:49,410 We're all at my mom and dad's house. He shows up. Of course, he apologizes that 633 00:37:49,410 --> 00:37:53,670 he was late. He holds my son for the first time. My son was six months old, 634 00:37:53,670 --> 00:37:56,470 he looks like a little miniature baby doll in his hand. 635 00:37:57,050 --> 00:37:58,450 And he held him for a while. 636 00:37:58,710 --> 00:38:01,810 But that was the last family photo taken of him. 637 00:38:04,010 --> 00:38:07,250 And then later on, he said, I'm going to get back on the road. 638 00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:11,500 So I met him at this gas station, and there's something on the driver's side 639 00:38:11,500 --> 00:38:13,080 door. I'm like, dude, what's that? 640 00:38:13,300 --> 00:38:14,300 He goes, puke? 641 00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:17,240 Once he had a long night last night. 642 00:38:18,940 --> 00:38:21,740 So I didn't think nothing else about it, and I said, you going to drive all the 643 00:38:21,740 --> 00:38:23,780 way back home? You're not going to pull over to sleep or anything? 644 00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:26,360 He said, nah, just going to go ahead and drive on, you know, make it straight 645 00:38:26,360 --> 00:38:27,360 home. 646 00:38:28,080 --> 00:38:30,540 I didn't know that was going to be the last conversation I had with him, 647 00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:44,800 On June 1, 1998, after leaving a celebration of his daughter's high 648 00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:50,360 graduation, the junkyard dog sets out on the long and fateful journey home. 649 00:38:50,600 --> 00:38:53,900 We talked 10, 15 minutes right before he was getting ready to go. 650 00:38:54,260 --> 00:38:55,740 He's done gashing up and everything. 651 00:38:56,080 --> 00:38:57,080 And he said, 652 00:38:57,760 --> 00:39:01,960 well, man, when you come back down, I'll be back on the 4th. Be back on the 4th. 653 00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:03,380 I said, all right, well, cool, man. I'll see you then. 654 00:39:03,920 --> 00:39:04,920 Dapped each other up. 655 00:39:05,480 --> 00:39:07,580 He gets in the car and he drives away. I go home. 656 00:39:08,270 --> 00:39:12,270 The next day, I get the call at work, and it's my mom. 657 00:39:12,690 --> 00:39:18,410 And she's, you know, very upset. And she said, this officer got killed last 658 00:39:18,410 --> 00:39:20,230 night. I was like, wait, what? 659 00:39:20,890 --> 00:39:25,870 And she rambled something, and I could barely make it out. I just heard car. 660 00:39:26,170 --> 00:39:28,370 She got killed, and she hangs up the phone. 661 00:39:31,210 --> 00:39:35,910 And according to the authorities, an accident happened that morning. 662 00:39:36,380 --> 00:39:39,440 So he drove all through the night, all night long. He fell asleep. 663 00:39:39,660 --> 00:39:42,320 There was no skid marks. You could see where the car did off the road, and it 664 00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:43,320 flipped several times. 665 00:39:43,720 --> 00:39:46,020 There's no way he could have been wearing his seatbelt because he was too 666 00:39:46,020 --> 00:39:48,180 big for that seatbelt. He shouldn't have been in that car anyway. 667 00:39:48,940 --> 00:39:51,940 And it was head trauma, according to the autopsy. 668 00:39:53,390 --> 00:39:56,850 A lot of times when you're on the drugs, you know, you're up three or four days. 669 00:39:56,930 --> 00:40:00,870 Sometimes you don't get no rest until sometime the body just says, hey, I 670 00:40:00,870 --> 00:40:02,210 want no more, I'm shutting down. 671 00:40:02,490 --> 00:40:06,310 So that's what the body has to do to you for you to really go get rest. So I 672 00:40:06,310 --> 00:40:09,390 think Dog just hadn't had no rest and the body just shut down. 673 00:40:09,790 --> 00:40:10,930 It broke my heart. 674 00:40:11,350 --> 00:40:14,490 And I'm sure it broke the world's heart. 675 00:40:14,930 --> 00:40:16,310 He loved Ted DiBiase. 676 00:40:16,530 --> 00:40:17,530 They was like brothers. 677 00:40:17,770 --> 00:40:19,390 And I know it broke Ted's heart. 678 00:40:19,630 --> 00:40:22,210 I was very hopeful that he was... 679 00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:28,040 It's going to get better. The next thing I know, he's had a car wreck. 680 00:40:28,680 --> 00:40:30,820 How did you learn about his passing? 681 00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:34,580 I got a phone call when he hit the car wreck. 682 00:40:36,480 --> 00:40:38,560 To tell you the truth, I was happy for him. 683 00:40:40,960 --> 00:40:44,140 Because I was still caught in the trenches. 684 00:40:46,160 --> 00:40:47,620 And I knew that he had escaped. 685 00:40:48,800 --> 00:40:50,540 I knew that the pain was over. 686 00:40:53,100 --> 00:40:56,340 I started crying because I realized I never got to tell him how much I loved 687 00:40:56,340 --> 00:40:59,860 him. The period of time I was around him, he was such a dynamite human being. 688 00:40:59,900 --> 00:41:04,920 The fact of how we ended our relationship was not near as important 689 00:41:04,920 --> 00:41:05,879 we spent together. 690 00:41:05,880 --> 00:41:08,060 J .Y .D. was a neat, special person. 691 00:41:08,300 --> 00:41:12,860 And then you also see the terrible battle that's fought when guys get 692 00:41:12,860 --> 00:41:15,060 that gets a hold of them that they can't whip. 693 00:41:16,300 --> 00:41:21,120 All right, so this is his grave site here. One of his last wrestling 694 00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:24,520 Just below him, this is his daughter. 695 00:41:25,540 --> 00:41:30,320 What actually, what it was, was a ruptured heart valve that actually 696 00:41:30,320 --> 00:41:32,420 exploded. There was nothing they could have done anyway. 697 00:41:32,660 --> 00:41:37,360 And then she passed away a few minutes after that. And she was 31 years old. 698 00:41:38,640 --> 00:41:42,720 My mom comes to see with flowers and everything. Never misses a holiday, 699 00:41:42,840 --> 00:41:48,160 birthday. My mom finds it very difficult to talk about Sylvester because she was 700 00:41:48,160 --> 00:41:49,160 so close to him. 701 00:41:49,680 --> 00:41:52,220 And she raised Latoya as her daughter. 702 00:41:52,840 --> 00:41:57,400 It's just traumatic for her to go back down memory lane, so to speak. I think 703 00:41:57,400 --> 00:42:00,820 just opens up too many wounds that probably hadn't fully healed. 704 00:42:01,640 --> 00:42:02,780 He's a trailblazer, man. 705 00:42:03,060 --> 00:42:06,620 I'm sure a lot of those young guys appreciate the path that you laid for 706 00:42:07,040 --> 00:42:10,900 Yes, he did. He paved the way for all of us. I mean, any time he came out, you 707 00:42:10,900 --> 00:42:15,360 always remember JYD, and you will remember him when you left that arena 708 00:42:15,360 --> 00:42:19,180 night. So Dog's legacy is he's just one of the greatest black stars in pro 709 00:42:19,180 --> 00:42:20,180 wrestling. 710 00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:27,440 JYD did more to create awareness and acceptance within the 711 00:42:27,440 --> 00:42:32,400 closed world, very prejudiced world of pro wrestling. He stepped to the front 712 00:42:32,400 --> 00:42:35,740 the line, and he stayed in the front of the line for many, many years. 713 00:42:36,320 --> 00:42:38,680 The charisma was natural and real, organic. 714 00:42:39,620 --> 00:42:41,420 And that's what separated him from the pack. 715 00:42:41,740 --> 00:42:43,080 Oh, the crowd said, who that? 716 00:42:43,280 --> 00:42:44,280 Who that? 717 00:42:45,100 --> 00:42:47,380 Who that going to beat that junkyard dog? Who that? 718 00:42:47,840 --> 00:42:49,620 This guy is a true hero. 719 00:42:50,040 --> 00:42:54,120 So I prefer to remember him in the happier days and not anything else. 720 00:42:54,380 --> 00:42:55,600 He broke the barriers. 721 00:42:56,020 --> 00:42:59,540 I mean, the fans are just all over you, dog. It gets pretty hectic at that time, 722 00:42:59,580 --> 00:43:03,200 but I enjoy it, man. I love it. But see, in this business, I let them get close 723 00:43:03,200 --> 00:43:03,718 to me. 724 00:43:03,720 --> 00:43:05,480 He always had a moment for a kid. 725 00:43:06,010 --> 00:43:10,990 Warren Grunin, he had that charisma that made him a god to those that loved him, 726 00:43:11,030 --> 00:43:12,970 and there were so many people that loved him. 727 00:43:13,330 --> 00:43:14,330 Black and white. 728 00:43:14,610 --> 00:43:18,290 Yeah, it's hard to find anybody to say something bad about J .Y .D. He was a 729 00:43:18,290 --> 00:43:21,930 stand -up guy in a business where there's not a whole lot of stand -up 730 00:43:22,310 --> 00:43:27,530 I'm honored to introduce Sylvester Ritter, the junkyard dog, the wrestling 731 00:43:27,530 --> 00:43:28,530 of fame. 732 00:43:28,770 --> 00:43:33,350 I'm hoping that he's remembered for good stuff that he did in the industry. 733 00:43:34,410 --> 00:43:38,510 Latoya Riddle will be the recipient of the award for her dance. 734 00:43:39,010 --> 00:43:42,750 While I'm standing here, it's important to me, and I know it will be important 735 00:43:42,750 --> 00:43:47,230 to him, to introduce his sister, Christine Woodburn. He called her Big 736 00:43:48,190 --> 00:43:53,790 I didn't get to speak to J .Y .D. very much at the end, but again, that last 737 00:43:53,790 --> 00:43:59,670 conversation, when he said, tell my story, when you're talking to those 738 00:43:59,850 --> 00:44:02,910 that told me, I said, the guy that I knew is back.