Earlier this month, The professional wrestling community has suffered another great loss as “Superstar” Bill Dundee, a face/icon of the Memphis wrestling scene, has passed away at the age of 82. Jim Ross, who worked closely with Dundee in Mid-South Wrestling during their time together in the mid-1980s, often repped Dundee. in the squared circle industry.
“We became great friends,” the Hall of Famer said “Grilling JR” podcast. “He was the client of ‘Cowboy’ (Bill Watts). He wrote television shows, two hour-long shows a week…every week, I should say. So we were busy all the time… We got to know each other very well. He regaled me with stories of his days as an acrobat in a circus in Australia. Cowboy watch, so I had some pretty good mentors in that regard…Bill’s smart…I don’t know, but I’ll bet a lot of money that Bill Dundee didn’t even finish high school, but often when he was in a wrestling environment, he was the smartest guy.
Similar Eric Bischoff comments. Ross was equally astounded that Dundee was never able to capture the WWE Universe with his presence as an in-ring talent. His feud took place with the former Senior Vice President of WCW, and that the reason Dundee never got in the ring was because he didn’t fit the physical mold former CEO and President Vince McMahon was looking for at the time. As Ross noted, Dundee was 5-foot-7, while most of WWE’s Golden Age talent was over 6-foot.
While McMahon didn’t see Dundee as the next big thing as an in-ring performer, he still saw him as the perfect candidate to join his creative/booking team in WWE. However, Those plans were derailed after a behind-the-scenes conflict with the Hall of Famer came to light.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Grilling JR ah/t Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.