Junkyard Dog

American professional wrestler (1952-1998)

Sylvester Ritter (December 13, 1952 – June 2, 1998) was an American professional wrestler who was best known for wrestling with World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under the ring names, Junkyard Dog and JYD for short. He died in Forest, Mississippi on June 2, 1998 after he fell asleep at the wheel of the car he was driving home in and crashed into another car.[1]

Junkyard Dog
Born(1952-12-13)December 13, 1952
Wadesboro, North Carolina, U.S.
DiedJune 2, 1998(1998-06-02) (aged 45)
Forest, Mississippi, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Leroy Rochester
Stagger Lee
Big Daddy Ritter
Junkyard Dog
Billed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Billed weight280 lb (130 kg)
Billed fromCharlotte, North Carolina
Trained byLarry Johnson
Debut1977
Retired1993

Championships

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Ritter held many championships during his professional wrestling career:

  • Mid-South Wrestling Association
    • Mid-South Louisiana Championship (three times)
    • Mid-South North American Heavyweight Championship (four times)
    • Mid-South Tag Team Championship (eight times) – with Buck Robley (one), Terry Orndorff (one), Killer Karl Kox (one), Dick Murdoch (three), Mike George (one), and Jerry Stubbs (one)
  • NWA Mid-America
    • NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship (one time) – with Gypsy Joe
  • Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    • PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year in 1980.
    • PWI ranked him #51 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

References

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  1. "Junkyard Dog Dies". slamwrestling.net. SLAM! Wrestling. June 3, 1998. Retrieved July 6, 2023.

Other websites

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