In his heyday, Sylvester "Junkyard Dog" Ritter was so popular with the fans that he could
give Hulk Hogan a run for his money.
But thanks to a multitude of unfortunate twists and turns, he never quite reached his full potential.
Here's the tragic real-life story of Junkyard Dog.
Junkyard Dog was a talented performer with a natural charisma that could arguably match
most performers of his era.
So it can seem strange that his time with the WWF, now known as WWE, wasn't more stellar.
As Bleacher Report notes, the wrestler was easily the biggest star in Mid-South Wrestling,
and even when he moved to the WWF, the audience would often go nuts whenever he appeared.
In wrestling terms, he was "over" with the fans.
Wrestling Observer reported he could even outshine an all-time great like Ric Flair.
Wrestler Buddy Landel said,
"I've never seen anyone who was over like Junkyard Dog in his prime.
I was never around Hogan in his prime, but I was around Ric Flair in his peak and he
was never over like JYD."
But the WWF never quite capitalized on Junkyard Dog's popularity with the fans.
Though his tenure with the company involved some high-profile opportunities, including
tag-team bouts with Hogan himself, he was generally treated as a mid-level talent.
His profile on WWE.com confirms he never won a single WWF championship.
While JYD was eventually inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, his actual time with the
company seems to have largely ignored his potential as a top star.
"I got the people in the wrestling ring, I got the people outside the wrestling ring cheering me on.
I got the people in the crowd when I'm singin' cheerin' me on.
So we're all gonna do it together."
Junkyard Dog was a charismatic guy, but that didn't make him exempt from the casual, sometimes
cruel racism that pervaded pro wrestling.
In the WWF, commentator Jesse "The Body" Ventura referred to his popular post-victory dance
as "a lot of shuckin' and jivin'," and claimed that his speech sounded like he had, quote,
"a mouth full of grits."
Even his super-popular stint with Mid-South Wrestling was somewhat marred by racism.
As Deadspin points out, Junkyard Dog's opponents often used racist invective against him, and
what's more, he didn't choose the chains he wore as his gimmick - wrestling promoter Bill
Watts came up with the idea.
Fortunately, Junkyard Dog was often able to be the hero.
Since he was almost always the "babyface," or good guy, of the feud, and his opponents
were often rather openly racist against him, he was often presented as a heroic figure
fighting against racial injustice, and the crowd was cheering him.
During his days in the Mid-South, Junkyard Dog was a beloved hero who used Queen's "Another
One Bites The Dust" as his entrance music.
He was almost too beloved.
One of his stranger feuds at the time involved his enemies, the Fabulous Freebirds, "blinding"
Junkyard Dog with hair cream.
This coincided with the real-life birth of his daughter, and the prospect of the heroic
wrestler not being able to see the baby got the crowds very, very mad.
The Freebirds soon needed police protection.
Wrestling Observer noted that the story almost ended in a disaster when the "blind" Junkyard
Dog took the ring to address his adoring audiences, some of whom were apparently convinced that
he had actually lost his sight and had to leave the business for good.
When the Freebirds inevitably entered the ring to gang up on the "helpless" Junkyard
Dog, one fan actually entered the fray and pointed a gun at one of them.
Fortunately, no one was shot.
Security overpowered the gun-toting fan and took him away.
Substance abuse was a notorious problem for many wrestling stars of Junkyard Dog's era,
and he was no exception.
The Wrestling Movement reports his struggle with addiction started in the 1980s, when
he operated with the aid of cocaine among other drugs, which you could occasionally
hear during some of his more energetic promos.
The Wrestling Observer notes that Junkyard Dog soon developed a cocaine habit that caused
him to neglect training.
His promoter at the time, Bill Watts, tried to protect his top performer, whose wrestling
ability was rapidly declining and whose significant weight gain soon destroyed his once impressive physique.
It was clear that Junkyard Dog had problems that went way beyond his in-ring prowess.
Perhaps the best description of Junkyard Dog's relationship to drugs comes from the Iron
Sheik, a fellow wrestling legend who also has faced down problems with addiction, and
who, according to Maxim, got his first taste of crack courtesy of Junkyard Dog.
The Sheik said of JYD,
"He my friend.
But he no perfect."
Junkyard Dog's lifestyle started to take a toll on his body.
According to The Wrestling Movement, his cocaine and alcohol use were weighing him down, both
in the ring and out.
As Wrestling Observer notes, his increasing sloppiness severely hurt his popularity at
Mid-South Wrestling, and though the WWF eventually brought him to bigger and more visible arenas,
JYD's personal struggles continued.
He also developed a propensity for unhealthy eating, which earned him the unsavory nickname
"Junkfood Dog."
Junkyard Dog's professionalism started to creak under his many excesses.
He started skipping scheduled appearances, and though the WWF gave him some leeway, the
company ultimately decided to let him go.
In 1988, Junkyard Dog returned to the NWA, which soon became WWF rival promotion WCW.
But both his star power and performances were disappointing, and he left in 1991 for the independent circuit.
JYD was more or less aware of his situation, though he was never able to get fully clean.
In his later years, he was quite open about his addictions and the toll they had taken on him.
His friend Ted DiBiase, known to WWF fans as the "Million Dollar Man," revealed that
shortly before Junkyard Dog died, he gave DiBiase permission to use him as an example
to steer kids toward better life choices.
Junkyard Dog's two marriages went so badly that one of them involved a kidnapping and a gunshot.
The details of his first divorce are somewhat unclear, but his arduous travel schedule seems
to have played a large part.
After the split, his ex-wife spent some time at a mental institution, after which she kidnapped
their daughter from Junkyard Dog's parents' house.
On his quest to find his daughter, the wrestler soon burst through the door of his former
brother-in-law's house, and the ensuing confrontation ended with his ex-wife's brother - a police
officer - taking an accidental gunshot.
The end of Junkyard Dog's second marriage didn't involve quite as much drama, but it
was devastating to his finances.
He reportedly lost pretty much all his earthly possessions, including his car and home.
Every pro wrestler hangs up their boots eventually, but Junkyard Dog's retirement years were more
tragic than most.
According to The Wrestling Movement, he didn't have much to show for his wildly popular wrestling
career in his later years.
He spent much of his post-wrestling time doing odd jobs, with no permanent home.
Junkyard Dog clung to wrestling as long as he could, pleading in vain for chances from
his former promoters and appearing in occasional independent shows to the point that his declining
in-ring ability allowed.
This may have been a money thing, but according to Sportscasting, his sheer love for the job
seems to have been a significant factor, too.
Promoter Guy Walters explained,
"He retired in 1988 and 10 years later, he was still in the ring.
He had a hard time giving it up.
He enjoyed it all, the big crowds, [the] small.
It didn't make any difference, as long as he was around to sign autographs and take
Polaroids with the kids."
Walters also revealed that Junkyard Dog made sure to tell those kids to make better life
choices than he had.
Walters said of JYD,
"Every kid he met, he'd say, 'Are you still in school?
Stay there. Baby. Do it.'"
"If I had to pick my faves, I'd go with The Undertaker or Junkyard Dog, how about you?"
The final tragedy in Junkyard Dog's life came in the summer of 1998, was twofold, and happened
over a single weekend.
As Wrestling Observer reported, he made an attempt to attend the high school graduation
of his daughter, only to find out that he'd arrived too late, and she had already gone
to celebrate with her friends.
He never saw his daughter again.
The following morning, Junkyard Dog started his journey back, but he never made it.
As he was driving on Interstate 20, Sylvester "Junkyard Dog" Ritter died in a single-car
accident that sent his vehicle rolling three times.
He was 45 years old.
Five days later, the pro wrestling star was buried in Wadesboro, North Carolina.
Apart from his former comrade Buddy Landel, the professional wrestlers he'd worked with
all his life were largely absent from the ceremony, though some sent flowers.
However, the Junkyard Dog's impact was still clear, as the crowd that attended the funeral
was up to 2,000 strong.
Michael Jordan, a North Carolina native and fan, reportedly reached out with his condolences.
Junkyard Dog's daughter, LaToya Ritter, was instrumental in many dramatic turns of her father's life.
According to Wrestling Observer, her father's inability to see her was a major part of the
infamous "blindness" storyline during Junkyard Dog's Mid-South days.
Ritter's graduation weekend in 1998 also ended with her father's fatal car accident.
She was also the one who represented her dad when he was inducted into the WWE Hall of
Fame in 2004.
Unfortunately, like her father, Ritter also passed away at an early age.
On Oct. 19, 2011, she was talking on the phone, when she had a sudden heart attack at just 31 years old.
A family friend said,
"Doctors said she was gone before she hit the floor.
As tragic as her loss is, there's consolation in the knowledge that she didn't suffer."
If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, please call the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Administration’s 24/7 National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
That’s 1-800-662-4357.