Junkyard Dog

Sylvester Ritter (December 13, 1952 – June 2, 1998) was an American professional wrestler best known for his work in Mid-South Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as The Junkyard Dog (or JYD for short).

Football
Sylvester Ritter played football at Fayetteville State University, making honorable mention for the All American team twice. He graduated with a political science degree and was selected by the Green Bay Packers organization, but knee and back surgery ended his football career.

Professional wrestling
Ritter debuted in the Tennessee territory, working for promoter Jerry Jarrett, before moving to Nick Gulas' company and using the ring name Leroy Rochester. From there he moved to Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling as Big Daddy Ritter, where he captured the North American Heavyweight Championship twice.

In the early 80s Ritter moved to Mid-South Wrestling, where booker "Cowboy" Bill Watts gave him the name and gimmick Junkyard Dog, and would wear a long chain, attached to a dog collar, and white boots. He originally came to ring pushing a cart filled with junk called the "junk wagon" and lost most of his early matches before his character caught on and became one of the top faces in the company. While on top he feuded with some of the top heels in the company, including a now infamous angle with the Fabulous Freebirds where they (kayfabe) blinded him with hair cream. At the peak of the feud Ritter's wife (legit) gave birth to their first child, and since Ritter now couldn't see his new daughter it increased the heat on the Freebirds to the point where they needed police escorts in and out of arenas. The feud ended with (the still blind) Ritter and the Freebird "leader", Michael "P.S." Hayes wrestling in a steel cage match.

Around 1985 Ritter left Mid-South for the World Wrestling Federation, where he was still an incredibly over face, but never again reached the main event level. While in the WWF he made a habit of interacting with the growing number of young people in attendance, often bringing them into the ring after matches and dancing with them. Ritter won The Wrestling Classic tournament, often cited as the first ever WWF pay-per-view and his most notable feuds in the company came against King Harley Race, the Funk Brothers, and Greg "the Hammer" Valentine before leaving the company in 1988.

In 1990 he had a brief run in World Championship Wrestling, while it was still under the National Wrestling Alliance banner, where he feuded with Ric Flair over the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and won the Six-Man Tag Team Championship with Ricky Morton and Tommy Rich.

Sylvester Ritter died on June 2, 1998, in a single-car accident on Interstate 20 near Forest, Mississippi as he was returning home from his daughter Latoya's high school graduation in Wadesboro, North Carolina. The apparent cause was falling asleep at the wheel.

Ritter had stayed active in professional wrestling until the time of his death. He was the founder of the Dog Pound stable in independent Mid-South promotion, based in southern Louisiana. Among Ritter's last contributions to professional wrestling was the training of former WWF/E wrestlers Rodney Mack and Jazz.1998 Queens N.Y- Elks Lodge the (LIWF) paid Tribute to Sly in a Junk Yard Dog Memorial show, to help raise funds for the Widow and Children. On hand were 3000 fans and a full locker room ,wich took the ring for a 10 bell salute.Hall of Fame Johnny Rodz,Ox Baker, Nikolai Volkoff, Johnny Valiant ,Demolition Ax , Cousin Luke , George Steel , King Kong Bundy Big Vito, Kid USA , Spanish Angel , LuciferBilly Alaimo, Bobby Lombardi Promoter of (LIWF),amongst many others. In 2004, Latoya Ritter represented her father as he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame at a ceremony during WrestleMania XX.

In wrestling

 * Finishing and signature moves
 * Thump (Front Powerslam)
 * Dog-like antics (Biting, Crawling around on all fours)
 * Headbutts
 * Shoulder Breaker


 * Managers
 * J.R. Foley


 * Theme music
 * Music was a very important part of Junkyard Dogs character.
 * In mid-South his first theme song was Bad, Bad Leroy Brown by Jim Croce, then it was changed to Another One Bites the Dust by Queen, before he used Atomic Dog by George Clinton.
 * In the WWF he used Another One Bites the Dust again, before he and Vicki Sue Robinson recorded a song specifically for him, Grab Them Cakes (about buttocks-fondling) which was released in 1985 on "The Wrestling Album". Robinson and JYD once performed this song together at the 1986 Slammy Awards as well.

Championships and accomplishments

 * Universal Wrestling Federation (Bill Watts) | Mid-South Wrestling
 * 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)


 * National Wrestling Alliance
 * Regional
 * NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Gypsy Joe
 * Bunkhouse Stampede Winner (1988)


 * Pro Wrestling Illustrated
 * Ranked #51 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.


 * PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year award in 1980


 * World Championship Wrestling
 * WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Ricky Morton & Tommy Rich


 * Stampede Wrestling
 * Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship (2 times)


 * United States Wrestling Association
 * USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)


 * World Wrestling Federation
 * Wrestling Classic Winner (1985)
 * WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2004)


 * Wrestling Observer Newsletter
 * 1982 Feud of the Year (vs Ted DiBiase)