King Kong Bundy

Chris Pallies (born November 7, 1957) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, King Kong Bundy.

Career
Weighing upwards of 450 pounds (204 kilograms) in his heyday (and sometimes billed as heavy as 503 pounds), King Kong Bundy was an imposing – if somewhat cartoonish – grappler. With pale skin and a completely hairless body, he was often compared to the Michelin Man, and the contrast of his light complexion with his usual jet black singlet led color commentator Bobby "The Brain" Heenan to dub him "Shamu", although play-by-play announcer Gorilla Monsoon preferred to describe Bundy as "a condominium with legs".

Bundy took the King Kong Bundy name during a story line while working with World Class Championship Wrestling. Bundy was discovered and developed as Big Daddy Bundy by the Von Erich family. He wore blue jeans with a rope belt and was a fan favorite. After a dispute with the Von Erich family Bundy was recruited by manager Gary Hart and dramatically re-introduced as King Kong Bundy, wearing the black singlet for the first time to signify his change. He would lose his hair during the feud, adding to his signature look.

While he competed in various territories such as the American Wrestling Association and National Wrestling Alliance, Bundy is best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation in 1986, when he feuded with WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan. At this time, he became known for his tendency to ask the referee for a five count (as opposed to the usual three count for pinfalls) whenever he dominated his opponent in a squash match. He is also remembered for winning the shortest match in WrestleMania history, when he mauled S.D. "Special Delivery" Jones in what was announced as only nine seconds at the first WrestleMania 1985. (The actual time clocks in at 23 seconds from bell to bell.)

Bundy also feuded extensively in 1985 with Andre The Giant, a feud which started during an angle where Bundy interfered in one of Andre's matches and delivered several splashes, giving the Giant a broken sternum (in storyline). They would feud for several months, most notably in a pair of tag team matches on Saturday Night's Main Event in late 1985, where Bundy and Andre's other nemesis, Big John Studd, first faced Andre and Tony Atlas and then Andre and Hulk Hogan.

On a nationally televised match on Saturday Night's Main Event, Hogan was wrestling challenger Don Muraco when he was ambushed by Bundy and his then manager, Bobby Heenan, thus setting up a feud between Hogan and Bundy. Hogan "required medical attention" from the beating sustained at the hands of the three attackers (the injury was not legitimate, and served to make Bundy look like a monster heel). The feud culminated with a steel cage matchup for Hogan's WWF Championship as the main event of WrestleMania 2 in Los Angeles, which was won by Hogan.

One year later at WrestleMania III, Bundy bodyslammed Little Beaver, a midget and then delivered a big elbow causing a disqualification in a mixed 6-man and midget tag team match. Bundy would continue to wrestle in WWF until 1988.

In 1994, King Kong Bundy made his return to the WWF as a member of Ted Dibiase's stable, the Million Dollar Corporation. Despite a feud with The Undertaker which culminated in a match at WrestleMania XI, Bundy failed to achieve the same amount of success as he did in the 1980s.

Bundy's stage name inspired the name of the sitcom family on the FOX Network sitcom Married... with Children, and he made several appearances on that show. When asked if the family had actually been named after serial killer Ted Bundy the producers responded that they had named them after "the good Bundy."

King Kong Bundy currently wrestles for several independent promotions in the United States, in 1999 he won the AWA World Heavyweight Championship from Jonnie Stewart, in a match that Stewart claimed "was the most brutal beating I have ever taken" More recently Bundy has turned towards a career in stand up comedy, seemingly with success. 

Finishing and signature moves
Note: King Kong Lariat is a move used by Japanese wrestler Shuji Kondo, not King Kong Bundy
 * King Kong Crash / Atlantic City Avalanche (Running vertical corner body avalanche)
 * Bundy Splash (Big splash)
 * Bundy Slam (High angle body slam)
 * Powerslam
 * Corner body block
 * Big elbow drop

Managers

 * Skandor Akbar
 * Kenny Casanova
 * Ted DiBiase
 * Paul Ellering
 * Johnny Glitter
 * Jimmy Hart
 * Bobby Heenan
 * Tony Rumble
 * Spaz McKenzie
 * Judge Lawless

Nicknames

 * The Atlantic City Annihilator
 * The Walking Condominium

Championships and accomplishments

 * American Wrestling Association
 * AWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)


 * Maryland Championship Wrestling
 * MCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)


 * Mid-Southern Wrestling
 * Mid-Southern Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 * Mid-Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Rick Rude


 * National Wrestling Alliance
 * National
 * NWA National Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with The Masked Superstar


 * Regional
 * NWA New York Heavyweight Championship (1 time)


 * Pro Wrestling Illustrated
 * PWI ranked him # 124 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.


 * Top Rope Wrestling
 * TRW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)


 * World Class Championship Wrestling
 * WCWA Heavyweight Championship
 * WCWA Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Bill Irwin (1) and Bugsy McGraw (1)


 * Other Titles
 * IPW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Filmography

 * Married... with Children (1988) in episode "All in the Family" as "Uncle Irwin"
 * Moving (1988) as "Gorgo"
 * Married... with Children (1995) in episode "Flight of the Bumblebee" as himself
 * Weird Science (1996) in episode "Men in Tights" as himself
 * Bill's Seat (2002) as "Big Swede"