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I woke up Sunday morning to a Facebook post from Shane Russell, the son of legendary Memphis wrestling announcer Lance Russell, stating that Bill Dundee had died earlier that morning.
I grew up in a small town in Southwestern Indiana during the ’70s. Championship Wrestling from Memphis aired on Channel 7 out of Evansville, Ind. every Saturday morning. My earliest memory of professional wrestling is of seeing Jerry Lawler smash up his car with a baseball bat after losing his prized Cadillac in a match to Bill Dundee in 1977. I was hooked.
Born William Cruickshanks on October 24, 1943 in Angus, Scotland, his family moved to Melbourne, Australia, where he joined the circus as a trapeze artist as a teen. He began his wrestling career in 1962, then arrived in the States with his partner, George Barnes, in 1974 to wrestle in the Memphis territory. His good looks gained popularity with the ladies, while his never-say-die toughness made him popular with male fans.
Dundee went on to have a blood feud with perennial Memphis top-draw Jerry “The King” Lawler that lasted decades. A professional rivalry resulted in their matches being heavy-hitting affairs; slugfests that often resembled real fights. They would also, on occasion, team up to form one of the greatest tag teams in Memphis history, even going so far as winning the AWA World Tag Team Championship on October 11, 1987 from Boris Zhukov & Doug Somers.
Without a doubt, the most memorable teaming of The King & The Superstar took place on June 15, 1979 in Tupelo, Ms. In what would become known in wrestling history as the Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl, Lawler & Dundee, after losing the Southern Tag Team Championship to The Blonde Bombers (Wayne “Honky Tonk Man” Ferris & Larry Latham), took the fight down to the concession stand. All four men bled heavily as they destroyed everything that wasn’t nailed down. That incident is widely regarded as the precursor to hardcore wrestling that gained prominence with the creation of ECW.
One of the hottest angles in Memphis history was the feud between Dundee & Buddy Landel vs. Jerry Lawler & Dutch Mantel, which began with Dundee & Landel roughing up teenaged referee Jeff Jarrett. I drove the hour-and-a-half to the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Evansville to witness that first match. The old coliseum held roughly 4,000 people, and I’m not exaggerating when I say it was standing room only. After being soundly trounced by Lawler & Mantel, he did something on Memphis TV the following week that shocked fans. After Lance Russell pointed out that he and Landel lost their match, Dundee slapped Russell across the face. This was back in the day when you did NOT put your hands on an announcer, especially one as revered as Russell.
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Dundee shared the ring with countless young wrestlers who went on to become major players, but also had a great wrestling mind. He not only booked Memphis, but also Louisiana and Georgia at various times throughout his career. He wrestled and managed in the NWA, Central States, and Florida territories.
In 1993, Dundee signed with WCW as Sir William, the manager of Lord Steven (William) Regal, although his time with WCW was short-lived. Speaking of short, the reason Dundee likely never enjoyed more success outside of Memphis was that Dundee was only 5-foot-7. Despite his smaller stature, Lance Russell always referred to him as pound-for-pound, the toughest wrestler around, and he showed that toughness by stepping into the ring with opponents of all shapes and sizes.
I had the privilege of interacting with Dundee on several occasions, and he was always completely accessible to his fans. Although I have far too many memories to share them all, the one that probably stands out the most was the last time I saw him in Jasper, Ind. back in 2010. Dundee vs. Lawler was the main event, and both men were at separate tables signing autographs. Lawler signed my replica of the AWA Southern Heavyweight title that Dave Millican made for me. I went to Dundee next. He saw Lawler’s autograph on the belt and quipped, “How much did he charge you to sign it?”
A couple of years ago, Dundee’s son, Jamie, revealed that his father was battling late-stage dementia and was in and out of lucidity. The Superstar made his final public appearance on Aug. 23 at the WrestleCenter in Memphis, where the current roster lined up to greet the legendary performer in a tribute that aired the day before his death. As the tributes from around the world pour in for the Memphis icon, I mourn not only his loss, but the loss of a big part of my childhood that fueled my passion for professional wrestling. Rest easy, Superstar.
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