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Bill Dundee


Tim Evans

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So we got a Jerry Lawler topic but no Bill Dundee? I've been watching the Lawler vs Dundee 3 disc set and it made me want to start this topic. When I first got the Memphis DVDVR set, The Lawler/Dundee loser leaves town match was my number one match. Now that I've seen the 1979 verson, I think I like that match even more than 83. So many great punches and I loved the finish being a simple missed elbow drop. As great as the Lawler/Dundee feud was, Bill has also had some other good ones. Like the one with Bob Armstrong in the mid 80's or the one with Wolfie D in 95-96. So what is everyone's thoughts on Bill. Does him never getting a serious run in NWA or a run at all in WWF hurt him in terms of being a GOAT?

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He's a guy that can always suck me into a match and I can't help but pay attention to everything he does. If not for Lawler he's be the Memphis set MVP and he's looked amazing in his appearances on the other DVDVR 80s sets, even if they weren't as frequent. I loved him in 89 USWA and his tag with Lawler was number 11 on my AWA ballot. I watched the Mid South set just a few years ago and while I didn't have the chance to participate in the initial voting I did make a list of my favorite matches just for fun and he had 3 matches in my top 20, 2 of which were in top 10.

 

One of those matches (though not the best of those 3) was his tag with Terry Daniels against the Dirty White Boys which is a good match to illustrate just how great Dundee is. The DWB are far from bad but he brings them to a whole other level and you barely even get the chance to notice how bad Terry Daniels is. He is constantly doing something interesting in that match, even on on the apron.

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Bill Dundee was absolutely made for Memphis. He pretty much had everything you'd want to get over there. Good punches, occasional crazy bumps, good talker.

 

I just watched a post-WCW match between Dundee and Mean Mark Callous from Youtube. They mentioned Callous had just left WCW to strike out on his own. Calloway ran thru his somewhat limited pre-Undertaker offense before Dundee got counted out while beating up Downtown Bruno outside the ring.

 

To me, for those two wrestlers, that finish could only happen in the USWA. If it happened anywhere else, I don't think it would be believable for anything other than a Callous squash to take place.

 

Pop Dundee into somewhere like Mid-South or JCP, and he just wasn't that special. But Jerry Lawler could, and would, get over pretty much anywhere he worked. I think that's the big difference.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Right now I'm simultaneously watching Mid-South 1984 and a little bit of Memphis 1985. I wish I could watch a few weeks of the TV from before Dundee came into Mid-South as a comparison, but the 3 months I've watched of 1984 has been really good.

 

The Magnum T.A./Mr Wrestling II angle, the Midnight Express & Jim Cornette running over everybody, the debut and build up of Terry Taylor, the weeks of videos for the Rock N Roll Express before they show up to space out their debut until right when The Midnight Express need challengers, Buddy Landell debuting the "Nature Boy" gimmick, there's so much good stuff going on at the same time. I can kind of see the "Bill Dundee was a hot shot booker" criticism but it's lead to some really fast moving and interesting TV.

 

In the ring, it really speaks to his talent he can be brought back to Memphis in 1985 as Jerry Lawler's special partner to go against Bruiser Brody and Kareem Muhammad. Memphis is probably the only place it would work in, but that the 5'7 210 pound Dundee could be bought as the "big gun" to battle that team of giants is pretty impressive.

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  • 2 months later...

Until recently I only knew Dundee as a guy who popped up vs Jerry Lawler in the best matches threads. A shame he isn't talked about a bit more, he's bloody great. He's always fun to watch, heel or face (he seems to have turned about eight times so far on the Memphis set), he's a right cheeky little bastard. Some of his offence struck me as being quite viscous for the time too. The loser leaves town match is as great as the Lawler/Funk no dq match i.e Beat Match Ever calibre. Is there a better scaffold match than him vs Koko? I've not seen his seventies stuff so that's something I've got to remedy once I'm done with Memphis. Good promo and great hair as well.

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