Jump to content
Pro Wrestling Only

RIP King Kong Bundy


Strummer

Recommended Posts

Man, I swore that I saw a tweet from Bundy himself on Twitter earlier tonight talking about being at a wrestling convention around Wrestlemania weekend (unless it was a retweet from an earlier date, but I haven't noticed the time stamp)...Either way, another one gone who always played his monster heel role to perfection.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bundy was great in 82-83 World Class. It was his first push and he came in as a babyface ("Big Daddy" Bundy from Alaska, complete with jeans and a rope belt) but soon turned heel and actually became quite good on promos right away. He was part of the main event mix the whole time and was involved in several big matches and angles. He also impressed me when revisiting his 80s WWF work in recent years. The Hogan injury angle was so well done and he was a major heel for them for most of his run. RIP

I would also like to put out a call to the fine folks at this site for footage of a match between Bundy and Giant Baba from the 6/17/83 WCCW Star Wars card. The footage we do have of that show doesn't include that match but I thought maybe a Japanese film crew was there to film it for All Japan TV and it's out there somewhere. We are reviewing that show on World Cast shortly and would love to be able to pay tribute to Bundy by talking about that match. It was his last in the territory. Thanks 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

RIP 

One of my top 20 favorites ever.  He was a great heel and a great babyface in his limited chances.  Would've loved to see him get a run against Heenan in the WWF for a spell.  His couple shoot interviews in recent years are some of my favorites as well.  Great sense of humor and didn't take wrestling too seriously, but appreciated the success it brought him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, SirEdger said:

Man, I swore that I saw a tweet from Bundy himself on Twitter earlier tonight talking about being at a wrestling convention around Wrestlemania weekend (unless it was a retweet from an earlier date, but I haven't noticed the time stamp)...Either way, another one gone who always played his monster heel role to perfection.

I wonder if that was someone else authorized to promote for him. Looking at Bundy's feed he missed a signing in late January due to illness and he has not posted much of anything beyond that ComicCon in the last month. I get the feeling this isn't as sudden as it seems.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sadly, I didn't become a fan until Bundy's lackluster run with the Million Dollar Corporation stable (although I'm sure I saw Hogan/Bundy at WM2 somewhere along the way). Even then, I knew of Bundy's history and knew he wasn't being used to his full potential. Still, Taker-Bundy being booked for WM shows that they still saw some mileage left in the big man.

Has there ever been a worse stable than the Million Dollar Corporation when you consider how many talented people it had and how badly they were all used during that period? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Love Bundy's first run in the WWF. The Hogan mauling before 'Mania 2, the big Andre beatdown, the Machines feud, the five count stuff, I love it all. Damn shame he was torpedoed after doing those commercials, would have loved to see him butt heads with the guys who came in between his two WWF runs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, C.S. said:

Sadly, I didn't become a fan until Bundy's lackluster run with the Million Dollar Corporation stable (although I'm sure I saw Hogan/Bundy at WM2 somewhere along the way). Even then, I knew of Bundy's history and knew he wasn't being used to his full potential. Still, Taker-Bundy being booked for WM shows that they still saw some mileage left in the big man.

Has there ever been a worse stable than the Million Dollar Corporation when you consider how many talented people it had and how badly they were all used during that period? 

If we're being honest, The Million Dollar Corporation happened at the time where the WWF product was the absolute drizzling shits. With the talent they had in that stable, they definitely should've gotten a big push with title reigns (at least Bam Bam, IMO). Looking in hindsight, when Bruce Prichard says on the Something to Wrestle that New York was a babyface territory, I'm really believing it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had one of those awful non-WWF-licensed Bundy figures from the mid-90s up for sale on eBay for ages and got a notification around 2:30 a.m. that someone had finally bought it. It didn't even occur to me why someone was finally buying it after a year. I actually didn't hear about the news until early this afternoon when a couple friends texted me about it. Oddly enough, I somehow landed on a 20-man battle royal from RAW October 1995 last night and Bundy was the first one dumped. I didn't even remember him still being with the company that late into the year.

Bundy was long gone the first time around by time I got into wrestling in 1991. But from his various appearance in Coliseum Videos I rented to me desperately wanting his weapon-like LJN figure for years (before finally getting one for Christmas 1996), Bundy was just one of those larger-than-life types that I have fond childhood memories of. 

As I get older, I try to have a more optimistic view of death. It's too bad he's gone so relatively young, but it sure seems like Bundy made the most of those years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, SirEdger said:

If we're being honest, The Million Dollar Corporation happened at the time where the WWF product was the absolute drizzling shits. With the talent they had in that stable, they definitely should've gotten a big push with title reigns (at least Bam Bam, IMO). Looking in hindsight, when Bruce Prichard says on the Something to Wrestle that New York was a babyface territory, I'm really believing it.

It doesn't even bother me that none of them got a World Title run. That simply wasn't how things were done then. Even the most naive 12-year-old fans had no expectations of any of those guys winning the World Title. 

The big problem was, all of those guys lost ALL THE TIME - Bam Bam to LT being the most obvious example, but even Sid and the Kid was a midcard fodder team that went nowhere, Tatanka went from undefeated to undercard, Bundy was neutered as a threat, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...