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“Superstar” Bill Dundee’s life revolved around professional wrestling, from his youth in Scotland to his adolescence in Australia, before he left for America.
It would be impossible to untangle the history of Memphis Wrestling without Dundee’s mark, as no other territory and performer went hand in glove. He was considered a “worker’s worker” between his tall tales, the custom-wrapped car he drove around town with his booking information plastered for onlookers, and the discovery of the man squeezing in one last appearance the day before his death.
Despite being billed at 5-foot-7, the man born William Cruickshanks was closer to 5-foot-5, starting in Australia at merely 160 pounds. The size would have scared off most U.S. promoters, but Dundee migrated to a part of the country that valued the mouth above the muscles, and it is where Dundee shined as “larger than life” and found his eternal rival in Tennessee.
He was born on October 24, 1943, in Angus, Scotland, in the borough of Kirriemuir. The township is known for displaying a statue of Peter Pan, an appropriate allegory to pro wrestlers who sought a living in an industry where they never needed to grow up. It was here that Dundee was exposed to pro wrestling, finding an instant love of the profession by spotting the U.K. regulars during the World of Sport era.
At sixteen, his family moved to Australia, and it was here that he found a direct line into the business he would dedicate the rest of his life to. He tried to become a trapeze artist, which didn’t pan out in the circus. In other ways, he found his way into the circus anyway. It’s believed he got his start in 1962 and within two years, Australia’s version of World Championship Wrestling became the dominant force in the country under the auspices of Jim Barnett and Johnny Doyle.
In 1975, he left for the United States with tag partner George Barnes, experiencing the culture shock of upending his life in Australia and landing in Tennessee. It was here that he wrestled for Nick Gulas and Roy Welch, and it was the area of the country that would be most impactful throughout Dundee’s storied career. Dundee would credit the late Bobby Shane for pushing the move and placing them into contact with wrestler and booker Jerry Jarrett.
Dundee and Barnes would find a following in the territory, winning the area’s tag belts from Eddie Marlin & Tojo Yamamoto in March and trading them with Yamamoto & Jimmy Golden in the ensuing months. Barnes was not long for life in a foreign country, opting to move back to Australia and ending the team. Dundee had the opposite reaction and was ready to plant his flag.
August 4, 1975, marks the first listed match involving career rivals Bill Dundee and Jerry Lawler. The two were on opposite ends of a tag bout at the Mid-South Coliseum, with Lawler & Don Greene wrestling Dundee & Luke Graham to a time-limit draw underneath a main event between The Stomper and Magnificent Zulu. Their first singles contest is listed on December 1 where they met in the finals of a one-night, four-man tournament with a no-contest result. The next week, Dundee beat Lawler in a No Disqualification match. For the next decades, they would be linked whether as partners or, more often, rivals, and a program the territory could always rely on.
From It’s Good to Be the King…Sometimes by Jerry Lawler:
I probably had more matches with Bill Dundee than with anyone. He was a babyface about as much as I was. There was a real rivalry between the two of us because we both thought we were pretty good. It was an ego thing, I guess. He was always trying to knock me off my perch. He did some booking too like I did and we also had every kind of match imaginable. We had hair matches for his hair, my hair, his wife’s hair; car matches where he won my car and he smashed the windshield. We had a loser leaves town match in 1985 and I lost and that was when I went on vacation to Hawaii. Everything worked with Bill Dundee.
The big split of Jerry Jarrett from Nick Gulas and Roy Welch occurred in early 1977. Except for Jackie Fargo and Tojo Yamamoto, Jarrett left with the key talent, mainly Lawler and eventually announcers Lance Russell and Dave Brown (who would leave WHBQ). Jarrett’s Continental Wrestling Association secured a slot on WMC-TV with the broadcaster paying Jarrett $1,500 per week. Jarrett held the booking rights to the Mid-South Coliseum, and Jarrett’s mother, Christine, occupied the rights to the Louisville Gardens, providing the splintered group with the ammunition for a decisive win in the promotional battle as the balance of power shifted dramatically.
The stipulation matches between the rivals became their calling card after trading the Southern heavyweight title back and forth. In September 1977, Lawler bested Dundee with his hair at stake. Mark James’ release of the Tennessee Athletic Commission filings shows the match sold 8,343 tickets, generating a gate of $20,947 at the Mid-South Coliseum, while the local paper announced an attendance of 10,129. In Dundee’s attempt at retribution, a rematch was held the next week with the extreme stipulation that Dundee’s wife, Beverly, would have her head shaved if her husband failed a second time. Lawler won the rematch, and Beverly received a $3,000 payoff for the haircut while the Mid-South Coliseum brought in 8,077 and increased its gate to $28,693. It was among the most famous angles of its time period and one that Lawler and Dundee would revisit years later.
Lawler announced he was retiring after the matches in 1977, and attendance immediately plummeted at the Mid-South Coliseum, dropping as low as 2,100 until Lawler returned on October 10, when attendance rose to 6,400 for the return. Weeks later, Dundee and Lawler would team against Jimmy & Johnny Valiant and would win the Southern tag titles twice that year. Dundee would have tag title reigns with a variety of partners, including Koko Ware, Robert Fuller, Tommy Rich, Dream Machine (Troy Graham), Steve Keirn, and Dutch Mantel. Dundee and Lawler wouldn’t oppose each other again until late 1978 when Lawler was Southern heavyweight champion. The program was revived throughout 1979, feuding over the Southern heavyweight title but failed to achieve the success of two years prior, falling as low as 2,100 for a match in late October.
One of the signature matches of its time period was the Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl on June 15, 1979, pairing Lawler and Dundee against The Blonde Bombers of Wayne Ferris & Larry Latham with the Southern tag titles on the line.
In 1983, Memphis was on fire with Lawler vs. Dundee and the rise of the Fabulous Ones, Steve Keirn and Stan Lane. During the peak, WMC-TV was commanding anywhere from 60 to 72 share of the market on Saturday mornings with as many as 350,000 viewers and the Mid-South Coliseum serving as a Monday night institution.
From The Best of Times by Jerry Jarrett:
In the wrestling business, it is easy to be the top man. However, to be the No. 2 man is much more difficult and I think it takes a better man to fill that position. Bill understood that Lawler was in the top position. Bill and Jerry had many, many classic battles and I feel their programs were in large part one of the reasons Memphis developed into legend. Bill made sure that Lawler earned his spot. I often stood at the back of the Mid-South Coliseum and wondered if their matches had become a shoot.
Dundee’s animosity with Randy Savage was often brought up over the years, culminating in a legitimate fight. Savage’s family ran the outlaw ICW promotion in Lexington, Kentucky, where Jarrett’s group was the dominant player in the region with the NWA affiliation. Savage and others would cut promos, tearing down Lawler and issuing public challenges while the established office no-sold the threats and opted not to “punch down”. Years before, Dundee had worn trunks on television with the words “Macho Man” on them, and reportedly, this got back to Savage years after and added gasoline to the fire. The territorial animus reached a boiling point when Savage was tipped off that Dundee was working out at a gym in Nashville and showed up with others in tow. They met in the parking lot, and various stories have been shared over the years, but eyewitnesses included Angelo & Lanny Poffo, Thunderbolt Patterson, Pez Whatley, and Rip Rogers. What is agreed on is that Dundee went to the trunk of his car and pulled out a gun. Dundee maintained he was sucker-punched by Savage, with Rogers stating no one ever got pistol-whipped, as has been described in some accounts. The authorities were brought into it, but the charges were dropped, and it opened the door for Randy to come work for CWA in 1983 to feud with Lawler before heading to the WWF in 1985.
It’s believed that Dundee helped pioneer the Scaffold Match. The first match of its type is said to involve Jerry Jarrett and Don Greene from 1971. Dundee has claimed that he saw a tape of the match and was a far cry from the more popular versions, with a significantly lower height, and he felt he introduced the real scaffold concept in 1982 with Sweet Brown Sugar and Bobby Eaton. On May 16, 1983, Dundee regained the Southern heavyweight title from Mantel in a scaffold match on a card that included Lawler vs. Ken Patera and had another scaffold match two weeks later with Mantel in Louisville.
Lawler and Dundee had another big run in the spring of 1983, when Dundee beat Lawler for the Southern heavyweight title before Lawler unseated Dundee in a series of ‘Loser Leaves Town’ matches in the major cities, sending Dundee to work in Augusta and Chattanooga throughout the summer. Their June 6 showdown was preceded by one of the greatest episodes the promotion ever produced with a show-long sit-down interview with Lawler and Dundee. Dundee returned later in the year, ending 1983, by losing to Steve Keirn in another ‘Loser Leaves Town’ showdown and, this time, sending Dundee to work in Mid-South Wrestling.
Dundee was entangled in the infamous “trade” orchestrated by Jerry Jarrett and Bill Watts, with Dennis Condrey, Bobby Eaton, the Rock ‘N’ Roll Express, Jim Cornette, and Terry Taylor being sent to work with Watts.
From The Cowboy & The Cross by Bill Watts:
I didn’t want Dundee as a wrestler, but I could tell just from talking to him that he had a keen mind, so I offered him a spot as booker. Make no mistake – I was still the booker, or at least the “last word”, but I always wanted someone with a fresh perspective, and Dundee had a ton of original ideas.
Dundee’s finishes and ideas for gimmicks made me a fortune. But I had to control him. It was no different from what Vince does today. With Dundee, I had to tone him down. He had tons of ideas, but if it had been up to him, there would have been gimmicks in every match. He would have had the guys throwing powder in each other’s eyes in the dressing room, just to warm up for the opening match.
The Mid-South promoter was not interested in Dundee as a wrestler but instead as a booker working underneath him, but credited with lifting Mid-South to its peak run of business during his tenure from 1984 until September 1985. Dundee would assume the booking role previously held by Ernie Ladd.
It was in Mid-South where Condrey and Eaton were first paired, resulting in one of the most influential teams of the era, and they would win the tag belts from Mr. Wrestling II & Magnum T.A. after II turned on T.A. The run included the Last Stampede show on April 7, 1984, drawing 25,000 and a $176,000 gate, with Watts coming out of retirement to team with Stagger Lee (Junkyard Dog) against the Midnight Express in a Lights Out match. It came from an angle on television with Cornette’s face being shoved into a cake and the Midnights attacking Watts for revenge. They took the match all over the circuit, drawing $807,000 over fifteen shows. Dundee was primarily booking but was also put into the ring, including wrestling on the Last Stampede card with Porkchop Cash against the Midnight Express (who worked double duty).
They ran the Superdome three more times in 1984 while losing their top star when JYD left the promotion for the WWF in the summer. The Louisiana Superdome was the site of its big events until the sale to Jim Crockett Promotions, but crowds dwindled and never reached the peak of 1984.
Dundee was back in Memphis in September 1985, and the promotion wasted no time reviving Dundee vs. Lawler. They rechristened their series of matches and had one of the biggest matches of their rivalry on December 30, when Dundee finally won the “big one” and beat Lawler in a Loser Leaves Town contest to win the Southern heavyweight title. Dundee beat Lawler in subsequent matches in Lexington and Louisville with the idea of Lawler taking a break until he was needed for business purposes.
Lawler’s return resulted in one of the top angles of the period and a memorable edition of Memphis Wrestling. Dundee and Buddy Landel assaulted a young eighteen-year-old referee by the name of Jeff Jarrett. Promoter and father Jerry Jarrett ran down to help his son and cut the best promo of his life, believing he had failed as a father by not protecting Jeff. He hit the emergency button and allowed Lawler to return to the territory, setting up Lawler & Dutch Mantel against Dundee & Landel for a series of matches, including a rare Texas Death Match. It climaxed with Lawler defeating Dundee for the championship on April 7. Their feud continued with Lawler gaining revenge and sending Dundee “out of town” on July 14.
Dundee spent the next nine months in Mid-Atlantic, Central States, and Championship Wrestling from Florida. Dundee had a brief run with the Central States heavyweight championship in January 1987, beating Sam Houston and losing the belt to Bob Brown in yet another Loser Leaves Town match. In March 1987, Mid-Atlantic booked the Mid-South Coliseum on Thursday night and headlined with Bill Dundee beating Dusty Rhodes in a King of Tennessee match. The show drew poorly with a listed number of 2,500. CWA’s regular Monday night show that week led with Nick Bockwinkel defending the AWA World Heavyweight title against Soul Train Jones (Virgil, Mike Jones), along with Austin Idol & Tommy Rich facing Jerry Lawler & Bam Bam Bigelow, drawing approximately 7,000 people, according to Wrestling Data. Dundee teamed with The Barbarian in the Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup that year and headed back to Tennessee in April.
Upon returning, it was time to pair Lawler & Dundee as a team to feud with Austin Idol & Tommy Rich, leading to a scaffold match on June 15, 1987, and they won the AWA World Tag Titles in October from Doug Somers & Soldat Ustinov. Dundee received a blast from the past when ex-partner George Barnes returned to Tennessee, and the former Australian teammates feuded over the AWA International Heavyweight belt.
Lawler had his big AWA World Heavyweight title win on May 9, 1988, at the Mid-South Coliseum and defeated Curt Hennig. Lawler’s first defenses of the title would be a series with Bill Dundee in Memphis, Evansville, and Nashville.
In 1988, the territory was going down and set the stage for the dissolution of the CWA and Jarrett’s formation of the USWA through the remnants of Memphis and World Class Championship Wrestling. Dundee remained a fixture by winning the group’s top title four times, the tag titles with Lawler on two occasions, and once with his son Jamie Dundee.
The ‘90s saw a major shift as the territorial system was dying, with Jarrett and Lawler’s group clinging to life due to a low payroll and still holding a lot of weight in its region. In late 1992, Lawler joined the World Wrestling Federation as a broadcaster and occasional wrestler but never divested himself from the Tennessee scene as the local legend, who could always be relied on for a jolt.
For Dundee, he just didn’t have the size or youth to attract significant interest from a national company. He was hired by WCW to serve in a role on its booking committee while doubling as “Sir William” on screen to accompany Lord Steven Regal. It was short-lived, and he left in 1994.
He remained a part of the USWA until its demise in 1997 and was part of the Memphis Wrestling revival under Corey Maclin in 2003. Dundee had reached local legendary status, and Memphis was promoted as such, focusing on the historical figures to come pop a house and lean on the “good old days” when the modern scene was a far cry from the days of 72 shares in the market.
Dundee wrestled as late as 2019 at the age of 75, ending his career on a show dedicated to Bobby Eaton (two years before Dundee’s son-in-law passed away), teaming with Beau James, George South & Stan Lee against Bobby Fulton, Brad Thomas, Ryan Dookie, and Shane Williams in Knoxville.
In 2023, son Jamie revealed that Bill was suffering from dementia. It was Jamie who made public the news that his father passed away last weekend.
Dundee will forever be linked with Jerry Lawler as an opponent and teammate, and an enduring rivalry that melded the past to the present in Tennessee wrestling. It was a territory built on the literal posting “Personal issues draw money” and allowed the latitude to take the most extreme of stipulations for the era and tie them to personal vendettas that forced the consumer to make the trip on Monday to the Coliseum for fear of missing out.
Over the years, heads were shaved, cars were traded, coal miners’ gloves inflicted damage, blood was spilled, men fell from elevated surfaces, and titles switched faster than pages on a day planner. The end was a territory that cultivated a lifelong fan base who grew up and loved their heroes, hated their villains, and celebrated their legacies long after their bodies could continue adding to their work.
For Bill Dundee, the “Superstar” was the essence of the word, always working, always selling, and he has finally left town for good.
Many thanks to the countless resources, including Cagematch, Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Wrestling Data, Mark James’ Tennessee Athletic Commission filings, and other news sources, for contributions to this obituary
