A Big Easy legend returns to the limelight New Orleans was once one of the hottest cities for pro wrestling because of one man — Sylvester Ritter, better known as the Junkyard Dog. JYD became a legend in the Big Easy, drawing huge crowds to the Superdome, a feat no other wrestler ever came close to. In 1980, he managed to break one of the final colour barriers in the sport by becoming the first black wrestler to be made the undisputed top star of his promotion. This biography aims to restore JYD to his deserved place in the history books by looking at his famous feuds, the business backstories, and the life of the man outside the ring. The King of New Orleans recounts the story of how an area known for racial injustice became the home of wrestling’s most adored African-American idol. A remarkable tale of a man still remembered on the streets of New Orleans and in the hearts of pro wrestling fans. “Klein makes an excellent case for why JYD should be considered the true first black wrestling superstar.” — Wrestling Figs “Klein has ensured that future generations will not let this barrier-breaking, ‘thump’ dropping, larger-than-life superstar become a forgotten hero.” — The Fight Nerd “A fascinating and in-depth look into Junkyard Dog’s rise to superstardom, memorable feuds and his life outside the ring. It’s also a compelling tale of how the Deep South — a hotbed of racial intolerance during JYD’s formative years — became the home of wrestling’s most adored African-American idol of the ’80s.” — Slam! Wrestling An actor, writer, director, and producer, GREG KLEIN grew up wanting to be a professional wrestler because of Mid South Wrestling. He has a journalism degree from Auburn University; after college, he was a reporter by day and wrestler by night. Klein currently lives in New York. The King of New Orleans How the Junkyard Dog Became Wrestling's First Black Superstar By Greg Klein ECW PRESS Copyright © 2012 Greg Klein All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-77041-030-5 CHAPTER 1 SYLVESTER RITTER Anson County, North Carolina, was first settled in the colonial era. Although its roots are in the wilderness, its long history has mostly been agricultural, a boom-and-bust growth cycle that went bust in the '90s, when most of the local textile mills closed down. Its county seat had a similar fate; the first one, on the Pee Dee River, was prone to flooding. A second attempt, called Newtown, was located away from the river, and was renamed Wadesboro in 1787 in honor of local Revolutionary War minuteman Colonel Thomas Wade, who died that year. For three days in 1865, the town played host to part of Sherman's army while it was on its march north. More recently, invaders came from Hollywood: The Color Purple was filmed in the county. Modern Wadesboro has about 5,000 residents, nearly 20 percent of the population of still-rural Anson County. The town is less than an hour east of booming Charlotte, but it has experienced very little of the suburban growth of neighboring Union County. Its eastern neighbor, Rockingham, with its famous NASCAR track, has had more success, but it, too, is suffering these days as the motor sport pulls back from its southern roots and sends its races nationwide. Wadesboro has seen similar migration, as the cotton business has faded and the few mills that remain have been converted to make synthetic materials. "Today, our chief export is people," says Wadesboro town manager John Witherspoon. "We're exporting our workforce elsewhere." To say the town was booming in the '50s is probably an exaggeration, but things were different: more Mayberry, less a southern version of the rust belt. Then, as now, the population was fairly evenly split between white and black. But the Wadesboro where Sylvester Ritter grew up had its problems, too. At times, in Wadesboro, as in wrestling, Ritter stood in the middle of the controversy. He was born on December 13, 1952, to Bertha Lee Ritter and John Wall. Ritter's father was an absentee dad, a pattern Sylvester would largely repeat with his own children. His mother, too, would disappear at times; Sylvester and his sister, Christine, were mostly raised by their grandmother, Arzzie Lee Ritter, alongside their cousins, Vera and Carl Ray Ritter. Sylvester also had a half-brother, Calvin Colson, who grew up elsewhere. Very few of Sylvester's friends and neighbors remember seeing or even hearing about John Wall. Bertha Ritter was gone long enough that her children and the people around them referred to Arzzie as their mother. In 1965, under a federal order, North Carolina began combining and integrating schools. At the time, the black kids went to Fasion School and the white kids went to Bowman, a short distance away. Bowman's junior-high football coach, Ed Emory, took an interest in some of the athletes at Fasion and began inviting them to play at the larger school. Today, "Coach," as he is still known, is a city councilman in Wadesboro, havi