Why Junkyard Dog Never Made It Big In WWE, Explained
Quick Links
The Junkyard Dog never made it big in WWE, and people at the time seemed confused about why this never happened. JYD was one of the most popular wrestlers in the territories when he got the call to sign with WWE. However, things didn't go as well as many of his fans from Mid-South Wrestling might have hoped. While JYD didn't have a bad showing in WWE, he was never a main event talent and served no more than a mid-card babyface that fans loved, but who did little outside his personal feuds. When it comes to why JYD didn't make it big, there were a couple of reasons he didn't make it.
Junkyard Dog was the top guy in Mid-South Wrestling. At the time, Mid-South was one of the best territories in the world, with Bill Watts creating storylines that people bought into the action. This included one of Mid-South's biggest angles when the Freebirds blinded Junkyard Dog, something that made him even more popular and the Freebirds even more hated. When Junkyard Dog went to WWE, everyone saw big things for him, as he came in as one of the biggest Black babyfaces in wrestling and could have changed the landscape of WWE.
Related: The Tragic Death Of The Wrestler Known As Junkyard Dog, Explained
Junkyard Dog Joined WWE As A Gimmick Wrestler
Vince McMahon was stealing talent from the territories at a record rate and Mid-South Wrestling was one of the hardest hit. Bill Watts pushed Junkyard Dog as his top star and was pushing him as an equal to Ric Flair when the NWA World Champion came to town. However, out of nowhere, JYD left Mid-South without giving his notice and went to WWE. While Watts couldn't replace JYD with anyone (even though he had Butch Reed and Jim Duggan there waiting in the wings), JYD also couldn't carry on his strong push when he entered WWE. Part of it was that he went from being a top babyface wrestler to a chain-wearing, barking, gimmick in WWE.
On his Something to Wrestle With podcast, Bruce Prichard talked about Junkyard Dog leaving Mid-South for WWE. He said that JYD leaving Mid-South almost killed the territory, and fans kept rejecting the guys that Watts brought in to replace him. However, for JYD, it was different when he entered WWE. Prichard admitted that "JYD was one of the most charismatic stars that I've ever been around. Dog was one of those unique talents that drew money everywhere that he went." While he never reached the top of WWE, and even with his gimmick, he was still one of the most popular stars in the company during his time there.
Junkyard Dog Was Broken Down When He Entered WWE
Junkyard Dog made his debut in WWE in 1984 and quickly became a massively over babyface. While he wasn't there challenging the top heels, he was instead interacting with the fans. JYD would bring kids into the ring and let them dance with him. This was what he ended up being in WWE, a wrestler who was there to make the kids happy and not to win titles. But, with as successful as he was in Mid-South, and as realistic as his feuds and angles were there, what didn't this translate over to WWE?
Junkyard Dog was successful in WWE on one level. He won a lot of matches but wasn't very successful at WrestleMania where it mattered. At the first WrestleMania, he beat Intercontinental Champion Greg "The Hammer" Valentine - but it was by countout, so the title didn't change hands. He did lose at WrestleMania 2 in a tag team match when Terry and Hoss Funk beat him and Tito Santana, but it was one of the best matches on that otherwise lackluster show. He began a feud with former NWA World Champion Harley Race which led to another loss at WrestleMania 3. At WrestleMania 4, he was relegated to a battle royal, and then he was gone.
In his Jim Cornette's Drive Thru podcast, Cornette said that Junkyard Dog was already breaking down when JYD was at the end of his Mid-South tenure. Cornette said that Junkyard Dog had slowed down drastically a few months before leaving Mid-South, and it was due to developing a drug addiction. This was also when JYD started putting on weight, which caused him to get blown up quickly in matches, and then he started slowing down on anything he did in the ring.
JYD had started to lose fans at the time in Mid-South, and he regained his popularity in WWE. However, he was no longer able to put on the same quality matches there, and there was no way Vince McMahon could put a major title on him. As a result, Junkyard Dog ended up as a gimmick the kids loved, but he was no longer championship material.
