King Kong Bundy
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| King Kong Bundy | |
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | Chris Canyon[1][2] Big Daddy Bundy Boom Boom Bundy King Kong Bundy Man Mountain Cannon, Jr. |
| Billed height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) |
| Billed weight | 444 lb (204 kg) |
| Born | November 7, 1957 Atlantic City, New Jersey |
| Resides | Paterson, New Jersey |
| Billed from | Atlantic City, New Jersey |
| Trained by | Larry Sharpe |
| Debut | 1981 |
Chris Pallies (born November 7, 1957) is an American professional wrestler, stand-up comedian and actor, better known by his ring name, King Kong Bundy. During his wrestling career he became a 2 time WCWA "Champion and a 1 time AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion. He has also won many other championships.
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[edit] Career
Weighing upwards of 444 pounds (202 kilograms) in his heyday (and sometimes billed as heavy as 503 pounds), King Kong Bundy was an imposing – if somewhat cartoonish – grappler. With pale skin and a completely hairless body, he was often compared to the Michelin Man, and the contrast of his light complexion with his usual jet-black singlet led color commentator Bobby "The Brain" Heenan to dub him "Shamu"; play-by-play announcer Gorilla Monsoon preferred to describe Bundy as "a condominium with legs." or, more well known, "The Walking Condominium." At the inaugural WrestleMania event in 1985, color commentator Jesse Ventura remarked that "Bundy's back could be used as the west screen at a drive-in."
Bundy took the King Kong Bundy name during a storyline while working with World Class Championship Wrestling. Bundy was discovered and developed as Big Daddy Bundy by the Von Erich family. He wore blue jeans with a rope belt and was a fan favorite. After a dispute with the Von Erich family, Bundy was recruited by manager Gary Hart and dramatically reintroduced as King Kong Bundy, wearing the black singlet for the first time to signify his change. He lost his hair during the feud, adding to his signature look.
While he competed in various territories such as the American Wrestling Association and National Wrestling Alliance, Bundy is best known for his stint in the World Wrestling Federation between 1985 and 1988, when he feuded with André the Giant and WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan.
Bundy is remembered for his tendency to ask the referee for a five count (as opposed to the usual three count) for pinfalls whenever he dominated his opponent in a squash match, a gimmick he began while wrestling for Mid-South Wrestling. He is also remembered for winning the second shortest match in WrestleMania history, when he mauled S.D. "Special Delivery" Jones in what was announced as only nine seconds at the first WrestleMania. The actual time clocks in at 23 seconds from bell to bell.
In 1985 Bundy feuded extensively with André the Giant, a feud which started during an angle where Bundy interfered in one of André's matches and delivered several splashes, giving the Giant a kayfabe broken sternum. They would feud for several months, most notably in a pair of tag team matches on Saturday Night's Main Event in late 1985, where Bundy and André's other nemesis, Big John Studd, first faced André and Tony Atlas and then André and Hulk Hogan.
On a nationally televised match on Saturday Night's Main Event, Hogan was wrestling challenger Don Muraco when he was ambushed by Bundy and his then manager, Bobby Heenan, thus setting up a feud between Hogan and Bundy. Hogan "required medical attention" from the beating sustained at the hands of the three attackers (according to Hulk Hogan's autobiography, Hollywood Hulk Hogan, although the serious injury was not legitimate, and served to make Bundy look like a monster heel, Hogan did in fact, receive minor injuries from the incident, because Bundy had to legitimately hit him full force or it would have looked fake, and because Muraco had hold of his arms, Hogan couldn't properly protect himself and all he could do was hold his breath and flex all his muscles. As a result, Hogan said that all his ribs popped in the same way that one might normally pop their knuckles, with the pain causing Hogan to legitimately black out. Hogan also said that he was diagnosed at the hospital with only some minor hairline fractures of his ribs.) The feud culminated with a steel cage match for Hogan's WWF Championship as the main event of WrestleMania 2 in Los Angeles, which was won by Hogan. On the (now out-of-print) DVD, "Hollywood Hulk Hogan: Hulk Still Rules", Hogan spoke about how he knew that when he went in the ring with Bundy, that he would come out in different physical condition than when he started the match. Hogan also called Bundy "A great guy, but strong as hell." During their feud, Bundy would frequently refer to "Bundymania" a play on the term Hulkamainia.
One year later at WrestleMania III, Bundy bodyslammed midget wrestler Little Beaver (Lionel Giroux), and then delivered a big elbow causing a disqualification in a mixed 6-man and midget tag team match. In a 1998 interview with King Kong Bundy, Bundy said he hoped that he wasn't responsible for Giroux's early death, saying he wouldn't want that on his conscience.[3] This is unlikely, as Giroux died of emphysema. In November 1987, Bundy defeated Hulk Hogan via count-out on an episode of Saturday Night's Main Event. Bundy left the WWF in 1988 following a loss to Hogan in a rematch on the next episode of the series.
In 1994, King Kong Bundy made his return to WWF as a member of Ted DiBiase's stable, the Million Dollar Corporation. Despite a feud with The Undertaker which culminated in a match at WrestleMania XI, Bundy failed to achieve the same amount of success as he did in the 1980s.
Pallies' stage name inspired the name of the main family on the FOX sitcom Married... with Children, and he made two appearances on that show. When asked if the family had actually been named after serial killer Ted Bundy, the producers responded that they had named them after "the good Bundy."
King Kong Bundy currently wrestles for several independent promotions in the United States. In April 1997, King Kong Bundy resurfaced in magazines when he joined a faction managed by Kenny Casanova called "Camp Casanova" along with "Danger" Dave DeJohn and The Masked Maniac at times in USWF, NBW, and USA Power Pro Wrestling. In a match against "The Seven Foot Tall" Primo Canara III, Bundy knee dropped his opponent and then "Bundy-Splashed" him. The impact actually broke the ring, leaving the two grapplers in a pit in the center of the squared circle. This independent footage was picked up by many top magazines like PWI Wrestling who typically covered very little independent show footage at a time when fans were mostly interested in the big leagues.
King Kong Bundy continues to wrestle for several independent promotions in the United States. His notable feuds against "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka, Doink the Clown, and Tom Brandi are among many main events in the northeast independent circuit. In 1999, he won the AWA Superstars of Wrestling Heavyweight Championship from Jon A. Stewart aka Jonnie Stewart, in a match that Stewart claimed "was the most brutal beating I have ever taken".[4]
More recently, Bundy has turned towards a career in stand-up comedy, seemingly with success. On April 24, 2008, King Kong Bundy was on a Norwegian TV show called Golden GOAL!.[5]
[edit] In wrestling
- Finishing and signature moves
[edit] Championships and accomplishments
- Top Rope Wrestling
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- TRW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
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- NWA American Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- NWA American Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Bill Irwin (1) and Bugsy McGraw (1)
[edit] Filmography
- Married... with Children (1988) in episode "All in the Family" as "Uncle Irwin"
- Moving (1988) as "Gorgo"
- Married... with Children (1995) in episode "Flight of the Bumblebee" as himself
- Weird Science (1996) in episode "Men in Tights" as himself
- Bill's Seat (2002) as "Big Swede"
- Fight the Panda Syndicate (2008) as "Otto Belmar"
[edit] References
- ^ Myers, Robert (1999). The Professional Wrestling Trivia book. Branden Books. p. 4. ISBN 0828320454.
- ^ Myers, Robert (1999). The Professional Wrestling Trivia book. Branden Books. p. 49. ISBN 0828320454.
- ^ http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingArchive/bundy_interview.html
- ^ awastars.com interview.
- ^ http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007701190320[dead link]
