Tragic Details About Junkyard Dog

Most wrestlers are in their prime at age 35. They're at their physical peak, with enough experience and respect that they can practically book their own space on the card. Not so Junkyard Dog. When he was axed from WWF in 1988 as a cost-cutting measure, his time anywhere near the main event scene anywhere in America was done.

Not long after he was cut, he joined the NWA — which soon became WCW — where he was given a main event run in 1990. This included an extended feud with Ric Flair that was so poorly received the Wrestling Observer Newsletter dubbed it the Worst Feud of the Year. JYD would spend the next few years getting cut by WCW and rejoining them, largely due to his conditioning and low drawing power.

He spent the last few years of his life touring the indie circuit, a shell of his former self doing gimmick matches with fellow legacy acts during what should have been his best earning years. Even so, he was clearly enjoying himself, as an International Wrestling Federation promoter told the Morning Call: "He enjoyed it all, the big crowds, (the) small. It didn't make any difference as long as he was around to sign autographs and take Polaroids with the kids. Every kid he met, he'd say, 'Are you still in school? Stay there baby, do it.'" He also worked as a repo man to make ends meet.