Jim Cornette Reviews Dark Side Of The Ring's Junkyard Dog Episode 

The craziest part about the JYD story, was Jake “The Snake” Roberts telling him to go easy on the drugs. That’s like Matt Cardona or Ethan Page telling you to stop buying toys.

I know they focused mainly on his drug use, but to me the saddest part was hearing that his daughter passed away, especially considering the circumstances of his own death. I hadn’t heard about her death previously

Travis outdoes himself again with the Family Matters throwback art......Jim as Urkel just made my day!

I loe the Ernie Ladd bit. I don't know why but Jim's impersonation of him and Dusty always gets me.

Thank you Jim for saving JYD legacy

THANK YOU BRIAN!!!! That is the main problem I had with it. To hear them talk he was a step above The Brooklyn Brawler. He was easily the #2 guy behind Hulk Hogan.

I love when Ernie Ladd said “He brought that big beautiful black body in there and the girls went crazy” LMAO

I just remember how JYD, Hogan, Savage and Andre were the 4 wrestlers who were larger than life to me as a kid! Nostalgia is an amazing feeling

I know the show is called “Dark Side” of the Ring, but I just wish that they highlighted some more of the positive things about his career and life.

I went to a WCW event in Baltimore many years ago that involved JYD. After the show, JYD walked past me. I patted him on the shoulder. That mf was absolutely solid! He may have been past his prime, but he was still a beast.

"and it looked like a monkey fuckin a football, it was fuckin ugly." 😂 What a great line. Jim is hilarious.

JYD is criminally underrated and it blows my mind how they borderline assassinate his character and don’t acknowledge the things he has done for wrestling and the things he fought against during a time where discrimination was an all time high

Brian's ability to correct Jim when he's one year off of wrestling history 🤣🤣😍

Overhearing his bosses disparaging him while he's hidden in a bathroom stall 🙄 just like in Trading Places

I think Jim forgets that Dark Side is not really about wrestling. It's about the dark stuff in these people's lives, not the good things that happened in their careers.

He left for the money. No matter what he told Teddy Long

This was a good episode. I was too young to know how big a star he was. I heard about him when he was past his prime. Even now hearing Jim and Brian speak Im getting even more insight. Dog wasn't just over as the black star, he was a star

THANK you Jim. There was so much success in JYD's career and all they talked about was drugs and decline. Sad stuff.

My favorite part was Atlas completely ignoring the fact that Vince made him and Rocky Johnson the WWF Tag Team Champions.

I grew up in JYD WWF and I fondly remember him as a great fan favorite among children that even as a 5-8 year old I wondered why he didn't win more matches. He deserved an IC title run.

Tony Atlas' story about JYD whipping out the crack pipe in the limo had me in stitches 😂

Damn. From action figures, cartoons, sold out shows in Mid-South and WrestleManias to a part time job at Walmart ten years later. That is a hard fall.

Corny as Steve Urkel : Did I do that? I didnt do that....I wasnt even there!!! what tha fuuuuck?!?

Oh shit! JYD as Carl Winslow n JC as Urkel. Genius! lmao... Loving the content.

Speaking of WCW, JYD literally got the biggest pop at SuperBrawl II in 1992 when he came out to save Ron Simmons.

We needed this artwork 🖼️..thank you Travis… Thanks guys

I was stationed in Biloxi Mississippi in June ‘98 when we got breaking news that JYD was the person deceased in an auto accident upstate. I was shocked. He was one of my first wrestling heroes, even before Hulk Hogan. Yeah, the way they did that episode was lacking to say the least.

I really appreciate your comments about JYD. I thought the series left many gaps in JYD’s story. I was left with many questions about his wrestling career and his life.

It was also weird that they spoke so little on the WCW run considering JYD was there a fair bit (and if memory serves, did try to get clean while there).

We need to have corny back in the wrestling business what a wrestling almanac. Love listening to this guy.

It took me a second to realize that Corny is supposed to be Urkel because with that outfit he could just as easily be cosplaying as Chris Chan.

I thought the same thing about talking heads/directors letting him down. Much more story to be told. JYD was great and big part of my childhood. I wanted more and his story could have been told better. Should have been 2 episodes.

As a white boy growing up in the hills of Kentucky back in the mid to late 1980s, I can assure you that JYD was over. All of the kids at elementary school with me talked about him constantly. Most of us didn't even have cable TV yet, but boy when a WWF show was on we wanted to see JYD.

Great points Jim. Especially when referring to JYD as the best black wrestler. I have seen JYD in person probably 20+ times. The crowds popped for JYD as much as anyone on the WWF roster in the mid-late 1980s. I still have paper photos of JYD from the Tacoma Dome in Washington State (Seattle area). He was a great performer.

I'm from Wadesboro, Dog's hometown. I remember when he died. The town was shattered by the news. His football jersey is retired at Anson High School. Montez Ford of WWE ran track for the same high school.

That art by Travis. The best awesome lol and a masterpiece!!! Brilliant!!!

Aw shit, it's James E Urkel.

I didn't know the JYD was black. Thankfully they told me he was black about 735 times during that episode.

Wait JYD is Carl and Cornette is Urkel?! 😂🤣

I’m really good friends with a Former WWF manager who was in WWF with JYD. This manager told me well before this documentary that JYD told him the same thing about The Bathroom Incident.

JYD was my favorite wrestler as a kid

“i’m what’s left of Jake the Snake Roberts” yep lol

Jim cornette as urkel is funny asf. Travis is a national treasure we have to keep him protected at all cost 😂😂😂😂.

Junkyard Dog looks like Nutty Professor.

I remember when I lived in the projects in Fayetteville NC it was late at night and there was a bunch of police cars and a limo outside. I couldn't go out to see who it was. In the morning everyone was saying it was Junk Yard dog and some people had autographs they showed me. I was so pissed. It was around the time he was feuding with Flair.

The fact that we never got The Junkyard Dog vs. Bad Bad Leroy Brown in a cage in the Superdome is a travesty...

I like how they List Corny as a Wrestling Historian in these shows. That is spot on!

Junkyard Dog was HUGE here in New Orleans and in Chalmette. I was lucky to see him in his prime here in Mid South. When another one bites the dust would be playing to the house PA all of us were on her feet rooting for JYD yelling 'Who Dat?" (Which would end up bavk in the dome a few years later for our New Orleans Saints) Great memories!!

Vince McMahon Jr. Was crazy about Ahmad Johnson.. Probably the one of the few Black Dudes he took really seriously.. I actually liked Ahmad Johnson before the injuries..

Thanks Jim and Brian 💪 for us old school fans

Thumbnail had me thinking it was some sort of Chris Chan related video.

The Junkyard Dog also played football at an HBCU

last time I was this early Roman Reigns was still a babyface.

"The talking heads let us down" Tony Harrison: "It's an outraaaaage!!" Edit: JYD probably gets my second earliest wrestling memory, entrance to Another One Bites the Bust, that theme rocked. Meeeemories, like the corner of my mind!

Loved JYD as a kid. All my friends who were into pro-wrestling loved the Dog. He was the "cool" wrestler because he had the song, the voice, the size, the groove and the Big Thump. one of the things some of the commentators mentioned was how he should've been pushed way up there. I think he was almost like a #4 in terms of the top-top people in the WWF around '85. But he probably had two weaknesses where he couldn't be in that truly upper echelon spot. First, he wasn't mainstream compared to Hogan, Andre and Piper. He couldn't have taken Piper's spot because he was too beloved, which left Andre and Hogan. Andre is Andre and would always be The Attraction at that time while Hogan needed to be in that #1 spot. Maybe if Dog was involved in a major movie, was a little bigger to seem like a threat to Studd, Bundy or Andre and/or was a better overall wrestler, McMahon probably could have pushed him a bit better. It certainly wasn't for a lack of charisma. I'm sad that they glossed over the WCW period. They didn't even mention the infamous Flair match. The thing is that by the time he got to WCW, he was nothing more than a supporting cast member. Heck, you could argue Paul Orndorff was in a similar spot because both guys ended up playing 2nd fiddle to Sting's "Dudes with Attitudes" horrid group. JYD was not featured prominently at all there, which was sad. But he was not even a shell of himself. He just didn't look like the old Dog by that point and developed a huge belly.

First card I ever attended was in Boston Garden 1985. Main Event Andre and JYD vs Studd and Patera. Loved JYD.

I loved JYD when I was a kid. Admittedly more due to the cartoon, but I did get excited everytime I'd get to see him wrestle. I also had his action figure. I only had a few from that set, but him and Hogan were my favorites.

My first wrestling figure was a Junkyard Dog LJN thumb wrestler that we got at a garage sale, probably around 1990 or so. I was only starting to watch wrestling then but I recognized JYD from a Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling lunch box a kid at school had. JYD stood out, frankly, because he was the black guy. I later identified the figure's name from an old Sears Christmas catalog we found which had LJN wrestling figures in it. Anyway as I got into wrestling I started renting old WWF tapes. I was excited that JYD was on those cards, until I actually saw his matches. He seemed fat and slow and didn't really look much like his action figure. It wasn't until the WWE Network came around and my brother and I watched old Mid South shows and realized that the figure was obviously based visually on what he looked like then. After all those years it was cool to see this muscular wrestler that was as exciting to watch as his action figure suggested. Makes me wonder if the LJN people knew what Dog used to look like and intentionally modeled the figure off of Mid South photos since it would make for a more marketable figure and JYD would probably not get mad if you made him look better than he really did at the time.

He was the main event at a house show in Raleigh, NC against Ric Flair after he came out answered a few questions, shook my hand and left .Rest in Power JYD

I remember loving JYD as a kid.. all the kids did pre-Warrior.. he was great! He was one of the good guys.. constant baby face. I hate what drugs did to wrestlers of the 80s and 90s, he should still be with us, he was awesome! Limited in the ring but you loved him regardless.

Rampage Jackson should play JYD in a biopic.

I don’t care what Brian says…”Grab Them Cakes” was an AWESOME song! The crowd would pop hard when JYD walked to the ring to that song!

There doesn't appear to be much footage from JYD's career from 1980-81. I've watched his Mid-South TV matches for 1982 though, and he was in amazing shape. If that same JYD entered the WWF in 84, I'm convinced that he would have been pushed harder.

JYD! Talk about someone who was over like $1 million bucks! The first time I saw him was in 1984 when he came to the WWF and he had an immediate impact. Yeah, the guy was not a technician in the ring but his charisma and ability to connect with the fans made him a top attraction in the WWE. So sad that he met his untimely end and was not around to get his 'flowers'. Thanks and RIP, JYD!

I remember JYD was super over in the WWF when I was a kid he was very loved by everyone I remember

JYD was my favorite when I first started watching the WWF as a kid, and the first JLN WWF figure that I asked for was of him (not Hogan).

It might not have happened exactly the way it was portrayed in the reenactment but I absolutely believe something similar happened,Bill watts has a history.

"Yeah, he said it" - Dutch Mantell

I know that thumbnail is trying to portray Urkel from Family Matters but here Jim looks like Chris Chan. Only thing missing is the Sonichu medallion 😭😭😭

I was one of those kids at the start of the whole Rock n Wrestling thing in WWF in the 80s and I can tell you as a kid from that era, JYD was our #2 favorite behind Hogan. Slaughter wasn't around in that time, he had left and was doing GI Joe.

This is best thumb nail ever of this podcast!!!! PERFECT...

I wished they had talked about JYD's Stagger Lee gimmick in Mid-South.

Thanks Mr. Cornette. You're a great source of historic information for the industry.

WHAT IF the the late Sylvester "Junkyard Dog" Ritter left Bill Watts Mid-South Wrestling/Universal Wrestling Federation in 1984 and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff left Georgia Championship Wrestling in 1983, which both would have signed to Jim Crocket Promotions??? The Junkyard Dog (JYD) would have been the most over Babyface, outside of Dusty Rhodes and Magnum T.A. The JYD most certainly would have held the NWA Worlds Television Championship and the NWA National Heavyweight Championship. Paul Orndorff would have more than likely joined the Horsemen. A JYD vs Chief Wahoo McDaniel feud and Paul Orndorff vs. Magnum T.A feud both would have been crazy.

When I was a kid we didn't even think about what color he was all we knew is we loved him .

Might be the first time pull out and Samantha Fox were ever used in the same sentence. At least the 80’s Samantha.

This Family matters art is amazing😂

I was also thinking Grab Them Cakes out loud the way Brian Last was.

FYI, Chief Jay Strongbow is really Joe Scarpa, and Italian-American, BTW.

Ya know when people ask who would have replaced Hogan in 84 if he didn’t come to WWF, Junk Yard Dog could have been an option. Now given in 84 he was heavy into his bad habits, had he been told to clean up a bit and get back in top shape, he could have been a huge draw as champ.

I believe Bill Watts would use that language about JYD.

The episode on Mid South Wrestling on Tales From The Territories pretty much acted as the counter-balance to this episode of DSotR, in my opinion. DiBiase telling that story at the very end about JYD giving him an idea to tell his audience about his story and how it was his realization that his friend was back from that darkness was a nice touch…despite how Koko B. Ware, Jake The Snake, his nephew, and Tony Atlas were painting a picture of a man living with such regret/ guilt/ vice/ feelings of being lost in the sauce got grim to a point that it almost made him seem too unsympathetic. While it was a great way to get the men who were in Mid South & WWF at the time(s) to chart the progress he made in his success and excess, giving parity to their own struggles (and highs), the story did wander into mythical incidents or even occasionally kicking him when he was down. I respect his nephew for at the very least talking about him with the dignity & reverence he deserved/deserves as a way to anchor it all; preventing the drug/sex stories from becoming the most accepted narrative Reminds me a lot about the way they had David Benoit and Woman’s sister in the Season 2 opener about his father

Every recap begins with Jim saying what the episode was and an ahhhhhhh,

JYD was my favorite wrestler, this was when Hulkamania was getting started or going strong. His bodyslam is sill fun to watch. No one does a slam like him, even today, it just looks cool since he hangs on & then bounces up from the other guy. You knew he really enjoyed being out there & just having fun. He was fun to watch. RIP Sylvester! THUMP!

They need to make these episodes longer. Perhaps part 1 and part 2 for every person. That is a compliment they are so good they leave me wanting more.

So glad that I experienced all of these stars in their heyday, BEFORE the behind the scenes stories. Saw JYD in Houston in 1979-1980 at the Sam Houston Coliseum. Thank you Paul Boesch and thank you God that I experienced wrestling as a kid when it was great. Happy to be older!

I'm kinda surprised and disappointed that they didn't interview Jazz and Rodney Mack, being Dog trained them in his latter years.

Dark side of the ring completely dropped the ball on this episode

The thumbnails are always epic!

Watching this episode I no idea how jacked/top of his game JYD was in Mid South. Guy was built like a tank and super over. It seems like when he went to WWE though he just became another guy… I think that may have been an issue in WWEs golden era. The card was so stacked top to bottom it was hard to keep up. Jake Roberts even talks about it

In Lynn Denton's book "Memoirs of a masked madman" had great JYD stories not featured on the episode

I thought this was going to be about Jim getting advice from "TV Dad." ☺

I remember seeing Dog team with Andre back in 86. He looked great

This is the best thumbnail this channel has ever put out, fucking incredible

Rip to the legend JYD!!!

lol@Jim as Steve Urkel and JYD as Carl Winslow.

“I see anybody around here with a firework I’m hitting ‘em with a garden hose!” 😂😂😂😂 I can TOTALLY see that happening. Cutting a promo on them the whole time!!!!

My favorite episode of Rock n’ Wrestling featured JYD! ☺️

My grandmother got me into wrestling. She tells the story that I met junkyard dog at an early age and he nicknamed me Colby col-train. She still calls me that on occasion to this day.

He was in the 80s cartoon. Nuff said.