page_title: Junkyard Dog
section_title: Early Career (1976-1980)
hierarchical_section_title: Junkyard Dog / Professional wrestling career / Early Career (1976-1980)
caption_attribution_description: Brutus Beefcake. I took this photo myself at the Sydney Entertainment Center some time during the mid to lat 80s. This is entirely my own work
context_page_description: Sylvester Ritter was an American professional wrestler and college football player, best known for his work in Mid-South Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as the Junkyard Dog, a nickname he received while working in a wrecking yard. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2004.
  Entering the ring with his trademark chain attached to a dog collar, to the music of Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust," JYD often headlined cards that drew large crowds and regularly sold out the Louisiana Superdome and other major venues, becoming "the first black wrestler to be made the undisputed top star of his promotion".
  WWE author Brian Shields called Junkyard Dog one of the most electrifying and charismatic wrestlers in the country, particularly during his peak in the early 1980s. JYD was most known for his headbutt and upper body strength, the latter of which saw him regularly bodyslam such large wrestlers as the One Man Gang, Kamala, and King Kong Bundy. The word "thump," which referred to JYD's powerslam, was prominently displayed on his wrestling trunks.
context_section_description: Ritter debuted in the Tennessee territory, working for promoter Jerry Jarrett, before moving to Nick Gulas's company and using the ring name "Leroy Rochester". From there he moved to Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling as "Big Daddy Ritter", where he captured the North American Heavyweight Championship twice.
caption: Junkyard Dog and Brutus Beefcake in Sydney in the mid- to late-1980s
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