Jeff Jarrett said Bill Dundee is the man who got him into the wrestling business, and that Dundee’s life was an American success story built on willpower.
Dundee died at 82. He was born in Scotland, moved to Australia as a boy and came to the United States as a tag team wrestler before becoming a star and a booker in Memphis.
“The vision that I always will have of Bill, your dad, is walking out on Memphis TV or walking the aisle at the Mid-South Coliseum,” Jarrett said on My World with Jeff Jarrett. “Without a yang, there is no such thing as a ying. And the ying and the yang of Lawler and Dundee, whether Bill was a heel or Bill was a babyface or whatever it may be. Bill’s the one who got me into the business.”
Jarrett said Dundee had no formal schooling and still built a five-decade career.
“You talk about a real American success story. Scotland born, moved to Australia, to come to America as a tag team wrestler out of the blue, and for him to lay down roots and stay in Tennessee and live a mile from me where I’m at right now,” Jarrett said. “You talk about having two strikes against you in the world’s eyes. Got on a boat, didn’t know where he’s going, and ended up a 50-year career based on his willpower.”
Jarrett said Randy Hales messaged him with details of Dundee’s final hours, and that Dundee had been at a Memphis wrestling event days earlier.
“When you really think about how it all ended here on this earth for the superstar, yes, he’s smiling. He no longer has dementia. He’s not suffering,” Jarrett said.
Transcription by Global Force Entertainment.