What We Know So Far About King Kong Bundy’s Death

By
PWMania.com Staff
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King Kong Bundy, one of the most prominent WWE Superstars of the 1980s and 90s, has died at the age of 61.

Wrestling promoter David Herro, a longtime friend of Bundy — real name Christopher Alan Pallies — made the announcement Monday night on Facebook.

“Today we lost a Legend and a man I consider family. Rest in Peace Chris. We love you. Thank you for believing in me,” Herro wrote.

Bundy may have actually passed away over the weekend. Herro found out about Bundy’s death on Twitter from a person by the name of Thomas Lyons, who claimed Monday afternoon in a tweet to Stephanie McMahon that he passed away over the weekend.

Herro asked Lyons about his claim Monday night, to which he replied, “He lives in the town that I work in and he is a landlord of a house whereas he rents rooms and lives on the same property. One of his tenants came into my business today and explained the entire situation in detail to me today.”

Herro confirmed the news with Bundy’s family, who asked him to make the announcement. They plan to make a statement later on the Twitter account that belonged to Bundy.

There’s no word yet on the circumstances behind Bundy’s passing, although Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com said that “he had been dealing with some health issues of late.” Dave Meltzer also said on Wrestling Observer Radio that Bundy “had major health problems over the years.” He didn’t elaborate on Bundy’s health issues but indicated that it had to do with his weight, saying that he was still “very, very heavy.”

It’s also worth noting that Bundy had to cancel an autograph signing in late January due to illness.

Bundy started his career in 1981, wrestling for WWE — then known as the World Wrestling Federation — under the name Chris Canyon. He relocated to Texas the following year, where he adopted the moniker King Kong Bundy. He lost to Fritz Von Erich in Von Erich’s retirement match at Texas Stadium in 1982. He then went to Mid South Wrestling, adopting a gimmick where he would demand a five count instead of the normal three when pinning an opponent.

Bundy joined the World Wrestling Federation in 1985 and was given a monster push upon arrival. His most notable match during this run was a Steel Cage Match against Hulk Hogan for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 2 in 1986. Once that program ended, Bundy teamed with Big John Studd for awhile.

Bundy also had another program with Hogan. In November 1987, Bundy defeated Hulk Hogan via count-out on Saturday Night’s Main Event but lost to Hogan in a rematch on the next episode. He then stopped appearing on the WWF’s syndicated TV shows but continued working house shows until February 1988 (mostly losing to Bam Bam Bigelow), at which point he left the company.

After leaving the WWF, Bundy largely disappeared from wrestling until resurfacing in 1993 on some Eastern Championship Wrestling shows. Vince McMahon caught wind of Bundy’s return to wrestling and brought him back to the WWF in the fall of 1994. He returned as a member of Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar Corporation. Setting his sights on The Undertaker, Bundy stepped into the ring with “The Deadman” at WrestleMania XI. While the massive grappler proved to be a worthy adversary for Taker, he lost the match and became another victim of “The Phenom”‘s legendary WrestleMania streak.

Bundy’s role was then deemphasized as he lost frequently on television, which rarely happened before. He left the company in October of that year.

After leaving the WWF, he often wrestled on the independent circuit as he headlined countless shows in the Northeastern United States (the number is probably in the hundreds). He continued wrestling through 2007, at which point he just stopped (apparently without having an official retirement match). His last match is thought to have been at the Pulaski County Fair in Somerset, Kentucky in a loss to “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan.

Bundy continued to make public appearances in recent years, with his last one taking place late last year at WrestleCade. He was advertised to appear at WrestleCon next month in New York City.

Bundy is also known for some acting roles. In 1986, Bundy appeared in television commercials and print advertisements for the Vendex HeadStart personal computer. Bundy appeared on two episodes of Married… with Children, as the creators had named the lead characters “Bundy” as an homage to him. In 1987, he played Uncle Irwin, the brother of Peggy Bundy. In 1995, he appeared as King Kong Bundy, teaching Bud Bundy how to wrestle. In 1988, he appeared in the Richard Pryor film Moving as Gorgo, part of a trio of ex-cons who are insolent and careless movers. He also appeared as King Kong Bundy on a 1996 episode of Weird Science.

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