King Kong Bundy

From main-event status to a gimmick match within less than a year, King Kong Bundy's run in the WWF during the mid 1980's was chaotic to say the least. Despite being the Wrestlemania main-event with Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania II, Bundy's stock within the company soon fell and he would be released from his contract only two years later.


Born Christopher Pallies he later changed his professional name to King Kong due to his large frame in which he weighed in at nearly 500 pounds. The second name of Bundy (coming from Ted Bundy) was picked up and used to his bad-ass image. These factors all added resulting in him becoming the perfect heel for the 1980's heel the WWF so often used.

In 1985 when he first entered WWF under the guidance of Jimmy Hart, Bundy was immediately pushed and the 'mouth of the south' helped make King Kong look even bigger than seemed. He would often ask the referee to count to five instead of three to show how badly he had beaten his opponent during their match.

At Wrestlemania I he defeated SD Jones in a record twenty-four seconds (despite being recorded at nine). The victory remained a Wrestlemania record until 2008 - more than twenty-three years later. In September 1985 he joined the notorious Heenan family and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan would become his manager. Later that year he wrestled Andre The Giant and Don Muraco to push himself further up the card.

The turn of the year seen a rivalry commence with champion Hulk Hogan. Bundy would attack the champion on Saturday Night's Main Event which would result in a storyline building up to Wrestlemania II. The feud culminated in a steel cage match between the two at the main event with Hogan coming out on top despite Bundy's dominance.

Despite being a main event star Bundy was still relatively under-paid in his eyes. In 1987 he done some promotional work for a Dutch software company for the extra cash thinking it would not be seen in the US. Vince McMahon came across Bundy's work and pushed Bundy down the card as punishment for going behind the back of the boss. This resulted in Bundy being involved in a gimmick match at Wrestlemania III - the biggest event the company had produced at this point.

A six-man tag match between midget wrestlers from Tokyo, Little Lordbrook, Little Beaver, Hillybilly Jim and Haiti Kid ended up with Bundy getting his team disqualified. The defeat did not sit well with his team-mates who attacked Bundy for his short temper and causing them to lose the match.

In November 1987 Bundy defeated Hogan via count-out on Saturday Night's Main Event but the result would not mean Bundy would become champion. During this time Bundy's relationship with the company was sour due to his promotional work elsewhere and despite being promised a push  prior to this, Bundy would sit out his WWF career as a mid-card performer before being let go in early 1988.

Bundy returned to the WWF in the Autumn of 1994 as a member of Ted DiBiase's stable, the Million Dollar Corporation. He had a successful pay-per-view return at the Survivor Series, when he and fellow "Million Dollar Team" member Bam Bam Bigelow survived a match against Lex Luger's "Guts and Glory" team. Bundy was then billed as a favorite in the 1995 Royal Rumble, but lasted only three minutes before being eliminated by another big man, Mabel.

Bundy made his return to WrestleMania at WrestleMania XI, where he was defeated by the Undertaker. Bundy was later pushed down the card as a jobber to the stars before being released in October 1995 after participating in a 20 man battle royal on Monday Night Raw