.png) | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Hoyt Richard Murdoch[1] (1946-08-16)August 16, 1946[2] Waxahachie, Texas, U.S.[1] |
| Died | June 15, 1996(1996-06-15) (aged 49)[4] Amarillo, Texas, U.S.[4] |
| Cause of death | Myocardial infarction[4] |
| Alma mater | West Texas State University[6] |
| Children | 1 |
| Family | Frankie Murdoch (father)[5] Killer Tim Brooks (cousin) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Big Daddy Murdoch[1] Black Ace Dick Murdoch[1] The Invader[1] Ron Carson[2] Super Rodeo Machine The Texan |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)[3] |
| Billed weight | 288 lb (131 kg)[3] |
| Billed from | Waxahachie, Texas |
| Trained by | Killer Karl Kox Bob Geigel Pat O'Connor |
| Debut | 1965[2] |
Hoyt Richard Murdoch (August 16, 1946 – June 15, 1996) was an Americanprofessional wrestler, better known by his ring names"Dirty" Dick Murdoch and"Captain Redneck". He was best known for his time in the NWA,World Wrestling Federation andNew Japan Pro-Wrestling.[1][2]
Murdoch started his wrestling career in 1965, and three years later, he began teaming with longtime partnerDusty Rhodes as the Texas Outlaws. After they split up, Murdoch wrestled for several territories including theNational Wrestling Alliance'sFlorida Championship Wrestling, andMid-South Wrestling, also touring overseas. He joined the World Wrestling Federation in 1984 and teamed withAdrian Adonis to form the North-South Connection, winning theWWF Tag Team Championship.
In 1981, Murdoch gained international exposure by joining New Japan Pro-Wrestling and stayed there until 1989. He later wrestled forJim Crockett Promotions, engaging in feuds with the likes ofRic Flair,Nikita Koloff, and Dusty Rhodes. He also worked forWorld Championship Wrestling in 1991 as part of a tag team withDick Slater until going into semi-retirement, while making appearances atSlamboree '93: A Legends' Reunion, the1995 Royal Rumble andSlamboree 1995.
Murdoch was the stepson of wrestler Frankie Hill Murdoch, growing up with fellow second-generation wrestlersDory Funk Jr. andTerry Funk, watching their fathers wrestle all around Texas.[5][7] He also toted wrestling bears around the street.[8] Dick attendedCaprock High School, where he took part in amateur wrestling.[2][6]
Murdoch started wrestling in 1965 as "Ron Carson", working in a tag team withDon Carson.[2] He soon started wrestling under his real name and for territories within theNational Wrestling Alliance. In 1968, he formed a championship winning tag team that would continue throughout the early 1970s withDusty Rhodes called The Texas Outlaws, and during that time he adopted his Dick Murdoch name.[9][10] One of his moves was thebrainbuster, which he was taught byKiller Karl Kox.[7] In November 1978, the Outlaws held theNWA Central States Tag Team Championship, as well as theNWA Florida Tag Team Championship forFlorida Championship Wrestling in late 1980.[10] Also in 1980, Murdoch partially wrestled forAll Japan Pro-Wrestling (where he had debuted in 1973),[7] holding theNWA United National Championship from February 23 to March 5, whenJumbo Tsuruta captured the title.[11]
Murdoch's most noted work as a wrestler came in Mid-South Wrestling in the early 1980s, where he teamed withJunkyard Dog. The pair was the most popular champions in the region, attracting the hardcore, working-class white fans with his "Captain Redneck" persona and JYD drawing the support of the black fan base.[7]
In 1984, Murdoch went to theWorld Wrestling Federation and formed a tag team withAdrian Adonis called "North-South Connection", since Adrian was aNew York (North) native while Dick was aTexas (South) native.[12] Both men were involved in a series of vignettes alongsideMean Gene Okerlund, with both men visiting each other's hometowns, not being used with each other's urban and country lifestyles. On April 17, 1984, Murdoch and Adonis defeatedRocky Johnson andTony Atlas to win theWorld Tag Team Titles.[13] They defended the titles against the likes ofJack andJerry Brisco,[14]The Wild Samoans (Afa andSika)[15] andSgt. Slaughter andTerry Daniels.[12] They lost the titles on January 21, 1985, toU.S. Express (Barry Windham) andMike Rotunda, and Murdoch left the WWF not long after.[10]
In 1981, Murdoch started what truly would be his international exposure, by wrestling forNew Japan Pro-Wrestling. He entered theMSG Tag League of that year, teaming with fellow TexanStan Hansen, with the team finishing 3rd place with 36 points, scoring victories over teams such asEl Canek and Super Maquina,Riki Choshu andYoshiaki Yatsu,Seiji Sakaguchi andKengo Kimura andAntonio Inoki andTatsumi Fujinami.[16]
In 1982, Murdoch returned for theMSG League 1982 tournament, finishing 4th place with 41 points, scoring victories over wrestlers likeThe Iron Sheik, Seiji Sakaguchi, Tatsumi Fujinami,Don Muraco andTiger Toguchi. He also engaged in a few encounters withHulk Hogan, which ended in double count-out or with Murdoch being disqualified.[17] He once again entered the MSG Tag League, this time with theMasked Superstar with the team finishing 4th place with 21 points, scoring victories over teams such as El Canek andPerro Aguayo, Tiger Toguchi andKiller Khan andDino Bravo and Murdoch's future tag team partner Adrian Adonis.[17]
In 1983, he mainly feuded with Riki Choshu's Ishin Gundan, mainly wrestling Choshu, Killer Khan,Animal Hamaguchi and Yoshiaki Yatsu.[18] He would once again enter the MSG Tag League of that year, this time teaming with Adonis, with the team reaching the finals with 27.5 points, in a losing effort against the winners Antonio Inoki and Hulk Hogan.[19] A year later, after his team with Adonis officialized while both were in the WWF, they started regularly to team up against New Japan's top tag-team contenders and having encounters against Inoki, Fujinami,Andre The Giant, Gerry Morow, Strong Machines (#1 and #2) and other top threats. Both men individually entered theMSG League, in which Murdoch finished 5th place with 30 points, defeatingKen Patera, Big John Quinn,Otto Wanz and even his own partner Adonis. The team of Murdoch and Adonis entered the MSG Tag League of that year, once again reaching the finals with 23 points, but again coming up short against the winners Inoki and Fujinami.[20]
In 1985, Murdoch entered theIWGP League, a single-elimination system-styled tournament, defeating Kengo Kimura in the first round, advancing to the quarterfinals in which he defeated Seiji Sakaguchi, until losing to Andre the Giant in the semifinals. He and Adonis were wrestling in Japan while both were WWF Tag Team Champions, at one point successfully defending both belts against Kengo Kimura and Tatsumi Fujinami. After both men left the WWF, they wrestled full-time with New Japan Pro-Wrestling, once competing for the vacatedWWF International Tag Team Championship against the team they defended their national belts, Kimura and Fujinami, in a losing effort.[7] They tried to gain them in a rematch, but both men came up short. After failing to win the belts, Murdoch and Adonis parted ways and each man went singles competition. Murdoch would resume his singles career by feuding with Inoki and Fujinami, and also having bloody encounters withAbdullah The Butcher andBruiser Brody. He reunited with the Masked Superstar to compete in theIWGP Tag Team League of that year, with both men finishing 4th place with 19 points, defeating the Kelly Twins (Mike and Pat),Dos Caras and El Canek, andKendo Nagasaki andMr. Pogo. In 1986, Murdoch started to feud with the new breed of wrestlers, such asKeiji Mutoh,Shinya Hashimoto,Tatsutoshi Goto andUWF crusadersAkira Maeda,Nobuhiko Takada, as well as veterans like Osamu Kido andYoshiaki Fujiwara.[21] Murdoch participated in the IWGP League of that year, wrestling his way to the finals, where he lost to Inoki.[21] Later, he and Masked Superstar took another shot at the IWGP Tag Team League tournament, reaching the semifinals where they lost to Akira Maeda and Osamu Kido.[22]
The following year saw Murdoch not having much exposure, as he was wrestling often in tag team action alongside younger foreign wrestlers, such asScott Hall,Owen Hart,Matt Borne andThe Cuban Assassin.[23][24] Later, he found an uncommon tag team partnership with Inoki as both men competed in theJapan Cup Tag Team League together. They wrestled their way to the finals, where both men lost to Kengo Kimura and Tatsumi Fujinami.[25]
In 1988, Adonis returned to NJPW, immediately reuniting with Murdoch, reforming their tag team, and later forming a trio with Owen Hart. Murdoch and Adonis' only title match occurred on June 23, where they unsuccessfully faced reigningIWGP Tag Team ChampionsMasa Saito and Riki Choshu.[26] The duo teamed together until Adonis' death on July 4, and after that date, Murdoch would not return to Japan for 5 months. In November 1988, Murdoch returned to NJPW, taking part into the Japan Cup Tag Team Elimination League, a round-robin tournament of trios consisting of six-man tag team elimination matches. Murdoch teamed up with Scott Hall andBob Orton Jr., wrestling their first tournament match on November 17, defeating the six-man combination of Antonio Inoki, Riki Choshu andKantaro Hoshino, with Murdoch last eliminating Inoki with Orton's assistance.[27] They suffered their first loss at the hands of Masa Saito, Tatsutoshi Goto and Seiji Sakaguchi, but quickly rebounded by defeatingSuper Strong Machine, The Tiger andThe Jaguar, with Murdoch last eliminating the Strong Machine. They later defeated Kengo Kimura, Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Osamu Kido, even though Murdoch got eliminated by Kimura during the match, his team got the win after Orton last eliminated Fujiwara. Their winning streak continued when they defeatedGeorge Takano,Steve Armstrong andTracy Smothers, after Murdoch last eliminated Takano.[27] However, they suffered another loss at the hands of Tatsumi Fujinami, Shinya Hashimoto andMasahiro Chono, but once again quickly rebounded by defeatingHiro Saito,Shiro Koshinaka andKuniaki Kobayashi, after Murdoch eliminated Kobayashi and Saito. After defeatingBuzz Sawyer,Manny Fernandez and Kendo Nagasaki by forfeit, they once again faced the Saito, Sakaguchi and Goto combination. In what would seem to be another loss after Hall and Orton were the two first eliminated, Murdoch single handedly eliminated Sakaguchi and Saito, before finally making quick work out of Goto, eliminating him and avenging their loss. However, the team couldn't reach the finals due to the two losses they suffered.[27]
The year of 1989 saw Murdoch's last stand with New Japan, as he briefly returned in July, facing the likes of Shinya Hashimoto,Hiroshi Hase, Vladimir Berkovich, and Evgeny Artyukhin. His last match occurred on August 5, where he defeated Berkovich.
He briefly wrestled in Mid-South Wrestling again in 1985,[7] and visited Bremen, Germany in 1986 for an unsuccessful challenge toCWA World Heavyweight ChampionOtto Wanz, before joining the NWA'sJim Crockett Promotions later in 1986 as ababyface. He feuded withRic Flair and campaigned in matches for Flair'sNWA World Heavyweight Championship.[7] He also teamed withRon Garvin against Flair and theFour Horsemen. In early 1987, Murdoch turnedheel and joinedIvan Koloff and Vladimir Petrov in their attempt to getNikita Koloff and Dusty Rhodes. Then aNWA United States Tag Team Champion with Ivan, he injured Nikita's neck after a brainbuster suplex on the floor that summer, resulting in his (kayfabe) suspension for 30 days and the team being stripped of the title.[10] After the summer of 1988, he would turn face again and reunite with Dusty in a feud withGary Hart's team of Garvin, who had at that time recently turned heel on Rhodes, andAl Perez. He left the NWA and wrestled in Puerto Rico and Japan.
He returned toWorld Championship Wrestling as one half of the "Hardliners," withDick Slater in 1991. Once again a heel by this point, the Hardliners debuted as a team on June 12 atClash of the Champions XV, attacking theSteiner Brothers,Hiroshi Hase andMasahiro Chono after anIWGP Tag Team Championship match between the two teams.[28] They would feud with the Steiners, but Scott suffered an injury, so instead, they wrestled Rick and his different tag team partners throughout the summer.[29]
After leaving WCW in 1989, Murdoch went toFrontier Martial-Arts Wrestling in Japan from 1989 to 1990. In 1991, he worked in Puerto Rico for theWorld Wrestling Council, where he won theWWC Television Championship fromTNT on November 23, 1991.[30] A month later, he dropped the title toInvader 1.[30] On October 25, 1992, he defeated Invader 1 for theWWC Universal Heavyweight Championship, and also a month later, he dropped the title toCarlos Colon.[31]
He returned to Japan working forW*ING,WAR andIWA Japan from 1992 to 1994. On May 23, 1993, atSlamboree '93: A Legends' Reunion, Murdoch teamed withDon Muraco andJimmy Snuka, fightingBlackjack Mulligan,Jim Brunzell, andWahoo McDaniel to a no-contest.[32] He made a one-night appearance forExtreme Championship Wrestling'sSuper Summer Sizzler Spectacular on June 19, where he defeated Dark Patriot II.[33] From 1993 to 1994, he worked inSmoky Mountain Wrestling, feuding withBob Armstrong; during one match, Armstrong held him in a headlock for 23 minutes, and Murdoch worked many ways in and out of the headlock, entertaining the audience.[7]
On January 22, 1995, Murdoch made a surprise appearance with theWorld Wrestling Federation as the twenty-seventh entrant in theWWF Royal Rumble, but was eliminated byHenry O. Godwinn.[34] He also briefly worked as themanager toBob Backlund duringhouse shows.[7] Murdoch was defeated by Wahoo McDaniel on May 21 atSlamboree.[35] His last match was a victory overRod Price at a show in Amarillo, Texas on June 6, 1996.[36]
Murdoch was the cousin of wrestlerKiller Tim Brooks.[37]
Murdoch appeared in four movies:The Wrestler (1974),Paradise Alley (1978),Grunt! The Wrestling Movie (1985), andManhattan Merengue! (1995). He also appeared on an episode ofLearning The Ropes and an episode ofThe Jerry Springer Show.[38] Murdoch appeared in various rodeo events, ran his own bar, and did promotional work forCoors beer, as well as participating in drug awareness programs.[7][8][39]
Over the years, several within professional wrestling who knew Murdoch have said he wasracist and was a member of theKu Klux Klan, includingBad News Brown,[40]Tony Atlas[41] and his tag team partnerDusty Rhodes. He claimed in his book that Murdoch told him "Let's go change bars", so they drove in a truck down the road nearNew Orleans; instead of a bar, Rhodes noticed that Murdoch had taken him to a KKK rally.[42] In 2014,Rocky Johnson claimed Murdoch was a member of the Klan and that he once knocked him unconscious during a match stating during an interview, "Because he was KKK and didn't like blacks, he kept kicking me hard and punching me. I said, 'you hit me one more time, I'm hitting you back.' He hit me, and I knocked Murdoch out."[43] Wrestling announcer Jim Ross, on his wrestling podcast "Grilling JR," said Murdoch once showed him his Ku Klux Klan membership card.[44]
The claim of Murdoch being in the Klan has been disputed byJim Cornette on his podcast, stating: "Murdoch was a redneck from West Texas. I'd be inclined to think he was probably not the most tolerant individual ofanybody. But I spent a lot of time around him, and he never tried to recruit me to the Klan. I've seen him work with black guys as well as white guys, and not have any problems with any of them unless they had two left feet in the ring."[45] Similarly,Chris Jericho said of Murdoch "As I got to know him I realized he wasn't a racist, he was just honest and fair. He hated everyone equally."[46]
Murdoch was featured as a playable character in the 2001 video gameFire Pro Wrestling and 2007 video gameWrestle Kingdom 2.
Murdoch died of aheart attack on June 15, 1996, at the age of 49,[4][47] having taken part in a rodeo earlier that day.[7] He was found dead at 4:30 AM on a couch in his living room by his ex-wife.[7] Murdoch suffered from high blood pressure in later years and had no prior heart problems.[39]
In a tag team championship match, the Wild Samoans will take on champions Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch.
Brooks' career in wrestling wasn't planned, it was started by accident when a wrestler didn't make it to a match in Odessa. At the time, Brooks was traveling to wrestling shows with his cousin, Dick Murdoch.
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