King Kong Bundy Passes Away at Age 61

Former WWE superstar Chris ‘King Kong Bundy’ Pallies died at the age of 61 this week.

News of his passing was reported late Monday evening by several outlets after initially being announced by Bundy’s friend David Herro.

Today we lost a Legend of a performer and someone that I considered family. @RealKKBundy Rest In Peace my friend. Thank you for believing in me. #KingKongBundy pic.twitter.com/b53l4xjhGi

— David Herro (@DavidHerro) March 5, 2019

The 6-foot-4-inch tall monster is best remembered for his early run in WWE where he faced Hulk Hogan in a steel cage match as the main event for WrestleMania 2.

Trained by Larry Sharpe in New Jersey, Bundy would make his professional wrestling debut in 1981 while working under names such as Chris Canyon or Chris Cannon.

In 1982, Bundy joined World Class Wrestling where he eventually turned heel and faced Fritz Von Erich in his ‘retirement’ match at the Texas Stadium.

From there, Bundy made his way to WWE where he debuted in 1985 and then had a match at the first ever WrestleMania card where he defeated S.D. “Special Delivery” Jones in just nine seconds.

The following year after teaming up with Bobby “The Brain” Heenan as his manager, Bundy engaged in the rivalry with Hogan that culminated in the match at WrestleMania 2.

Bundy eventually teamed up with “Big” John Studd to form a tag team in WWE and then eventually involved himself in another fued with Hogan before leaving the company.

Bundy made sporadic appearances in the ring after leaving WWE but then he returned in 1994 as part of “The Million Dollar Corporation” where he worked under “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase.

Bundy participated in several rivalries during that time and in 1995 he faced off with The Undertaker at WrestleMania. Bundy was eventually released later in the year where he began working on the independent wrestling circuit until 2007 when he stopped performing.

Outside of professional wrestling, Bundy also dabbled in an acting career including appearances in the television series “Married…with Children” where he played Peg Bundy’s brother and he also had a small role in the 1988 Richard Pryor comedy “Moving”.