Paul Orndorff
Encyclopedia
Paul Parlette Orndorff, Jr. (born October 29, 1949) is a retired American professional wrestler
, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation
and World Championship Wrestling
as "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff. After retiring, Orndorff worked as a wrestling trainer.
where he scored 21 career touchdowns and gained over 2000 all-purpose yards in his playing career, Orndorff was a 12th round selection (289th overall pick) in the 1973 NFL Draft
by the New Orleans Saints
but failed to pass the physical for the NFL with both the Saints and the Kansas City Chiefs
. He was a teammate of the #1 pick notorious bad boy John Matuszak. However, he did play for the Jacksonville Sharks
of the World Football League
in 1975. After one season in the WFL, he began training as a professional wrestler.
. Orndorff won his first wrestling title when he pinned Lawler for the Mid-Southern Heavyweight Title on June 7, 1977. Orndorff lost the title back to Lawler before he left the Memphis territory. Orndorff began working for the NWA Tri-State promotion where he got involved in a feud with Ernie Ladd
. The feud with Ladd saw Orndorff win the NWA Tri-State North American Heavyweight Title from Ernie Ladd on two occasions (on May 29, 1978 and again in June). Both times, Orndorff’s reigns were short and were ended by Ladd.
After feuding with Ladd, Orndorff continued to make a name for himself in the National Wrestling Alliance
where he feuded with The Masked Superstar
. During this time he became known as “The Brandon Bull," a nickname he had during his days as a football player. In December 1978, Paul Orndorff teamed with Jimmy Snuka
to capture the NWA World Tag Team titles
from Baron Von Raschke
and Greg Valentine
. The duo held on to the titles for five months before losing them to Baron Von Raschke and his new partner Paul Jones
on April 28, 1978.
In 1979, Orndorff traveled to the Alabama territory's “Southeast Championship Wrestling." There, Orndorff worked mainly as a tag team competitor teaming with Dick Slater
to win the NWA Southeast Tag Team Championship from the team of Jimmy Golden and Norvell Austin
in October 1979. Their reign only lasted about a month before being upended by the combination of Dennis Condrey
and David Schults
. Orndorff then teamed with former opponent Norvell Austin (who was calling himself “The Junkyard Dog" at the time, not to be mistaken for the more famous Junkyard Dog
) to win the titles in late 1979. The duo beat Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose
, the same team that ended Orndorff and Austin’s run with the gold. Norvell Austin, Dennis Condrey, and Randy Rose would go on to form The Midnight Express shortly thereafter.
During 1980, Orndorff started to split his time between the Alabama and the Mid-South territories, until he left the Alabama territory by the end of 1980 to focus entirely on the Mid-South territory. In Mid-South, Orndorff feuded with Ken Mantell over Mantell’s propensity for cutting people’s hair after a match. Orndorff got the better of Mantell and won the rights to use the Freebird hair removal cream on Mantell. Orndorff earned a shot at the North American champion The Grappler
but on the day of the match he overslept (storyline
) and was incensed when his replacement Jake “The Snake" Roberts
beat the Grappler for the title. Orndorff’s reaction to Jake’s title win signaled a change in attitude; he turned heel
as he demanded a title match against Jake “the Snake". While he lost the support of the fans, he won the North American title on July 4, 1981. Orndorff feuded with Ted DiBiase
, JYD, Dusty Rhodes
, and Dick Murdoch
while holding on to the North American title. Orndorff lost the title to Ted DiBiase on November 1, 1981 in a match at the Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans, Louisiana. Orndorff was unable to wrestle in the rematch due to car trouble, which meant that Orndorff’s friend Bob Roop got the title shot and won the match. It was soon revealed that Roop had sabotaged Orndorff’s car so he could get the title shot instead (storyline). Orndorff turned face to feud with Roop but found himself unable to regain the title after which he left the Mid-South Territory.
Orndorff reappeared in Georgia Championship Wrestling
in early 1982 immediately launching into a feud with Buzz Sawyer
over the NWA National Heavyweight Championship
. Orndorff won the gold on June 20, 1982. During the summer, Orndorff would vacate the title so he could focus on pursuing the NWA World Champion
"Nature Boy" Ric Flair
. Orndorff was unsuccessful in his challenge and soon focused on the title he gave up. When Orndorff vacated the title, it was put on the line in a tournament that was won by The Super Destroyer
. On August 19, 1982, Paul Orndorff regained the title from the Super Destroyer. Orndorff next feuded with The Masked Superstar, with whom he traded the National Heavyweight title back and forth during the fall of 1982. Orndorff then traded the title back and forth with Super Destroyer. Frustrated with his inability to beat Paul Orndorff for the National title, Larry Zbyszko
paid Killer Tim Brooks
$25,000 to do his dirty work. Brooks beat Orndorff with the help of a chair and won the title only to turn around and give it to Zbyszko. The fact that Zybszko bought the title and did not win it forced NWA President Bob Geigel
to step in and strip Zbyszko of the title.
Orndorff then moved to New Japan Pro Wrestling for several months. He made two tours of Japan, the first in April. He wrestled Kengo Kimura
, Riki Chōshū
, and Akira Maeda
, as well as teaming up with Ed Leslie
against Antonio Inoki
and Seiji Sakaguchi
. Orndorff returned in October and partnered with Big John Studd against Maeda and Sakaguchi, then faced Maeda again in singles competition.
in late 1983 and made his debut in November of that year on Championship Wrestling. Starting in January 1984, Orndorff took on "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
as his manager. Piper nicknamed Paul Orndorff “Mr. Wonderful," a nickname that he has used ever since. Orndorff made his WWF debut against Salvatore Bellomo
on the night that Hulk Hogan
defeated The Iron Sheik for the WWF World Heavyweight Title
and "Hulkamania was born", January 23, 1984 in Madison Square Garden
. Orndorff became one of the first people to challenge for the world title, shooting straight to the main event less than a month after his debut. Hogan disposed of the challenger and moved on while Orndorff fought a variety of opponents including the Intercontinental Champion
Tito Santana
. When Piper assaulted Jimmy Snuka on the set of Piper's Pit
, Orndorff (as well as Bob Orton, Jr.
) assisted the Rowdy One in his fights. Orndorff and Piper often faced Snuka and "The Tonga Kid
" in tag team competition.
Near the end of 1984, Roddy Piper’s assault on Cyndi Lauper
(kayfabe
) brought Orndorff and Piper on a collision course with Hulk Hogan and Mr. T
. Hogan’s feud with Piper also meant that Orndorff was thrust back into the main event picture; he defeated Tony Atlas
at The War to Settle the Score
and then played a part in the main event. The fallout from The War to Settle the Score led to the creation of WrestleMania
, with Hogan and Mr. T (backed by Jimmy Snuka) taking on "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff in the main event. Orton's interference at the end of the match backfired when he accidentally hit Orndorff with the cast on his arm, allowing Hogan to pin Orndorff and win the match for his team. Blaming Orndorff for the loss, Piper and Orton attacked him on the first episode of Saturday Night's Main Event. Later in the evening, Orndorff ran to the ring to even the sides when Piper and Orton were preparing to double team Hulk Hogan. He solidified his babyface status by publicly firing manager Bobby Heenan
shortly afterwards.
Orndorff and Hogan started teaming up to feud with Piper and Orton, facing them in tag team competition all over the country. Orndorff’s feud with Piper and Orton continued to rage on while Hogan started to defend his title against other contenders; Orndorff faced both Orton and Piper in individual competition, usually without a conclusive outcome. After Orndorff fired Bobby Heenan as his manager, Heenan placed a $25,000 bounty on Orndorff, payable to anyone who could injure him. When no one succeeded, Heenan upped the bounty to $50,000. One of the first men to try and claim the new, higher bonus was Roddy Piper himself, but their matches got so out of hand that Bruno Sammartino
was appointed as a special referee in the hopes of keeping peace. Instead of keeping peace, Sammartino became a target for Orton and Piper, which led to Orndorff and Sammartino teaming up. Orndorff teamed with a variety of opponents in his fights with Piper and Orton, including André the Giant
. In February 1986, Bobby Heenan used a match between Hulk Hogan and Don Muraco
as an opportunity to have King Kong Bundy
attack Hogan, setting up their WrestleMania 2
match. While Hogan fought off Bundy, Orndorff battled Don Muraco in a match that ended in a double count out.
Orndorff’s frustrations were further fueled by Adrian Adonis
, who took every opportunity that he could to mock Orndorff (including referring to him as "Hulk Jr."), saying that he had gone soft from teaming with Hogan. Adonis kept on irritating Orndorff, going so far as daring Paul Orndorff to prove just how close his relationship with Hulk Hogan really was. During a televised phone call to Hulk Hogan, Orndorff was told that Hogan was too busy training to come to the phone, something which aggravated Orndorff to no end. The next time that Hogan and Orndorff teamed up, against the Moondogs
, Orndorff wrestled most of the match by himself in an attempt to upstage Hogan, scoring the winning pin. The next week, during a tag match where Hogan and Orndorff faced the massive duo of Big John Studd
and King Kong Bundy, Hogan and Orndorff accidentally collided and Hogan knocked Orndorff off the apron. When Studd and Bundy started to double team Hogan, Orndorff did not help out; he looked like he had hurt his eye in the collision. It was not until Studd and Bundy had Hogan in a compromised position that Orndorff reentered the ring to fend off Studd and Bundy. Orndorff then helped Hogan to his feet and raised his hand in the air and gave Hogan a clothesline followed by a piledriver
.
Orndorff soon reunited with manager Bobby Heenan and once again feuded with Hulk Hogan, including a memorable outdoor match in Toronto which drew an estimated 76,000 fans. After a series of matches with no clean outcome it was decided that Hogan and Orndorff would clash in a steel cage match on Saturday Night's Main Event. The cage match saw both Orndorff and Hogan climb over the top of the cage and touch the floor at the same time. After reviewing the footage it was decided that it was a draw and the match was restarted. Once the match restarted, Hogan easily exited the cage to win the match following a leg drop
, ending their feud. Their half-year long feud is one of the most notable (and profitable) feuds in the history of pro wrestling.
During the Hogan feud, Orndorff seriously injured his right arm in a weightlifting accident. Because he was in the middle of his big money run with Hogan, he did not want to take the time off to have the surgery to properly treat it, opting instead to continue to wrestle. After the program with Hogan ended, Orndorff worked a reduced schedule for a few months before he was forced to take some time off because of the injury. While Orndorff was away from the WWF, Bobby Heenan brought in a new man "Ravishing" Rick Rude to take Orndorff’s place in the Heenan Family. Orndorff returned to the ring specifically to fire Bobby Heenan and to feud with Rick Rude. Orndorff took Oliver Humperdink
as his manager in his fight with Rude and Heenan. Orndorff’s last “big" appearance was at the inaugural Survivor Series
on November 26, 1987, where he teamed with Hulk Hogan, Bam Bam Bigelow, Ken Patera
, and Don Muraco
to take on Andre the Giant, the One Man Gang, King Kong Bundy, Rick Rude, and Butch Reed
. Early in the match, Rude eliminated Orndorff with a roll-up.
alley in Fayetteville. During his time away from the sport he was actually reported to have died; the story made several newspapers. The time off was because of the injury to his arm/neck that he suffered during the Hogan feud and left untreated for too long. With the time off, Orndorff recovered and started working out, reestablishing the physique that earned him the nickname “Mr. Wonderful" in the first place. The only difference was that his right arm was noticeably smaller and weakened due to a neck injury that caused nerve damage and eventually the atrophy of his right biceps.
In 1990 Orndorff returned to the squared circle, wrestling a series of matches against Kerry Von Erich
on the independent circuit. By the spring of 1990 Orndorff signed with World Championship Wrestling
, making his debut as a member of a group called the “Dudes with Attitudes" consisting of himself, Sting, Lex Luger
, Junkyard Dog
, and The Steiner Brothers
. The Dudes backed Sting in his fight with the Four Horsemen
. At Clash of the Champions XI Orndorff defeated Arn Anderson
and at the 1990 Great American Bash, Orndorff teamed up with the Junkyard Dog and El Gigante to defeat Arn Anderson, Barry Windham
, and Sid Vicious
by disqualification. Orndorff remained with WCW until the fall of 1990.
' fledgling Universal Wrestling Federation
. Televised on several cable outlets, the UWF saw many former WWF stars such as Don Muraco, Bob Orton, Jr., "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka, Lou Albano
, and The Killer Bees
(known as "Masked Confusion" in the UWF). Mr. Wonderful more or less immediately started feuding with "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, who attacked Orndorff to kick start the feud. Orndorff and Williams clashed several times in what was promoted as the “Signature Feud" of the UWF in its early days. Orndorff would also reignite his feud with Bob Orton, Jr. in the UWF, where he beat Orton for the UWF Southern States Championship on June 22, 1992 and held the title until he left the promotion. On June 9, 1991, Orndorff competed on the UWF’s only PPV Beach Brawl, defeating Col. DeBeers
in a Strap match. Orndorff left the UWF sometime in early 1993, vacating the Southern States title.
While working for the UWF, Orndorff would also compete in the American Wrestling Federation (not the same promotion as the AWF
) and held the AWF Heavyweight title after beating Stan Lane
on December 16, 1991. When Orndorff left the AWF in February 1992, he vacated the title. During this time Orndorff also competed in the National Wrestling League, holding its tag team titles alongside Brian Blair
sometime in 1993.
opened its doors for the first time as they announced a tournament to crown the first SMW Heavyweight Champion
. Among the participants invited to compete were Buddy Landel
, "Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony
, and Brian Lee
. Orndorff was only listed as a "wild card" who had to win a match in order to enter the tournament. The "wild card" status was a blow to Orndoff’s ego (storyline), causing him to attack several wrestlers including Hector Guerrero
, whom he defeated in a "wild card" match to earn a spot in the tournament. Afterwards, Orndorff laid out Guerrero and several preliminary wrestlers with his piledriver finisher. Orndoff beat Tim Horner
and Robert Gibson in the preliminary rounds to advance to the finals of the tournament. In the finals, Brian Lee won the title when Orndorff was disqualified.
Siding with the "Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony, Orndorff feuded with Hector Guerrero and Brian Lee. Lee brought in Ron Garvin
to fight off Orndorff; the feud included a very publicized “piledriver" match which was won by Garvin. Orndorff was “fired" from the SMW after piledriving a referee in frustration.
, with the winner being manager Harley Race
’s chosen replacement for an injured Rick Rude at the Clash of the Champions
. Race assisted Orndorff in the match and was quickly joined by Vader in his attack on Cactus Jack. After the match, Race declared that Paul Orndorff was his chosen man. Orndorff was pinned by Cactus Jack in a subsequent Thunderdome match; the two had an intense feud including a Falls Count Anywhere match at SuperBrawl III, which Cactus Jack won.
After the feud with Cactus cooled off, "Mr. Wonderful" set his sights on the vacant WCW World Television Championship
. Orndorff signed up for a 16 man tournament beating 2 Cold Scorpio
, Cactus Jack, Johnny B. Badd
, and then Erik Watts
in the finals to win his first WCW title. Orndorff, the TV champion, and Rick Rude, the U.S. Champion
, began teaming on a regular basis, including a PPV victory over Dustin Rhodes and Kensuke Sasaki
at Slamboree
. During this time Orndorff also turned back the challenges of Ron Simmons
and Marcus Alexander Bagwell, amongst others, holding on to his Television title by any means necessary. Orndorff defeated Bagwell controversially, using the second rope for leverage during the pinfall. The two would later go on to feud for the WCW World Tag Team Titles. Orndorff's World TV Title reign also included a disqualification loss to Johnny B Badd, after Maxx Payne
violently interfered. This led to a brief six man tag team alliance between Orndorff, Payne, and Chris Benoit
. On August 18, 1993, Orndorff’s luck ran out as Ricky Steamboat
won the title at Clash of the Champions XXIV. After unsuccessfully challenging Ricky Steamboat throughout the fall and winter of 1993, Orndorff moved into the tag team division.
, the Horsemen Paul Roma
and Arn Anderson
faced the semi-regular team of Paul Orndorff and "Stunning" Steve Austin
on WCW Saturday Night
. During the match, Roma acted very indifferent to his tag team partner, sowing the seeds to his heel turn. Next, Roma teamed with Erik Watts
to take on the team of Orndorff and Austin once again. This time, Roma took it a step further and attacked Erik Watts before announcing that he was now teaming with Paul Orndorff.
Under the tutelage of manager Masked Assassin
, the team quickly began to work well together in a feud with Marcus Alexander Bagwell
and 2 Cold Scorpio
. In the following months, both Roma and Orndorff focused on their individual careers before reuniting around May. This time they wrestled without their manager and were officially known as “Pretty Wonderful". With both men rededicated to teaming, they soon challenged for the WCW World Tag Team Championship
then held by Cactus Jack
and Kevin Sullivan
. One incident especially stands out that established Pretty Wonderful in the title chase. The champions had one last defense against former champions the Nasty Boys
that also saw Kevin’s injured brother Dave. The match degraded into a brawl that saw Pretty Wonderful make an appearance using Dave’s crutch to attack the champions. Before the team left the ring, they also took a couple of shots at the Nasty Boys for good measure.
Going into Bash at the Beach, Pretty Wonderful had the advantage as both champions were suffering from injuries inflicted by the challengers on previous occasions (kayfabe). Cactus Jack and Kevin Sullivan were unable to hold off Roma and Orndorff, as Pretty Wonderful left the ring with the gold. Pretty Wonderful was immediately challenged by the Nasty Boys after winning the title, but the Nasty Boys were never able to take the gold from the champions. Next, Pretty Wonderful was challenged by the duo of Stars 'n' Stripes
(Marcus Alexander Bagwell & The Patriot
) at Fall Brawl. The champions retained, but a week later the championship changed hands when Stars 'n' Stripes got the victory. Pretty Wonderful was granted a rematch against the new champions with a match booked for Halloween Havoc; Pretty Wonderful regained the titles when Roma used one of the title belts to knock Bagwell out cold.
At Clash of the Champions XXIX Stars 'n' Stripes were granted a final shot at the tag team title, but the challengers also had to put up the Patriot’s mask on the line. After a controversial double pin finish, Stars 'n' Stripes were declared the winners and thus the champions, putting the end to Pretty Wonderful’s second and final run with the gold.
After Roma left WCW, Orndorff returned to singles competition with his most notable match at the time being an unsuccessful shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship when he faced champion the Great Muta
at Slamboree. In May, Orndorff got a golden opportunity to regain the WCW Television title. He defeated Brian Pillman
in a tournament to earn the shot at the champion. He lost to WCW newcomer The Renegade
at Bash at the Beach. Orndorff was also unable to beat the rookie in subsequent matches and began to lose confidence in his abilities (storyline
). After losing more and more matches, including a match on WCW Worldwide
to Randy Savage
, Orndorff lost all faith in his abilities; the outwardly arrogant Mr. Wonderful was riddled with self doubt, until one night, after beating himself up backstage after yet another loss, he was visited by psychic Gary Spivey
. Spivey convinced Orndorff to believe in himself and that he shouldn’t forget that he was “Mr. Wonderful". Orndorff became more arrogant than ever before and began carrying around a mirror everywhere he went.
On the December 11, 1995 episode of Monday Nitro
, Orndorff confronted Brian Pillman after Pillman made derogatory comments about Orndorff. After telling Flair and Anderson how much he respected them, Orndorff told Pillman that he could have been a Horseman and the only reason Pillman was a Horseman was because he turned it down. Anderson and Flair tried to calm Orndorff down but Orndorff lost his temper and attacked Pillman. Pillman, Flair, and Anderson attacked Orndorff and then Arn Anderson and Ric Flair delivered a spike piledriver to Orndorff on the arena floor during the attack. WCW later explained that Orndorff had been seriously hurt in the attack and that his career was over. In actuality, Orndorff was forced to retire due to his previous injuries in the WWF, with the entire right side of his body beginning to atrophy
(eventually causing his arm and leg muscles to shrink). It was something he had worked through as best he could but by the end of 1995 he was forced to retire and started to work as a trainer and a road agent for WCW. At Fall Brawl 2000, in a match between The Filthy Animals and The Natural Born Thrillers, Orndorff suffered a neck injury after delivering a piledriver. The referee, Charles Robinson stopped the match as a result.
, where he trained several wrestlers including the Natural Born Thrillers
. He had a brief onscreen role during this time in the Old Age Outlaws with Terry Funk
, Arn Anderson
, and Larry Zbyszko
to feud with the last WCW version of the nWo
.
On February 3, 2005, Orndorff was announced as one of the inductees for the Class of 2005 into the WWE Hall of Fame
. He was inducted on April 2 at the Universal Amphitheatre
in Los Angeles
, California
by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.
On January 5, 2011, Paul Orndorff appeared on the Busted Open radio show on Sirius Satellite Radio
and revealed that he had recently been diagnosed with cancer. On August 10, 2011, Orndorff announced that he was now cancer free.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
and World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
as "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff. After retiring, Orndorff worked as a wrestling trainer.
Football
After earning notoriety as a running back at the University of TampaUniversity of Tampa
The University of Tampa , is a private, co-educational university in Downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In 2006, the University celebrated its 75th anniversary...
where he scored 21 career touchdowns and gained over 2000 all-purpose yards in his playing career, Orndorff was a 12th round selection (289th overall pick) in the 1973 NFL Draft
1973 NFL Draft
The 1973 National Football League Draft was held on January 30–31, 1973.-Player selections:-Round one:-Round two:-Round three:-Round four:-Round five:-Round six:-Round seven:-Round eight:-Round nine:-Round ten:...
by the New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
but failed to pass the physical for the NFL with both the Saints and the Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
. He was a teammate of the #1 pick notorious bad boy John Matuszak. However, he did play for the Jacksonville Sharks
Jacksonville Sharks
The Jacksonville Sharks were a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They competed for part of the 1974 season in the World Football League, a failed attempt to launch a major professional football league in the United States in competition with the National Football...
of the World Football League
World Football League
The World Football League was a short-lived gridiron football league that played in 1974 and part of 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest the WFL reached was placing a team – the Hawaiians – in Honolulu, Hawaii. The...
in 1975. After one season in the WFL, he began training as a professional wrestler.
Starting out
Paul Orndorff started wrestling in 1976 in Mid-Southern Wrestling where he feuded with a young Jerry LawlerJerry Lawler
Jerry O'Neil Lawler is an American professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional...
. Orndorff won his first wrestling title when he pinned Lawler for the Mid-Southern Heavyweight Title on June 7, 1977. Orndorff lost the title back to Lawler before he left the Memphis territory. Orndorff began working for the NWA Tri-State promotion where he got involved in a feud with Ernie Ladd
Ernie Ladd
Ernest "Ernie" Ladd , nicknamed "The Big Cat" was an American collegiate and professional football player and a professional wrestler.-Pro Football career:...
. The feud with Ladd saw Orndorff win the NWA Tri-State North American Heavyweight Title from Ernie Ladd on two occasions (on May 29, 1978 and again in June). Both times, Orndorff’s reigns were short and were ended by Ladd.
After feuding with Ladd, Orndorff continued to make a name for himself in the National Wrestling Alliance
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
where he feuded with The Masked Superstar
Bill Eadie
Bill Eadie is a professional wrestler who has competed under the names of Ax as part of Demolition and The Masked Superstar...
. During this time he became known as “The Brandon Bull," a nickname he had during his days as a football player. In December 1978, Paul Orndorff teamed with Jimmy Snuka
Jimmy Snuka
James William "Jimmy" Reiher is a semi-retired Fijian professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Originally from the Fiji Islands, Snuka wrestled for several promotions in the 1970s and 1980s. Snuka is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having been a...
to capture the NWA World Tag Team titles
NWA World Tag Team Championship
The National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Championship is the professional wrestling world tag team championship within the NWA framework.-History:...
from Baron Von Raschke
James Raschke
James Donald Raschke is a retired professional wrestler best known as Baron von Raschke.-Career:...
and Greg Valentine
Greg Valentine
John Wisniski, Jr. is an American professional wrestler, better known as Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He is the son of wrestler Johnny Valentine.-Training:...
. The duo held on to the titles for five months before losing them to Baron Von Raschke and his new partner Paul Jones
Paul Jones (wrestler)
Paul Jones is a retired professional wrestler and manager. He had success in the National Wrestling Alliance 's Mid-Atlantic region, including an NWA World Tag Team title reign with Ricky Steamboat.-Career:...
on April 28, 1978.
In 1979, Orndorff traveled to the Alabama territory's “Southeast Championship Wrestling." There, Orndorff worked mainly as a tag team competitor teaming with Dick Slater
Dick Slater
Richard Van Slater , better known by his ring name "Dirty" Dick Slater, is a retired American professional wrestler who wrestled in the 1970s, 1980s, and mid 1990s for various promotions including Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling .Slater began wrestling with Mike...
to win the NWA Southeast Tag Team Championship from the team of Jimmy Golden and Norvell Austin
Norvell Austin
Norvell Austin is a retired American professional wrestler who made his debut in the late 1960s. Austin worked for most of his career in the Southern United States, most often in tag team competition. Norvell Austin is most famous for teaming with Sputnik Monroe in one of the first "mixed races"...
in October 1979. Their reign only lasted about a month before being upended by the combination of Dennis Condrey
Dennis Condrey
Dennis Condrey is an American professional wrestler, best known as being one half of the tag team Midnight Express....
and David Schults
David Schultz (professional wrestler)
David Schultz is an American retired professional wrestler. Although he is known for competing in North American regional promotions such as Stampede Wrestling, the National Wrestling Alliance and the American Wrestling Association during the late 1970s and 1980s, he is perhaps best remembered for...
. Orndorff then teamed with former opponent Norvell Austin (who was calling himself “The Junkyard Dog" at the time, not to be mistaken for the more famous Junkyard Dog
Junkyard Dog
Sylvester Ritter was an American professional wrestler and professional football player, best known for his work in Mid-South Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as The Junkyard Dog...
) to win the titles in late 1979. The duo beat Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose
Randy Rose
"Ravishing" Randy Rose is a professional wrestler.-Career:Randy Rose competed in 1981 in Alabama's Southeast Championship Wrestling and formed The Midnight Express with Dennis Condrey and Norvell Austin. They dominated the tag team scene there until Condrey signed with Mid-South Wrestling in 1984...
, the same team that ended Orndorff and Austin’s run with the gold. Norvell Austin, Dennis Condrey, and Randy Rose would go on to form The Midnight Express shortly thereafter.
During 1980, Orndorff started to split his time between the Alabama and the Mid-South territories, until he left the Alabama territory by the end of 1980 to focus entirely on the Mid-South territory. In Mid-South, Orndorff feuded with Ken Mantell over Mantell’s propensity for cutting people’s hair after a match. Orndorff got the better of Mantell and won the rights to use the Freebird hair removal cream on Mantell. Orndorff earned a shot at the North American champion The Grappler
Len Denton
Len Denton is a semi-retired professional wrestler, best known by his ring name The Grappler.While wrestling as The Grappler in Pacific Northwest Wrestling , his gimmick was a loaded boot, and later a loaded mask, which he had started wearing earlier in his career after losing a hair match and...
but on the day of the match he overslept (storyline
Kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...
) and was incensed when his replacement Jake “The Snake" Roberts
Jake Roberts
Aurelian Jake Smith, Jr. is a second-generation American professional wrestler, the son of former wrestler Aurelian "Grizzly" Smith...
beat the Grappler for the title. Orndorff’s reaction to Jake’s title win signaled a change in attitude; he turned heel
Heel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
as he demanded a title match against Jake “the Snake". While he lost the support of the fans, he won the North American title on July 4, 1981. Orndorff feuded with Ted DiBiase
Ted DiBiase
Theodore Marvin "Ted" DiBiase, Sr. is a retired professional wrestler, manager, ordained minister and color commentator. DiBiase achieved championship success in a number of wrestling promotions, holding thirty titles during his professional wrestling career...
, JYD, Dusty Rhodes
Dusty Rhodes (wrestler)
Virgil Riley Runnels, Jr. , better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler currently working for WWE...
, and Dick Murdoch
Dick Murdoch
Hoyt Richard "Dick" Murdoch was an American professional wrestler.-Professional wrestling career:A second-generation wrestler, the son of 1950s Texas wrestler Frankie Hill Murdoch, Dick Murdoch grew up with fellow second-generation wrestlers Dory Funk, Jr. and Terry Funk, watching their fathers...
while holding on to the North American title. Orndorff lost the title to Ted DiBiase on November 1, 1981 in a match at the Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans, Louisiana. Orndorff was unable to wrestle in the rematch due to car trouble, which meant that Orndorff’s friend Bob Roop got the title shot and won the match. It was soon revealed that Roop had sabotaged Orndorff’s car so he could get the title shot instead (storyline). Orndorff turned face to feud with Roop but found himself unable to regain the title after which he left the Mid-South Territory.
Orndorff reappeared in Georgia Championship Wrestling
Georgia Championship Wrestling
Georgia Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion whose self-titled TV program aired in the 1970s and 1980s on Atlanta, U.S., superstation WTBS. Though based in Atlanta, the company also ran live wrestling shows throughout its geographic "territory" of Georgia Georgia...
in early 1982 immediately launching into a feud with Buzz Sawyer
Buzz Sawyer
Bruce Woyan was a professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Buzz Sawyer. Throughout his career, he was also known by the nickname "Mad Dog". He was characterized by his crazy antics inside the ring and out.-Career:Sawyer started wrestling in 1979 in the National Wrestling Alliance 's...
over the NWA National Heavyweight Championship
NWA National Heavyweight Championship
The original version NWA National Heavyweight Championship was the major singles title in the NWA-affiliated Georgia Championship Wrestling from 1980 until 1986...
. Orndorff won the gold on June 20, 1982. During the summer, Orndorff would vacate the title so he could focus on pursuing the NWA World Champion
NWA World Heavyweight Championship
The National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the National Wrestling Alliance. Its lineage has been traced from the first World Heavyweight Championship, which traces its lineage to Georg Hackenschmidt's 1905 title and...
"Nature Boy" Ric Flair
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well-known professional wrestlers in the world....
. Orndorff was unsuccessful in his challenge and soon focused on the title he gave up. When Orndorff vacated the title, it was put on the line in a tournament that was won by The Super Destroyer
Scott Irwin
Scott K. Irwin was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his tag team with his brother Barney "Bill" Irwin.-Debut and the World Wide Wrestling Federation:...
. On August 19, 1982, Paul Orndorff regained the title from the Super Destroyer. Orndorff next feuded with The Masked Superstar, with whom he traded the National Heavyweight title back and forth during the fall of 1982. Orndorff then traded the title back and forth with Super Destroyer. Frustrated with his inability to beat Paul Orndorff for the National title, Larry Zbyszko
Larry Zbyszko
Lawrence "Larry" Whistler is a professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Larry Zbyszko. Zbyszko is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino during the early 1980s....
paid Killer Tim Brooks
Killer Tim Brooks
Timothy Paul Brooks is a retired American professional wrestler, better-known by his ring name "Killer Tim Brooks". He competed in North American regional promotions including the National Wrestling Alliance, Pacific Northwest Wrestling and World Class Championship Wrestling during the 1970s and...
$25,000 to do his dirty work. Brooks beat Orndorff with the help of a chair and won the title only to turn around and give it to Zbyszko. The fact that Zybszko bought the title and did not win it forced NWA President Bob Geigel
Bob Geigel
Robert "Bob" Geigel is a former American professional wrestling promoter and also a former professional wrestler. Geigel ran the NWA Central States promotion between 1963 and 1986, until it was bought out by Jim Crockett Promotions...
to step in and strip Zbyszko of the title.
Orndorff then moved to New Japan Pro Wrestling for several months. He made two tours of Japan, the first in April. He wrestled Kengo Kimura
Kengo Kimura
Seiei Kimura is a retired Japanese professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Kengo Kimura and for his many years working for New Japan Pro Wrestling in Japan.-Japan Wrestling Association :...
, Riki Chōshū
Riki Choshu
Mitsuo Yoshida , better known by his stage name Riki Chōshū , is a Korean-Japanese professional wrestler who is most known for his longtime work in New Japan Pro Wrestling as a wrestler and a booker...
, and Akira Maeda
Akira Maeda
is a retired Japanese professional wrestler, also known as Kwik-kik-Lee for his time on the British Wrestling show World of Sport. He helped develop the shoot-style of professional wrestling during the late 1980s....
, as well as teaming up with Ed Leslie
Edward Leslie
Edward Harrison "Ed" Leslie is an American professional wrestler, best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Brutus The Barber Beefcake. He later worked for World Championship Wrestling under a variety of names, mainly as "The Disciple" of real-life best friend...
against Antonio Inoki
Antonio Inoki
is a Japanese professional wrestling promoter and retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist who now resides between New York City and Tokyo. He was also the founder and former owner of New Japan Pro Wrestling before selling his controlling share in the promotion to Yukes...
and Seiji Sakaguchi
Seiji Sakaguchi
is a retired Japanese professional wrestler who was a mainstay of New Japan Pro Wrestling and also competed for the World Wide Wrestling Federation and the National Wrestling Alliance....
. Orndorff returned in October and partnered with Big John Studd against Maeda and Sakaguchi, then faced Maeda again in singles competition.
World Wrestling Federation
Orndorff signed with the World Wrestling FederationWorld Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
in late 1983 and made his debut in November of that year on Championship Wrestling. Starting in January 1984, Orndorff took on "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
Roddy Piper
Roderick George Toombs , better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler and film actor who is currently signed to WWE. In professional wrestling, he is best known for his work with WWE...
as his manager. Piper nicknamed Paul Orndorff “Mr. Wonderful," a nickname that he has used ever since. Orndorff made his WWF debut against Salvatore Bellomo
Salvatore Bellomo
Salvatore Bellomo is a retired Belgian-Italian professional wrestler with a career spanning more than three decades.-Career:...
on the night that Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan
Terrance Gene "Terry" Bollea , better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Semi-retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
defeated The Iron Sheik for the WWF World Heavyweight Title
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
and "Hulkamania was born", January 23, 1984 in Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
. Orndorff became one of the first people to challenge for the world title, shooting straight to the main event less than a month after his debut. Hogan disposed of the challenger and moved on while Orndorff fought a variety of opponents including the Intercontinental Champion
WWE Intercontinental Championship
The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is the original secondary title of the promotion. Currently, it is the secondary championship exclusive to the SmackDown brand...
Tito Santana
Tito Santana
Merced Solis better known by his ring name Tito Santana, is an American professional wrestler whose heyday spanned from the late 1970s to the early 1990s, though he continues to appear on the independent circuit. He is best known from his time in the World Wrestling Federation...
. When Piper assaulted Jimmy Snuka on the set of Piper's Pit
Piper's Pit
Piper's Pit was an interview segment featuring Roddy Piper which was a mainstay of WWF/WWE television from 1984 to 1987, and then returned briefly in 1989. Also, Piper hosted similar segments while wrestling for other promotions in 2003 - 2011....
, Orndorff (as well as Bob Orton, Jr.
Bob Orton, Jr.
Robert Keith Orton is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Cowboy" Bob Orton. He is the father of wrestler Randy Orton, who is signed to World Wrestling Entertainment...
) assisted the Rowdy One in his fights. Orndorff and Piper often faced Snuka and "The Tonga Kid
Sam Fatu
Samuel Larry Anoa'i Fatu is a professional wrestler best known under the name of The Tonga Kid, or Tama.-Professional wrestling career:...
" in tag team competition.
Near the end of 1984, Roddy Piper’s assault on Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
(kayfabe
Kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...
) brought Orndorff and Piper on a collision course with Hulk Hogan and Mr. T
Mr. T
Mr. T is an American actor known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series The A-Team, as boxer Clubber Lang in the 1982 film Rocky III, and for his appearances as a professional wrestler. Mr. T is known for his trademark African Mandinka warrior hairstyle, his gold jewelry,...
. Hogan’s feud with Piper also meant that Orndorff was thrust back into the main event picture; he defeated Tony Atlas
Tony Atlas
Anthony White better known by his ring name "Tony Atlas" is an American bodybuilder, powerlifter, and professional wrestler who has held multiple titles and championships in each sport. He is also known by his bodybuilding title, "Mr...
at The War to Settle the Score
The War to Settle the Score
The War to Settle the Score was a professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation and broadcast live on MTV. It took place at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York on February 18, 1985. The main event featured Hulk Hogan defending the WWF Championship against Roddy...
and then played a part in the main event. The fallout from The War to Settle the Score led to the creation of WrestleMania
WrestleMania
WrestleMania is a professional wrestling pay-per-view event, produced annually in late March or early April by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut...
, with Hogan and Mr. T (backed by Jimmy Snuka) taking on "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff in the main event. Orton's interference at the end of the match backfired when he accidentally hit Orndorff with the cast on his arm, allowing Hogan to pin Orndorff and win the match for his team. Blaming Orndorff for the loss, Piper and Orton attacked him on the first episode of Saturday Night's Main Event. Later in the evening, Orndorff ran to the ring to even the sides when Piper and Orton were preparing to double team Hulk Hogan. He solidified his babyface status by publicly firing manager Bobby Heenan
Bobby Heenan
Raymond Louis "Ray" Heenan , better known as Bobby "The Brain" Heenan , is a former American professional wrestling manager and color commentator, best known for his time with the American Wrestling Association , World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation...
shortly afterwards.
Orndorff and Hogan started teaming up to feud with Piper and Orton, facing them in tag team competition all over the country. Orndorff’s feud with Piper and Orton continued to rage on while Hogan started to defend his title against other contenders; Orndorff faced both Orton and Piper in individual competition, usually without a conclusive outcome. After Orndorff fired Bobby Heenan as his manager, Heenan placed a $25,000 bounty on Orndorff, payable to anyone who could injure him. When no one succeeded, Heenan upped the bounty to $50,000. One of the first men to try and claim the new, higher bonus was Roddy Piper himself, but their matches got so out of hand that Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Sammartino
Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino is an Italian-American former professional wrestler, best known for being the longest-running champion of the World Wide Wrestling Federation , holding the title across two reigns for over 11 years in total, as well as the longest single WWE Championship reign...
was appointed as a special referee in the hopes of keeping peace. Instead of keeping peace, Sammartino became a target for Orton and Piper, which led to Orndorff and Sammartino teaming up. Orndorff teamed with a variety of opponents in his fights with Piper and Orton, including André the Giant
André the Giant
André René Roussimoff , best known as André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. His best remembered acting role was that of Fezzik, the giant in the film The Princess Bride...
. In February 1986, Bobby Heenan used a match between Hulk Hogan and Don Muraco
Don Muraco
Donald Muraco , better known by his ring name "The Rock" Don Muraco, is a retired American professional wrestler...
as an opportunity to have King Kong Bundy
King Kong Bundy
Christopher Alan "Chris" Pallies is an American professional wrestler, stand-up comedian and actor, better known by his ring name, King Kong Bundy.-Personal:...
attack Hogan, setting up their WrestleMania 2
WrestleMania 2
WrestleMania 2 was the second annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation...
match. While Hogan fought off Bundy, Orndorff battled Don Muraco in a match that ended in a double count out.
Orndorff’s frustrations were further fueled by Adrian Adonis
Adrian Adonis
Keith A. Franke was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Adorable" Adrian Adonis.-Career:Franke trained under Fred Atkins and debuted in 1974, wrestling under his own name...
, who took every opportunity that he could to mock Orndorff (including referring to him as "Hulk Jr."), saying that he had gone soft from teaming with Hogan. Adonis kept on irritating Orndorff, going so far as daring Paul Orndorff to prove just how close his relationship with Hulk Hogan really was. During a televised phone call to Hulk Hogan, Orndorff was told that Hogan was too busy training to come to the phone, something which aggravated Orndorff to no end. The next time that Hogan and Orndorff teamed up, against the Moondogs
Moondogs
The Moondogs were a professional wrestling stable in the World Wrestling Federation and in two Memphis promotions: the Continental Wrestling Association and the United States Wrestling Association...
, Orndorff wrestled most of the match by himself in an attempt to upstage Hogan, scoring the winning pin. The next week, during a tag match where Hogan and Orndorff faced the massive duo of Big John Studd
Big John Studd
John William Minton was an American professional wrestler and actor who was born and raised in Butler, Pennsylvania, better known by his ring name, Big John Studd.-Career:...
and King Kong Bundy, Hogan and Orndorff accidentally collided and Hogan knocked Orndorff off the apron. When Studd and Bundy started to double team Hogan, Orndorff did not help out; he looked like he had hurt his eye in the collision. It was not until Studd and Bundy had Hogan in a compromised position that Orndorff reentered the ring to fend off Studd and Bundy. Orndorff then helped Hogan to his feet and raised his hand in the air and gave Hogan a clothesline followed by a piledriver
Piledriver (professional wrestling)
A piledriver is a professional wrestling driver move in which the wrestler grabs his opponent, turns him upside-down, and drops into a sitting or kneeling position, driving the opponent head-first into the mat. The most common piledrivers are the basic belly-to-back, or Texas piledriver, and the...
.
Orndorff soon reunited with manager Bobby Heenan and once again feuded with Hulk Hogan, including a memorable outdoor match in Toronto which drew an estimated 76,000 fans. After a series of matches with no clean outcome it was decided that Hogan and Orndorff would clash in a steel cage match on Saturday Night's Main Event. The cage match saw both Orndorff and Hogan climb over the top of the cage and touch the floor at the same time. After reviewing the footage it was decided that it was a draw and the match was restarted. Once the match restarted, Hogan easily exited the cage to win the match following a leg drop
Leg drop
A leg drop or legdrop refers to an attack used in professional wrestling in which an attacking wrestler will jump and land his leg across a fallen opponent's chest, throat, face or head or in some cases, the groin/lower-abdominal area...
, ending their feud. Their half-year long feud is one of the most notable (and profitable) feuds in the history of pro wrestling.
During the Hogan feud, Orndorff seriously injured his right arm in a weightlifting accident. Because he was in the middle of his big money run with Hogan, he did not want to take the time off to have the surgery to properly treat it, opting instead to continue to wrestle. After the program with Hogan ended, Orndorff worked a reduced schedule for a few months before he was forced to take some time off because of the injury. While Orndorff was away from the WWF, Bobby Heenan brought in a new man "Ravishing" Rick Rude to take Orndorff’s place in the Heenan Family. Orndorff returned to the ring specifically to fire Bobby Heenan and to feud with Rick Rude. Orndorff took Oliver Humperdink
Oliver Humperdink
John Sutton , better known by his ring name Oliver Humperdink, was a professional wrestling manager who worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, Florida Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation.-Career:...
as his manager in his fight with Rude and Heenan. Orndorff’s last “big" appearance was at the inaugural Survivor Series
Survivor Series (1987)
Survivor Series was the first Survivor Series pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1987 and was held at the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, Ohio....
on November 26, 1987, where he teamed with Hulk Hogan, Bam Bam Bigelow, Ken Patera
Ken Patera
Ken Patera is a former professional wrestler, Olympic weightlifter, and Strongman competitor.-Weightlifting/Strongman career:Patera is a former Olympic weightlifter and American powerlifter...
, and Don Muraco
Don Muraco
Donald Muraco , better known by his ring name "The Rock" Don Muraco, is a retired American professional wrestler...
to take on Andre the Giant, the One Man Gang, King Kong Bundy, Rick Rude, and Butch Reed
Butch Reed
Butch Reed is an American professional wrestler best known for his stints in the World Wrestling Federation and the National Wrestling Alliance/World Championship Wrestling.-Career:...
. Early in the match, Rude eliminated Orndorff with a roll-up.
Semi-retirement and return
Paul Orndorff retired in early 1988 due to his arm injury and focused on running his bowlingBowling
Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
alley in Fayetteville. During his time away from the sport he was actually reported to have died; the story made several newspapers. The time off was because of the injury to his arm/neck that he suffered during the Hogan feud and left untreated for too long. With the time off, Orndorff recovered and started working out, reestablishing the physique that earned him the nickname “Mr. Wonderful" in the first place. The only difference was that his right arm was noticeably smaller and weakened due to a neck injury that caused nerve damage and eventually the atrophy of his right biceps.
In 1990 Orndorff returned to the squared circle, wrestling a series of matches against Kerry Von Erich
Kerry Von Erich
Kerry Gene Adkisson was an American professional wrestler under the ring names Kerry Von Erich, The Modern Day Warrior, and The Texas Tornado and was part of the Von Erich family of professional wrestlers...
on the independent circuit. By the spring of 1990 Orndorff signed with World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
, making his debut as a member of a group called the “Dudes with Attitudes" consisting of himself, Sting, Lex Luger
Lex Luger
Lawrence Wendell "Larry" Pfohl , better known by his ring name Lex Luger, is an American former professional wrestler and football player currently working with WWE on their wellness policy...
, Junkyard Dog
Junkyard Dog
Sylvester Ritter was an American professional wrestler and professional football player, best known for his work in Mid-South Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as The Junkyard Dog...
, and The Steiner Brothers
The Steiner Brothers
The Steiner Brothers are the professional wrestling tag team of American brothers Robert "Rick Steiner" Rechsteiner and Scott "Scott Steiner" Rechsteiner...
. The Dudes backed Sting in his fight with the Four Horsemen
Four Horsemen (professional wrestling)
The Four Horsemen were a professional wrestling stable in the National Wrestling Alliance and later World Championship Wrestling that was disbanded in 1999. The original group featured Ric Flair, Arn and Ole Anderson, and Tully Blanchard...
. At Clash of the Champions XI Orndorff defeated Arn Anderson
Arn Anderson
Martin Anthony Lunde better known by his ring name Arn Anderson, is a former American professional wrestler and author. His career has been highlighted by his alliances with Ric Flair and various members of the wrestling stable, The Four Horsemen, in the NWA/WCW...
and at the 1990 Great American Bash, Orndorff teamed up with the Junkyard Dog and El Gigante to defeat Arn Anderson, Barry Windham
Barry Windham
Barry Clinton Windham is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and the son of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan. He is best known for his appearances with the National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling ....
, and Sid Vicious
Sid Eudy
Sidney Raymond "Sid" Eudy is an American professional wrestler, best known as Sid Vicious in World Championship Wrestling, and as Sid Justice and Sycho Sid in the World Wrestling Federation...
by disqualification. Orndorff remained with WCW until the fall of 1990.
UWF and the indies
By late 1990, Orndorff became one of the featured headliners for Herb AbramsHerb Abrams
Herb C. Abrams was an American professional wrestling promoter from New York.-Career:Abrams founded the Universal Wrestling Federation in 1990 and remained CEO of the company until his death...
' fledgling Universal Wrestling Federation
Universal Wrestling Federation (Herb Abrams)
The Universal Wrestling Federation was an American wrestling promotion based out of Marina del Rey, California.-History:Herb Abrams founded the UWF in 1990 with hopes of returning professional wrestling back to its roots...
. Televised on several cable outlets, the UWF saw many former WWF stars such as Don Muraco, Bob Orton, Jr., "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka, Lou Albano
Lou Albano
Louis Vincent "Captain Lou" Albano was an Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor. He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1969, then he became a manager, until 1995....
, and The Killer Bees
The Killer Bees (professional wrestling)
The Killer Bees was a tag team composed of "Jumpin" Jim Brunzell and B. Brian Blair in the World Wrestling Federation from 1985 to 1988 and later on in the independent circuit...
(known as "Masked Confusion" in the UWF). Mr. Wonderful more or less immediately started feuding with "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, who attacked Orndorff to kick start the feud. Orndorff and Williams clashed several times in what was promoted as the “Signature Feud" of the UWF in its early days. Orndorff would also reignite his feud with Bob Orton, Jr. in the UWF, where he beat Orton for the UWF Southern States Championship on June 22, 1992 and held the title until he left the promotion. On June 9, 1991, Orndorff competed on the UWF’s only PPV Beach Brawl, defeating Col. DeBeers
Edward Wiskoski
Edward Wiskoski is a former American professional wrestler best known as Colonel DeBeers in the AWA . He also wrestled as Derek "The Mongoose" Draper and Mega Maharishi...
in a Strap match. Orndorff left the UWF sometime in early 1993, vacating the Southern States title.
While working for the UWF, Orndorff would also compete in the American Wrestling Federation (not the same promotion as the AWF
American Wrestling Federation
The American Wrestling Federation was a national professional wrestling federation founded by Paul Alperstein.-History:Alperstein, a promoter from Chicago, founded the AWF in 1994 and was on-air president of the company....
) and held the AWF Heavyweight title after beating Stan Lane
Stan Lane
Wallace Stanfield "Stan" Lane is an American professional wrestler, trained by Ric Flair, who started wrestling in 1974 in Championship Wrestling from Florida. For a brief time in Florida, he was nicknamed Nature Boy...
on December 16, 1991. When Orndorff left the AWF in February 1992, he vacated the title. During this time Orndorff also competed in the National Wrestling League, holding its tag team titles alongside Brian Blair
Brian Blair
Brian Leslie Blair is a local politician in Florida, who gained fame as a professional wrestler especially as a part of the Killer Bees.-Career:...
sometime in 1993.
Smoky Mountain Wrestling
In 1992, Smoky Mountain WrestlingSmoky Mountain Wrestling
Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Appalachian area of the United States from October 1991 to December 1995, when it was run by Jim Cornette...
opened its doors for the first time as they announced a tournament to crown the first SMW Heavyweight Champion
SMW Heavyweight Championship
The SMW Heavyweight Championship was the major singles title in Smoky Mountain Wrestling. It existed from 1992 until 1996 when SMW folded. "Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony held the title the most times with three reigns. The United States Wrestling Association briefly recognized the SMW Heavyweight...
. Among the participants invited to compete were Buddy Landel
Buddy Landel
William Ansor is a professional wrestler better knownas "Nature Boy" Buddy Landel.-Career:Buddy Landel started his career in 1979 as a young talented athlete in ICW. He left high school even though he had received letters of intent to play baseball and football at the University of Tennessee...
, "Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony
Tony Anthony
Darrell W. "Tony" Anthony is a semi-retired American professional wrestler best known as Dirty White Boy, who wrestled primarily for independent promotions in the Southeastern United States...
, and Brian Lee
Brian Lee
Brian Lee Harris is a retired American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name "Prime Time" Brian Lee...
. Orndorff was only listed as a "wild card" who had to win a match in order to enter the tournament. The "wild card" status was a blow to Orndoff’s ego (storyline), causing him to attack several wrestlers including Hector Guerrero
Hector Guerrero
Héctor Manuel Guerrero Llanes is a Mexican-American professional wrestler, better known simply by his paternal name, Héctor Guerrero...
, whom he defeated in a "wild card" match to earn a spot in the tournament. Afterwards, Orndorff laid out Guerrero and several preliminary wrestlers with his piledriver finisher. Orndoff beat Tim Horner
Tim Horner
Tim Horner is a professional wrestler best known for his "Lightning Express" tag team with Brad Armstrong.-Career:Tim Horner started wrestling in 1982 in the Alabama territory. He formed a tag team called the "Lightning Express" with Brad Armstrong and they had a lot of success. They won the...
and Robert Gibson in the preliminary rounds to advance to the finals of the tournament. In the finals, Brian Lee won the title when Orndorff was disqualified.
Siding with the "Dirty White Boy" Tony Anthony, Orndorff feuded with Hector Guerrero and Brian Lee. Lee brought in Ron Garvin
Ron Garvin
Ron Garvin is a Canadian former professional wrestler and referee most known for his time in the National Wrestling Alliance.-Early career:...
to fight off Orndorff; the feud included a very publicized “piledriver" match which was won by Garvin. Orndorff was “fired" from the SMW after piledriving a referee in frustration.
World Championship Wrestling
Orndorff returned to WCW in late 1992. In January 1993 he took on Cactus JackMick Foley
Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he...
, with the winner being manager Harley Race
Harley Race
Harley Leland Race is a retired American professional wrestler and current promoter and trainer. During his career as a wrestler, he held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship 7 times...
’s chosen replacement for an injured Rick Rude at the Clash of the Champions
Clash of the Champions
The Clash of the Champions were a series of professional wrestling television specials aired by World Championship Wrestling. The specials were supercards intended to feature pay-per-view caliber matches, similar to World Wrestling Federation's Saturday Night's Main Event.The first Clash of the...
. Race assisted Orndorff in the match and was quickly joined by Vader in his attack on Cactus Jack. After the match, Race declared that Paul Orndorff was his chosen man. Orndorff was pinned by Cactus Jack in a subsequent Thunderdome match; the two had an intense feud including a Falls Count Anywhere match at SuperBrawl III, which Cactus Jack won.
After the feud with Cactus cooled off, "Mr. Wonderful" set his sights on the vacant WCW World Television Championship
WCW World Television Championship
The World Championship Wrestling World Television Championship was a professional wrestling championship in World Championship Wrestling....
. Orndorff signed up for a 16 man tournament beating 2 Cold Scorpio
2 Cold Scorpio
Charles Scaggs is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name 2 Cold Scorpio . Scaggs has competed in Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment and Pro Wrestling Noah...
, Cactus Jack, Johnny B. Badd
Marc Mero
Marc Mero is an American retired amateur boxer and professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation as Marc Mero and with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Johnny B. Badd...
, and then Erik Watts
Erik Watts
Erik Watts is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling in the early 1990s. He is the son of legendary wrestler "Cowboy" Bill Watts.-Debut:...
in the finals to win his first WCW title. Orndorff, the TV champion, and Rick Rude, the U.S. Champion
WWE United States Championship
The WWE United States Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It was originally a National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling championship, and is currently the secondary championship of the Raw brand....
, began teaming on a regular basis, including a PPV victory over Dustin Rhodes and Kensuke Sasaki
Kensuke Sasaki
is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently wrestles for various promotions through his own agency, Kensuke Office. He is the first of two men ever to hold all 3 of puroresu's major heavyweight titles , the other being Yoshihiro Takayama.-Early years :Kensuke Sasaki...
at Slamboree
Slamboree (1993)
Slamboree 1993: A Legends' Reunion was the first annual Slamboree professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by World Championship Wrestling...
. During this time Orndorff also turned back the challenges of Ron Simmons
Ron Simmons
Ronald "Ron" Simmons is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and retired American football player. He is recognised as being the first Black world heavyweight champion in professional wrestling and the first of only two African Americans to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship,...
and Marcus Alexander Bagwell, amongst others, holding on to his Television title by any means necessary. Orndorff defeated Bagwell controversially, using the second rope for leverage during the pinfall. The two would later go on to feud for the WCW World Tag Team Titles. Orndorff's World TV Title reign also included a disqualification loss to Johnny B Badd, after Maxx Payne
Maxx Payne
Darryl Peterson is an American musician, actor and professional wrestler who wrestled in World Championship Wrestling as Maxx Payne and in the World Wrestling Federation as Man Mountain Rock.-Career:...
violently interfered. This led to a brief six man tag team alliance between Orndorff, Payne, and Chris Benoit
Chris Benoit
Christopher Michael "Chris" Benoit was a Canadian professional wrestler whose career and life ended in a murder–suicide...
. On August 18, 1993, Orndorff’s luck ran out as Ricky Steamboat
Ricky Steamboat
Richard Henry Blood , better known by his ring name Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, is a retired American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE working as a road agent. He was one of the few wrestlers who stayed a babyface throughout his career...
won the title at Clash of the Champions XXIV. After unsuccessfully challenging Ricky Steamboat throughout the fall and winter of 1993, Orndorff moved into the tag team division.
Pretty Wonderful
After the 1993 WCW PPV BattlebowlBattlebowl
Battlebowl was a one-time professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by World Championship Wrestling. It was made up of tag team matches in which the partners were randomly drawn in a "Lethal Lottery" and a team had to work together to advance to the Battlebowl Battle Royal. Previous versions of...
, the Horsemen Paul Roma
Paul Roma
Paul Roma is a professional wrestler who is known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling primarily as a tag-team wrestler alongside such partners as Jim Powers, Hercules, Arn Anderson and Paul Orndorff.-World Wrestling Federation :Paul Roma entered...
and Arn Anderson
Arn Anderson
Martin Anthony Lunde better known by his ring name Arn Anderson, is a former American professional wrestler and author. His career has been highlighted by his alliances with Ric Flair and various members of the wrestling stable, The Four Horsemen, in the NWA/WCW...
faced the semi-regular team of Paul Orndorff and "Stunning" Steve Austin
Stone Cold Steve Austin
Steve Austin , better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler...
on WCW Saturday Night
WCW Saturday Night
WCW Saturday Night was a weekly Saturday night TV show on TBS produced by World Championship Wrestling. The program existed through various incarnations under different names before becoming WCW Saturday Night in 1992...
. During the match, Roma acted very indifferent to his tag team partner, sowing the seeds to his heel turn. Next, Roma teamed with Erik Watts
Erik Watts
Erik Watts is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling in the early 1990s. He is the son of legendary wrestler "Cowboy" Bill Watts.-Debut:...
to take on the team of Orndorff and Austin once again. This time, Roma took it a step further and attacked Erik Watts before announcing that he was now teaming with Paul Orndorff.
Under the tutelage of manager Masked Assassin
Jody Hamilton
Joseph "Jody" Hamilton is an American retired professional wrestler and current wrestling promoter and trainer. In his active days Hamiltion was best known as known as one half of the tag team The Assassins where he was called "Assassin #1"...
, the team quickly began to work well together in a feud with Marcus Alexander Bagwell
Buff Bagwell
Marcus Alexander Bagwell is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name, Buff Bagwell. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling between 1991 and 2001, where he was a five time World Tag Team Champion.-Professional wrestling career: Bagwell...
and 2 Cold Scorpio
2 Cold Scorpio
Charles Scaggs is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name 2 Cold Scorpio . Scaggs has competed in Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment and Pro Wrestling Noah...
. In the following months, both Roma and Orndorff focused on their individual careers before reuniting around May. This time they wrestled without their manager and were officially known as “Pretty Wonderful". With both men rededicated to teaming, they soon challenged for the WCW World Tag Team Championship
WCW World Tag Team Championship
The World Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling...
then held by Cactus Jack
Mick Foley
Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he...
and Kevin Sullivan
Kevin Sullivan (wrestler)
Kevin Francis Sullivan is an American professional wrestler and booker, perhaps best known for his role in WCW as "The Taskmaster" and his leading of the "Dungeon of Doom".-Early career:...
. One incident especially stands out that established Pretty Wonderful in the title chase. The champions had one last defense against former champions the Nasty Boys
The Nasty Boys
The Nasty Boys are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags, active from the mid to late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. Their gimmick was that of anti-social punks who specialized in hardcore wrestling and brawling...
that also saw Kevin’s injured brother Dave. The match degraded into a brawl that saw Pretty Wonderful make an appearance using Dave’s crutch to attack the champions. Before the team left the ring, they also took a couple of shots at the Nasty Boys for good measure.
Going into Bash at the Beach, Pretty Wonderful had the advantage as both champions were suffering from injuries inflicted by the challengers on previous occasions (kayfabe). Cactus Jack and Kevin Sullivan were unable to hold off Roma and Orndorff, as Pretty Wonderful left the ring with the gold. Pretty Wonderful was immediately challenged by the Nasty Boys after winning the title, but the Nasty Boys were never able to take the gold from the champions. Next, Pretty Wonderful was challenged by the duo of Stars 'n' Stripes
Stars 'n' Stripes
Stars 'n' Stripes was a professional wrestling tag team in World Championship Wrestling composed of The Patriot and Marcus Alexander Bagwell.-History:...
(Marcus Alexander Bagwell & The Patriot
Del Wilkes
Del Wilkes is a former American professional wrestler. Over the span of 14 years, he performed in various promotions such as American Wrestling Association, All Japan Pro Wrestling...
) at Fall Brawl. The champions retained, but a week later the championship changed hands when Stars 'n' Stripes got the victory. Pretty Wonderful was granted a rematch against the new champions with a match booked for Halloween Havoc; Pretty Wonderful regained the titles when Roma used one of the title belts to knock Bagwell out cold.
At Clash of the Champions XXIX Stars 'n' Stripes were granted a final shot at the tag team title, but the challengers also had to put up the Patriot’s mask on the line. After a controversial double pin finish, Stars 'n' Stripes were declared the winners and thus the champions, putting the end to Pretty Wonderful’s second and final run with the gold.
After Roma left WCW, Orndorff returned to singles competition with his most notable match at the time being an unsuccessful shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship when he faced champion the Great Muta
Keiji Mutoh
is a Japanese professional wrestler who first gained international fame in the National Wrestling Alliance. He is mostly known for his work as The Great Muta in New Japan Pro Wrestling during the 1990s, but he has also competed in United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Taiwan...
at Slamboree. In May, Orndorff got a golden opportunity to regain the WCW Television title. He defeated Brian Pillman
Brian Pillman
Brian William Pillman was an American football player and professional wrestler best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation, Extreme Championship Wrestling, and World Championship Wrestling....
in a tournament to earn the shot at the champion. He lost to WCW newcomer The Renegade
Rick Williams
Richard C. "Rick" Williams was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his tenure in World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Renegade, where he was a one time World Television Champion.-Professional wrestling career:After a stint as a male stripper, Williams began...
at Bash at the Beach. Orndorff was also unable to beat the rookie in subsequent matches and began to lose confidence in his abilities (storyline
Kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...
). After losing more and more matches, including a match on WCW Worldwide
WCW WorldWide
WCW WorldWide was a syndicated TV show produced by World Championship Wrestling.-Wide World Wrestling:The show began in 1975 , a syndicated one-hour program produced by Charlotte, North Carolina-based Jim Crockett Promotions...
to Randy Savage
Randy Savage
Randall Mario Poffo , better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler, best known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling .Savage held twenty championships during his professional wrestling career and was a...
, Orndorff lost all faith in his abilities; the outwardly arrogant Mr. Wonderful was riddled with self doubt, until one night, after beating himself up backstage after yet another loss, he was visited by psychic Gary Spivey
Gary Spivey
Gary Spivey claims to be a psychic, medium, spiritual healer and spiritual teacher. He has made appearances on radio programs, TV shows, and in live casino shows and also conducts personal readings, seminars, workshops, and hosts retreats.- Radio shows :...
. Spivey convinced Orndorff to believe in himself and that he shouldn’t forget that he was “Mr. Wonderful". Orndorff became more arrogant than ever before and began carrying around a mirror everywhere he went.
On the December 11, 1995 episode of Monday Nitro
WCW Monday Nitro
WCW Monday Nitro was a weekly professional wrestling telecast produced by World Championship Wrestling, created by Ted Turner and Eric Bischoff. The show aired Monday nights on TNT, going head-to-head with the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw from September 4, 1995 to March 26, 2001...
, Orndorff confronted Brian Pillman after Pillman made derogatory comments about Orndorff. After telling Flair and Anderson how much he respected them, Orndorff told Pillman that he could have been a Horseman and the only reason Pillman was a Horseman was because he turned it down. Anderson and Flair tried to calm Orndorff down but Orndorff lost his temper and attacked Pillman. Pillman, Flair, and Anderson attacked Orndorff and then Arn Anderson and Ric Flair delivered a spike piledriver to Orndorff on the arena floor during the attack. WCW later explained that Orndorff had been seriously hurt in the attack and that his career was over. In actuality, Orndorff was forced to retire due to his previous injuries in the WWF, with the entire right side of his body beginning to atrophy
Atrophy
Atrophy is the partial or complete wasting away of a part of the body. Causes of atrophy include mutations , poor nourishment, poor circulation, loss of hormonal support, loss of nerve supply to the target organ, disuse or lack of exercise or disease intrinsic to the tissue itself...
(eventually causing his arm and leg muscles to shrink). It was something he had worked through as best he could but by the end of 1995 he was forced to retire and started to work as a trainer and a road agent for WCW. At Fall Brawl 2000, in a match between The Filthy Animals and The Natural Born Thrillers, Orndorff suffered a neck injury after delivering a piledriver. The referee, Charles Robinson stopped the match as a result.
Retirement
After Orndorff retired he began to run WCW Power PlantWCW Power Plant
The WCW Power Plant was a professional wrestling school located in Atlanta, Georgia and owned and operated by World Championship Wrestling. The Power Plant, which was developed from a school operated by Jody Hamilton, was in operation throughout the 1990s...
, where he trained several wrestlers including the Natural Born Thrillers
Natural Born Thrillers
The Natural Born Thrillers was a professional wrestling stable in World Championship Wrestling in 2000. The name is a play on the 1994 film Natural Born Killers.-History:...
. He had a brief onscreen role during this time in the Old Age Outlaws with Terry Funk
Terry Funk
Terrence "Terry" Funk is an American professional wrestler and actor known chiefly for the hardcore wrestling style he adopted in the latter part of his career that inspired many younger wrestlers, including Mick Foley...
, Arn Anderson
Arn Anderson
Martin Anthony Lunde better known by his ring name Arn Anderson, is a former American professional wrestler and author. His career has been highlighted by his alliances with Ric Flair and various members of the wrestling stable, The Four Horsemen, in the NWA/WCW...
, and Larry Zbyszko
Larry Zbyszko
Lawrence "Larry" Whistler is a professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Larry Zbyszko. Zbyszko is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino during the early 1980s....
to feud with the last WCW version of the nWo
New World Order (professional wrestling)
The New World Order was a professional wrestling stable that originally wrestled for World Championship Wrestling . The group later appeared in the World Wrestling Federation after the purchase of WCW by the WWF...
.
On February 3, 2005, Orndorff was announced as one of the inductees for the Class of 2005 into the WWE Hall of Fame
WWE Hall of Fame
The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame for professional wrestlers maintained by WWE. It was officially created on the February 1, 1993 episode of the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw television program...
. He was inducted on April 2 at the Universal Amphitheatre
Gibson Amphitheatre
The Gibson Amphitheatre is a theatre located in Universal City, California, USA. It seats up to 6,189 for concerts, including 6,089 chairback seats...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.
Personal life
Orndorff currently resides in Fayetteville, Georgia. He married his high school girlfriend Ronda Maxwell Orndorff. The couple have two grown sons, Paul Orndorff III and Travis Orndorff, as well as eight grandchildren.On January 5, 2011, Paul Orndorff appeared on the Busted Open radio show on Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
and revealed that he had recently been diagnosed with cancer. On August 10, 2011, Orndorff announced that he was now cancer free.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Spike piledriver
- Signature moves
- Armbar
- Diving knee drop
- Elbow drop
- Forearm strike, often followed by a clothesline
- German suplex
- Running high knee strike
- Sleeper hold
- ManagersManager (professional wrestling)In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...
- Roddy PiperRoddy PiperRoderick George Toombs , better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler and film actor who is currently signed to WWE. In professional wrestling, he is best known for his work with WWE...
- Bobby HeenanBobby HeenanRaymond Louis "Ray" Heenan , better known as Bobby "The Brain" Heenan , is a former American professional wrestling manager and color commentator, best known for his time with the American Wrestling Association , World Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation...
- Oliver HumperdinkOliver HumperdinkJohn Sutton , better known by his ring name Oliver Humperdink, was a professional wrestling manager who worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, Florida Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation.-Career:...
- Masked AssassinJody HamiltonJoseph "Jody" Hamilton is an American retired professional wrestler and current wrestling promoter and trainer. In his active days Hamiltion was best known as known as one half of the tag team The Assassins where he was called "Assassin #1"...
- Daryl Van Horne
- Roddy Piper
Professional wrestling
- American Wrestling Federation
- AWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Georgia Championship WrestlingGeorgia Championship WrestlingGeorgia Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion whose self-titled TV program aired in the 1970s and 1980s on Atlanta, U.S., superstation WTBS. Though based in Atlanta, the company also ran live wrestling shows throughout its geographic "territory" of Georgia Georgia...
- NWA National Heavyweight ChampionshipNWA National Heavyweight ChampionshipThe original version NWA National Heavyweight Championship was the major singles title in the NWA-affiliated Georgia Championship Wrestling from 1980 until 1986...
(4 times)
- NWA National Heavyweight Championship
- Mid-Atlantic Championship WrestlingJim Crockett PromotionsJim Crockett Promotions was a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. until the late 1980s. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and was the forerunner to World Championship Wrestling .-Early history:...
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version)WCW World Tag Team ChampionshipThe World Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling...
(1 time) - with Jimmy SnukaJimmy SnukaJames William "Jimmy" Reiher is a semi-retired Fijian professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Originally from the Fiji Islands, Snuka wrestled for several promotions in the 1970s and 1980s. Snuka is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having been a...
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version)
- National Wrestling AllianceNational Wrestling AllianceThe National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
- NWA Hall of FameNWA Hall of FameThe National Wrestling Alliance Hall of Fame is an American professional wrestling hall of fame maintained by the NWA. It was established in 2005 to honor select wrestling personalities, mostly alumni of the NWA. Inductees receive commemorative medals that have their names inscribed on it with the...
(Class of 2009)
- NWA Hall of Fame
- National Wrestling League
- NWL Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Brian BlairBrian BlairBrian Leslie Blair is a local politician in Florida, who gained fame as a professional wrestler especially as a part of the Killer Bees.-Career:...
- NWL Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Brian Blair
- NWA Mid-America / Continental Wrestling AssociationContinental Wrestling AssociationThe Continental Wrestling Association was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually referred to as Mid-Southern Wrestling...
- AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Memphis version) (1 time)
- NWA Tri-State / Mid-South Wrestling Association
- Mid-South North American Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Tri-State version) (2 times)
- Peach State Wrestling
- PSW Cordele City Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
- (Class of 2009)
- Pro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...
- PWI Feud of the Year (1986)
- PWI Match of the Year (1985)
- PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (1986)
- PWI ranked him # 38 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1993.
- PWI ranked him # 49 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
- Southeastern Championship WrestlingContinental Championship WrestlingContinental Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based out of Knoxville, Tennessee from 1974 until 1988 and Dothan, Alabama from 1978 to 1990, managed by Ron Fuller. When Fuller sold the promotion to David Woods, it changed name to the Continental Wrestling Federation...
- NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Dick SlaterDick SlaterRichard Van Slater , better known by his ring name "Dirty" Dick Slater, is a retired American professional wrestler who wrestled in the 1970s, 1980s, and mid 1990s for various promotions including Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling .Slater began wrestling with Mike...
(1) and Norvell Austin (1)
- NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Dick Slater
- Universal Wrestling FederationUniversal Wrestling Federation (Herb Abrams)The Universal Wrestling Federation was an American wrestling promotion based out of Marina del Rey, California.-History:Herb Abrams founded the UWF in 1990 with hopes of returning professional wrestling back to its roots...
- UWF Southern States Championship (1 time)
- World Championship WrestlingWorld Championship WrestlingWorld Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
- WCW World Tag Team ChampionshipWCW World Tag Team ChampionshipThe World Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling...
(2 times) - with Paul RomaPaul RomaPaul Roma is a professional wrestler who is known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling primarily as a tag-team wrestler alongside such partners as Jim Powers, Hercules, Arn Anderson and Paul Orndorff.-World Wrestling Federation :Paul Roma entered... - WCW World Television ChampionshipWCW World Television ChampionshipThe World Championship Wrestling World Television Championship was a professional wrestling championship in World Championship Wrestling....
(1 time)
- WCW World Tag Team Championship
- World Wrestling EntertainmentWorld Wrestling EntertainmentWorld Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
- WWE Hall of FameWWE Hall of FameThe WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame for professional wrestlers maintained by WWE. It was officially created on the February 1, 1993 episode of the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw television program...
(Class of 2005)
- WWE Hall of Fame
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
- Feud of the Year (1986)