By Jonathan Williams
After moving to the United States from Australia in the early ’70s, “Superstar” Bill Dundee became a fixture in the Memphis wrestling scene alongside the likes of Jerry “The King” Lawler, “The Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart and “Handsome” Jimmy Valiant. Perhaps best known for his multiple Tag Team Championship runs, Dundee has also held such titles as the National Wrestling Alliance Central States Heavyweight Championship, the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship and the Continental Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Championship. His career is chronicled in the new documentary Memphis Heat: The True Story of Memphis Wrasslin’, showing this weekend at the Plaza Theatre. Dundee, who will also be in Atlanta for the NWA Wrestling Legends Fanfest Weekend, recounts some of his career with Wrestling with Pop Culture.
Aside from being a big part of Memphis wrestling history, what role did you play in the making of this film?
They got us all together and we did interviews. Then they just took the old tapes and put them together with the interviews. They talked to me, Lawler, [Jackie] Fargo and “Handsome” Jimmy. Take those away and what else have you got? In Memphis, wrestling was the number one show for 50 or 60 years. That’s a lot of people watching every Saturday.
Do you think this film accurately depicts the Memphis wrestling scene you were such a big part of? What have audiences thought of it so far?
I have every tape that’s in the film. There’s nothing new I haven’t seen. When I saw it last month in Memphis, people seemed to enjoy it. They had Lance Russell, Dave Brown, Jerry Lawler, Bobby Eaton, Bill Dundee and Jerry Jarrett all there live. So it wasn’t just on its own. We were all there. But people popped at the things they liked in the movie and they talked to us to thank us and let us know that they liked it.
Memphis Heat is screening at the Plaza this weekend and you’re scheduled to be at the NWA Fanfest. Will you be taking part in any panels or other events there?
I’ll be there from 2 o’clock to 5 o’clock on Saturday afternoon with Jerry Lawler if people want an autograph or just to come up and talk.
The legacy of the Memphis wrestling scene from that time is still apparent today with Lawler still active in WWE and you still wrestling from time to time. What do you think Memphis wrestling’s biggest contributions have been on today’s wrestling scene?
Well, you had three TV channels then. That was the biggest thing. You have 4,000 now. Wrestling was orchestrated mayhem and it wasn’t exposed, used and prostituted the way Vince McMahon has done to it today. You wouldn’t have been allowed to make that documentary 50 years ago. You had to be in the business before you was allowed to talk about it, but now everybody’s smart and everybody wants to be bookers and promoters and this and that. Now WWE is the only thing left because TNA sucks so bad that nobody watches it.
How often do you get in the ring these days?
I still do it a little bit on the weekends. But we’re all getting older and you just don’t want to do it no more. But there was one Saturday where Jackie Fargo, me and Lawler did a show and you couldn’t find an empty seat in the house. It wasn’t an arena or coliseum, but it was a pretty big building and people still want to come out.
NWA Wrestling Legends Fanfest Weekend. $20-$224, free for children ages 10 and younger. Aug. 4-7. Atlanta Airport Marriott, 4711 Best Road, Atlanta, Ga. 404-766-7900, www.nwalegends.com.
Memphis Heat: The True Story of Memphis Wrasslin’. $6.50-$9. 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Aug. 5-7. Plaza Theatre, 1049 Ponce de Leon Ave., Atlanta, Ga. 404-873-1939, www.memphis-heat.com, www.plazaatlanta.com.