Over the years a number of prominent acts in WWE, AEW, WCW, New Japan and elsewhere have had names connected to animals.

In the buildup that match almost did not happen ... Why Junkyard Dog Left Mid-South Wrestling The Junkyard Dog out of nowhere ...

but he would truly become an icon after moving to the Mid-South Wrestling territory in the early 1980s. It was in Mid-South where promoter Bill Watts christened Ritter as the Junkyard Dog.