Scott Bowden presents Kentucky Fried Rasslin

Neal Snow of All-Star Championship Belts continues his series of mocked-up Apter magazine covers that threaten to break the kayfabe code.

Bill “Superstar” Dundee had it all: the gift of gab, a creative mind, excellent psychology, desire, superior in-ring ability, a great-looking right hand and a natural charisma as either a heel or a babyface. Well, almost everything. At around 5’6″, “the scrappy little Australian” (as Lance Russell often referred to him) was too short to be taken seriously as a big star anywhere but Memphis,  a territory that catered to smaller workers. To his credit, Dundee had several outstanding bouts with the likes of AWA champion Nick Bockwinkle, which drew very well in the area. Memphis fans absolutely believed in the Superstar, but if he’d have been about 6 inches taller, Dundee could have been a headliner nationwide. (Conversely, if I had been about six inches shorter, I’d have been more effective as a manager.)

At the height of his feud with Ronnie Garvin in ICW, Randy Savage was arrested for shoplifting a steak from a Kentucky grocery store. (Hey, the ICW heavyweight champion of the world should never have to pay for anything.) Instead of ignoring the publicity over the incident, which made the area newspapers, Garvin announced the news to ICW audience to humiliate his rival-good stuff. (For more on Savage’s early starving-artist days, click here.) Apparently, the Macho Man liked his steak rare.

Oh, what could have been. Gino Hernandez oozed heel charisma. He wasn’t a great worker by any means, but his promos and heat-inducing nastiness more than made up for it. If the partying and substance abuse hadn’t been issues, Gino would have been a major player in the industry in the mid- to late ’80s. (Granted, I could say that about plenty of guys, including the late Eddie Gilbert.) Instead, Gino passed away of a cocaine overdose at the age of 28 in 1986; however, some speculate he was murdered.