The King of New Orleans

How the Junkyard Dog Became Professional Wrestling's First Black Superhero

By: Greg Klein

Narrated by: J D Jackson

Telling the remarkable tale of a man who is still remembered on the streets of New Orleans and in the hearts of professional-wrestling fans, this book aims to restore the overlooked Junkyard Dog to his proper place in the history books.

In 1979, Sylvester Ritter, also known as the Junkyard Dog, managed to break one of the final color barriers in the sport by becoming the first Black wrestler named undisputed top star of his promotion, and this biography reveals all the famous feuds and business back stories that made him a wrestling legend. By 1985, New Orleans was one of the hottest cities in the Mid-South for pro wrestling due in large part to the Junkyard Dog; he became a legend in the Big Easy, drawing sellout crowds to the Downtown Municipal Auditorium and huge crowds to the Superdome, a feat unparalleled by any other wrestler.

The King of New Orleans delves into wrestling’s recent past and recounts how a region known for racial injustice became the home of the sport’s first Black idol.

©2012 Greg Klein (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

misleading title

the book was titled to appear to e about The Junkyard Dog. The majority of the book was actually about Bill Watts and Midsouth Wrestling. The narrator also frequently mispronounced wrestlers names suck as Verne Gagne, Chris Benoit, Mr Wrestling 2 and others. you would think someone would at least made sure he knew the pronunciation of the wrestlers he was reading about

Is this a book about Bill Watts and Mid South wrestling or JYD ?

Great story, BUT the narrator was not given the right pronunciations of names that are super important for the story. Also for a JYD story it's honestly more about Bill Watts. Pretty disappointed because I've always been a JYD fan.

A Primer on Mid-South Wrestling's Glory Years

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

As an Amazon reviewer noted, this book isn't really a biography of JYD the man, so if that's what you're looking for, you'll be disappointed. There's a reason the book isn't called "The King of New Orleans: The Life and Times of Sylvester Ritter."

Instead, Greg Klein uses JYD as an entry point and guide to explore the bygone territorial wrestling system, specifically Bill Watts' Mid-South Wrestling promotion of the late 70s and 80s. As the place where guys like Ted DiBiase, the Fabulous Freebirds, Jim Duggan, Jake Roberts, Paul Orndorff, Mr. Wrestling II, and of course JYD came to prominence, Mid-South holds a special place in the hearts of a lot of old-school wrestling fans who had not yet (or never did) buy into the "sports entertainment" offered by the WWF or later WCW. Klein does a nice job detailing how Mid-South, thanks in large part to JYD, transcended the label of "wrasslin'" and connected with its fans on a personal level. (Some of the heels were so hated that fans tried to storm the ring and stab them.) Because it's easy to assume that pro wrestling is the same now as it always was -- a billion-dollar, worldwide entertainment industrial complex -- it's important to remember, as Klein asks us to, the industry's roots as a network of loosely related regional carnivals, with performers and storytelling devices as distinct and varied as the geography. Seeing how this system changed when a black man became a main-event babyface in the deep south helps shed light on the bigger industry changes to come.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The King of New Orleans?

I greatly enjoyed getting a glimpse into the marketing strategy and booking psychology that went into making JYD the promotion's first black main event draw. For instance, Watts took JYD's weakness -- the fact that he was never a great in-ring worker -- and used it to his advantage by booking him in short squash matches that highlighted his charisma and made him seem invincible and credible as a title threat. Watts also established a rule that JYD would never need saving -- if he got in a scuffle, he came up with a way to bail himself out.

It was also pretty fascinating that, during his Mid-South run, JYD was more popular with schoolchildren in New Orleans than Archie Manning or Pete Maravich, according to a poll taken at the time. That made me rethink the impression I'd always had of JYD as a popular but not particularly transcendent performer (of course, all I had to go on were his WWF and WCW runs, by which point drugs and his deteriorating physical fitness left him greatly diminished).

What does J D Jackson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

To the previous reviewed who railed on JD Jackson's reading: Settle down. Breathe. No matter how big the problem, there's never a need to go full caps lock.

Jackson does mispronounce a number of wrestling-specific names. It's Oh-lee Anderson, not Ol' Anderson. It's Mr. Wrestling 2, not Mr. Wrestling the Second. It's Ben-wah, not Ben-oyt (seems like you could know that one just from watching the news). While not knowing the ins and outs of the Audible recording process, I would think getting those right would not be the responsibility of the narrator, but of the Audible producer. It's not like Jackson read the names wrong and the producer said, "Well he missed those, but crap, he's the narrator. I guess we have to leave them in." No one in the room knew, and yes, someone probably should have taken a few minutes to do their due diligence. Not everyone's a wrestling fan.

However, those occasional mispronunciations don't take away from the overall performance (they're actually kind of funny after a while). JD Jackson is a fine narrator who treats the material with the seriousness it deserves when dealing with the real-life issues of race and the perils of the pro wrestling lifestyle, and he finds enough humor in the cartoon world of in-ring wrestling without being condescending or campy.

Any additional comments?

Though later chapters get a bit muddled and repetitive with the ins and outs of the promotions in-ring storylines, this book is totally fascinating if you have any interest in this formative era of wrestling's history. Recommended.

Entertaining & Insightful

The Junkyard Dog (JYD) is one of those wrestlers from the 1980s who I'm familiar with because he was part of the Rock 'N' Wrestling era, but not to a great degree. I was excited to check out The King of New Orleans, an Audible Original, for a couple reasons. First, I attended WrestleMania XXX in New Orleans — my first and only WrestleMania, so far — and it was a blast. And, second, because, in these racially charged times, now seemed like the perfect opportunity to learn about one of the most successful modern-day black wrestlers.

The King of New Orleans is as much a biography about Mid-South Wrestling as it is about JYD. And it does a solid job when it comes to delivering on both topics. My only complaint is that the author seemed to rely too much on reporting from Dave Meltzer — an industry outsider who is routinely lambasted by professional wrestling royalty for his inaccurate reporting and, sometimes, outright fabrication of events taking place. So, it's often very hard to tell what's real and what's not. I guess that's what makes this an entertaining book for the wrestling audience.

The King of New Orleans is a tragedy because JYD died far too young, and his star burnt out long before it should have. He was an immensely talented wrestler who reached heights that were seemingly unimaginable for the time. This book is a solid attempt at celebrating his career and reminiscing about Mid-South Wrestling. Go into with this mindset and you'll enjoy this Audible Original.

JYD! JYD ! JYD!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would like more info about JYD's life.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

yes

Could you see The King of New Orleans being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

A movie or mini series would be good. I don't know who the actors should be.

Any additional comments?

This book is more about the social impacts Junkyard Dog had on the Mid South Wrestling territory in the early 1980's. He was a cultural phenomenon during the early stages of wrestling's boom period in a historically segregated region of the country. I got the book expecting a wrestling book but that is not what this is. Wrestling is in the backdrop but this is about much more than wrestling.