King Kong Bundy dead at age 61, cause of death were not disclosed.
Wrestling legend King Kong Bundy is dead at age 61, according to multiple reports.
“Today we lost a Legend and a man I consider family. Rest in Peace Chris. We love you. Thank you for believing in me,” his friend and wrestling promoter David Herro wrote on Facebook.
Additional details, including a cause of death, have not been announced.
Bundy, whose real name was Christopher Alan Pallies, entered the WWF in the 1980s and rose to fame as a rival of Hulk Hogan. The pair faced off for the world heavyweight championship at WrestleMania 2 in 1986; Hogan won the steel cage match, reportedly ending Bundy’s streak of 300 consecutive wins.
Pallies, a New Jersey native, lived up to the “King Kong” moniker at 6-foot-4 and 458 pounds, plus a larger-than-life personality. Other famous matches included “The Colossal Jostle” with Andre the Giant, a Survivor Series showdown with Bam Bam Bigelow, and a 1995 bout with The Undertaker.
Pallies made memorable appearances on “Married… with Children” both as Peggy Bundy’s brother Uncle Irwin and as himself, King Kong Bundy; the show’s Bundy family was reportedly named after him as a tribute.
He also performed on the independent wrestling circuit and appeared on “WWE Raw,” as well as the TV show “Boy Meets World” and the Richard Pryor movie “Moving.”