>>10996562>>10996561Junkyard Dog was a Bill Watts special project, as Watts saw that there was a huge audience to get/money to make, going after black wrestling fans with a top level black babyface.
Junkyard Dog was basically Black Cena, super popular and super over in Mid-South but one of two things happened, depending on who you talk to:
1. Junkyard was in the bathroom stall in an arena taking a shit and Bill Watts and one of his underlings came into the bathroom, not knowing JYD was inside one of the stalls and Watts, when asked about whether or not he was fearful that JYD might bail for another company, said JYD was loyal and wouldn't leave Bill... except Bill said "Nigger" instead of JYD's name when he replied back and this caused JYD to pretty much leave Mid-South on the spot and sign with Vince
2. Vince wanted to cripple Mid-South and wanted Watts big new babyface and basically overpaid JYD to get him to jump ship without warning.
Now, Watts has repeatedly and vehemently denied referring to JYD as "the nigger" in private conversations, let alone that the bathroom incident even happened and has repeatedly proven his anti-racist street cred by pushing black wrestlers to the top (see him making Ronn Simmons world champion). To the point that Dark Side of the Ring had to put on-screen, in text, that Watts (who refused to participate in the JYD episode) that Watts denies the incident ever happened to cover their asses. Let alone preface the nigger story as "rumor".
The later is considered to be the most likely truth, as after JYD bailed on Mid-South, Watts alternated between giving JYD a tearful fourth wall breaking goodbye on camera as far as explicitly stating to fans that JYD left the company (a rarity at the time for someone to do that) and badmouthing JYD on commentary for bailing on the company like a coward; all the while hiring a slew of JYD rip-offs to try and capture the lightning in a bottle that was JYD and the black audience that loved him.
