Paul Parlette Orndorff Jr. (October 29, 1949 – July 12, 2021), nicknamed "Mr. Wonderful", was an American professional wrestler and football player, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
After seven years working around the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), Orndorff became a star in the 1980s WWF wrestling boom eventually appearing in the main events of both the initial WrestleMania and also the debut of Survivor Series. He left the WWF for WCW in early 1990, where he won the WCW World Television Championship and the WCW World Tag Team Championship with Paul Roma (as a team called Pretty Wonderful).
Arm atrophy from a nagging injury led him to retire in 2000. After retiring, he trained aspiring wrestlers. Orndorff was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 and the National Wrestling Alliance Hall of Fame in 2009.
Football career Orndorff played college football at the University of Tampa, where he was a fullback for his first three seasons before he was moved to tight end mid-season in his senior year by coach Earle Bruce. He scored 21 career touchdowns and gained over 2,000 all-purpose yards in his playing career with the Spartans. He was inducted into the University of Tampa Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986.
Orndorff was selected in the 12th round of the 1973 NFL draft by the New Orleans Saints, who drafted him as a fullback, while leaving open the possibility of playing him at tight end. He voluntarily quit during training camp, citing "personal problems". He was considering giving professional wrestling a try, like his former Tampa teammate Ron Mikolajczyk, who made his wrestling debut that summer. After attending training camp with the Chicago Bears in 1974, Orndorff joined the Jacksonville Express of the World Football League in 1975, but he was injured.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1976–1980) After his football career ended, Orndorff watched Championship Wrestling from Florida in the mid-1970s. He called his father-in-law, who knew someone who knew Florida promoter Eddie Graham, which got his start into the wrestling business.
Orndorff started wrestling in 1976 in Mid-Southern Wrestling where he feuded with a young Jerry Lawler. Orndorff won his first wrestling title when he pinned Lawler for the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship on June 7, 1977. Orndorff lost the title back to Lawler before he left the Memphis territory. Orndorff began working for the NWA Tri-State promotion where he got involved in a feud with Ernie Ladd. The feud with Ladd saw Orndorff win the NWA Tri-State North American Heavyweight Title from Ladd on two occasions (on May 29, 1978 and again in June). Both times, Orndorff's reigns were short and were ended by Ladd.
After feuding with Ladd, Orndorff continued to make a name for himself in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) where he feuded with The Masked Superstar. During this time he became known as "The Brandon Bull", a nickname he had during his days as a football player. In December 1978, Orndorff teamed with Jimmy Snuka to capture the NWA World Tag Team Championship from Baron von Raschke and Greg Valentine. The duo held on to the title for five months before losing it to Raschke and his new partner Paul Jones on April 16, 1979.
In 1979, Orndorff traveled to the Alabama territory's "Southeast Championship Wrestling." There, Orndorff worked mainly as a tag team competitor teaming with Dick Slater to win the NWA Southeast Tag Team Championship from the team of Jimmy Golden and Norvell Austin in October 1979. Their reign only lasted about a month before being upended by the combination of Dennis Condrey and David Schultz. Orndorff then teamed with former opponent Austin (who was calling himself "The Junkyard Dog" at the time, not to be mistaken for the more famous Junkyard Dog) to win the title in late 1979. The duo beat Condrey and Randy Rose, the same team that ended Orndorff and Austin's run with the gold. Austin, Condrey, and Rose formed The Midnight Express shortly thereafter.
During 1980, Orndorff started to split his time between the Alabama and the Mid-South territories, until he left the Alabama territory by the end of 1980 to focus entirely on the Mid-South territory.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1980) Orndorff debuted in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in October 1980 as part of its "Toukon Series". In his first bout, in Tokyo's Korakuen Hall, he defeated Tatsumi Fujinami by count out. Over the following weeks, he faced opponents such as Kengo Kimura, Osamu Kido, and Strong Kobayashi, occasionally teaming with Hulk Hogan and other fellow gaijin wrestlers such as Chavo Guerrero. He wrestled his final match of the tour on November 6, 1980, in Tsu, Mie, teaming with Hulk Hogan in a loss to Antonio Inoki and Riki Choshu.
Mid South Wrestling (1980–1982) In Mid-South, Orndorff feuded with Ken Mantell over Mantell's propensity for cutting people's hair after a match. Orndorff got the better of Mantell and won the right to use the Freebird hair removal cream on Mantell. Orndorff earned a shot at the North American champion The Grappler but on the day of the match he overslept (storyline) and was incensed when his replacement Jake "The Snake" Roberts beat the Grappler for the title. Orndorff's reaction to Roberts's title win signaled a change in attitude; he turned heel as he demanded a title match against Roberts. While he lost the support of the fans, he won the North American title on July 4, 1981. Orndorff feuded with Ted DiBiase, JYD, Dusty Rhodes, and Dick Murdoch while holding on to the North American title. Orndorff lost the title to DiBiase on November 1, 1981, in a match at the Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans, Louisiana. Orndorff was unable to wrestle in the rematch due to car trouble, which meant that Orndorff's friend Bob Roop got the title shot and won the match. It was soon revealed that Roop had sabotaged Orndorff's car so he could get the title shot instead (storyline). Orndorff turned face to feud with Roop but found himself unable to regain the title. He left Mid-South Wrestling in May 1982.
Georgia Championship Wrestling (1982–1983) Orndorff reappeared in Georgia Championship Wrestling in June 1982, immediately launching into a feud with Buzz Sawyer over the NWA National Heavyweight Championship. He won the gold on June 20, 1982. During the summer, he vacated the title to focus on pursuing the NWA World Champion "Nature Boy" Ric Flair. He was unsuccessful in his challenge and soon focused on the title he gave up. When Orndorff vacated the title, it was put on the line in a tournament that was won by The Super Destroyer. On August 19, 1982, Orndorff regained the title from the Super Destroyer. Orndorff next feuded with The Masked Superstar, with whom he traded the National Heavyweight title back and forth during the fall of 1982. Orndorff then traded the title back and forth with Super Destroyer. Frustrated with his inability to beat Orndorff for the National title, Larry Zbyszko paid Killer Tim Brooks $25,000 to do his dirty work. Brooks beat Orndorff with the help of a chair and won the title only to turn around and give it to Zbyszko. The fact that Zbyszko bought the title and did not win it forced NWA President Bob Geigel to step in and strip Zbyszko of the title. Orndorff left Georgia Championship Wrestling in June 1983.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1983) Orndorff returned to NJPW in April 1983 as part of its "Big Fight Series II". In his returning match on April 1, he teamed with Ed Leslie in a loss to Antonio Inoki and Tatsumi Fujinami in Tokyo's Korakuen Hall. During the tour, he primarily teamed with Leslie or with Buddy Rose. In his final match of the tour, he lost to Akira Maeda in Tokyo's Kuramae Kokugikan.
Orndorff returned to NJPW for his second tour of the year on July 22 as part of its "Summer Fight Series", teaming with Adrian Adonis and Brian Blair in a loss to Akira Maeda, Osamu Kido, and Tatsumi Fujinami in Hakodate. He wrestled his final match of the tour on August 4, defeating Ryuma Go in the Kuramae Kokugikan.
Orndorff returned to NJPW for the third time in 1983 that October as part of its "Toukon Series", making what would be his final tour with the promotion. In his first match on October 7, he and Big John Studd wrestled Akira Maeda and Seiji Sakaguchi to a double count out in Tokyo's Korakuen Hall. He wrestled his last match for NJPW in November 3, defeating Masanobu Kurisu in the Kuramae Kokugikan.
World Wrestling Federation (1983–1988)
Alliance with Roddy Piper (1983–1985)
After wrestling a pair of matches for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in April 1983, Orndorff signed with the promotion later that year, making his return in November. Starting in January 1984, Orndorff took on "Rowdy" Roddy Piper as his manager. Piper nicknamed Orndorff "Mr. Wonderful", a nickname that he used thereafter. Orndorff faced Salvatore Bellomo on the night that Hulk Hogan defeated The Iron Sheik for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship and "Hulkamania was now in the WWF as it was in the AWA". Orndorff became one of the first people to challenge for the world title, shooting straight to the main event less than a month after his debut. Hogan disposed of the challenger and moved on while Orndorff fought a variety of opponents including the Intercontinental Champion Tito Santana. When Piper assaulted Jimmy Snuka on the set of Piper's Pit, Orndorff assisted the Rowdy One in his matches. Orndorff and Piper often faced Snuka and "The Tonga Kid" in tag team competition.
Near the end of 1984, Piper's assault on Cyndi Lauper (kayfabe) brought Orndorff and Piper on a collision course with Hogan and Mr. T. Hogan's feud with Piper also meant that Orndorff was thrust back into the main event picture; he defeated Tony Atlas at The War to Settle the Score and then played a part in the main event. The fallout from The War to Settle the Score led to the creation of WrestleMania, with Hogan and Mr. T (backed by Snuka) taking on Piper and Orndorff in the main event (with Bob Orton, Jr, as Piper and Orndorff's manager). Orton's interference at the end of the match backfired when he accidentally hit Orndorff with the cast on his arm, allowing Hogan to pin Orndorff and win the match for his team. Blaming Orndorff for the loss, Piper and Orton attacked him on Saturday Night's Main Event I. Later in the evening, Orndorff ran to the ring to even the sides when Piper and Orton were preparing to double team Hogan. He solidified his babyface turn by publicly firing manager Bobby Heenan shortly afterwards.
Alliance with Hulk Hogan (1985–1986) Orndorff and Hogan started teaming up to feud with Piper and Orton, facing them in tag team competition all over the country. Orndorff's feud with Piper and Orton continued to rage on while Hogan started to defend his title against other contenders; Orndorff faced both Orton and Piper in individual competition, usually without a conclusive outcome. After Orndorff fired Heenan as his manager, Heenan placed a $25,000 bounty on Orndorff, payable to anyone who could injure him. When no one succeeded, Heenan upped the bounty to $50,000. One of the first men to try to claim the new, higher bonus was Piper himself, but their matches got so out of hand that Bruno Sammartino was appointed as a special referee in the hopes of keeping the peace. Instead of keeping the peace, Sammartino became a target for Orton and Piper, which led to Orndorff and Sammartino teaming up. Orndorff teamed with a variety of opponents in his fights with Piper and Orton, including André the Giant. In February 1986, Heenan used a match between Hogan and Don Muraco as an opportunity to have King Kong Bundy attack Hogan, setting up their WrestleMania 2 match. While Hogan fought off Bundy, Orndorff battled Muraco in a match that ended in a double count out.
Feud with Hulk Hogan; arm injury (1986–1987)