Everybody remembers the JunkYard Dog, Sylvester Ritter, Right???
Well how many of you out there in professional wrestling land remember the ScrapYard Dog, Louis McNair????
The ScrapYard Dog was about as local as you can get…He attended our local James B. Dudley High School….He was trained by the “Raging Bull” Manny Fernandez, and The ScrapYard Dog had many a gruesome match with “The Beastmaster” Rick Link, who is from Lexington, N.C.
ScrapYard Dog worked matches for Tim Blaze, and also did some work for George South, plus I vividly remember one Saturday night when we were promoting a Wrestling Card down on Philips Avenue, in the Cecil Carr Special Events Center, and The ScrapYard Dog was in one of the feature matches on that card…We had Lodi, Scotty Matthews, Bobby Fulton, and other key names on the wrestling card, but The ScrapYard Dog nearly tore the house down, and I thought the entire complex/building might come tumbling down to the ground, as The ScrapYard raced to the concession stand when his match was over/complete, and The Dog needed something to eat, in a BAD way…
The ScrapYard Dog was Bad to the Bone, and Tim Blaze will tell you this, when Blaze needed a headliner for a local wrestling show, back in those days, Blaze told me it was all about the ScrapYard Dog Craze…The fans and the kids were crazy about “The Dog”…
ScrapYard Dog was a regular customer at John Hitchcock’s Parts Unknown Comic Book Store down on Spring Garden Street, here in Greensboro…”The Dog” was truly a man\dog about town…
You would see him everywhere back in his heyday…He would be in Christmas Parades in Thomasville, involved with Ribbon Cutting Ceremonies down in Seagrove, at School Dedications in Pfafftown, N.C. You might say “The Dog” was on the prowl all over the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina….And the fans loved him and respected him…
The only problem was at times, you had to make sure you cleaned up after him, because, “The Dog” could make a mess…He had a way of leaving a path of destruction in his wake…This man was a “True Local Legend”, and it gives me great honor and at the same time it puts me into a state of mourning, to report his passing here today….
We all saw the DarkSide of the Ring report on the life and times of The JunkYard Dog/Sylvester Ritter from Wadesboro, N.C. and now today we have had the chance to look back on the Life of “The JunkYard Dog”, Louis McNair…I just got word of his passing yesterday, and if I had known sooner, the we would have shared the sad/bad news with you earlier….But here are with you today, trying to cast a light on his memory….
We say here today, RIP:ScrapYard Dog/Louis McNair…As soon as we found out that you were gone, the memories starting flowing….
from Greg Oliver at SLAM Wrestling and as we Slam the door and close the book on “The ScrapYard Dog”, we remind you that ‘Every Dog will have his Day’, and this Dog(Louis McNair) did just that…..
NC VETERAN THE SCRAPYARD DOG DEAD AT 54
Posted by Greg Oliver
NC veteran The Scrapyard Dog dead at 54
Louis Mcnair, a veteran of the wrestling scene around the Carolinas, who wrestled as The Scrapyard Dog, has died. He was 54.
Details are still coming in on his passing, but his cousin, David McNair, confirmed the news: “Can’t sleep lost another cousin I was real close too rip Louis Mcnair.” A family friend has set up a GoFundMe account to help Louis’ sister with funeral expenses. “This was very sudden and has put a heavy financial burden on his sister,” wrote Jill Demrest.” It appears he passed away on December 23, 2022.
Mcnair was born April 19, 1967, and spent most of his life in and around Greensboro, North Carolina. He attended Dudley High School from 1982 to 1985.
He trained to be a professional wrestler under “The Raging Bull” Manny Fernandez and “Beastmaster” Rick Link, and debuted in 1998. In a Facebook post, Link noted that he and Mcnair had “been friends for over 30 years and shared the ring many times….this one really hurts……”
At 5-foot-9, and 240 pounds, The Scrapyard Dog worked a myriad of promotions, including G.O.U.G.E. Wrestling, Danger Zone Wrestling, Adrenaline Pro Wrestling, High Velocity Pro Wrestling, Next Revelation of Lucha Libre, AIWF Mid Atlantic Wrestling, Carolina Wrestling Showcase, Revolution Wrestling Authority, Bruiser Wrestling Federation and Pure Pro Wrestling.
“I knew Scrapyard for about 14-15 years. He was a regular for a while with GOUGE, and I had the pleasure of managing him there as well as some other indy shows around North Carolina,” recalled “Count Grog” Greg Mosorjak. “His GOUGE matches with Seymour Snott were always memorable. He had some memorable bloodbaths against Beastmaster Rick Link. … My favorite memory was a match in Seagrove, NC, where he wrestled Rick Link in a dog collar match with Baby Doll managing him and me managing Link. I got Baby Doll to turn on him and we all put the boots to him after Link won. He sold it like a champ and the true professional he was. He will be missed by the North Carolina wrestling scene, as he was a major piece if it for a long time.”
On a webpage for the Fire Star Pro Wrestling promotion, The Scrapyard Dog was described as “The most feared man in Fire Star Pro Wrestling.”
With over 15 years of experience in Pro Wrestling he has built his reputation from brutal street fights and unforgettable hardcore death matches with scars marked all over his body to show the punishment he has put himself through over the years. Scrapyard Dog as a young boy used to attend the NWA Mid Atlantic TV tapings at the Greensboro Coliseum and was inspired to become a professional wrestler. But his pro wrestling career did not come easy as he paid his dues through intense and grueling training under 2 Mid Atlantic Wrestling Legends The Raging Bull Manny Fernandez & Beastmaster Ric Link. Scrapyard Dog has two goals in this sport and that is to hold as many championships as possible and to continue to help develop young learning wrestlers in the business of Professional Wrestling.
He also helped out as a trainer at the FSPW Training & Performance Center in Greensboro, NC, United States. The Facebook page for the school posted condolences:
We mourn the lost of our mentor, trainer, & friend, the legendary Scrapyard Dog. Louis McNair became a coach at the FSPW PC in December of 2020. Since then he has connected with, motivated, taught, and inspired every single one of us. With over 20 years of pro wrestling experience, Scrapyard Dog was a wealth of knowledge and we were blessed that he was willing to share a small bit of his wisdom with us.
Thank you coach Scrap for all the contributions you made for our industry, the moments we shared, and all the memories.
Please keep his family and loved ones in your thoughts and prayers.
In 2010, Mcnair published his memoir, a 104-page self-published book, titled Behind The Curtain.
For a time, he also hosted a podcast called Conspiracy Talk.
Friends remembered The Scrapyard Dog:
Richie Owenby: Scrap I’ll never forget you. You were my first first match on the indies. Rest easy in that squared circle in the sky.
Joseph Cabibbo: RIP my brother, thank you for your friendship over the years.
Julian Strauss: Just received the terrible news that Louis Mcnair, better known to Wrestling fans as The Scrapyard Dog, passed away earlier this evening. I had spoken to Scrap just a few days ago and there were no signs of anything being wrong. I’ve known him for many years and he was always one of the toughest men I knew. He was brutally honest, stubborn as a mule, and surprisingly funny. I am still in shock and cannot believe he is gone. Please keep his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers as they deal with this devastating loss right at the holidays. Rest in peace my friend. Love you Scrap, You will be missed.
Zuka King: R.I.P My Friend Louis Mcnair Thank you for all your contributions to our profession. Thank you so much for all the knowledge, encouragement and motivation, you’ve given to me and many others as well.
Keith Mack: I just heard the news on the passing of Louis Mcnair aka Scrapyard Dog. Scrap was one of the first to welcome me to the NC wrestling scene when I moved back 8 years ago and I was honored to share the ring with him. We caught back up earlier this year and he was in good spirits as always. Rest in Peace my friend.
Away from the ring, Mcnair ran a business, was a drummer, and supported the NFL’s Raiders.
“Louis was always a pleasure in the locker room, he was open to whatever ideas we gave him for matches adding his own hardcore twist,” added Mosorjak. “We became good friends outside wrestling because if our similar political views. Louis was a regular poster on my secret political page always adding funny memes. In recent years I didn’t work no GOUGE shows so I hadn’t seen him in a few years but we continued to chat on Facebook and talked politics and wrestling.”
Funeral information is not known at this time.
(from Dec 24, 2022)