William Cruickshanks (born 24 October 1943) is an Australian retired professional wrestler and author better known by his ring name Bill Dundee. Cruickshanks is the father of Jamie Dundee and was the father-in-law of wrestler Bobby Eaton.

Career

Dundee was born in Angus, Scotland, and raised in Melbourne. At 16, he joined the circus as a trapeze artist. He started wrestling in Australia in 1962 and finally arrived in the United States as "Superstar" Bill Dundee in 1974 with his tag team partner George Barnes. Dundee made a name for himself in the Memphis Territory, where he regularly teamed and feuded with Jerry Lawler and Jimmy Valiant for years. Dundee and Lawler ventured to the American Wrestling Association in 1987 and captured the AWA World Tag Team Championship twice. As a singles wrestler, he held the Southern Heavyweight Championship belt several times from 1975 to 1985. Also, he had a successful team with "Nature Boy" Buddy Landel that wreaked havoc in Tennessee. Dundee had a brief run in the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions, Central States Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling in 1986, where he teamed with Jimmy Garvin and feuded with Sam Houston for the NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship. He also briefly managed The Barbarian and The MOD Squad while in those territories. In 1993, Dundee signed with World Championship Wrestling as Sir William, the manager for Lord Steven Regal, he was fired in October 1994 due to a contract dispute. Dundee worked as a booker for Memphis, Louisiana and Georgia. He frequently appears on Jackson, Tennessee, talk radio station WNWS 101.5 with Dan Reeves and on a talk show on Public-access television cable TV channels in West Tennessee. He still promotes indy cards across Tennessee and in Southaven, Mississippi. He currently runs a podcast on Anchor named If You Don't Want the Answer, Don't Ask the Question. On 20 July 2019, Dundee, at 75 years old, defeated Tony Deppen to win the unofficial WOMBAT Television Championship for Game Changer Wrestling in Tullahoma, Tennessee. He retired from wrestling in December 2019.

Personal life

Dundee's son also became a wrestler under the name Jamie Dundee. On the 7 September 2023 episode of the YouTube series Story Time with Dutch Mantell, Jamie revealed that his father is suffering from late-stage dementia.

Books

Championships and accomplishments

1Dundee's and Lawler's reigns with the AWA World Tag Team Championship began on cards hosted by the CWA through the interpromotional relationship between the AWA and CWA that also allowed the defense of the AWA Southern Heavyweight and Southern Tag Team Championships primarily within the CWA. 2The CWA Southwestern Heavyweight Championship was promoted in both the CWA and WCWA while the promotions had a working relationship in 1989 and 1990.