The evolutionists seem to know everything about the missing Link except the fact that it is missing. – Gilbert K. Chesterton
For Dewey Robertson, his on-screen persona was unlike anything anyone had seen before. He was liked and respected by his peers. Robertson would commit years to his craft, often showcasing a stature that was not unlike a movie star with his looks.
After years of showcasing a clean-cut appearance and being adored by fans, Robertson tapped into a part of his psyche that did not reflect what evolutionists like Charles Darwin would argue about years prior.
The Missing Link
From the ashes of a caveman, what came about was The Missing Link. It was in 1983 that Robertson first emerged with a character that was initially known as ‘Max the Missing Link.’ The Missing Link would first develop a terrifying and unsettled character during his time in Mid-South.
He didn’t speak but would merely grunt, not unlike an uncaged animal. The Missing Link would inevitably be a modern-day Neanderthal for all intents and purposes.
“Here I am in the dressing room, and I’m one of the Freebirds now. And I’m sitting in the dressing room, and I look across, and I see this guy looking at me, and it looked to me like it was the Missing Link.
And I didn’t even think of Dewey. I’m looking at him, and he’s looking at me, and I’m getting weirded out. I was going, ‘I know this person, but where’s the connection?’
And he then did one of the things he always does as the Missing Link, he put his hand on the back of his head and grabbed his ponytail — I thought I did something wrong; it scared me! This guy was big.
– Buddy Roberts on the Missing Link
His actions showed no fear and no remorse. There was a truly unsettling nature about Dewey Robertson’s Missing Link. The character’s look had face paint was not unlike a warrior preparing to do battle.
But for the Missing Link, each match was a battle. The battles weren’t for fame and fortune but rather to cause pain and suffering.
As he came to the ring, he was as willing to cause as much pain to himself as he was to his opposition. If he is willing to pull his hair out, what will he do to his opponent before him on any given night?
With his hair clutched on his way to the ring, The Missing Link would show the effects of pulling on his hair as portions of his scalp were bald.
The Missing Link would move on to Fritz Von Erich’s World Class Championship Wrestling. There, The Missing Link would form his alliance with the always dastardly Skandar Akbar and his Devastation Incorporation alliance.
Akbar would share that The Missing Link wasn’t ‘insane.’ In fact, that misunderstanding on the part of fans has led to this perpetuated treatment of the Missing Link. As time passed during the promo, the subservient Missing Link is growing quite frustrated.
The anger is growing in the Missing Link. Was he misunderstood, or could the uncaged rage be something to fear?
“The first time that I put Kimala and Link in a tag team match, (the Missing) Link tagged Kimala on the shoulder — then Kimala, who was from Uganda, was confused and thought (the Missing) Link was hitting him. Then they’d get into a fight, and I’d have to break that up,”
– Skandar Akbar on his team of The Missing Link and Kamala
For the Missing Link, only a few people could control and handle him throughout his career. While he spent time under the management of Akbar and, later on, Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan, Jimmy ‘The Mouth of the South’ Hart, Percy Pring, and Dark Journey.
“I came into World Class just in and out, I wasn’t one of the main characters. At the time, [World Class booker] Kenny [Mantell] was establishing his program with the Missing Link and with the special video he did, which in my mind, is one of the best videos I’ve ever seen.
You can take a character and build a video around him, but the Link’s character fit with Dewey’s personality, the truck and everything else, and how Dewey wrestled in the ring. As the Missing Link, he wasn’t Dewey Robertson anymore, he was the Link, which was a character he had to live 24 hours a day, and it was big.
People were really hot to see it. I don’t know all the reasons why it didn’t go further. Apparently, Kenny had built Dewey to the point that he was one of the hottest characters on TV.”
– Gene Lewis on the Missing Link
After he spent time in Mid-South and later on Championship Wrestling from Florida, The Missing Link would travel North to Connecticut. After leaving and competing on the territories, The Missing Link would move on to compete on a national stage for the World Wrestling Federation.
Sports Illustrated would release a photo of The Missing Link that would appear in the same edition that had Hulk Hogan on the cover. It was shortly after he appeared in the magazine, The Missing Link would appear in the WWF. He would be under the tutelage of a new manager. Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan would become his manager.
Wrestling’s Inaugural Relentless Beast
His time was typically spent with him thwarting his uncaged rage against enhancement talent. The Missing Link would typically lose matches to more notable names, but it was the impression he made while in the ring.
In fact, after an incident in Buffalo, New York, he destroyed several chairs around the ring while ringside commissioners were there. The incident almost cost the company an opportunity to run shows there in the future.
While in the WWF, the matches that appeared to be the best fit for him were ones in which he would face talent that were as equally dangerous as he was in the ring. He would battle the likes of George ‘The Animal’ Steele and ‘Mad Dog’ Vachon.
But after being under the helm of Jimmy ‘The Mouth of the South’ Hart, the Missing Link would quickly leave the company.
When Dark Journey’s character was initially a controversial one as one of mixed race in a relationship with Dirty Dick Slater in the Southern United States.
After Dark Journey turned face, she was no longer aligned with Slater and would now accompany The Missing Link to the ring in the Fall of 1986. The Missing Link would also compete in Championship Wrestling in Florida for a period of time as well. Additionally, he would feud with the likes of Rick Rude and The Great Kabuki.
While his time in the WWF was short-lived, his notorious nature in Mid-South, Championship Wrestling from Florida, and World Class Championship Wrestling fully showcased how frightening this character could be. Now, years after his passing, the memories of the Missing Link will live on.
The fear he created in fans was real, and the risk of destruction taking place when he is around it was almost a certainty. The Missing Link is among wrestling’s seven nights of frights.
