| Blackjack Mulligan | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | Blackjack Mulligan Big Bob Windham Big Machine |
| Billed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 340 lb (150 kg; 24 st) |
| Born | November 26, 1942 Sweetwater, Texas |
| Billed from | Eagle Pass, Texas |
| Trained by | Verne Gagne |
Robert Deroy Windham (born November 26, 1942), better known by his ring name Blackjack Mulligan is a former professional wrestler and a former American football player. He is the father of wrestlers Barry and Kendall Windham.
Contents |
Career
As a young man, Windham played football at the Texas Western University. He then went on to play for the New York Jets during the 1966 pre-season and received tryouts with the New Orleans Saints and Denver Broncos. After football, at the urging of Wahoo McDaniel, Windham trained with Joe Blanchard in Corpus Christi, Texas and later with Verne Gagne and became a professional wrestler in the American Wrestling Association. He then moved to the World Wide Wrestling Federation and became the villain Blackjack Mulligan. At first Mulligan, donning black trunks, black hat, black glove, and using the iron claw submission hold, seemed to be an imitation of AWA wrestler Blackjack Lanza, managed by The Grand Wizard. Mulligan went on to greater success in the Northeast. He received a push and went on to wrestle Pedro Morales and Bruno Sammartino.
Mulligan returned to the Midwest and tagged with Lanza to form The Blackjacks. The duo went on to capture numerous tag team championships in various NWA affiliated promotions as well as the WWWF World Tag Team Championship in August 1975.
Blackjack returned to singles wrestling in the Jim Crockett Promotions where he would go onto hold the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship and the Mid-Atlantic's version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship with a Ric Flair.
Mulligan often battled André the Giant, feuding in many different regions in the early '80s. When they brought their feud to the WWF in 1982, Mulligan would go onto wrestle in Florida as a face. He often teamed with West Texas stars Dusty Rhodes, Dick Murdoch, and his son Barry Windham.
In 1986, Mulligan wrestled under a mask as "Big Machine," part of a team with "The Giant Machine" (André the Giant) and "Super Machine" (Bill Eadie) collectively known as The Machines. Later on, he traveled to Dallas and competed in World Class Championship Wrestling, as a heel, wrestling against Bruiser Brody, Chris Adams and Kevin and Lance Von Erich.
Mulligan and his Blackjacks partner, Jack Lanza were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 1, 2006 by their manager, Bobby Heenan.
Championships and accomplishments
- European Wrestling Union
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- EWU World Super Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
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- IWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Larry Hennig
- International Wrestling Federation
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- IWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
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- NWA International Heavyweight Championship (Amarillo version) (2 times)
- NWA Western States Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Dick Murdoch
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- PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (1978)[2]
- PWI ranked him #159 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003.
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- WWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- WWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Jack Lanza[3]
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- WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2006)
- WWWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Jack Lanza
References
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated Award Winners Inspirational Wrestler of the Year". Wrestling Information Archive. http://www.100megsfree4.com/wiawrestling/pages/pwi/pwiinsp.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-27.
- ^ "W.W.A. World Tag Team Title (Indianapolis)". Puroresu Dojo. 2003. http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/in/wwa/in-wwa-t.html.
External links
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