Robert Windham, better known as Blackjack Mulligan, the patriarch of the Windham wrestling family that includes three performers on the current WWE roster, passed away.
Windham had been in poor health for some time after suffering a heart attack and other assorted ailments.
Windham, 73, was a major star in pro wrestling during the 70s and 80s. He was only in the business for two years, working under his real name, before he got his big break in the WWWF in 1971, taking the Blackjack Mulligan name, copying the gimmick with the black cowboy hat and black glove of Blackjack Lanza (Jack Lanza), who had become one of the top heels in the business a few years earlier.
Mulligan was the first contender for Pedro Morales after he won the WWWF title from Ivan Koloff in 1971, and used the name until his full-time career ended in 1989. During that period he was a top of the card star, usually as a heel, although he was a very successful babyface in the Carolinas and Florida.
Mulligan’s strength as a performer was his size and his interview ability. As 6-foot-5 and 300 pounds, he was often billed at 6-foot-9, and frequently opposed Andre the Giant. There was also a famous story of Mulligan sucker punching Andre at a beach front party, but Andre came back and dragged Mulligan into the Atlantic Ocean.
During the 70s, Mulligan & Lanza became a tag team, the Blackjacks, who had successful runs in Indiana, where they were managed by Bobby Heenan, as well as in Texas and the WWWF.
But his biggest success came after the team broke up, when working in the Carolinas, often teaming with Ric Flair, who he was best friends with and shared a van, and also feuded with him. During that period, he won the U.S. title, the main championship in the promotion, four times.
Mulligan also had unsuccessful runs as a promoter, after he and Dick Murdoch purchased the dying West Texas territory from the Funk Brothers, and later as a co-owner of a Knoxville based promotion.
Mulligan’s career largely ended in 1989 when he served time in prison, with son Kendall, for counterfeiting.
Mulligan’s son Barry and Kendall Windham, were both wrestlers and Barry was one of the best wrestlers in the world in the late 80s. His son-in-law, Mike Rotunda, was also a star wrestler and Mike’s three children, Windham (Bray Wyatt), Taylor (Bo Dallas) and daughter Mika work for WWE.
Windham had been sued by WWE in July, which was strange since his serious health issues were well known and his sons were stars with the group. The lawsuit was a preemptive move as the company believed Windham was going to sue them on the concussion issue. The lawsuit was thrown out of court two weeks ago when all the concussion related suits and WWE’s counter suits except two were thrown out.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with so much to talk about! New WWE records for WrestleMania, why you should stop bothering with storyline progression, Dave Meltzer talks about Blackjack Mulligan, and so much more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back tonight with all the news! WWE ratings, WWE Network numbers, Lucha Undergound review, Smackdown, Invasion Attack and UFC previews, Miesha Tate fights at UFC 200 and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
There has never been anything in the history of pro wrestling quite like this past weekend.
Never have more fans attended more events, nor has more talent been in the same place then in Dallas.
The difference in one year was amazing. Last year, in the San Jose area, WrestleMania came to town, people came from all over the world, and events were held throughout the city in conjunction with the weekend. There was an awareness that WrestleMania was in town, but it was more a tourist event and in the city itself, the interest was nothing compared to a major sports event. There were only about 15,000 tickets sold within a 100 mile radius of Santa Clara for last year’s show, but it still broke the company’s gate and merchandise records and most of the events put on by other companies did well.
After little to no movement for the better part of a year, WWE got the class action stockholder lawsuit dismissed this past week. We covered this in detail back in issue #1044 (June 26, 2015) after discovering the back and forth that was going on involving the statements of Brian Maddox, who was formerly WWE’s Vice President, Global Sales. The firm handling the case for the plaintiffs had filed an amended complaint a year ago with a lot of new, specific allegations from Confidential Witness 1 (or “CW1”), who turned out to be Maddox. This included everything from things we knew (WWE’s social media numbers count a number of fans multiple times when they follow multiple WWE accounts, the issues with ad rates stemming from the number of low income viewers, etc.) to new information (not allowing anyone to sponsor the ring canvas has hurt ad rates and sponsor variety, WWE would drop sponsors for no apparent reason) to somewhat specious claims about WWE’s total audience.
– Air Date: April 7, 2016 (Apr 6 in Canada) – Location: Toyota Center in Houston, TX
– The Big News:
AJ Styles confronted Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose returned, The Vaudevillains debuted, and The Miz defended his Intercontinental Title against Zack Ryder.
– Show Recap:
The show opened with the same WrestleMania recap video from Raw. Roman Reigns came out to a strong mixed reaction, and Mauro Ranallo reminded us that he’s a 3-time WWE champion. Reigns said he fought the Authority and won and took back his WWE championship. He repeated the same line from Raw about being “the guy,” except he delivered it a lot better this time, and said he’s going to beat AJ Styles.
Styles interrupted and got a big reaction. He congratulated Reigns on having “a heck of a WrestleMania” and becoming champion. They shook hands. Styles said he himself had a heck of a Monday Night Raw and was coming after the title. He’s beaten the best all over the world, has held a title of his own, and if he has to beat “the guy” to be WWE champion then so be it.
Reigns said Styles hasn’t been here long, and insinuated that WWE title is the only one that counts, not whatever title Styles held before. Reigns said Styles would have to beat “the guy” to get the belt. Yes, Styles just said that. Reigns said Styles would never beat him, patted him on the shoulder, and left. Styles smirked. This was fine. Crowd was into it, and the two guys did their best with the dialogue.
The Vaudevillains beat Lucha Dragons via pinfall
The Vaudevillains got their usual NXT entrance. Jerry Lawler thought they were in a silent movie and wondered if they could speak. Byron Saxton let us know that these two teams were familiar with each other from NXT. Sin Cara went for a suicide dive but Simon Gotch cut him off with a knee and the Vaudevillains took control.
Kalisto made a hot tag and ran wild on Gotch, while Sin Cara hit Aiden English with a suicide dive. English somehow recovered before Sin Cara and made a blind tag to set up the Vaudevillians hitting the Whirling Dervish for the win. Basic match, about 4-5 minutes long. Kalisto taking the pinfall is confusing to say the least.
They recapped Miz winning the Intercontinental title from Zack Ryder on Raw and plugged the rematch for tonight.
Natalya beat Summer Rae via submission
Charlotte joined commentary and her dad (Ric Flair) was there too. Natalya won in about 3 minutes with a sharpshooter as she stared at Charlotte. Natalya went out to confront Charlotte afterwards but the referee stopped her.
Intercontinental Title: The Miz beat Zack Ryder via pinfall
Maryse came out on the stage to introduce The Miz. She said she was proof that behind every great man, there’s a great woman, “and there is no greater man than my husband.” That’s funny.
During his comeback, Ryder went for a diving dropkick but Miz countered into a sitout powerbomb for two. They traded moves leading to Ryder hitting a broski boot outside the ring, followed by a diving elbow drop for a near fall. Maryse started pulling off the turnbuckle cover and Saxton asked, “What is Maryse doing?” to which Lawler responded, “I’m paying attention to the match over here.”
This distracted the referee and Ryder, which allowed Miz to punch Ryder in the face and hit the skull crushing finale for the win. Perfectly fine match, which went about 13 minutes. Oddly, they didn’t show any replays afterwards, and they moved on from this pretty quickly considering it was a title match.
Apollo Crews beat Curtis Axel (w/Social Outcasts) via pinfall
Axel got this match over his fellow Outcasts because he “won” rock-paper-scissors by claiming the axe beats all. Crews fended off the other Outcasts and won after hitting a dropkick, jumping clothesline, standing moonsault, enzuigiri and spin-out powerbomb. Lawler admitted that Crews might have a future here.
They recapped Baron Corbin’s win at Mania and his match with Ziggler on Raw. Backstage, Rich Brennan tried to interview Corbin, but Corbin told Brennan to save his questions. Corbin said he won a trophy at WrestleMania and dented the floor with Dolph Ziggler. He said the end of days weren’t coming, they’re here.
Elsewhere, Renee Young interviewed Becky Lynch. Lynch said that nobody else seems to think she’s funny, and made a pun about her busted eye, saying “I have myself in stitches.” She then got serious, saying that Mania was the most brutal match of her life. Lynch said the new Women’s title was about heart and passion, and she walked out on Charlotte on Raw because she was making it about herself.
Lynch said she would get back to the title picture and pay back Charlotte for what she did to her eye. Emma interrupted and said she liked what Charlotte did to Lynch’s eye. She’s pissed that she got pushed to the back of the line in favour of Lynch. Lynch told her to back off or she’d mess up Emma’s eye.
Dean Ambrose beat Tyler Breeze via pinfall
Ambrose won in one minute after a rebound clothesline and Dirty Deeds. Ranallo said Breeze went down faster than Batman v. Superman at the box office.
As Ambrose’s music played, Chris Jericho’s entrance interrupted, and Ambrose looked annoyed. Ambrose stared at Jericho on his way up the ramp, but Jericho just ignored him.
Before the main event, there was another segment with Goldust and R-Truth. Basically, Truth promised Goldust an audition with a Hollywood producer next week in LA.
AJ Styles & Cesaro beat Kevin Owens & Chris Jericho via pinfall
Jericho and Owens had an intense conversation in the ring as the entrances were happening, perhaps over who is the biggest Twitter troll.
Cesaro and Styles used a double-team move early on, and Owens yelled, “You’re a cheater!” Jericho was frustrated by getting double teamed again, so he left the ring and started tossing stuff around. Owens, unsure of how to react, decided to join in by gently lifting the steel steps out of position. These two are already my favourite tag team.
After a break, the good guys were still all over Jericho as the crowd chanted for Styles. Jericho finally managed to tag out, but Cesaro got them both with the uppercut train. However, Jericho shoved Cesaro out of the ring and Owens tossed him into the announce table for the heat.
Cesaro avoided a cannonball and made the hot tag to Styles, who hit forearms to Owens and a sitout facebuster for a near fall. Owens avoided a springboard move and hit a superkick for two. Styles came back with a Pele kick. He went for the springboard forearm but Jericho pushed him off the ropes. Owens rolled him up but Styles kicked out and Cesaro uppercut Jericho over the barricade.
Owens was about to go for the pop-up powerbomb, but he stopped after seeing Sami Zayn making his way down the ramp as officials tried to stop him. The distraction allowed Styles to school boy Owens for the win. Good match.
Immediately after the match, Owens and Zayn went after each other. The brawl ended when Owens tossed Zayn’s injured shoulder into the steel steps. The referees dragged Owens away as he yelled, “I hate you!” and the show ended. There were no replays again, but it made sense here with Zayn coming out unannounced.
– Final Thoughts:
Pretty good show top-to-bottom. Simple booking with all the featured acts winning their matches. Fresh faces definitely help.
Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back today with tons to talk about including tons of news and notes from WrestleMania weekend, Raw from Monday, the WWE Network number, Hulk Hogan and the Gawker trial, calls and texts and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Welcome to the biggest party of the year, the Total Divas after WrestleMania, where up is down and down is out of control. Sit back, strap it on, and enjoy yourself, WWE Universe, because this is going to be one hell of a wild ride.
In Cincinnati, JoJo, Mandy, and Rosa are sitting around in catering talking about Rosa’s baby shower. Paige sits at another table. She has too much on her plate to deal with baby stuff. Rosa and Fox go sit with her and try to make her talk about Rosa’s big, famous baby shower.
Brie shows Nikki a picture of a house in Washington. Nikki is so mad that Brie wants to move to Washington. Nikki is excited to go to the wine bar there, but she wants to wear heeled Timberlands when they go hiking.
Someone spanks Nattie.
Work has been going great for Fox, but due to Nikki’s injury, she is getting some time off, too. Which is good for her, because she has some family issues to take care of.
In a hotel bar, Fox and Paige have a drink and commiserate. Fox is so tired. Her family is coming in and she wants to have a family talk. A father figure in her life, Priechy, who her mother used to date, is dying, and it’s making her realize she has to deal with all the dysfunction. Paige tells Fox that she has to talk to her family. Fox is going to miss Rosa’s big, famous baby shower.
In a car in Washington, Brie’s brother points out a bumper sticker with a dick joke. Everyone loves it. Nikki likes Washington, but she hates how rural it is. Brie and Nikki argue over how high maintenance Nikki is. Bryan joins in.
Back in Florida, Fox tells Rosa she can’t go to her big, famous baby shower. Rosa doesn’t understand. She gets upset and walks away.
In Washington, they are in the backwoods, on a dirt road. It’s beautiful. Nikki hates it. She is wearing high heeled camping boots. Nikki is crazy. They are looking at an empty lot. Bryan and Brie consider building a house there. Nikki is pissed because she doesn’t want to go there when John is filming a movie.
In Florida, Fox is driving with her sister. She starts crying really hard, talking about her mother. Her mom recently blew her off in Houston. Her sister calms her down.
Back in Washington, the music is intense as everyone pulls up to a beautiful house where if you want water, you have to get it from a well. Nikki is pissed, and Bryan acts passive aggressive. Nikki tells everyone she is a good person.
In Florida, Fox’s mom arrives. They reminisce in the car. Fox and her sister don’t like their mom’s perfume. It smells gross.
At Raw, Rosa is backstage. She sits down with Mandy and Eva. No one is going to Rosa’s big, famous baby shower. Paige has a secret that she’s been hiding and she needs to tell it to Rosa. In the ring, Paige symbolically taps out to Nattie’s Sharpshooter. Big Show thinks Paige looks sad. He comforts her backstage and pulls her aside for a pep talk. Paige reveals that she once lost a baby, and that she had to have a cyst removed and she may never be able to have kids. That’s why Rosa’s big, famous baby shower thing has been so hard for her.
In Florida, Fox and her family go to a really nice outdoor restaurant right on the beach. It’s the kind of place you go on vacation, but Fox can eat there whenever she wantsbecause she lives in town. I’m getting so chilled out just imagining being there. This is, by far and away, my favorite place I have ever seen anyone ever eat on Total Divas. It’s a shame that this has to be the place for Fox to hold her big family meeting, and she can’t just relax with a cold drink. But maybe the chill vibes are just what she needs to make a tense situation manageable for her. I think she made a great choice in restaurants. Priechy shows up. Fox’s mom already knew about his illness, but she never told her daughters. This pisses Fox off.
Back in Washington, Nikki and Bryan make a bet that she can’t last the night camping outside. Nikki tries to set up a tent, but she’s having trouble. Bryan teaches her and shegets it. Bryan tells her she has to use the bathroom outside. Nikki says no way, and Bryan wins the bet and fifty dollars in cold, hard cash.
In Los Angeles, Rosa and Paige are driving around. Paige tells Rosa that she can’t go to Rosa’s big, famous baby shower because she has to go on MTV. Rosa is so pissed.No one is coming to the party now.
In Washington, Bryan is chopping wood. Nikki remembers her victory over Bryan in a wood chopping contest many years ago on another season of Total Divas. Thisawakens the competitive fire in Nikki’s heart, and she decides she wants to go fly fishing. Nikki chops wood.
In Florida, the Fox family are going to another chill looking outdoor restaurant in Jacksonville. This episode is doing a great job making me want to move to Florida. Fox confronts her.
In Washington, Nikki goes fishing and Brie and Bryan go shopping. Brie comments on the irony. They look at baby hiking books. Meanwhile, Nikki is learning to fish. She isstarting to come around to the Washington lifestyle. She realizes that her problem isn’t with Washington, it’s that everyone is moving to the next step in their lives, but she isn’t ready yet.
Back in Florida, Fox and her mom leave the restaurant, and start fighting. Her mom is acting like a total nut. Fox feels guilty, but she really doesn’t need to. Her mom appearsin this episode as the dictionary definition of dysfunctional. Fox drops her mom off, and she is really sad about what happened.
Back in LA, It’s time for Rosa’s big, famous baby shower. There is a photo booth. Rosa is so sad that none of her work friends are there. She is especially mad at Paige. Lillian Garcia shows up, and they take a picture together.
On the MTV set, a strange guy talks to Paige. Paige feels like she is betraying Rosa. Perhaps all the Divas’ problems would be solved with a little truth and transparency.
At Rosa’s party, Rosa talks smack about Paige, and then Paige surprises everyone and shows up. Paige tells Rosa her secret. They hug, and Rosa realizes she’s been a little selfish. Paige hopes to one day be a mom, as good of a mom as she has. They play a game called suck the nipple.
Back in Washington, everyone goes to this really nice North Western styled bistro. Nikki loves it. She tells Brie she is pissed that Washington is too far from her. Nikki tells them she feels like they are moving there to get away from her. She said she went fishing to prove to them that she can be a mountain mama and hang with them in the Wilderness. They tell her that they love having Nikki be their third wheel. Everyone feels a lot better. Brie tells them that they probably aren’t going to move to that particular town anyway.
The Bryan & Vinny Show is back today and we’ve got TONS to talk about! More WrestleMania weekend memories, Brent Kremen update, BUS NUMBER TWO, Vinny’s thoughts on WrestleMania and Takeover, Bryan visits the site of JFK’s doom, Raw notes, and yes, after all that, RETRO RAW AND RETRO NITRO~! A fun show as always as we get back into the swing of things, so check it out~!
The weekend is over and Dave and Bryan are back to wrap up the WrestleMania coverage with a look at the post-Mania Raw, which Dave watched on TV and Bryan attended live! Tons of news notes as well, plus questions and more! A fun show as always, so check it out, and thank you everyone for a great weekend!
