Blackjack Mulligan-John Studd: It's On!

By David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway 

The Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling television program that aired in most markets on Saturday October 28, 1978 showcased the first extended interview with a giant newcomer to Jim Crockett Promotions, by the name of “Big” John Studd. As Studd ambled out to the set, announcer Bob Caudle told the fans, “He’s only been in the Mid-Atlantic area just a few weeks now, and he's already creating quite a bit of controversy, quite a bit of talk, stir and activity…John Studd.”

Blackjack Mulligan tests John Studd

The massive newcomer responded, “That’s right, BIG John Studd, let’s get it straight, it’s BIG John Studd. Not just any John Studd, but BIG John Studd! Now I’m out here for a few minutes and I’m going to be very congenial, anything you want to know, ask me!” 

Before Caudle could respond, Studd preemptively cut him off shouting, “And I’ll tell you this, I’m six feet nine inches and I weigh 330 pounds and when John Studd comes to town, everybody leaves town! I came out here and I had a list, I called it my Studd List. The List was about two feet long, but all of a sudden the promoters are getting phone calls from everybody right and left saying ‘my knee hurts, my ankle hurts, my thigh hurts.’ What’s wrong? They’re all cowards!”

At that juncture, Studd turned his attention to none other than equally big Blackjack Mulligan, who was standing in the WRAL TV5 studio ring ready to be introduced for his upcoming televised match. Studd bellowed, “Mulligan! Stay up there unless you want to get slapped!” After some yapping back and forth between the two behemoths Studd then continued, “On my Studd List I have Number 1 on the list, Paul Jones! Paul Jones, you’re not number one because you’re a great wrestler, you’re number one because you’re at the head of the list! Now we have your partner Ricky Steamboat.”

Once again, Big John and Mulligan were trading heated barbs prompting John to exclaim, “Mulligan, you just get back in the corner where you belong! Get than man in a cage!” Studd rambled on referencing the horrific  Flair/Steamboat TV incident from the week before where Ric injured Steamboat’s face and eye saying, “Ricky Steamboat, the man has never tasted defeat, but he knows pain because my man Ric Flair came out here and rubbed his face in the dirt! He knows pain, and he’s gonna taste defeat!”

Studd then once again turned his attention to Mulligan, “Now we have Blackjack Mulligan, six foot two and 210 pounds!” Bob Caudle audibly gasped when Studd uttered those bogus measurements, but Studd concluded, “Ric Flair sent for me, he said ‘Studd, I want you to do me a favor, I have $10,000 and all you have to do is get rid of Mulligan.’ Ric, I’m gonna take your 10-grand and Mulligan’s going out of town!”

The John Studd and Blackjack Mulligan saga would last for a year and a half around the Mid-Atlantic area, and the brutal matches between these two giants would be among the most memorable in Jim Crockett Promotion’s history. And to think, it all started with this first in-person confrontation when the first crossed words were passed between the two giants!

Poster: Six Man Main Event at University Hall

by Jody Shifflett
Mid-Atlantic Gateway Contributor

This is one of my favorite posters from my collection. This was from November 3, 1978, a great 6-man card featuring six of the greatest wrestlers to grace the sport of professional wrestling: Greg Valentine, John Studd and Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat, Jimmy Snuka, and Paul Jones.

It happened at University Hall in Charlottesville, VA, which was not a regular stop like Richmond or Roanoke but with more frequent stops than just a spot show. University Hall was built during the same era as the Hampton Coliseum and Norfolk Scope and it had a very unique roof that resembled a clam-shell and was definitely a landmark in Charlottesville until it was torn down in 2019.  

This poster has terrific rainbow coloring and was one of many great cards to take place in this historic building.

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Mid-Atlantic Gateway Notes
by David Chappell

This was Jimmy Snuka's first main event match in Jim Crockett Promotions. He and Paul Orndorf, who wrestled Gene Anderson on the semi-main, would team up soon and eventually win the NWA World Tag Team Championships!

NO. 1 IN THE SHIFFLETT POSTER SERIES

Poster: Rip Hawk and Swede Hanson Battle Each Other in Norfolk

by Brack Beasley
Mid-Atlantic Gateway Contributor

This poster promotes a card held at the Norfolk Arena in Norfolk, VA on Thursday, November 7th, 1974.

The main event, promising to be a violent affair, was a Fence Match between former allies Rip Hawk and Swede Hanson with a special stipulation making the pile driver legal. At the time, the pile driver was an illegal maneuver in the National Wrestling Alliance.

The semi main event featured promising newcomers Tiger Conway Jr. and Chuck O'Connor (who later would become Big John Studd). 

While this poster gives few details on the other bouts on this card, we know from the newspaper ad for this show that Klondike Bill teamed with Tio Tio vs. Two Ton Harris and Frank Morrell, Danny Miller took on rookie Ric Flair, and Billy Ash met Ken Dillinger in the opener. 

The poster is the smaller variety measuring only 14 by 22 inches and has a vertical layout with all black print over the two tone pink and yellow background. I would assume this card took place at the old arena built during World War II as opposed to the larger Scope Exhibition Hall which opened in 1971 but I could be mistaken. Nevertheless, Crockett held cards at the Scope starting in 1972 and for many years forward.

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Mid-Atlantic Gateway Notes
by Dick Bourne

• Promotional posters from Richmond, Hampton, and Norfolk are hard to come across. Nice to see this one from Brack's amazing collection, especially from the less familiar venue of the Norfolk Arena.
• For fans from that era, seeing long-time tag team partners Rip Hawk and Swede Hanson fighting each other had to be surreal. Swede had turned "good guy" following a split between himself and then-partner the Super Destroyer (aka The Spoiler, Don Jardine) in February of 1974. When Rip Hawk returned to the Mid-Atlantic area in the spring of 1974 from his NWA suspension for using the piledriver (actually had been away working in Florida), he would occasionally cross paths with Swede in tag matches, but the singles feud between the two former partners broke wide open in August and continued throughout the fall of 1974.
• Rookie Ric Flair defeated veteran and longtime area star Danny Miller on this card, an indication that Flair's star was continuing to rise as a singles competitor within Crockett Promotions. Flair and Rip Hawk were the reigning Mid-Atlantic Tag Team champions at the time of this card in Norfolk.
  

 NO. 26 IN A SERIES

Poster: Piper and Steamboat Headline a Spot Show in Concord NC

by Brack Beasley
Mid-Atlantic Gateway Contributor

Here is an interesting spot show poster promoting a card held at the Barber Scotia College Gym in Concord, NC on Thursday, February 4th, 1982.

Billed as a triple main event, Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight champ Roddy Piper took on Ricky Steamboat (although the poster does not mention if this was a title defense), Big John Studd collided with young Jack Mulligan Jr. (Barry Windham), and Johnny Weaver took the challenge of Lord Alfred Hayes.

The lone tag team match was Karl Fergie and Eddie Mansfield versus Pork Chop Cash and Terry Taylor while Don Kernodle met Mike Miller in the opener. 

Designed with a vertical layout, all black print on a pastel orange background, and the western style "Wrestling" across the top, it has attributes common to spot show posters such as the local businesses where advance tickets could be purchased and "Sponsored by the Concord Jaycees".

Along with the image of Steamboat, there are great pics of Studd and Taylor, two faces seldom seen on Mid Atlantic posters. 

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Mid-Atlantic Gateway Notes
This was a pretty nice card for a small spot show. The Barber Scotia College Gym was a regular spot venue for JCP in the general Charlotte area, one of many!

Interesting to see 'Jack' Mulligan Jr. on the poster, as Windham would normally always be referred to in a promotional setting as 'Blackjack' Mulligan Jr. It might be the only time I recall seeing or hearing either Mulligan Sr. or Jr. referred to as "Jack" in an official way, although other wrestlers would call them that on promos frequently. Just seems odd on a poster to bill him that way, although it might have simply been a matter of typesetter at the poster company Souther Posters not having enough room to include his whole name given the font size. Studd and Mulligan Jr. were the top program for Flair and Mulligan Sr.'s Knoxville promotion which was closely affiliated with JCP. Knoxville didn't have enough towns running successfully at the time to appropriately pay Studd or Windham, so they brought that match to JCP shows frequently.

Terry Taylor sure was getting a push, on TV anyway, during this time. Bob Caudle and David Crockett would mention he was NWA rookie of the year every chance they got. But nothing really came of it here, he was never given an angle or a breakthrough win on TV or pushed in a semi-main program, despite the fact that he was technically proficient in the ring and fans, and girls in particular, seemed to love him. There was thought to giving him a babyface push on top for Flair and Mulligan's Knoxville promotion in late 1981, Flair put him over big in promos on Knoxville TV, but that didn't pan out either. I always hated that because I liked his stlye, he was one of the great "young lions" as David Crockett was always fond of saying. His big break came a couple of years later for Bill Watts in Mid-South Wrestling where he was North American Champion (their top title) and a top contender for Ric Flair's NWA World title.

Check out more of Brack's great poster collection by clicking our POSTER link and scrolling down through all of the poster-related posts. 

NO. 25 IN A SERIES

Poster: Mulligan vs. Studd Headlines Harrisonburg, VA

by Brack Beasley
Mid-Atlantic Gateway Contributor

Back in the day, even if you didn't live in a bigger town or city, you most likely had your favorite Mid-Atlantic stars visit a gym or ballpark somewhere close to you. Here is a poster promoting a great double main event at the high school gym in Harrisonburg, VA, dated January 17, 1980.

These main events could have headlined Greensboro, Charlotte, Roanoke, or any of the other bigger venues in the Mid Atlantic territory. While it must have been a cold winter Thursday night in Harrisonburg, I would bet that things got heated up in that gym.

The feud between my personal favorite Mr. Wrestling Tim Woods and Jimmy Snuka is recounted here on the Gateway in great detail by David Chappell and most likely the chain match between Mulligan and Studd was a brutal affair.

The rainbow colored background on this poster looks great and really stands out against the black print, especially on a vertical poster such as this. 

Previous poster: Andre the Giant's First Night in Greensboro (1974)

NO. 3 IN A SERIES

Mulligan vs. Studd: A Long and Winding Road

by David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

When Blackjack Mulligan morphed into a fan favorite in April of 1978, turning Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling upside down, the big Texan had to immediately had to face the wrath of Ric Flair’s $10,000.00 bounty. Through the spring and summer of 1978, Blackjack endured brutal bounty matches against some of the roughest and toughest grapplers in the world. In particular, Mulligan’s bounty matches against the Masked Superstar were legendary and are still vividly remembered by Mid-Atlantic fans to this day.

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When Mulligan finally prevailed in the memorable bounty program with the Masked Superstar in early September of 1978, there was a slight lull as Flair could not believe that Blackjack ran off his number one bounty hunter. But by the fall of 1978, Flair had enlisted the assistance of a new giant of a bounty hunter, and the man’s name was “Big” John Studd. Long-time observers of Jim Crockett Promotions may have noticed that Studd was a familiar looking grappler, as he had appeared in the Mid-Atlantic area earlier as “Chuck O’Connor” in 1974 into the early winter of 1975.

In one of his first appearances as “John Studd” in early November of 1978 the behemoth told World Wide Wrestling announcer Rich Landrum, “A few months ago Ric Flair called me and he said, ‘Studd, John Studd, I want you to do me a favor. I want you to get rid of a man.’ I said, ‘Who?’ He said, ‘Jack Mulligan.’ I said, ‘Tell me what the man is, tell me what he looks like.’ He said, ‘The man’s big, he’s six foot eight and he weighs over 300 pounds and he’s tough.’ I said, ‘What does it mean to you?’ He said, ‘I tell ya what, I have a $10,000.00 bounty on Mulligan! It’s yours, all you gotta do is hurt him!’”

Studd smiled at Landrum and concluded, “Hey, that’s all it takes. That’s what I’m inflated with, the thought that it’s gonna make me $10,000,00! That’s all I needed. I know you’re big Mulligan, I know you’re strong, I know you’ve done away with a lot of other bounty hunters…it doesn’t bother me. You haven’t gotten to John Studd, listen to me Mulligan, six foot nine and 330 pounds, strong and mean…that’s not brag that’s fact Mulligan! And I will get you and I will get the $10,000.00 bounty, and you Mulligan will apologize to Ric Flair for any humiliation you’ve caused him!”

This was the beginning of a saga between Mulligan and Studd where the $10,000.00 bounty was always the backdrop. The long and winding road to come between these two proceeded to January of 1979 where Studd did the unthinkable and collected the bounty, and while Mulligan left the Mid-Atlantic area for about six months the big Texan made periodic cameos in the area enough to put Studd on notice that he would not just fade away.  

By the summer of 1979 Mulligan had returned in earnest and during the Fall of 1979 Blackjack and Studd engaged in a series of brutal Texas Street Fight brawls, with Blackjack gaining the upper hand in them as the new decade and the year of 1980 arrived. In some of those bouts, Studd actually put up the $10,000.00 bounty money he had earlier collected on Mulligan’s head! And on January 13, 1980 in the Greensboro Coliseum, Mulligan gained sweet revenge as he ran Studd out of the territory in a bloody Loser Leaves Town cage match that sent Studd packing! Or did it? 

In one of the stranger angles in Mid-Atlantic history, just as Blackjack got rid of his latest bounty hunter in the form of John Studd, one of the early bounty hunters against him returned…the Masked Superstar! But things would get nuttier. As soon as Superstar returned at the beginning of 1980, he would have a new wrestling companion in a huge masked grappler referred to as Superstar # 2! The team of the Superstar’s #1 and #2 then turned their attention to put Mulligan out of wrestling, at the behest of the vanquished John Studd who was supposedly pulling the strings from outside of the Mid-Atlantic area. Even at this juncture, Studd was still talking about bounty money being in play!

But the more the fans and the TV announcers saw of this Superstar #2, the more it became clear that this mountain of a man was none other than John Studd under a hood! After a number of tag team bouts between Blackjack and several partners against Superstar’s #1 and #2 during the early spring of 1980, Mulligan finally got a series of singles matches with Superstar #2. In May of 1980 in several of the bigger towns in the Mid-Atlantic area, Mulligan took the measure of Superstar #2 while Superstar #1 was locked in a small cage near ringside so he couldn’t interfere. 

Blackjack prevailed in those climatic matches in May of 1980, unmasked Superstar #2 as John Studd, and ended the saga of Mulligan versus Studd that stretched all the way back to November of 1978. A long and winding road to be sure, but one surely filled with action and excitement at every twist and turn along the way!

Brisco Brothers Challenge Steamboat and Youngblood in 1980

Nearly Three and Half Years Before Their Famous 1983 Feud
by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Over the years, shows at the Greensboro Coliseum were famous for featuring star wrestlers from other territories, usually big national names that Greensboro area fans were familiar with from newsstand magazines or perhaps had seen on satellite TV from Georgia or syndicated from Florida.

Some of the names over the years that would come in for one-night territory appearances in Greensboro in the 1970s and early 1980s were Dusty Rhodes, Cowboy Bill Watts, Dory Funk Sr. and Jr. and Terry Funk, Harley Race, Eddie and Mike Graham, and others.

Two men who came in to Greensboro from Florida on a semi-regular basis over the years were Jack and Jerry Brisco. Both had done full-time stints as singles competitors here in the early 1970s, both holding the Eastern Heavyweight title. Jack, of course, wrestled here frequently as NWA World Champion in 1973-1975. They also were part of many tag team tournaments.

The most famous full-time run for the Briscos here was the 1983 run as a heel tag team (first time ever as a heel team) in a legendary feud with Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood over the NWA World Tag Team titles. But those matches were not the first time the two teams clashed over the tag titles.

Some three and a half years earlier, the Briscos made a one-night shot in from Florida to challenge Steamboat and Youngblood for the titles during the latter's first run with the belts. The match took place on January 13, 1980 at the Greensboro Coliseum. It was by and large a "scientific" babyface match, but would foreshadow the exciting matches the two teams would have years later. Steamboat and Youngblood would successfully defend their championships this night.

For context, Steamboat and Youngblood were just finishing up their memorable feud with former tag champs Paul Jones and Baron Von Raschke (one of my favorite tag team feuds of all time) and soon were to face the challenge of (and eventually succumb to) the new team of Ray "The Crippler" Stevens and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. The Briscos were working full-time in Florida and in the middle of a chase for Stan Lane and Bryan St. John's Florida Tag Team championship.

Also on that same big Greensboro show was the the big blow-off main event between Blackjack Mulligan and Big John Studd. It featured a combination of several stipulations (fence match, Texas death match, street fight rules) with the main stip being "loser leaves town." Mulligan won that brutal contest and sent Studd packing from Greensboro, and soon from the entire territory.

The usual number one contenders, Jones and Raschke, were on the mid-card of this show in singles matches, and took the opportunity to complain that Ricky and Jay were ducking them by going up against the Briscos. They should have stayed focused on their opponents, Jim Brunzell and Rufus R. Jones respectively, who won both of the singles contests.


Over the years in the Mid-Atlantic area, the Brisco brothers challenged several teams for those elusive NWA World Tag Team belts including Gene And Ole Anderson, Ric Flair and Greg Valentine, and now Steamboat and Youngblood. The brother duo from Oklahoma finally captured the gold in 1983 when they toppled "Youngboat", as Jerry liked to call them, before ending their feud at the landmark Starrcade '83 closed-circuit event.

Funny to note all of the bloopers and typos in the results clipping seen above, including Tony "Barea", "Luke" Bernard, "Rick" McGhee, and the funniest of all "Duck Summers."

John Studd Concedes Defeat to Blackjack Mulligan

by David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

One of the fiercest feuds that ever occurred in the history of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling was between Blackjack Mulligan and big John Studd. The issues between these two behemoths started back in October of 1978 when Ric Flair brought Studd into the territory to put Blackjack out of wrestling, with a $10,000 bounty being dangled in front of Studd as incentive for him to accomplish the deed.

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Big John went on to accomplish what no other bounty-hunter had been able to do, he collected the bounty on Blackjack at the beginning of 1979 and sent Mulligan back to Texas. Mully came back across the Red River and confronted Studd again in the summer of 1979, leading to some of the most brutal bouts ever in the fall of 1979. After a bruising series of Texas Street Fight brawls, the second installment of this feud reached its conclusion in the early days of 1980 when Blackjack bested Studd in several Loser Leaves Town matches around the area.

Some chicanery ensued after Studd's defeat as John put a $10,000 bounty on Mulligan, and the Masked Superstars #1 and #2 entered the area with the express intention of collecting it. While Superstar # 1 had gone round-and-round with Blackjack previously and the fans were familiar with him, the giant Superstar #2 was a different story. In fact, Superstar #2 shared so many similar characteristics with Mr. Studd that there appeared no doubt that he was in fact John Studd under the hood!

The charade of Studd masquerading as Superstar #2 ended in late April and early May of 1980 around the area when Mulligan defeated Superstar # 2 while Superstar # 1 was locked in a small cage at ringside, officially revealing # 2 as John Studd in several of the territory's major cities. This led to a stunning appearance by Big John on the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling television program that was taped on May 21, 1980.

Fans may remember the May 21st show as the one where Blackjack actually brought his cousin Crazy Luke to the WRAL studios in Raleigh, North Carolina after months of teasing that he would bring some of his infamous family in to help him defend against the $10,000 bounty. Memorable segments on this TV show included Cousin Luke entering the ring during a bout and offering the wrestlers popcorn and then later in the program interfering in a match between Mully and Ox Baker, knocking out Baker with one of his shoes!

But the most memorable segment of that TV show for me was an appearance by John Studd...and the comments he made to the fans of the Mid-Atlantic area. Announcer Bob Caudle was on the set with Studd, the Masked Superstar and an unknown character dressed all in black, wearing diamond rings with a patch over one eye. Caudle began, "Now two familiar faces and one of course that's not familiar to you, here is Superstar #1, big John Studd and Enforcer Luciano. This is a newcomer you guys have brought in John."

Studd responded, "I got a message for you people out there, and I've got a message for Mulligan. I'm on my way out of town Mulligan. You succeeded in runnin' John Studd out of town." After that amazing admission Studd continued, "But I'm leaving behind Superstar #1 and the Enforcer Luciano. And I'm also leaving behind the price that's on your head Mulligan, the $10,000. Mulligan, I might be three or four thousand miles away, but every time you get into the ring with one of these two men they're gonna be after the $10,000 dollar bounty that's on your head Mulligan...I won't rest until it's collected!"

Big John then proceeded to introduce his de facto successor to the Mid-Atlantic audience exclaiming, "Now, you take a good look at the Enforcer...his whole life, all he's done is collect bills, collect money, collect bounties. And he told me, and he'd guaranteed me, where I failed Mulligan...I didn't end your wrestling career. You beat John Studd! But you're not gonna beat the Enforcer...he has guaranteed me the money will be collected on your head and I guaranteed him that I will pay up."

Studd concluded by saying, "And then, you still have the Superstar to worry about. One of the greatest wrestlers I ever had the honor to stand next to. You're in trouble Mulligan, these men are after you...the price is on your head. I don't care how long it takes, I don't care what they have to do. Just send me Mulligan in a crate, and the money will be yours!"

After nearly two years of brutal back-and-forth battles between Mulligan and Studd, it was shocking to hear big John concede defeat to Blackjack in this surreal TV segment. But even while conceding defeat and in the process ending a mega-feud, Studd managed to bring Enforcer Luciano into the fray which in turned brought Crazy Luke Mulligan into the area to counter this new threat to Blackjack. Two new wacky characters who for at least a couple of months gave Mid-Atlantic fans a bit a comic relief as they adjusted to a wrestling life without the defeated John Studd.

Action Figures Friday: John Studd and the Masked Superstar

Mike Simmerman's great photo features one of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling's tougher teams, John Studd and the Masked Superstar, seen here in this depiction with the voice of "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" Bob Caudle. Mike's attention to detail really works here, including the set in the background and even Bob's head tilted just to the left as he would often do while holding the mic during interviews.

Both Studd and Superstar were bounty hunters for Ric Flair when Flair had the $10,000 bounty on the head of Blackjack Mulligan.

Studd would also wear a mask and take on the persona of Masked Superstar #2.