Baby Doll

Slam Wrestling

One of the most storied support characters in the great group of talent that was Jim Crockett Promotions in the mid-1980s was the "Prefect 10" Baby Doll.

Back in 2010, Brian Elliot wrote and excellent piece for "Slam! Wrestling" on the life and times of one of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling's most fondly remembered personalities. We missed it then, and thought we'd highlight it now.

Most famously, Baby Doll was the manager and valet for Tully Blanchard in 1985 when Jim Crockett Promotions was exploding as a national promotion. She also was paired up at different times with Dusty Rhodes, the Four Horsemen, Larry Zbyszko, and the Warlord.

The article covers her life and career, including her famous wrestling parents.


"Baby Doll: From star attraction to single mom"
Canoe Slam! Wrestling

Since the article was published, Baby Doll has become a "tag team partner" of the Crockett Foundation, "tagging in" and helping out that philanthropic organization with fund raising and awareness.

Thanks to website visitor Jeff Lane for sending us the link to the Baby Doll article. 

John Wayne, Waylon Jennings, and a touch of Bugs Bunny

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

In Mike Mooneyham's recent column following the death of Blackjack Mulligan, he quoted New York area writer (and long time Mid-Atlantic Wrestling fan) Richard O'Sullivan:

“Jack was an iconic, larger-than-life character. Like John Wayne and Waylon Jennings rolled into one with a touch of Bugs Bunny. Simultaneously heroic, scary and hilarious. I learned more about storytelling from a Blackjack Mulligan interview than I ever learned from a school book."

I loved this quote and laughed out loud when I read it. I think Blackjack would have loved this characterization because many years ago, we had this long telephone conversation about .... Bugs Bunny!

For the life of me, I can't tell you how we got off on that subject. The conversation was actually more about the Looney Tunes cartoon characters in general, especially one of our mutual favorites, Yosemite Sam. But the thing I remember most about this phone conversation was his impression of Bugs Bunny.

Yes, when I was 14 years old and watching him fight Paul Jones and Baron Von Raschke, I could have never imagined the day I'd hear Blackjack Mulligan do a Bugs Bunny impression. Richard O'Sullivan nailed it for me with that quote in the Mooneyham article.

We continue to mourn the passing of the great Blackjack Mulligan who was one of the true legends of professional wrestling, and Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in particular. Check out this collection of links to many of his related posts on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway.

Blackjack Mulligan on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway

Over the 16 years of the Mid-Atlantic Gateway website, Blackjack Mulligan has been one of the key guys we've focused on here and on the old website. He was one of the main players during the time we got hooked on Mid-Atlantic Wrestling. He's on our "Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Mount Rushmore."

We continue to mourn the passing of the great Blackjack Mulligan who was one of the true legends of professional wrestling, and Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in particular.

The easiest way to see everything related to Blackjack on the site since we relaunched a year ago is by clicking his tag-link at the bottom of any story in which he is featured. You can also see all posts in which he is tagged by clicking here.

We both wrote short pieces after Blackjack's passing:
Gone on the West Texas Wind
Remembering Blackjack Mulligan

Mike Mooneyham wrote a wonderful column reflecting on Blackjack after his passing. It can be found on the Charleston Post & Courier website.

Here are some of our favorite posts on the Mid-Atlantic Gateway related to the big Cowboy from Eagle Pass, Texas:

The Legend of the Hat and the Robe
Blackjack and Ric Flair Reflect on the "Hat and Robe"
Main Event Memories: Blackjack Regains the U.S. Title
Memories of "the Claw" at the Dobyns-Bennett Dome
1975 U.S. Title Tournament Audio: Blackjack Mulligan vs. Dusty Rhodes
More Audio: U.S. Title Tournament Fallout (Blackjack interview with Bob Caudle)
The Eagle Pass Biographies
The Jack Mulligan Fan Club & Richmond Wrestling Landmarks
Main Event Memories: Blackjack Mulligan vs. Rufus R. Jones
Main Event Memories: Mulligan vs. Flair on a Hot July Night (1978)
Photographs on Blackjack's Bar-B-Que

Remembering Blackjack Mulligan

MY HERO AND FRIEND
by David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

It was with great sadness that I learned of the recent passing of Blackjack Mulligan. Blackjack’s professional wrestling legacy spans the entire world, but his impact on wresting in the Carolinas and Virginia was enormous. As a professional wrestler, he was a hero of mine. That was true whether his wrestling persona was that of a “good guy” or a “bad guy,” roles he was equally and expertly adept at playing.

Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling was one of the top, if not THE top, territory in professional wrestling from the mid 1970s into the early 1980s. At that same time, Blackjack Mulligan was either the top or one of the very top stars for Jim Crockett Promotions. That these two things occurred simultaneously was no coincidence.

When Mulligan entered the Mid-Atlantic area in February of 1975, he came in as one of the scariest wrestlers I had ever seen! Billed as the “Pride of the Prairie,” Blackjack bullied his way over all comers. That is, until Wahoo McDaniel jumped in the fray! The “Cowboy vs. Indian” matches between Blackjack and Wahoo were memorable in the spring of 1975; with Wahoo getting the best of things with a win in an “Indian Strap Match” on May 30, 1975 in Richmond, Virginia which effectively ended Blackjack’s run in the Mid-Atlantic area.

After that Richmond match, there was nothing to suggest that Mulligan was going to be anything more than a “footnote” in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling history. But that all changed on October 4, 1975, when United States Heavyweight Champion Johnny Valentine suffered career ending injuries in the infamous Wilmington, North Carolina plane crash. Booker George Scott brought “Mully” in to essentially take Valentine’s place.

Blackjack took the territory by storm, and held the prestigious U.S. belt for lengthy stretches from 1976-1978, in the process having memorable programs with “good guys” Paul Jones, Rufus R. Jones, Burrhead Jones Dino Bravo, Bobo Brazil, Ricky Steamboat and “Mr. Wrestling” Tim Woods. Mulligan’s loquacious interview style, including references to family members like “Crazy Luke” Mulligan, along with his fast paced and vicious in-ring style, packed fans in the territory’s areas during his “bad guy” run.

By the time April of 1978 rolled around, the famous “hat and robe” angle brought about the cataclysmic split between Blackjack and Ric Flair, and ushered in Mulligan’s “good guy” persona. From that time until early 1982 he battled villains such as the masked Superstar, John Studd, Superstar #1 and #2, Enforcer Luciano, Bobby Duncum and the Iron Sheik.

A highlight of Mulligan’s fan favorite run occurred in August of 1979, when the big Texan made amends with Ric Flair, and they had a brief run as the NWA World Tag Team Champions. After leaving the area in April of 1981, Mully returned at the end of the year into early 1982 and teamed with his son, Blackjack Mulligan, Jr, battling old nemesis John Studd and a new foe, the nefarious Sergeant Slaughter.

After that short stint, fans in the Mid-Atlantic area didn’t see Blackjack again until August of 1984. At this juncture, Ric Flair enlisted the assistance of Mulligan to counter the wicked Tully Blanchard and the recently turned heel, Wahoo McDaniel. A famous vignette aired promoting this, with Ric finding Blackjack deep in the woods around a fire with his “family,” one member of which looked suspiciously like Dusty Rhodes! Blackjack accepted Flair’s plea for help, but his final Mid-Atlantic appearances only lasted into early September of 1984, as BJ accepted an offer to join the World Wrestling Federation, a decision Blackjack later said he regretted making. My hero was gone…seemingly for good.

Fast forward to the year 2000, and there was no longer any such thing as Jim Crockett Promotions’ Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. The Internet was still in its infancy, and my new buddy Dick Bourne and I wanted to do something to preserve the rich history of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling. We created the Mid-Atlantic Gateway website, and thoroughly enjoyed the nostalgia of reliving Mid-Atlantic Wrestling moments online. We never expected, nor sought, any dialog from our wrestling heroes themselves.

Gone on the West Texas Wind

My fond memories and tearful farewell

 to the great Blackjack Mulligan

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

The sad news of a legend's passing always leaves us hurting. Some, though, depending on how they affected your life or love of wrestling, just simply take your breath. It was that way for me with Gene Anderson, Wahoo McDaniel, Johnny Weaver, and Dusty Rhodes.

And now it is Blackjack Mulligan. The west Texas wind howls this cold night mourning the passing of one of wrestling's truly unique characters.

Bob Windham was the first person in the business that reached out to the Mid-Atlantic Gateway in our early years. Before the days of social media, he had simply stumbled onto our little website while surfing the internet. He wrote David Chappell and I a very short email that contained one of the nicest compliments we've ever gotten from anyone, especially someone in the business we so revered: "You guys get it."

The email address was from "bj windham", and we didn't believe it was him at first. We thought maybe it was someone pulling our leg. But it was indeed him. And we were star struck. After all, Blackjack Mulligan was one of the cornerstones of the era in wrestling we loved the most. He was one of the main players in Mid-Atlantic Wrestling in our youth. 

I think he particularly liked the way David Chappell wrote the historical narratives for the Mid-Atlantic Wrestling Almanac. He liked that we presented it just as it played out on TV and in the arenas. He saw it as a record of the work that was done then, a chronicle of their performances and their creativity. And he liked that we always treated the business with respect and stayed in the positive. "There is enough out there dwelling on the negative," he once wrote me. "You guys are positive ions." We've worn that as a badge of honor ever since.

With Blackjack at his home in Florida

In June of 2005, George South took me with him to visit Blackjack at his home in Florida, and we had a wonderful time. Blackjack's sweet wife Julia, who really made the whole thing happen for us, brought us Subway sandwiches for lunch. When I was 14 years old and watching him fight Paul Jones for the U.S. championship, would I have ever thought I'd be sitting in Blackjack's Mulligan's den eating Subway sandwiches? To this day I still smile when I think about that afternoon. Little memories are often the sweetest to savor.

David told Blackjack about his old audio tapes of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling from the 70s and he asked us for copies. I put together a special CD we called "The Best of Blackjack Mulligan" and sent it to him. I asked him how he came up with all those characters he used to mention in his promos and he told me that most were based on real people. That led to a feature we later did for his website when he was selling his book, something called "The Eagle Pass Biographies" where he gave a humorous twist to the background on all those characters. It is now a special part of the Gateway.

I took this photo of the custom CD before mailing it to Blackjack in 2003

He had a softer side. He used to always ask me to email him and tell him when it snowed where I lived. Living in Florida, he missed the snow. It seemed to me he just liked hearing about it. It was the neatest thing. He loved getting pictures from David and his wife Diana of their cocker-spaniel named Zack. He frequently would email David out of the blue and ask "How's Zack?"

Robert Windham (1942 - 2016)

The Mid-Atlantic Gateway extends our heartfelt condolences to all of Blackjack's family and friends.

Blackjack Mulligan dead at 73  SLAM! Wrestling    

WWE Report

Crockett Family autographs Limited Edition Photo for Crockett Foundation Fund Raiser

It's the first time ever all four
have autographed one photo together.

by Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

The Crockett Foundation is selling a limited edition autographed photo signed by all four children of Jim (Sr.) and Elizabeth Crockett. The Foundation is a philanthropic organization and 100% of the proceeds for the sale of this autographed photo go towards their charity to help veterans and retired service dogs in need.

I asked Debbie Ringley Mrozinski, president of the Crockett Foundation and a granddaughter of the late Jim Crockett, Sr., how this project came about.

"I came up with the idea when I saw the (collage image) they wound up signing," she told me. "And you mentioned in one of our earlier conversations how folks had hoped that Jimmy would have been with the rest of the family at the convention last year in Charlotte." So Debbie saw an opportunity to get them together in a different way.

This image from the Crockett Foundation website shows one of the limited edition autographed prints.
(The watermark across the photo you see here will not appear on the print you order.)

The 5x7" image features a collage of photographs of the four siblings surrounding a photo of their late father and scattered across vintage memorabilia from the 1970s and 1980s. Each of the four have autographed the image by their own photo.

"Because of their different roles in the company, I suspected that they had never signed anything together," Debbie said. "Once I confirmed that with my mom, I decided to get them all to sign the picture."

Her Mom agreed right away. Debbie then had to get her uncles on board.

"Jimmy was the first to say yes. David wanted to know who was going to sign for granddaddy," she said with bit of humor. "Jackie finally came around."

It then took some effort on Debbie's part to round them all up.

"I had to fly to Dallas to get Jimmy’s autograph, and then the following weekend I drove to Spartanburg to get Jackie's. Mom signed the following weekend while I was in Florida and then Sunday I flew home and took them to David, who is also in Charlotte. It took quite a lot of foot work, but all for a good cause."

It really is a remarkable thing, having something signed by all four of Jim Crockett Sr.'s children who all played such an important part in the success of the family business in many different ways over many years. And as Debbie mentioned, it is the first and only time it has ever happened.

You can have your own keepsake of one of the most powerful and influential families in the history of professional wrestling by purchasing one of these limited edition autographed prints. 100% of the proceeds go towards the Crockett Foundation charity to help veterans and retired service dogs in need. There are lots of other very cool items in their store that help the Foundation, too, including t-shirts, caps, baseballs, key chains, and much more.

AUTOGRAPHED CROCKETT FAMILY PHOTO

SEE ALL ITEMS IN THE CROCKETT FOUNDATION STORE

For more information on the mission of the Crockett Foundation, visit their website at CrockettFoundation.com.

James J. Dillon "tags in" for the Crockett Foundation

James J. Dillon is as first-class a guy as you will ever meet. A bonafide legend in the wrestling business, not only in the ring and as a manager, but behind the scenes as well. He will be a wonderful ambassador for the Crockett Foundation.

Visit the Crockett Foundation on Facebook!

Tag in! Help Out! Make a donation.

Purchase items in the Crockett Foundation Store that help support the work of the foundation - - autographed photos, t-shirts and more!

Wahoo Pins World Champ Terry Funk - - on TV!

by David Chappell
Mid-Atlantic Gateway

As much as I enjoyed watching the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling television show in the 1970s, it wasn’t a show that featured what you would call “main event” matches. Which was perfectly okay with me; just watching my favorites wrestle whoever they were matched with was absolutely fine. But it was certainly a special treat when that rare occasion occurred when “main eventers” squared off in a television match.

It was an even rarer event when the NWA World Heavyweight Champion appeared on the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling TV program. Rarer still, was when the World Champion actually WRESTLED on television. For the World Champion to wrestle a top contender on television, well, that was just about unheard of! But on April 21, 1976, that’s exactly what happened when NWA World Champion Terry Funk squared off against “Chief” Wahoo McDaniel in a non-title bout taped in the WRAL TV studios in Raleigh, North Carolina! Color commentator David Crockett remarked, “This is Christmas early!” And he was right on the mark!

Play-by-play announcer Bob Caudle opened the commentary on the bout, with a reluctant Terry Funk leaving the ring before the opening bell even rang. Caudle exclaimed, “Wahoo McDaniel, definitely the favorite of the crowd, and this has got the World Heavyweight Champion Terry Funk, a little mad. He says he’s not going to wrestle him!” Terry grabbed the ringside mic and loudly bellowed, “I am going to refuse to wrestle this man, because I am the World’s Champion! I don’t need to go in there with an overbearing, overweight egomaniac, that is on the downhill side of his career! And I am refusing to wrestle the Indian right now!”

David Crockett ranted that Funk was afraid of Wahoo, and Caudle insisted, “He’s gonna have to wrestle; he’s gonna have to fight! Because Wahoo’s gonna go right in after him.” And Funk did eventually enter the fray. And as the match actually began, David Crockett foreshadowed later happenings in the bout saying, “There’s something in the air. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something in the air.”  Caudle responded, “You can cut it with a knife, is what you can do right now! That’s the tension in this studio!”

Wahoo took early control of this match with consecutive picture-perfect arm drags. Funk took quick refuge outside the ring on the floor. Caudle explained, “He’s gonna rest that back for a minute; he got a couple of good arm drags from Wahoo McDaniel.” When both men faced each other again in the center of the ring, Caudle said, “Look at the stare from those eyes; Wahoo looking him right in the eye, and you can almost see the daggers fly.” Crockett added, “Neither man is backing up an inch; each man is giving 110%.”

Very soon, the punches and chops started flying. Then Funk did something that wasn’t real smart. Caudle exclaimed, “There’s a little slap; that’ll really get that Indian mad! Oh, Wahoo’s gonna lose that Indian temper of his!” David Crockett then indicated that he thought that was part of Terry’s strategy, to try and get Wahoo to lose control of his emotions. After the slap, the two grapplers continued to knock away at each other. “Big hard left hand; and he’s left-handed. He’s got a lot of power in that left,” Caudle commented about the World champ. “It’s like that wrong arm coming at you, and it’s got so much power in it. Another big hard straight left.” Funk dominated briefly during the middle portion of the bout.

Of course, Wahoo was going to fire back in time. And it didn’t take long! Crockett loudly said, “A chop by the Indian…another chop!” Caudle added, “Wahoo with those big hard chops of his, he’s gonna chop him right out of the ring. That time Terry Funk did a complete flip.” The two continued with their bar room brawl, and as they both got near the ropes, they became entangled and fell through the ropes simultaneously. Outside on the floor, the two continued to battle out of control. Referee Tommy Young then called for the match to end via a double disqualification, which deeply angered the studio fans and both wrestlers!

Then, surprisingly, referee Young made a startling announcement. Caudle explained, “He said hit the bell and let ‘em go! He said let ‘em go! Somebody could lose a head right here! They’re gonna slug it out!” And slug it out they did. Wahoo quickly got the advantage in the re-started match, catching Funk in a high vertical suplex. The Chief got a two count, and the champion saved himself in the nick of time by putting his foot on the bottom rope. After Terry escaped that close call, he was able to roll Wahoo up in a small package hold, but Wahoo rolled through it and caught Funk for a quick three count and the win!!!

The studio crowd went bonkers with joy! A deliriously happy David Crockett yelled at the top of his lungs, “WAHOO WON; WAHOO WON!! Just think if this had been a championship match, Wahoo would’ve won the World’s Heavyweight belt!!” Bob Caudle added, “You would’ve had a new champion right now!” As the crowd chanted, “WA-HOO, WA-HOO” Caudle focused on the fallen champion. “Look at Funk, he’s out of his mind…out of his mind,” Caudle observed.

After this amazing outcome, newcomer Dino Bravo was introduced to the Mid-Atlantic fans in his television debut on the same TV show, and commented, “That was quite something we just saw, Wahoo McDaniel pinning the World Champion. If he ever has a championship match, I know the people will be behind him.” Wahoo in fact wrestled Funk for the title in Norfolk, Virginia the next night, and won via disqualification in a bloody brawl. The Chief got another shot at Funk for the championship on April 25th in Asheville, North Carolina, but could not ace the belt then either as Terry completed his pass through the territory.

To this day, it’s still amazing to think back to Wahoo defeating the World Champion Terry Funk on Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling TV on that Saturday afternoon in April of 1976! Even with it occurring after the match had seemed to end on a double disqualification, and that it didn’t really lead to a red-hot program between the two. Over the years the TV announcers would often say about matches, “anything could happen.” As skeptical as I might have been about hearing that phrase, this result from April 21, 1976 TV always stuck in the back of my mind as proof that the unexpected REALLY could happen on my favorite Saturday afternoon television program.

Brothers in Paint

Road Warrior Hawk, Sting, manager Paul Ellering, and Road Warrior Animal

A classic Robert Riddick photograph from 1988, one my my very favorites that he took. Not sure exactly when or where this was taken but it appears that Ellering may be joining Sting and the LOD for an 8-man tag team match-up.

This is another in a series of favorite photographs taken by my good friend Rob who sadly passed away several years ago. I miss him so much. (Read more about Rob here, featuring a classic photo of the Legion of Doom with Dusty Rhodes.)


Here are a couple of other posts with Rob's great photography:

James J. Dillon and the Limousine
Jim Crockett and Bill Watts and the Crockett Cup

Rest in peace, big man.