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Blackjack Mulligan comments on Barry Windham's HOF induction and Ole Anderson

Posted: Jan 12th 2012 By: mikeiles

Legendary pro-wrestler Blackjack Mulligan was excited upon hearing the news that his son Barry Windham will join him in the WWE HOF. Mulligan was inducted into the WWE HOF in 2006 with his partner Blackjack Lanza. On Monday, the WWE announced that Barry Windham will be inducted into the HOF as a member of the legendary 4 Horsemen. On Wednesday January 11th, I spoke with BlackJack Mulligan and he made the following comments about his son Barry:

"First I want to say thanks to all of the wrestling fans out there who have sent their prayers and best wishes to Barry. He is doing much better. I am very happy for him to get into the WWE HOF. He deserves it. He could do it all in the ring. The 4 Horsemen were a tremendous group of wrestlers. However, Barry is good enough to go into the HOF by himself too."

Barry joined the WWE in 1984. He was teamed up with his real life brother-in-law Mike Rotunda as they formed the "U.S. Express". They quickly rose through the tag rankings and became champions. However, Barry's time in the WWF ended in 1986 as he left for Jim Crockett's version of the NWA.

In March 1988, Windham turned on his tag-team partner and friend Lex Luger during a tag-team match. He joined the 4 Horsemen and donned the black glove to perform the infamous claw, which was a throwback to his father. Windham's version of the 4 Horsemen lasted about 1 year before his contract expired in March 1989 and he went back to the WWF. Windham would return a few years later and rejoin the Horsemen which included Ole Anderson, Arn Anderson, Ric Flair and Sid Vicious.

Long time fans of the 4 Horsemen are upset that the WWF has decided to ignore the original group of the Horsemen which included Ole Anderson. After sharing in the joy with Blackjack for his son's induction, I asked him what he thought about the WWE ignoring Ole Anderson and not putting him into the HOF. Mulligan had the following candid comments about Ole:

"As far as the business is concerned it's a travesty. Ole was the mastermind of the whole deal. It's always been Ole's deal. It makes Vince's HOF cheapened. Ole is so hard headed, he's not gonna listen. Ole and I have the unique ability to put our foot in our mouths. We just can't shut up at times. We think we are too smart sometimes. But Ole had one of the greatest minds this business has ever seen. And he should be in the HOF with the Horsemen."

In 1985, Ole and Arn Anderson were one of the top tag-teams in the NWA as Ole reformed the Minnesota Wrecking Crew with a young Arn. They had already established their connection with Ric Flair and a loose affiliation with Tully Blanchard. It wasn't until in 1986 that the group was officially titled the 4 Horsemen.

The 4 Horsemen are widely considered as the greatest faction in the history of pro-wrestling. They were 4 talented wrestlers at the top of the business and formed a powerful group that would change pro-wrestling forever. Windham's version of the Horsemen was probably the best variation of the group in terms of wrestling ability, and my personal favorite. However, you can't have a 4 Horsemen HOF induction without Ole Anderson. Without him, the Horsemen would have never existed.