The Blackjacks were a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

. The team consisted of

Blackjack Mulligan Robert Deroy Windham (November 25, 1942 – April 7, 2016), better known by his ring name Blackjack Mulligan, was an American professional wrestler and American football player. He was the father of wrestlers Barry and Kendall Windham, father-in- ...

and

Blackjack Lanza John Mortl Lanzo (October 14, 1935 – December 8, 2021) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Blackjack Lanza. Along with his long-term tag team partner, Blackjack Mulligan, Lanza was one-half of The Blackjacks: ...

. After forming in the 1970s, they wrestled in a variety of

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling that has little relationship to the rules of the amateur olympic form. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails man ...

s, including the

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The territory was originally part o ...

(AWA) and

World Wide Wrestling Federation Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. was an American sports promotion company. It was run by Vincent J. McMahon from 1953 to 1982. Operating as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing p ...

(WWWF). They were inducted into the

WWE Hall of Fame The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when André the Giant was posthumously ind ...

in 2006.

History

The original Blackjacks

The duo first joined forces in 1971. They were managed by

Bobby Heenan Raymond Louis Heenan (November 1, 1944 – September 17, 2017) was an American professional wrestling manager, color commentator, wrestler, and comedian. He performed with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation ...

. The Blackjacks won multiple tag team titles, including the WWA Tag Team Championship and two tag-team championships in WCCW. They, however, are most known for winning the

WWWF Tag Team Championship The World Tag Team Championship was the original professional wrestling world tag team championship in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) promotion, and the promotion's third tag team championship overall. Originally established by the then- ...

(with

Lou Albano Louis Vincent Albano (July 29, 1933 – October 14, 2009) was an Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor, who performed under the ring/stage name "Captain" Lou Albano. He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1 ...

as their manager) on August 26, 1975 by defeating

Dominic DeNucci Domenico A. Nucciarone (January 23, 1932 – August 12, 2021) was an Italian-American professional wrestler and trainer better known under his ring name of Dominic DeNucci. He held over a dozen championships around the world in the 1960s and 197 ...

and Pat Barrett. After their tenure in the WWWF they disbanded and went their separate ways. They would reunite in 1983 working in St. Louis and AWA until disbanding in 1984. Lanza retired from wrestling in 1985 and became a road agent for WWF (WWWF). Mulligan returned to the WWF, Florida and Texas until his retirement in 1989. On April 1, 2006, The Blackjacks were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Heenan. Mulligan died on April 4, 2016 from heart failure and other health issues at 74 years old. Lanza had died on December 8, 2021. He was 86 years old, and had reportedly been in poor health.

The New Blackjacks

In early 1997, Mulligan's son,

Barry Windham Barry Clinton Windham (born July 4, 1960) is an American retired professional wrestler. The son of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan, he is best known for his appearances with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). ...

, and Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw formed The New Blackjacks in the WWF. They were known as Blackjack Windham and Blackjack Bradshaw, who originally competed as

heels The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exert ...

, but later as babyfaces it was rumored in early 1997 that they would be bodyguards for

The Undertaker Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by the ring name The Undertaker, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway spent the vast majority ...

(for his

WWF World Heavyweight Championship The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, representing the Raw brand division. It is one of two world titles on WWE's main roster, alongside SmackDown's ...

run in 1997). They competed in a four-way tag team match at

WrestleMania 13 WrestleMania 13 was the 13th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). The event was presented by PlayStation and held on March 23, 1997, at the Rosemont Horizon ...

, which was won by

The Headbangers The Headbangers are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Mosh (Charles Warrington) and Thrasher (Glenn Ruth). As the name of the team implies, their gimmick is that they are a pair of metalheads, complete with heavy metal related T-shi ...

. They would then feud with

The Godwinns The Godwinns were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Dennis Knight (Phineas I. Godwinn) and Mark Canterbury (Henry O. Godwinn) that they used in the World Wrestling Entertainment, WWF. The team has used other gimmicks before they joined ...

. The team never reached the success of their predecessors and disbanded in January 1998, as Windham turned on Bradshaw.

Championships and accomplishments

* Big Time Wrestling **

NWA American Tag Team Championship The WCWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary professional wrestling tag team championship (professional wrestling), championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area–based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). The cham ...

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) **

NWA Texas Tag Team Championship The WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship was the secondary professional wrestling tag team championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area-basedWorld Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). The championship was originally known as the NWA ...

(1 Time) *

Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (PWHF) and Museum is an American professional wrestling hall of fame and museum located in Wichita Falls, Texas currently closed to water leaks. The museum was founded by Tony Vellano in 1999, and was previo ...

**Class of 2016 *

World Wrestling Association The World Wrestling Association (WWA) (Asociación Mundial de Lucha Libre in Spanish) is a lucha libre promotion based in the Tijuana-area of Mexico. It was founded in 1986 by Benjamin Mora Jr.. It featured some of Mexico's best ''luchadores'' a ...

WWA World Tag Team Championship The WWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary tag team title in the Indianapolis-based World Wrestling Association The World Wrestling Association (WWA) (Asociación Mundial de Lucha Libre in Spanish) is a lucha libre promotion based i ...

( 1 time) * World Wide Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment **

( Class of 2006) ** WWWF World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time)

References

External links

WWE Hall of Fame Profile of The Blackjacks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackjacks, The American Wrestling Association teams and stables Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum The Heenan Family members WWE Hall of Fame inductees WWE Hall of Fame team inductees WWE teams and stables WWE World Tag Team Champions