Tully Arthur Blanchard (born January 22, 1954) is an American-Canadian

professional wrestler 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 ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

. He is best known for his appearances with

Jim Crockett Promotions Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, restarted by Jim Crockett's son and Jim Crockett Jr's brother, David Crockett. Founded in 1931, the promot ...

and the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

in the mid-to-late 1980s as a member of

The Four Horsemen The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are figures in the Christian scriptures, first appearing in the Book of Revelation, a piece of apocalypse literature written by John of Patmos. Revelation 6 tells of a book or scroll in God's right hand th ...

and

The Brain Busters The Brain Busters was the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) name for the professional wrestling tag team of Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard. Anderson and Blanchard adopted this name after joining the WWF in 1988 after leaving Jim Crockett Promotio ...

Championships In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

held by Blanchard over his career include the NWA World Television Championship, NWA World Tag Team Championship,

WWF World 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- ...

, and NWA United States Heavyweight Championship. He was inducted into the

NWA Hall of Fame The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) Hall of Fame is an American professional wrestling hall of fame maintained by the NWA. It was established in 2005 to honor select wrestling personalities, mostly alumni of the NWA. Inductees receive commemora ...

in 2009 and 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 i ...

in 2012.

Early life

As the son of wrestling promoter and former

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 ...

star Joe Blanchard, Tully Blanchard was involved in professional wrestling at a very young age. He began selling programs and refreshments at the arenas at the age of ten, and worked as a referee when he was older. Blanchard attended

West Texas State University West Texas A&M University (WTAMU or WT) is a public university in Canyon, Texas. It is the northernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). It was established on Se ...

, where he played

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

, first as a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Am ...

and then as a

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

, alongside fellow future wrestlers Tito Santana and Ted DiBiase.

Professional wrestling career

Southwest Championship Wrestling (1975–1984)

Blanchard was trained to wrestle by his father and

José Lothario Guadalupe Robledo (December 12, 1933 – November 6, 2018) was a Mexican professional wrestler, best known by the ring name of José Lothario. He performed for such promotions as the NWA and the WWF. Professional wrestling career Lothario sta ...

, debuting in 1975 in his father's promotion, Southwest Championship Wrestling, where he also held a number of backstage production and creative positions. He began his career as a face by

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 ...

ing with his father in a feud against Dory Funk, Jr. and

Terry Funk Terrence Funk (born June 30, 1944) is an American retired professional wrestler, rapper, disc jockey and actor. Funk is known for the longevity of his career – which spanned more than 50 years and included multiple short-lived retirements – ...

. Between 1978 and 1983, Blanchard held the SCW Southwest Television Championship and SCW Southwest Heavyweight Championship on seven occasions. He formed heel tag team with Gino Hernandez, "The Dynamic Duo". They held the Texas All-Star USA Tag Team Championship on five occasions and the SCW World Tag Team Championship on one occasion in the early 1980s. In 1984, Blanchard left SCW for

NWA Jim Crockett Promotions (1984–1988)

Blanchard came to

Jim Crockett, Jr. James Allen Crockett Jr. (August 10, 1944 – March 3, 2021) was an American professional wrestling promoter. From 1973 to 1989, he was part owner of Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), a wrestling company affiliated with the National Wrestling Allian ...

's Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (MACW) in early 1984. Blanchard immediately entered into a feud with Mark Youngblood over the NWA Television Championship, which would later be renamed the NWA World Television Championship and WCW World Television Championship. Blanchard won the title on March 28, 1984 and defended the title against some of the top contenders in the territory such as Ricky Steamboat, whom he faced at Starrcade '84. After Steamboat departed JCP for the WWF, Blanchard and Dusty Rhodes began a feud for the TV title. On March 16, 1985, Rhodes defeated Blanchard to win the NWA Television Championship, ending Blanchard's 353-day reign. The title would soon be renamed the NWA World Television Championship and the two continued to feud throughout the first half of 1985 with Blanchard regaining the title and losing it back to Rhodes in early July 1985 at the Great American Bash inside a steel cage; Rhodes also won the services of Baby Doll for 30 days. In the mid 80s Tully Blanchard had a series of matches with

World Wrestling Council The World Wrestling Council (WWC) (Spanish: "Consejo Mundial de Lucha"), is a Puerto-Rican professional wrestling promotion based in Puerto Rico. It was originally established as Capitol Sports Promotions in 1973 by Carlos Colón Sr., Victor J ...

(WWC) Universal Champion

Carlos Colon Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewh ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

and the Continental United States. After Blanchard's feud with Rhodes ended, he soon found himself immersed in another high-profile feud over the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship held by Magnum T. A. Much like his feud with Dusty Rhodes, Blanchard's rivalry with Magnum escalated into a series of bloody and brutal matches, and became one of the top feuds in the NWA. On July 21, 1985, Blanchard defeated Magnum for the U.S. Championship by punching him with a foreign object in his hand given to him by Baby Doll, who came to ringside dressed as a security guard. The feud culminated at Starrcade '85 during a brutal and extremely bloody "I quit" match held inside of a steel cage for the title. The match ended with Magnum driving a piece of a broken wooden chair into Blanchard's forehead, which was already deeply cut and bleeding profusely, forcing him to submit. In late 1985, Blanchard fired Baby Doll as his manager, slapping her during an interview segment and ignited a feud with

Dusty Rhodes Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. (October 11, 1945 – June 11, 2015), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who most notably worked for the National Wrestling Alliance, Jim Crocket ...

, who came to her aid. J. J. Dillon then became Blanchard's manager. Throughout the latter half of 1985, Blanchard and a number of high-profile wrestlers in the company had often competed together, usually in variations of tag team matches or interfering in one another's matches if they appeared to be losing. These wrestlers included Ole Anderson, who had long since become a legendary figure in the Mid-Atlantic and Georgia territories, rising star

Arn Anderson Martin Anthony Lunde (born September 20, 1958), better known by the ring name Arn Anderson, is an American professional wrestling road agent, author, and retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a ...

and

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...

, the biggest star in the promotion and NWA World Heavyweight Champion. In early 1986, the foursome became a solidified group and called themselves the Four Horsemen. The group quickly established dominance within the territory by capturing numerous championships with Arn being the NWA World Television Champion simultaneously, Blanchard winning the NWA National Heavyweight Championship in March 1986 and with Flair as the NWA World Champion. The Horsemen feuded with the top baby faces of the territory including Magnum T. A., Nikita Koloff, Dusty Rhodes,

Wahoo McDaniel Edward Hugh McDaniel (June 19, 1938 – April 18, 2002) was an American Choctaw- Chickasaw professional American football player and professional wrestler better known by his ring name Wahoo McDaniel. He is notable for having held the NWA Un ...

The Rock 'n' Roll Express The Rock 'n' Roll Express is a professional wrestling tag team consisting of professional wrestlers Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton. The duo began teaming together in Memphis in the early 1980s, followed by Mid-South Wrestling (later to be known ...

, and

The Road Warriors The Road Warriors, also known as the Legion of Doom, were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Road Warrior Hawk (Michael Hegstrand) and Road Warrior Animal (Joseph Laurinaitis).. They performed under the name "The Road Warriors" in t ...

. The Horsemen continued to feud with the other top stars of the NWA throughout 1986 and 1987, particularly after forcing out Ole Anderson and replacing him with

Lex Luger Lawrence Wendell Pfohl (born June 2, 1958), better known by the ring name Lex Luger, is an American retired professional wrestler, bodybuilder, and football player. In 2011 he began working with WWE on its wellness policy. He is best known for h ...

. By mid 1987, Blanchard and Anderson began competing regularly on the tag team circuit and quickly entered into a feud with the Rock 'n' Roll Express over the NWA World Tag Team Championship. The feud culminated in late September after Blanchard and Anderson won the titles after a number of high-profile matches. Toward the end of 1987 Lex Luger defected from the Horsemen and feuded with all of them over the course of the next several months. Luger quickly formed a partnership with

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 competed in the tag team division as well. The new duo defeated Anderson and Blanchard on March 27, 1988, though they would lose the titles back to them a little more than a month later after Windham turned on Luger and became the newest Horseman.

World Wrestling Federation (1988–1989)

After clashing with Jim Crockett and booker

about their pay, Blanchard and Arn Anderson left the NWA for the

(WWF) on September 10, 1988, losing in an 11th-hour title change to the Midnight Express tandem of

Bobby Eaton Bobby Lee Eaton (August 14, 1958 – August 4, 2021) was an American professional wrestler best known as "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton. He was most famous for his work in tag teams, especially as one-half of The Midnight Express. Under the managem ...

and

Stan Lane Wallace Stanfield "Stan" Lane (born August 5, 1953) is an American retired professional wrestler and color commentator. He is best known for his appearances with the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA), Jim Crockett Promotions and World Champi ...

after a brief feud. Fellow Horseman

and manager J. J. Dillon would leave later for similar reasons; Flair, meanwhile, considered leaving but decided to stay when the NWA signed his old friend

Ricky Steamboat Richard Henry Blood Sr. (born February 28, 1953), better known by his ring name Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his work with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), Jim Crockett Promot ...

and put them in a program together. In the WWF, Blanchard and Anderson were dubbed "

" and paired with

heel 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 exer ...

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 Federati ...

. The team defeated

Demolition Demolition (also known as razing, cartage, and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down of buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a bu ...

for the WWF Tag Team Championship on July 18, 1989 (aired July 29 on '' Saturday Night's Main Event XXII''), ending Demolition's historic first reign, but lost the titles back to Demolition on October 2, 1989 (aired November 4 on

WWF Superstars of Wrestling ''WWF Superstars of Wrestling'' (later shortened to ''WWF Superstars'' and to ''Sunday Morning Superstars ''), also referred to as ''Maple Leaf Wrestling'' in Canada was an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by ...

). Blanchard and Anderson were planning a return to the NWA. As a result, the WWF pushed a break up angle between Heenan and the Brain Busters on the November 25, 1989 '' Saturday Night's Main Event XXIV'' (taped October 31, 1989). Around that time, Blanchard failed a

drug test A drug test is a technical analysis of a biological specimen, for example urine, hair, blood, breath, sweat, or oral fluid/saliva—to determine the presence or absence of specified parent drugs or their metabolites. Major applications of ...

, testing positive for

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Am ...

and causing his premature departure from the WWF and the withdrawal by the NWA of their offer of employment.

himself replaced Blanchard as part of the Heenan Family team at the

Survivor Series Survivor Series is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1987 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Held in November generally the week of Thanksgiving, it is the se ...

five days later.

Late career (1989–2016)

Blanchard debuted in the

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origin ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

-based

(AWA) in March 1990, aligning himself with

The Destruction Crew The Beverly Brothers were a professional wrestling tag team comprising Mike Enos and Wayne Bloom in the World Wrestling Federation. They were also known as The Destruction Crew in the American Wrestling Association and the Minnesota Wrecking Crew ...

. At SuperClash IV on April 8, 1990, he defeated

Tommy Jammer Tommy Jammer is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the American Wrestling Association from 1989 to 1990. Professional wrestling career American Wrestling Association (1989–1990) Trained by ...

. He made his final appearance with the AWA in May 1990. In 1993, World Championship Wrestling offered Blanchard a US$500 per appearance contract to reform The Four Horsemen at Slamboree 1993. Blanchard did not accept the offer, considering the offer to be too low, and WCW replaced him with Paul Roma. One year later, at

Slamboree 1994 Slamboree: A Legends Reunion was the second Slamboree professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). It took place on May 22, 1994, at the Philadelphia Civic Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I ...

, Blanchard appeared with WCW for a single night, wrestling Terry Funk to a double disqualification. In January 1995, Blanchard debuted in the

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

-based

Extreme Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrest ...

promotion, wrestling ECW World Heavyweight Champion

Shane Douglas Troy Allan Martin (born November 21, 1964) is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by his ring name Shane Douglas. He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship Wrestling (W ...

to a time limit draw. He challenged Douglas again in February and March, losing on both occasions. On September 12, 1998, Blanchard teamed up with fellow Four Horseman alumnus, Barry Windham, and defeated the Border Patrol to win the NWA World Tag Team Titles. He defeated

at the

Heroes of Wrestling Heroes of Wrestling was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event that took place on October 10, 1999 from the Casino Magic hotel and casino in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The event was meant to be the first in a series of pay-per-views ...

PPV on October 10, 1999. In the mid-2000s, Blanchard briefly worked for

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

(WWE) as a producer. On January 29, 2005 at '' WrestleReunion'', Blanchard lost to

Jeff Jarrett Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett (born July 14, 1967) is an American professional wrestler and promoter. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he also serves as Director of Business Development. Beginning his career in his father ...

. On August 10, 2007, he lost to Dustin Rhodes at an NWA Legends Fanfest in Charlotte, North Carolina. He appeared prominently in the 2007 DVD ''Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen''. On the March 31, 2008 edition of ''

WWE Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network in the United States. The show f ...

'', Blanchard reunited with

, J. J. Dillon, and

to salute the recently retired

. In November 2008, he hosted part 2 of the 5 part Essential Starrcade series on '' WWE 24/7'' as well as appearing in one of the matches. On March 31, 2012, Tully Blanchard was inducted into the

as a member of the Four Horsemen. Blanchard was the head booker of NWA: New Beginnings territory in Charlotte, North Carolina and has been a backstage agent for the wrestling shows as part of the 2010 and 2011 NWA Legends Convention which were in Charlotte, North Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia. On April 27, 2016, Blanchard appeared alongside Ric Flair and Arn Anderson in an episode of ''Table For 3'' on

WWE Network WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television t ...

, where the three former members of the Horsemen discussed their lives during and after their years as a team.

All Elite Wrestling

Managing Shawn Spears and FTR (2019–2022)

Blanchard made a surprise appearance during a sit down interview with Jim Ross and Shawn Spears on AEW's "Road to All Out" YouTube series that premiered July 17, 2019. It was announced the following day that Blanchard had signed a multi-show deal to serve as an "exclusive advisor" for Shawn Spears in

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is considered the second largest wrestling promotion in the United States behind WWE. AEW is owned by Shahid Khan and his son Tony, ...

. At All Out, Blanchard accompanied Spears for his match against Cody, but in a losing effort after interference from Blanchard's former Four Horsemen stablemate,

, who delivered a spinebuster on Spears and chased Blanchard out of the arena. At Full Gear, Blanchard helped Spears defeat Joey Janela by delivering an assisted piledriver on the concrete. In February 2020, Blanchard and Spears began a campaign to recruit a new tag team partner for Spears. However, the angle was dropped due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

and Blanchard being unable to appear on television. On the June 3 episode of ''

AEW Dynamite AEW or aew may refer to: * Airborne early warning, airborne radar system for detecting aircraft * Aerosvit Airlines, an airline based in Kyiv, Ukraine (ICAO airline designator: AEW) * AEW Capital Management, a property investment management company ...

'', Blanchard returned and berated Spears for making a joke out of himself at

Double or Nothing Double or nothing (UK often double or quits) is a gamble to decide whether a loss or debt should be doubled. The result of a "double or nothing" bet is either the subject doubled to twice the amount as the original ''or'' the doubling of a debt. It ...

. He then presented Spears with a black glove similar to the one worn by

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 Ted Dibiase. Blanchard officially aligned with FTR on August 22, leading Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler to defeat

Kenny Omega Tyson Smith (born October 16, 1983), better known by the ring name Kenny Omega, is a Canadian-born professional wrestler. Omega is an executive vice president of All Elite Wrestling (AEW), in which he also performs. Omega is a former one-ti ...

and Adam Page for the

AEW World Tag Team Championship The AEW World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It is a standard tag team championship, being contested by teams of two wrestler ...

at All Out. On the March 3, 2021 special episode of ''Dynamite'' (entitled "The Crossroads"), Tully had his first match in 14 years, teaming with FTR to defeat Jurassic Express in a match where they were managed by J. J. Dillon. On March 10, Blanchard, Spears and FTR joined the faction led by MJF named The Pinnacle. On the March 9th, 2022 episode of Dynamite Tully was fired by FTR as their manager after a disagreement of what FTR's focus as a team should be.

ROH and Tully Blanchard Enterprises (2022)

After getting fired by FTR, Blanchard was moved to AEW's sister promotion

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was s ...

(ROH). In ROH, Blanchard managed The Gates of Agony (Toa Liona and

Kaun Kaun may refer to: Art and entertainment * ''Kaun?'', a 1999 Hindi film * '' Kaun? Kaisey?'', a 1983 Hindi film * Kaun (song), a song by Indian Ocean from album '' Kandisa'' Other uses * The Old Norse name of the ''k'' rune; see Kaunan * ''K ...

) and

Brian Cage Brian Christopher Button

, collectively known as "Tully Blanchard Enterprises". During the July 23, 2022 Death Before Dishonor, a storyline revealed that Prince Nana had purchased Tully Blanchard Enterprises from Blanchard. It was soon revealed that the group would now be going under The Embassy name, the longtime group associated with Nana dating back to 2004. Later that night during the Death Before Dishonor media scrum, Tony Khan said that Blanchard is doing well personally and wished him the best, saying we could see him in AEW or ROH again in the future.

Personal life

Blanchard was first married on May 7, 1978, to Elizabeth Diane Boyles in

Bexar County, Texas Bexar County ( or ; es, Béxar ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in South Texas and its county seat is San Antonio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,009,324. Bexar County is included in the San Antonio– New B ...

. However, the marriage was brief and ended in divorce on June 30, 1980. Blanchard later married Courtney Shattuck. Together, they have four children: Taylor, Tanner, Tessa and Tally. They later divorced with Courtney marrying another former wrestler, Magnum T. A., in March 2005. He says it took him twenty years to come to terms with his and his wife's falling-out and his relatively sparse presence in his children's lives.

Tessa Blanchard Tessa Blanchard (born July 26, 1995) is an American professional wrestler. She is best known for her time in Impact Wrestling, where she became the first female wrestler to win the Impact World Championship and is also a former Impact Knockouts ...

, one of Blanchard's daughters, has followed in her father's footsteps to become a professional wrestler. Blanchard became a

born-again Christian Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sep ...

on November 13, 1989. He currently has a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...

ministry, where he preaches to inmates. In 2010 Tully Blanchard joined

International Network of Prison Ministries The International Network of Prison Ministries (INPM) is a Dallas, Texas based crime prevention and rehabilitation trans-national organization. History As of 2016 INPM listed over 4,600 prison ministries worldwide. Programs INPM functions ...

, where he serves on the Board of Advisers.

Championships and accomplishments

* Cauliflower Alley Club **Iron Mike Award (2017) *

Central States Wrestling Heart of America Sports Attractions, also known as the Midwest Wrestling Association, Central States Wrestling and the World Wrestling Alliance, was an American professional wrestling promotion that ran shows mainly in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska ...

NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship The NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship that served as the main title for the National Wrestling Alliance promotion, NWA Central-States Championship Wrestling. For most of its existence, however, ...

( 1 time) * Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling / Jim Crockett Promotions ** NWA World Television Championship ( 3 times) ** NWA National Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time)¹ ** NWA United States Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-Atlantic version)'' (

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 ...

) – with

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA began as a governing body for a ...

** NWA United States Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) ** NWA United States Heavyweight Championship Tournament (1997) **

( Class of 2009) *New Dimension Wrestling **NDW Heavyweight Championship (2 times) * NWA All-Star Wrestling (North Carolina)² ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

** PWI Feud of the Year (1987) Four Horsemen vs.

The Super Powers The Super Powers were a tag team in the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions in the 1980s. The name was because an American and a "Russian" made up the team while the Cold War was still going strong. History Dusty Rhodes had been teaming with Magnum ...

and

** PWI Tag Team of the Year (1989) with Arn Anderson **PWI ranked him #52 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the " PWI Years" in 2003 * Southwest Championship Wrestling ** SCW Southwest Heavyweight Championship ( 6 times³)SWCW Southwest Television/Heavyweight Title history
At wrestling-titles.com ** SCW Southwest Television Championship ( 3 times) ** SCW World Tag Team Championship (

) – with Gino Hernandez ** SCW Southwest Tag Team Championship ( 5 times) – with Gino Hernandez * World Wrestling Federation/WWE ** WWF Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Arn AndersonWWWF/WWF/WWE World Tag Team Title history
At wrestling-titles.com **

( Class of 2012) as a member of

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four W ...

** Worst Feud of the Year (1988) vs. The Midnight Rider ¹Typically defended in Georgia, the title was won after the Georgia Championship Wrestling was purchased by the then

.
²Not to be confused with the Vancouver, British Columbia based promotion that existed from the early '60s to the late '80s. This North Carolina promotion lasted from March 1998 until January 1999.
³The last TV title he won on January 12, 1979 was renamed to Heavyweight title in February 1979.

References

External links

Tully Blanchard at WWE.com
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blanchard, Tully 1954 births American evangelicals American football quarterbacks American male professional wrestlers Living people NWA/WCW World Television Champions NWA/WCW/WWE United States Heavyweight Champions Professional wrestlers from Calgary Professional wrestlers from Texas Professional wrestling referees Sportspeople from San Antonio The Four Horsemen (professional wrestling) members The Heenan Family members West Texas A&M Buffaloes football players WWE Hall of Fame inductees 20th-century professional wrestlers NWA World Tag Team Champions NWA National Heavyweight Champions WCW World Tag Team Champions