Showcase of the Immortals

It’s late March – early April and that means one thing…WrestleMania. On that topic this year’s WWE Hall of Fame inductions (yes, there is a pro wrestling hall of fame) are of particular interest to me since one of Dad’s old customers is being inducted along with his tag team partner. To residents of Central Florida Bob Windam might just be some guy who owns a used car lot in Mascot, Florida, however to wrestling fans he’s remembered as Blackjack Mulligan, tough Texan and master of the claw hold. Some of the highlights of his wrestling career were winning the World Tag Team Titles with Ric Flair (Flair’s first pro wrestling title) and his feuds with Andre the Giant. Also he’s the father of former 4 Horsemen member Barry Windam, Kendall Windam, and the step father of Mike Rotundo (I.R.S. of the WWF). After his wrestling career ended Blackjack eventually opened up his used car lot, which led to Dad selling batteries to him. One Saturday I went out with Dad in order to meet him and he seemed like a nice guy. If you ever buy a car from Blackjack you’ll surely be struck by how big he is, but for some fun go into his office and look at the pictures on his wall. While feeling diminutive standing in Blackjack’s shadow notice the picture of Blackjack and Andre the Giant. In that picture Blackjack looks tiny compared to Andre, it’s a nice little way to put things in perspective for an average sized person. The first two hours of the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be broadcast online at WWE.com at 9:00 pm on April 1st and the final hour will be televised on USA Network at 11:00 pm. Here’s a video package about the induction, here’s Blackjack’s profile on WWE.com, and here’s a link to Blackjack’s own website.