Former pro wrestler Blackjack Mulligan is dead at age 73, World Wrestling Entertainment announced Thursday.
“WWE is saddened by the news that Robert Windham, aka WWE Hall of Famer Blackjack Mulligan, has passed away,” a statement said.
As Mulligan, he was feared in the ring by pretty much everyone except rival Andre the Giant, thanks to his 6-foot-9, 345-pound frame. He wore all-black, including a cowboy hat and leather glove, and was part of the 1975 world champion tag team The Blackjacks with Blackjack Lanza.
According to The New York Daily News, Windham retired in 1987. The Blackjacks were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame together in 2006.
He most recently made headlines in a 2015 lawsuit against the WWE for concussion-related injuries. He told the AP he had been diagnosed with dementia and blood clots in his brain, blaming head trauma suffered in the ring, including when he was beaten unconscious by Sargent Slaughter.
Before wrestling, Windham served as a U.S. Marine and played football for the New York Jets and the University of Texas at El Paso.
Windham’s grandsons have carried on the family wrestling legacy as Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas. Dallas became the youngest NXT Champion in WWE history at age 23 in 2013, and Wyatt has found success as the leader of “The Wyatt Family,” featuring himself, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan.
