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Chappell:
After you finished up with the two Jones boys,
Paul and Rufus, I guess your biggest program in 1977
was with Dino Bravo. This was the angle where Bravo
beat you twice in succession on TV.
Mulligan:
That was my idea…George Scott and I had a
fight over that too!
I
said, ‘We’re gonna do this real quick…we’re
gonna get this kid over.’ Dino, to look at
him…‘Mr. Awesome,’ right? But he never made
any money anywhere…
Chappell:
No…he never drew, did he?
Mulligan:
Naw…I told George, ‘We’re gonna make this
kid…we’re gonna make this work.’
I
mean, I had to work with some of the craziest guys
around…Lucky (Enforcer) Luciano and guys like
that! My God!
So
anyway, George said, ‘You’ll never do it (with
Bravo).’ I said, ‘Just give me seven minutes.’
He said, ‘Yeah…what are you gonna do?’ I said,
‘I’m gonna let him beat me twice. You watch.’
Boom, we popped it, and made one little round around
with him.
Chappell:
This 1976-1977 time frame was when you and Ric
Flair were really rolling. Tell us about Ric.
Mulligan:
Flair was wild…he went way beyond anything! He
was out there, man…he was way out there somewhere!
He read my book, read George’s book…and wrote
five of his own! (everybody laughs)
Chappell:
Now, when you and Flair on your promos used to
talk about all the wild and crazy stuff you all
did…was that reality based? (laughs)
Mulligan:
(pauses) A lot of it… (everybody laughs)
Me
and that cat did it all, my friend! (still laughing)
Chappell:
Fast times inside and outside the ring!
Mulligan:
Well…we usually had our own plane. And if we
didn’t have our own plane, we would go find a
plane. (laughs) It could be Las Vegas one
night…and it could be Richmond the next night. I have so many stories about
that idiot…that maniac!
(laughing)
I stayed with him for as long as I could,
David
! Until I couldn’t take any more! He’s on his
own gas now…he almost killed me! (everybody
laughs)
At
least I wound up with my same wife for 43 years…it
must be two or three for him. We lived next door to
each other,
David
.
Chappell:
Really? That must have been interesting!
Mulligan:
Oh yeah…we started off living next door to
each other. This guy used to be in my backyard all
the time! (laughs)
He
broke my son Barry (Windham) in. Let me tell you a
funny little story about that…
Chappell:
Please do…
Mulligan:
One day I can’t find Barry. This was right
after Ric bought this old…good God, this black old
Cadillac limousine from the Tams---the old singing
group, the Tams…
Chappell:
Yeah…they were a beach music group, weren’t
they?
Mulligan:
They had this old black limo they had when they
were on top---Ric goes and buys it! (everybody
laughs)
He
has Barry dressed up in a Chauffeur’s uniform, and
has Barry drive him in that limo to the airport! My
kid is 15 years old, with no driver’s license.
Ric’s picking up some girl at the airport, trying
to impress her! (everybody laughs)
Chappell:
(still laughing) More Blackjack Mulligan/Ric
Flair stories!
Mulligan:
(laughs) No, please don’t get me started on
Ric Flair stories! I mean, this guy is so laughable!
Oh God, we’d have to do a book on that!
Oh
okay…one more!
(laughs)
Chappell:
Yes!
Mulligan:
One night Ric and I were at the Hilton in
Raleigh. I talked Ric into dressing up like a girl.
(laughs)
Chappell:
(laughing)
Mulligan:
Flair comes into the bar…we’re pulling a rib
on a little buddy of ours who we loved, named
‘Dynamite’ Jack Evans. He was a good little
worker there…
Chappell:
Yeah, I remember him…from New York I believe?
Mulligan:
That’s him…a little Puerto Rican/Jewish boy
from New York. Anyway, he was always with one of us.
He was our side guy…he did the driving for us and
the dirty work. But that let him stay in the
territory. Dynamite Jack was our guy…with Ric and
I there was always a big fight as to who was going
to get Dynamite Jack.
Chappell:
What did you tell Dynamite Jack?
Mulligan:
I told Dynamite Jack, I said, ‘I got me a new
girlfriend.’ And he said, ‘Really, Jack?’ Now
keep in mind, Dynamite Jack couldn’t see too
well…he had these big thick glasses.
(laughing)
So, I talk Flair into dressing up like a girl. He
puts this wig and this dress on, and he comes on
into the bar at the Hilton there. And Flair’s
sitting on my lap…
Chappell:
(laughing) It’s too bad somebody didn’t have
a camera for that!
Mulligan:
(laughing hard) Dynamite Jack reaches over to
Angelo Mosca and says, ‘HOLY MOLY, THAT MULLY HAS
ONE UGLY BROAD WITH HIM TONIGHT…LOOK AT THE NOSE
ON HER!’ (everybody laughs hard)
Dynamite
Jack couldn’t see…and he was drunk too!
(everybody still laughing)
Chappell:
Obviously!! (everybody still laughing)
Mulligan:
Wonder what happened to Dynamite Jack Evans? Do
you know?
Chappell:
No…and I didn’t realize he was tight with
you and Flair.
Mulligan:
Oh man, he was our guy. He kept his mouth shut,
and he never told any stories out of school…
Chappell:
With all those antics going on, that was REAL
big! (laughs)
Mulligan:
We made the deal with George, that he be booked
in every town with us…
Chappell:
Really?
Mulligan:
Oh yeah. But what a character…Dynamite Jack
was one of the funniest people on earth! He gave his
notice one day…I couldn’t believe it. He became
a prison guard in Georgia, and we never, ever heard
from him again. One of the funniest human beings
I’ve ever been around.
Flair
would steal him from me, and I’d steal him back
from Flair. Then Flair got him booked on most of his
cards, and Dynamite said, ‘Mul, I hate to tell you
this, but I’d kinda like to stay with
Flair…I’m making more money with him.’ I said
to him, ‘You’re a traitor…a turncoat!’
(laughs)
Chappell:
Well, the Gateway is going to send out an APB on
Dynamite Jack Evans and see if anybody knows what
happened to him!
Mulligan:
That story was REALLY about Flair and his
dressing up! Ric was a true character. Flair had
just the fire to keep me going in those days. But
how I ended up without a divorce…I have the most
understanding wife of all time!
Chappell:
You and your wife have experienced a lot
together, I have no doubt!
Mulligan:
Oh yes. When me and my girl started together, we
were poor. We were together when the guy knocked on
the door and said, ‘We’re giving you a
scholarship to college.’ You know, for free! We
didn’t believe that at the time. And then, we were
there when the guy knocks on the door and brought us
a new Mustang, and gave me a football contract.
So…we’ve seen a lot together, and we’ve ended
up still together! (laughs)
Chappell:
Well, I guess we need to talk about Flair at
least a little more at this point, because after you
had a little run with Steamboat over the U.S belt at
the end of ’77…
Mulligan:
Yeah, Steamer…Steamer was great…
Chappell:
But then the unthinkable happened! They turned
you babyface in 1978! Tell us about that.
Mulligan:
Well…Flair, the kid---the kid was starting to
evolve. By then, the kid was starting to carry the
load. We sprung the monster out of the bag then…
Chappell:
Yep.
Mulligan:
We were ready to do the switch…Jack’s fixin’
to take the step down. That’s where we were then.
To
show there was a new ballgame in town, okay? The
baton was being passed…that’s what was
happening.
Chappell:
Had you done any work as a babyface before that?
Mulligan:
Never, ever…that was ridiculous. I mean, I had
been a heel forever. But I was getting older…and
let me tell you, a heel does a lot of hard work---a
lot of hard work.
But
Ric was ready to bust out…
Chappell:
And Ric comes out on TV and says you were past
your prime…
Mulligan:
Well that’s exactly right…I was! I was wore
out then,
David
. They had really burned me out…I really made it
longer than I thought I would.
Chappell:
Was your babyface turn George’s idea?
Mulligan:
Yes. George says to me, ‘We’re gonna do this
unbelievable thing. We’re gonna change you
babyface!’ I said, ‘No, no, no, no…I don’t
like that.’ He said, ‘You don’t know how hot
it’s gonna be…you and Flair splitting up.’
And
it was the real deal…we REALLY were splitting up!
Chappell:
You mean, you all were splitting up in real
life?
Mulligan:
He was moving into this big time home, and I was
moving to another place. And we had a van
together…these are REAL things that were happening
to us…
Chappell:
So these things were actually happening?
Mulligan:
We actually owned that van together…
Chappell:
This is the van that you pulled the items out
of…and brought on TV?
Mulligan:
Yeah. Ric’s wife had left him, and he’d gone
with Beth. And my wife was a friend of the first
wife, and detested Beth. This thing was REAL!
(laughs)
And
for that reason, it came off real. It was natural to
do it.
Let
me tell you a true story about this stuff in the
van…
Chappell:
Yes, please…
Mulligan:
This stuff, not all of that stuff on TV, but
Flair used to keep a bunch of stuff in his closet in
the van. And one day, my wife was getting ready to
go to church and she asked me if she could use the
van. I went, ‘Oh my God…Ric had the van last
night.’
Chappell:
(laughing)
Mulligan:
So I run out there real quick, and I look in the
van...and pantyhose are laying all over the place…
Chappell:
(laughing)
Mulligan:
I look in his closet, and oh my God, there’s
all kinds of unmentionable stuff! I’m pulling
stuff out of there as fast as I can, and throwing it
in this bag…so the kids and everybody can take the
van to church!
I
come inside and my wife looks at the bag and asks,
‘What’s that.’ And I said, ‘Oh, it’s just
some of Ric’s stuff…don’t worry about it.’
That’s where that idea sprung from!
Chappell:
(still laughing) That’s just too hilarious!
Mulligan:
I said to myself, ‘Wait a minute. This is
gonna work. Two best friends splitting up. He’s
gonna take his stuff from the van, and I’m gonna
take mine.’ So I bring out the pantyhose and the
make up from his closet on TV…plus some other
stuff that I added in there, you know?
Chappell:
That was a classic moment in the history of
Mid-Atlantic television! When Ric saw you pull out
those pantyhose…I NEVER saw him go that
ballistic---before or after!
Mulligan:
You know…I was from West Texas, and Flair was
the little hotshot snotty-nosed punk. It was his
stage now…he wanted to be the top heel. That’s
where we were then.
He
was changing, he was evolving…I mean REALLY was
evolving. Nobody knew what was fixing to happen to
this guy. I mean, he became one of the biggest show
biz characters the business would ever
have…forever. We didn’t think he could be that
big…but he was.
Chappell:
George Scott at it again…
Mulligan:
I tell you, George Scott turned out to be a
major genius in this business. We didn’t really
know until time went on, how smart this man was.
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