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HAT & ROBE INDEX
• Blackjack Remembers The Hat & Robe | Flair Remembers The Hat & Robe
• Fore-Shadow: It Had Almost Happened A Year Earlier
• July 14, 1978: Flair and Mulligan finally meet in Richmond |
Blackjack Mulligan holds what remains of his favorite hat after Ric Flair destroyed it on Mid-Atlantic Wrestling.
Perfect Storm: The Legend of the Hat & Robe by Dick Bourne
It is one of the most famous and best loved angles in Mid-Atlantic Wrestling history.
Ric Flair and Blackjack Mulligan were comrades and best of friends. They had formed a terrorizing duo in the Mid-Atlantic area ever since Blackjack had re-entered the area as the man to step into the top spot following the 1975 Wilmington plane crash. That crash had robbed the Mid-Atlantic territory and its fans of some of their top stars, some permanently including US Champ Johnny Valentine, others temporarily, like the young up-and-coming Mid-Atlantic Champion Ric Flair.
Throughout 1976, while Flair battled Wahoo McDaniel for the Mid-Atlantic title and Mulligan battled Paul Jones for the US Championship, they were always together during TV interviews. In 1977 while Flair battled Ricky Steamboat and Mulligan battled Dino Bravo, Rufus R. Jones, and Bobo Brazil, they traveled the 600 mile territory in a van they bought together, and partied hard in it along the way. The two were riding fast. Blackjack was accepting gifts like the hat he was given by friends and country music legends Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. They dubbed him "The Pride of Texas". Flair was climbing in the ring every night showing off a closet full of custom made robes, each worth 7,500 to 10,000 dollars. >> CONTINUED
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© 2004 Dick Bourne | Mid-Atlantic Gateway |
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