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Mystery Wrestlers Contest Results
There are five (5) pro-wrestlers in this photograph, taken in 1973 at the Headlock Ranch in Austin, Texas. SEE UPDATED INFO BELOW.
Dusty Rhodes, Ray Stevens, Dick Murdoch, Ric Flair, and Dustin Rhodes. (The gentleman in the middle of the photo is Pat, a horse wrangler employed on the ranch.)
Congratulations to Tom Bailey and Jeff Lackey, both winners in the Headlock Ranch Mystery Wrestlers Contest. They both receive an autographed photo of Blackjack Mulligan signed personally to them by Blackjack himself.
UPDATED INFORMATION (3/14/05 1:15 AM) After the contest had ended at 6 PM on 3/13 and I was making arrangements with Blackjack to send the autographed photo to the winner who was drawn from those who qualified (see below), I realized I had made a major goof! There are indeed FIVE wrestlers in this photo, the 5th being Ray "The Crippler" Stevens. In my original notes from six months ago when I got this photo from Blackjack, I had written down "Ray" and somehow had not picked up on the fact that this was Ray Stevens. I had written down that that both Ray and the gentleman in the middle of the photo, Pat, worked on the ranch.
So in a mild panic, I went back through all 72 entries to the contest tonight, and there was only one person who did guess that Ray Stevens was in this picture. But they missed two others (Flair and Dustin), so there still was no one with four correct guesses in all of the entries. However, this person did get three correct and was not included in that drawing. So, being the only person out of the 72 to identify Ray Stevens, Blackjack is going to autograph a photo to them, too!
Sorry for the confusion, but glad to have everyone identified properly in this photograph. (Their is a lot of talent in that picture.)
CONTEST RESULTS This was a tough one! No one correctly identified all the wrestlers. Everyone was able to identify Dusty Rhodes and Dick Murdoch. Only 8 of the 72 people who entered the contest were able to identify Ric Flair. And only one identified Dustin Rhodes!
But as in all of our contests on the Gateway and sister websites, there must be a winner! So while no one got them all, we decided to draw from all entries where there were at least three correct answers, and that person would be named the winner.
The winner's name will be announced here as soon as they are contacted. They will receive an autographed photo of Blackjack Mulligan signed personally to them by Blackjack himself.
Many of you were close, and had figured out that the kid in the photo was one of the wrestlers, but all but one guessed Barry or Kendall Windham, which was quite reasonable since it is a photo from Blackjack Mulligan's personal collection. One could easily assume it was one of the Windham boys.
Flair was hard to identify for many reasons, but mainly because so few saw him at that point in his career. This photo was taken in 1973. He was much heavier with shorter hair. Flair was still wrestling in the AWA and had not yet made the career changing decision to head to the Mid-Atlantic area.
INCORRECT GUESSES By far the most common incorrect guess was Dick Slater, which many thought was the gentleman 2nd from the left next to Dusty.
Here is a list of other incorrect guesses, ranging from the reasonable to the outright bizarre: Cowboy Bill Watts, Killer Karl Kox, Eddie Graham, Superstar Billy Graham, Stan Hansen, Bobby Duncum Sr., Fritz Von Erich, Paul Jones, Nelson Royal, Terry Funk, Harley Race, Angelo Mosca, Eddie Gilbert, Buzz Sawyer, Jim Brunzell, Buddy Rose, Bulldog Bob Brown, Tom Pritchard, Mike Graham, Sam Bass, Ron Bass, Terry Gordy, George "Two Ton" Harris, Buck Robley, Bob Orton, Sr., Bob Orton Jr., and Mike Von Erich.
FAVORITE ENTRY "What a pisser of a contest! Rhodes, Murdoch, and Flair are easy…I can’t figure out the guy with the cigarette! My next guess was : Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, Richard Petty, and David Pearson in the infield at Bristol. Great contest!
PS – The fourth person with the cigarette isn’t Sarah Joe Puckett, is it? Or Cousin Luke?"
* * * *
CLOSEST ENTRY
"You
really picked a tough one here. Obviously, Dusty and Murdoch are the easy
ones. I'm pretty sure the one on the right is Flair. (Sorta looks like a
young Michael Hayes, too, but I can't see him hanging out with the
others.)
* * * *
ENTRY THAT DIDN'T HAVE A CLUE! "Well obviously one of them is Blackjack since it is his picture, but none of them look like him! "
* * * * SPECIAL RECOGNITION There was actually one person who did correctly guess four of the five, but he wasn't eligible to enter! Carroll Hall of Mount Airy, NC, who helps me in various sections of the Mid-Atlantic Gateway website, was the only person to correctly identify Dustin Rhodes, along with Flair, Dusty and Murdoch. Good eye, Carroll! And for the record, I never would have guessed Dustin Rhodes!
- Dick Bourne
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