Tully Blanchard

Infobox Wrestler|name= Tully Blanchard
names= Tully Blanchard
The Outlaw
The Midnight Stallion
height= 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
weight= 222 lb (101 kg)
birth_date = Birth date and age|1954|1|22
death_date =
birth_place = San Antonio, Texas
resides=
billed=
trainer= Joe Blanchard
Jose Lothario
debut= 1975
retired= 2005|

Tully Blanchard (born January 22, 1954 in San Antonio, Texas) is a retired second generation American professional wrestler. He is best known as an original member of the Four Horsemen.

He worked for all three major Professional Wrestling organizations in the United States: the National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, and the World Wrestling Federation.

Early career

As the son of wrestling promoter and former American Wrestling Association star Joe Blanchard, Tully Blanchard was involved in professional wrestling at a very young age. He began selling programs and refreshments at the arenas at the age of ten, and worked as a referee when he was older. Blanchard attended West Texas State University, where he played American football, first as a quarterback and then as a defensive end, alongside fellow future wrestlers Tito Santana and Ted DiBiase.

outhwest Championship Wrestling

After graduating, he trained as a wrestler and eventually wrestled for Southwest Championship Wrestling (SCW), where he also held a number of backstage production and creative positions. Blanchard was very successful in SCW, starting out as a face and teaming with his father in a feud with Dory Jr. and Terry Funk. He later teamed regularly with Gino Hernandez in the heel tag team "The Dynamic Duo", which held both the World and Tag Team titles. Eventually, Hernandez left for World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) and formed a second version of The Dynamic Duo with Chris Adams. Blanchard then began wrestling with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) Mid-Atlantic promotion. Hernandez died in 1986; Adams died in 2001. Blanchard is the only surviving member of "The Dynamic Duo".

Notable feuds and the birth of the Four Horsemen

With his manager, Baby Doll, by his side, Blanchard engaged in epic feuds with Ricky Steamboat (before his departure to the WWF), Wahoo McDaniel, Magnum T.A., and Dusty Rhodes. It was the latter feud that led to his forming an alliance with Ric Flair, Ole Anderson, and Arn Anderson, the soon-to-be Four Horsemen. The group would dominate the promotion over the next few years, holding numerous titles and brutalizing their enemies. Blanchard himself would become the NWA World Television Champion (twice), NWA United States Heavyweight Champion, NWA National Heavyweight Champion, and NWA World Tag Team Champion (twice) during that time.

Blanchard feuded with Dusty Rhodes for the World Television Title in 1985 and 1986, culminating with a "First Blood" Match for the title at Starrcade '86. Though Blanchard actually bled first, manager J.J. Dillon stopped the bleeding with vaseline and handed him a foreign object, which he used to bloody Rhodes for the victory. After losing the TV title, Blanchard would become more of a tag team wrestler with Arn Anderson.

The feud with Magnum T.A. involved the United States Championship. The two met in an "I Quit" cage match for the title at Starrcade '85 with Blanchard surrendering after T.A. repeatedly jammed a piece from a broken wooden chair into Blanchard's forehead and threatened to jam it in his eye.

Career changes

After clashing with promoter Jim Crockett and booker Dusty Rhodes about their pay, Blanchard and Arn Anderson left the NWA for the World Wrestling Federation on September 10, 1988, losing in an 11th-hour title change to the Midnight Express tandem of Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane after a brief feud. Fellow Horseman Barry Windham and manager J.J. Dillon would leave later for similar reasons; Flair, meanwhile, considered leaving but decided to stay when the NWA signed his old friend Ricky Steamboat and put them in a program together. In the WWF, Blanchard and Anderson were dubbed "The Brain Busters" and paired with heel manager Bobby Heenan. The team defeated Demolition for the WWF Tag Team titles on July 18, 1989, ending Demolition's historic first reign, but lost them back to Demolition on October 2, 1989.

Departure from the WWF

Blanchard and Anderson were planning a return to the NWA. so the WWF pushed a break up angle between Heenan and the Brain Busters on an episode of "Saturday Night's Main Event" that aired on November 25, 1989. Around that time, Blanchard failed a drug test, testing positive for cocaine and causing his premature departure from the WWF. Bobby Heenan himself replaced Blanchard as part of the Heenan Family team at the Survivor Series a month later.

Blanchard and Anderson were supposed to return to the NWA to reform the Four Horsemen with Ric Flair and Ole Anderson. However, when the NWA learned of Blanchard's infraction, they declined to offer him a contract.

He would again negotiate with the NWA to rejoin the Horsemen in early 1990, but ultimately declined what he considered to be a very low offer (reportedly half of a previous verbal agreement). Blanchard would go on to make a few appearances in the AWA in the spring of 1990 and headline independent cards throughout the country, but would soon retire from full time wrestling to become a preacher.

Born again Christianity

Without a contract and troubled by his increasing alcohol and drug abuse, Blanchard became a born-again Christian on November 13, 1989. He currently has a prison ministry, where he preaches the Christian gospel to inmates.

In 1992, Blanchard joined up with Charlotte Christian School as an assistant coach. He was often referred to as "The Beast" among the teammates and helped the team achieve the NC/SC Independent School Athletic Association championship.

Later wrestling career

He wrestled infrequently throughout the 1990s, with his most notable matches being a bout with Terry Funk at Slamboree 1994 that ended in a double-disqualification, and a time-limit draw with then-Extreme Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion Shane Douglas in 1995. He defeated Stan Lane at the Heroes of Wrestling PPV on October 10 1999. On January 29, 2005 at "WrestleReunion", Blanchard lost to Jeff Jarrett in a match in which he was said to look well-conditioned.

Confrontation with JBL and future wrestling plans

It was reported on October 23, 2006, that Blanchard was working for World Wrestling Entertainment as a Road Agent/Producer. On November 3, Dave Meltzer reported that Blanchard had a confrontation with JBL that caused him to quit. JBL claimed that Blanchard had treated him poorly when he first got into wrestling and referred to Blanchard in public as a drug addict, cheater, liar, and hypocrite who used God to make money.

Blanchard resigned his position, citing numerous reasons for his wanting to leave, with the incident with JBL cited as one of the reasons. On November 8, Blanchard claimed (via the "Between the Ropes" wrestling radio show), he simply wasn't as passionate about the business as he once was and could not deliver the commitment World Wrestling Entertainment would surely expect of him. He came to this conclusion upon pondering Chris Benoit's backstage question: "Do you miss it?" Blanchard believes his prison ministry is now his true passion, despite having an existing "Legend" contract still in place with World Wrestling Entertainment.

He appeared prominently in the 2007 DVD "Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen". On the March 31, 2008 edition of "WWE Raw", Blanchard reunited with Arn Anderson, J.J. Dillon, and Barry Windham to salute the recently retired Ric Flair.

In wrestling

*Finishing and signature moves:*Brainbuster:*Slingshot suplex:*Diving elbow drop:*Diving sunset flip:*Figure four leglock:*Multiple elbow drops:*Piledriver

*With Arn Anderson:*Aided piledriver

*Managers:*Baby Doll:*Dark Journey :*J.J. Dillon:*Bobby Heenan:*Paul Jones

Championships and accomplishments

*Central States Wrestling:*NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship (1 time) [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/centralstates/nwa/cs-h.html NWA Central States Heavyweight Title history] At wrestling-titles.com]

*Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling | Jim Crockett Promotions:*NWA National Heavyweight Championship (1 time)¹ [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/nwa/others/nat-h.html NWA National Heavyweight Title history] At wrestling-titles.com] :*NWA Television Championship (1 time) [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/on/nwa/on-nwa-tv.html NWA Television Title history] At wrestling-titles.com] :*NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time) [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/nwa/others/us-h.html NWA United States Heavyweight Title history] At wrestling-titles.com] :*NWA World Tag Team Championship "(Mid-Atlantic version)" (2 times) - with Arn Anderson [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/midatlantic/nwa/ma-nwa-t.html NWA World Tag Team Title (Mid-Atlantic/WCW) history] At wrestling-titles.com] :*NWA World Television Championship (2 times) [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wcw/wcw-tv.html NWA/WCW World Television Title history] At wrestling-titles.com]

*NWA All-Star Wrestling (North Carolina)²:*NWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Barry Windham [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/nwa/world/nwa-t.html NWA World Tag Team Title history] At wrestling-titles.com]

*Southwest Championship Wrestling:*SCW Southwest Heavyweight Championship (4 times) [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tx/san_antonio/scw/scw-sw-h.html SWCW Southwest Television/Heavyweight Title history] At wrestling-titles.com] :*SCW Southwest Tag Team Championship (5 times) - with Gino Hernandez [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tx/san_antonio/scw/scw-sw-t.html SWCW Southwest Tag Team Title history] At wrestling-titles.com] :*SCW Southwest Television Championship (3 times) [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tx/san_antonio/scw/scw-sw-h.html SWCW Southwest Television/Heavyweight Title history] At wrestling-titles.com] :*SCW World Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Gino Hernandez [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tx/san_antonio/scw/scw-t.html SWCW World Tag Team Title history] At wrestling-titles.com]

*World Wrestling Federation:*WWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Arn Anderson [ [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwf-t.html WWWF/WWF/WWE World Tag Team Title history] At wrestling-titles.com]

*Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards:*Worst Feud of the Year (1988) vs. The Midnight Rider

*"'Pro Wrestling Illustrated
**PWI Feud of the Year (1987) Four Horsemen vs. Super Powers and the Road Warriors
**PWI Tag Team of the Year (1989) with Arn Anderson
**PWI Rookie of the Year (1978, 3rd runner up)

Notes

¹Typically defended in Georgia, the title was won after the Georgia Championship Wrestling was purchased by the then World Wrestling Federation.
²Not to be confused with the Vancouver, British Columbia based promotion that existed from the early '60s to the late '80s. This North Carolina promotion lasted from March 1998 until January 1999.

References

Books

*Christian Wrestlers: "Wrestling With God", 2001, by Chad Bonham.