Barry Windham Barry Clinton Windham ( July 4 , 1960 ) is an American semi - retired professional wrestler and the son of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan . He is best known for his appearances with the National Wrestling Alliance ( NWA ) and World Championship Wrestling ( WCW ) . In NWA / WCW , he was a 1 time NWA World Heavyweight Champion , a 1 time United States Heavyweight Champion , a 1 time Television Champion , a 1 time Western States Heritage Champion , a 1 time NWA World Tag Team Champion " ( Mid - Atlantic version ) " with Lex Luger , a 3 time WCW World Tag Team Champion and a 1 time NWA United States Tag Team Champion with Ron Garvin . In WWF , he was a 2 time World Tag Team Champion with his brother - in - law , Mike Rotunda . Professional wrestling career . Early years ( 1980 – 1984 ) . Windham was trained by his father Blackjack Mulligan and popular world champion Harley Race . He debuted on November 27 , 1979 against J . J . Dillion in Odessa , Texas when he was 19 years old . Much of his early career was in the NWA ' s Championship Wrestling from Florida territory where Gordon Solie was the head announcer . He was a fan favorite for most of the early and middle periods of his career , having great success in singles and tag action . Windham had notable feuds with Kevin Sullivan and his army . With his brother - in - law Mike Rotunda , Windham formed a tag team in 1984 . The duo captured the NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship three times between March and May 1984 . World Wrestling Federation ( 1984 – 1985 ) . Rotunda and Windham were signed by World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) in October 1984 . They debuted in WWF as babyfaces on the November 17 , 1984 edition of " Maple Leaf Wrestling " defeating Mohammed Saad and Bobby Bass . They quickly made impact in WWF ' s tag team division as they beat North South Connection ( Dick Murdoch and Adrian Adonis ) for their first WWF Tag Team Championship on January 21 , 1985 , at a house show in Hartford , CT . At the first - ever WrestleMania , US Express dropped the titles to Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff . On the July 13 edition of " Championship Wrestling " , they beat Sheik and Volkoff for their second and final WWF Tag Team Championship , which they lost to Dream Team ( Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake ) in Philadelphia at The Spectrum on August 24 . National Wrestling Alliance ( 1986 – 1989 ) . Championship Wrestling from Florida ( 1986 ) . After departing from the WWF , Windham worked an extended stint in National Wrestling Alliance ( NWA ) . He worked in NWA ' s territory Championship Wrestling from Florida ( CWF ) as a babyface , where most notably he wrestled in the main event of Battle of the Belts II for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Ric Flair , and feuded over the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship with Ron Bass . Mid – card ( 1987 ) . In the fall of 1986 , he shifted to NWA ' s Jim Crockett Promotions ( JCP ) territory as a babyface where he had many memorable matches with " Nature Boy " Ric Flair . These included matches going to 60 minute time limit draws and even some extending beyond an hour of action . He shifted back to tag team division . On December 9 , 1986 , Windham and Ron Garvin defeated Ivan Koloff and Khrusher Khruschev . for the U . S . tag team championship . Their biggest feud as a team was with The Midnight Express ( Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane ) , managed by Jim Cornette . The Midnight Express were never able to beat Windham and Garvin for the titles . Windham and Garvin eventually lost these titles to Ivan Koloff and Dick Murdoch in the spring of 1987 , shortly before the annual Jim Crockett Memorial Tag Team Tournament ( also known as the Crockett Cup ) . At this time , Windham also formed an alliance with Lex Luger , who would turn his back on Windham when they were both in the NWA shortly afterward when Luger had aspirations of joining The Four Horsemen . Rather than enter the tournament as a team , the NWA split up Windham and Garvin . Ronnie Garvin instead teamed up with his stepson Jimmy Garvin ( in the storyline of the NWA , they were called the Garvin brothers , but Ronnie was actually Jimmy ' s stepfather ) . Windham instead of partnering up with someone in the tournament , was booked to face Ric Flair for the NWA World Championship in what would be another classic match between the two . Flair defeated Windham with a controversial pinfall after a little over 25 minutes of action . Windham spent the rest of 1987 in NWA ' s mid - card division . On June 20 , 1987 , Windham defeated Black Bart in a tournament final to win the short - lived NWA Western States Heritage Championship , becoming first champion . He defended the title against the likes of Rick Steiner , Big Bubba Rogers and Incubus . The title was also recognized by Bill Watts ' Universal Wrestling Federation ( UWF ) . He began climbing up the ranks of UWF . At NWA ' s first pay - per - view ( PPV ) , Starrcade 1987 : Chi - Town Heat , he lost to UWF Heavyweight Champion " Dr . Death " Steve Williams . In 1988 , Windham began rising up in the NWA ranks again . He started off by dropping the Western States Heritage Title to Larry Zbyszko at Bunkhouse Stampede . Four Horsemen ( 1988 – 1989 ) . On March 27 , 1988 edition of " Clash of the Champions " , he teamed up with Lex Luger to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship from Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard . A few weeks later , on April 20 , in Jacksonville , Florida , a swerve took place where Windham betrayed Luger causing the team to lose the titles back to Blanchard and Anderson . Windham turned heel and joined Ric Flair ' s stable Four Horsemen ( which also consisted of Anderson and Blanchard ) and his heel turn was considered shocking at the time . In addition , he began using a black glove as well as the clawhold as his finisher , which was a signature move of his father Blackjack Mulligan . He went back to singles competition and defeated Nikita Koloff in a tournament final to win the vacant NWA United States Heavyweight Championship when NWA suspended then - champion Dusty Rhodes . Windham was a dominant US Champion , who reigned for nine months . He defended the title against the likes of Brad Armstrong , Dusty Rhodes , Sting and Bam Bam Bigelow before dropping it to Lex Luger at Chi - Town Rumble in February 1989 . His contract with NWA expired in March 1989 . Return to the WWF ( 1989 ) . Windham returned to the WWF in 1989 as the Widowmaker . Despite the nickname , Windham did not change his image much , portraying a heel cowboy type character . The Widowmaker was to have been on Randy Savage ' s Survivor Series team , but he left the company due to undisclosed personal reasons . Windham ' s father and brother were actually getting ready to go to jail on counterfeiting charges so he asked the WWF for his release . He was replaced by Earthquake in the match . On March 16 , 1990 , he challenged AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion Jumbo Tsuruta , but was defeated . World Championship Wrestling ( 1990 – 1994 ) . Rejoining the Four Horsemen ( 1990 – 1991 ) . In May 1990 , Windham returned to WCW and rejoined the Four Horsemen which at that point consisted of Ric Flair , Arn Anderson , Sid Vicious , and Ole Anderson , who was only semi - active at the time and permanently became their manager once Windham joined . He defeated Doug Furnas on June 13 , 1990 of " Clash of the Champions " . He spent most of the time that year in tag team matches with the other Horsemen as partners . At Halloween Havoc 1990 , Windham was involved in a controversial match between Sid Vicious and then NWA World Champion Sting . Vicious appeared to pin Sting and win the championship , but it was actually Windham who was dressed like Sting . Once the hoax was noticed , the match was restarted and the real Sting defeated Sid Vicious . Windham spent the rest of the year teaming with Arn Anderson in the continuation of a feud between the Four Horsemen and then NWA World Tag Team Champions , Doom . At Starrcade 1990 : Collision Course , Windham and Anderson wrestled Doom to a no contest in a Street Fight when a member of each team was pinned . A famous vignette was shot in an Atlanta , GA ghetto before a series of match ups between Barry Windham & Arn Anderson and the tag team of Doom ( Ron Simmons and Hacksaw Butch Reed ) . A famous quote from Arn Anderson to Barry Windham , " Ya know something BW , when I took a look at this dump , it ain ' t the Helmsley college , pal ! . " Barry responds , Ya , but it ' s a lot cheaper ! " In 1991 , Windham continued teaming with Arn Anderson and Sid Vicious . Windham feuded with Brian Pillman in the spring of 1991 , culminating in a taped fist match at SuperBrawl I : Return of the Rising Sun , which Windham won . As the middle of the year approached , controversy erupted in the WCW ( which the NWA became fully known as from then on ) when WCW World Heavyweight Champion , Ric Flair , was fired by the company , causing the title to be vacant . Windham was then elevated to the number 2 contender spot and faced Lex Luger in a steel cage match to declare the new champion . At The Great American Bash 1991 , Windham lost the match to Luger in a double turn as Luger became the top bad guy of WCW and Windham becoming one of the most popular , due to Luger ' s cheating tactics and his involvement with heel manager Harley Race . This , and Windham ' s dogged determination to win the belt after years as a perennial upper - mid carder got Windham over in terms of popularity with the fans again despite still not winning the world championship . It ' s rumored that Flair was going to drop the title to Windham at a TV taping in Georgia , but was fired before it could happen . Face turn ( 1991 – 1992 ) . In October 1991 , Windham formed a tag team with Dustin Rhodes and feuded with WCW World Tag Team Champions The Enforcers ( Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko ) . At Halloween Havoc 1991 : Chamber of Horrors , Anderson and Zbyszko slammed a car door on Windham ' s hand , breaking it , and putting him out of action for a while ( including that night ' s Chamber of Horrors match , where he was replaced by El Gigante ) . That also led to Ricky Steamboat stepping in as the mystery partner for Rhodes at the Clash of the Champions that November . Steamboat and Rhodes won the titles . Windham , meanwhile , would come back a couple of months later to feud with Anderson , Zbyszko , and the rest of what was now the Dangerous Alliance . Windham would feud with TV Champion " Stunning " Steve Austin in the spring of 1992 . On the May 9 , 1992 edition of " Saturday Night " , he defeated Austin in a two out of three falls match to win the WCW World Television Championship . He dropped the title back to Austin on the June 13 edition of " WorldWide " . On a taped edition of " Saturday Night " on September 2 , Windham teamed with Dustin Rhodes to defeat Steve Williams and Terry Gordy for the unified WCW World Tag Team Championship and NWA World Tag Team Championship ( their NWA title reign is not recognized by NWA ) ; the match would air on October 3 . They held the belts for about two months before losing them to Steamboat and Shane Douglas in a memorable match on November 18 edition of " Clash of the Champions " . Windham turned on Rhodes after the match when Rhodes refused to pin Steamboat after an accidental low blow . Heel turn ( 1992 – 1994 ) . At the end of the year , Windham teamed with Brian Pillman , who also recently turned heel , to pursue the titles he and Rhodes lost , but ended up losing to Steamboat and Douglas at Starrcade 1992 : Battlebowl / The Lethal Lottery II . Windham became a full - time singles wrestler in January 1993 and pursued the NWA World Championship held by The Great Muta . He defeated Muta for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship at SuperBrawl III . Ric Flair , who returned to WCW that night , tried to present Windham with the belt , but when Windham saw it was Flair trying to put the belt around his waist , he took the belt and walked away . Flair and Anderson tried to recruit Windham to join the Horsemen again , but Windham declined and became the " Lone Wolf , " feuding with Flair and Anderson . He successfully defended the title against Anderson at Slamboree 1993 : A Legend ' s Reunion . After a successful title defense against 2 Cold Scorpio , Windham dropped the NWA belt to Flair at Beach Blast 1993 , then disappeared from wrestling for almost a year , where he took on Flair again at Slamboree 1994 : A Legend ' s Reunion for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship . For weeks leading up to the match , WCW lead fans to believe it would be Hulk Hogan coming to challenge Flair , saying a 6 ' 7 " , 300 lbs blond haired former World Champion was the masked man that Col . Robert Parker ' s Stud Stable was bringing in to challenge Flair as his " Stable Stud . " It was revealed to be Barry Windham . Flair won again and Windham dropped out of sight for over two years . Return to the WWF ( 1996 – 1998 ) . The Stalker ( 1996 ) . Windham would again return to the WWF in late 1996 , this time as " The Stalker " , wearing camouflage face paint as well as being billed from " The Environment " . Windham ' s success with this gimmick was hampered by last minute changes . Windham cut promos as a heel , displaying The Stalker as a deranged and dangerous former military man and was scheduled to start a feud with Marc Mero . Mero , however , refused to agree to the planned storyline that would have been kick started by The Stalker stalking Sable and ( kayfabe ) cutting her throat . Following Mero ' s rejection of this plot point their whole program was scrapped and Stalker was introduced with little fanfare as a babyface . For a short time , he renewed his feud with Rhodes ( as Goldust ) . In Windham ' s only pay - per - view appearance with this gimmick , he was eliminated from a Survivor Series match at Survivor Series 1996 by Goldust . Stalker ' s teammate , however , the debuting Rocky Maivia , became the sole survivor of the match . The New Blackjacks ( 1997 – 1998 ) . Windham later formed The New Blackjacks with Justin " Hawk " Bradshaw in 1997 . That team didn ' t last long , as Windham turned on Bradshaw to join Jim Cornette ' s " NWA faction " in 1998 . The angle was scrapped months later , and Windham left for WCW again . Return to WCW ( 1998 – 1999 ) . In his last World Championship Wrestling run , Barry Windham was originally brought back to WCW by Eric Bischoff who had him turn on Ric Flair . Barry was then loosely associated with Bischoff ' s nWo Hollywood for a while before forming a tag team with Curt Hennig . At SuperBrawl IX , Hennig and Windham defeated Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko in the finals of a tag team tournament to win the vacant WCW World Tag Team Championship . Barry reinjured his knee during this period but would return as part of The " West Texas Rednecks " in mid 1999 . They were supposed to be a heel group to feud with rapper Master P ' s " No Limit Soldiers " but the southern fans of WCW cheered the Rednecks , going against what WCW management and booking had hoped for , and the angle was eventually dropped . The group consisted of his brother Kendall Windham , Curt Hennig , and Bobby Duncum , Jr . ; Duncum was replaced by Curly Bill after he was injured and shortly before the group was disbanded and the Rednecks storyline was dropped . On August 23 , 1999 edition of " Nitro " , the Windham brothers defeated Harlem Heat ( Booker T and Stevie Ray ) to win their final WCW World Tag Team Championship , before losing the titles back to Harlem Heat at Fall Brawl 1999 . Both Barry and Kendall were shortly after released by WCW . By the end of 1999 , they all had left WCW and Barry worked for Ted DiBiase ' s promotion WXO and World Wrestling Council , where he won the latter ' s World Tag Team Championship with Kendall . Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling and semi – retirement ( 2001 – present ) . By 2001 , Windham began competing on the American independent scene in the Florida - based Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling , where he won their Heavyweight Championship and held it for the better part of a year . He also became part of the Xtreme Horsemen in stable with Steve Corino and C . W . Anderson . They feuded with Dusty and Dustin Rhodes . Barry ' s last appearances were at Major League Wrestling ' s War Games , a one time U . S . Express Reunion with Mike Rotunda at " WrestleReunion I " , and on the " WrestleMania Rewind " episode of " Raw " on March 10 , 2008 in a rematch from the first WrestleMania . Windham worked as a producer for WWE . In 2007 , he appeared on the " Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen " DVD . Barry was also seen during the 2007 WWE Hall of Fame broadcast , sitting next to former partner John " Bradshaw " Layfield . In June 2007 , Windham did the introduction of SuperBrawl III for WWE 24 / 7 . On December 31 , 2008 , he was released by the WWE . Personal life . Windham has a son named Callan with his ex - wife , Kebra .