Barry Windham and the Family Business

Everywhere Barry Windham looks, he sees wrestlers.  His father is Blackjack Mulligan.  His brother is Kendall Windham.  His brother-in-law is Mike Rotunda.  Two nephews are wrestlers.
Windham has had a lengthy career, winning several tag team titles and various other titles, although never holding the Heavyweight title in any major organization.  Windham is one of those wrestlers who never quite put it all together (perhaps maybe a bit too injured), but still was always popular and successful.
Windham was also a member of the famed Four Horsemen.  Having met Ric Flair, Chris Benoit, Steve McMichael, Dean Malenko, Tully Blanchard, Lex Luger and Windham, I stand at 7 Four Horsemen.
Windham seemed to be really enjoying himself at the Wrestlers Reunion in 2005.  I think it was the first big reunion and many wrestlers enjoyed themselves fully.  Windham was gracious enough to the fans, but he seemed more interested in the other wrestlers.  I really can't blame him though.

Barry Windham and me in St. Petersburg, FL-January 2005.

Arn Anderson For the Hall of Fame

Marty Lunde debuted in pro wrestling in 1982.  Because he strongly resembled veteran wrestler Ole Anderson, Lunde became Arn Anderson and started teaming with Ole as the Minnesota Wrecking Crew.  By 1986, they were aligned with Ric Flair and Tully Blanchard, collectively known as the Four Horsemen.
Flair would go on to have a legendary career.  While Anderson was usually connected to Flair, he never captured the big titles, but did win many tag titles and lesser singles titles.  Still, Anderson carved out a great career by being "the Enforcer".  His interviews were quiet, but intense.  His in ring work was no-nonsense.  A neck injury ended his career slightly prematurely and he now works as an agent for the WWE.
From all accounts, Anderson is awesome to meet.  He is cordial, gracious and appreciative of his fans.  That doesn't surprise me, as Anderson is pretty old school.  He is very protective of the business he loves and he is a great ambassador for it.
With this year's WrestleMania being in Atlanta (home of the now defunct WCW) and the Hall of Fame class having a WCW flavor,  I thought Anderson was a sure bet.  Maybe they are waiting for Ric Flair to leave TNA and rejoin WWE to induct Anderson.  With the WWE and wrestling, you just never know.  I do know that Anderson is a true classic and deserves enshrinement.

Arn Anderson in Atlanta, GA-Late 2000's.

Autograph Tales:Diversity 5

The Nitro Girls were an unexpected success.  Under the reign of Eric Bischoff, Kim Page formed the Nitro Girls in WCW in 1997 as a dance group to entertain the fans during commercial breaks.  They became hugely popular.
Like a lot of things in WCW at the time, success brought on greed and lead to overexposure.  The Nitro Girls were given storylines or brought into other storylines.  They feuded amongst themselves, too.
In 2001, five of the Nitro Girls (Chae An, Melissa Bellin, Sharmell Sullivan, Teri Byrne and Vanessa Sanchez) released a one cd single under the group name Diversity 5.
The group was not well received outside of the wrestling world.  Their lowlight was being voted off a reality tv show in late 2002.  I believe this was the last anyone heard of Diversity 5.
I got the cd single from Teri Byrne (aka Fyre) at some point during their time together.  I was happier about getting the five autographs than I was about getting the music.  I must admit though, the song wasn't bad.

No Armstrong Curse Here

After 25 years and at least 10 ring names, Brad Armstrong made it to the WWE. He signed mostly as a trainer-producer, but he has done some wrestling and some broadcasting.
Armstrong comes from a wrestling family. His father is Bullet Bob and his brothers are Scott, Brian and Steve. Despite his lengthy career and superb wrestling ability, Armstrong never achieved greatness in the ring. He has had his moments and is generally regarded as a very popular wrestler. In the later stages of his career, he even had a storyline where he blamed his lack of major success on the "Armstrong Curse".
I always like Armstrong. He's the type of wrestling lifer that the business needs. Everyone can't be a top guy. The midcard needs solid workers. Armstrong always knew his role and accepted it. I am sure he would have liked more, but he was professional enough to give his best every night regardless.
When I met him at the wrestlers reunion, we joked about the Armstrong Curse. Of course, he viewed his heritage as a blessing and just had fun with the storyline.

Brad Armstrong and me in St. Pete, FL-January 2005.