"Mulkeymania is running wild"
Jim Cornette, manager of the The Midnight Express, made the Mulkeymania quip I used as my headline during a 1987 match against Bill and Randy Mulkey in Atlanta.
As Mike Mooneyham notes in the first part of his 4-part series on the Mulkeys, it was intended as a jab at competitor WWF’s Hulkamania.
Mooneyham’s column is a must-read that chronicles Bill and Randy Mulkey growing up in Anderson, South Carolina and the lengths they went to when they were trying to get into the business as teenagers. They eventually ended up with a match against Cornette’s Midnight Express in their hometown Anderson Rec Center, and the fire marshal had to turn away fans wearing “Mulkeymania” shirts.
The Mulkeys ended up being called “jobbers” or a term that was later cointed -“enhancement talent”. In 2010, a Bleacher Report story referred to them as the “Greatest Jobbers of All Time”.
As Mooneyham notes, the Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal) really liked wrestling against them, as did most of the locker room.
Here’s a video of the Mulkeys vs. The Midnight Express in 1987.
The Mulkeys were often fan favorites across the Jim Crockett Promotions territory, and Baltimore was no exception.
In Battleground Baltimore: How One Arena Changed Wrestling History by Graham Cawthorn, the author talks to fans and others around professional wrestling in Baltimore. I’ll be writing more on this book soon.
One fan, Joe Davis of Baltimore, told Cawthon:
"Most of the people in the section I would sit in, we all loved Bill and Randy Mulkey. They would get their ass whooped, but whoever would beat them up, they would leave. They would get up, brush themselves off. The whole crowd would cheer those guys on.”
Davis goes on to talk about The Crockett Cup, a tag team tournament that was held at The Baltimore Arena in 1987 (the 2nd year it took place). I will be writing more about The Crockett Cup and other related subjects in the future.
Here’s a video of The Road Warriors against the Mulkeys.
Be sure to read the column by Mike Mooneyham and the rest of the ones in the series in the coming weeks.