Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them. The word stalking is used, with some differing meanings, in psychology and psychiatry and also in some legal jurisdictions as a term for a criminal offense.

According to a 2002 report by the National Center for Victims of Crime, "Virtually any unwanted contact between two people that directly or indirectly communicates a threat or places the victim in fear can be considered stalking."^[1]

Definitions[link]

The difficulties associated with precisely defining this term (or defining it at all) are well documented.^[2]

Having been used since at least the 16th century to refer to a prowler or a poacher (Oxford English Dictionary), the term stalker started to be used by the media in the 20th century to describe people who pester and harass others, initially with specific reference to the harassment of celebrities by strangers who were described as being "obsessed".^[3] This use of the word appears to have been coined by the tabloid press in the United States.^[4]

Pathé and Mullen describe stalking as "a constellation of behaviours in which an individual inflicts upon another repeated unwanted intrusions and communications".^[5]

Stalking can be defined as the willful and repeated following, watching and/or harassing of another person. Unlike other crimes, which usually involve one act, stalking is a series of actions that occur over a period of time. Although stalking is illegal, some of the actions that can contribute to stalking are initially legal, such as gathering information, calling someone on the phone, sending gifts, emailing or instant messaging. They become illegal when they breach the legal definition of harassment e.g. an action such as sending a text is not usually illegal, but is illegal when frequently repeated to an unwilling recipient. In fact United Kingdom law states the incident only has to happen twice when the stalker should be aware their behavior is unacceptable e.g. two phone calls to a stranger, two gifts following the victim then phoning them etc. However, the victim may feel they have been the victim of a stalking after one incident e.g. being followed home.^[6]

Psychology and behaviors[link]

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (August 2010)

People characterized as stalkers may have a mistaken belief that another person loves them (erotomania), or that they need rescuing.^[6] Stalking can sometimes consist of an accumulation of a series of actions which in themselves can be legal, such as calling on the phone, sending gifts, or sending emails.^[7] In the United Kingdom, government research demonstrates that, despite media reports and research of vested interests, the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 "is rarely used for stalking as portrayed by the media since only a small minority of cases in the survey involved such behaviour".^[8]

Stalkers may use threats and violence to frighten their victims. They may also engage in vandalism and property damage or make physical attacks that are mostly meant to frighten. Less common are sexual assaults.^[6]

In the UK, for example, most stalkers are former partners and evidence indicates that the mentally ill stalking type of behaviour propagated in the media occurs in only a minority of cases of alleged stalking.^[8] A UK Home Office Research study on the use the 1997 Protection from Harassment Act quotes "The study found that the Protection from Harassment Act is being used to deal with a variety of behaviour such as domestic and inter-neighbour disputes. It is rarely used for stalking as portrayed by the media since only a small minority of cases in the survey involved such behaviour.^[8]

Psychological effects on victims[link]

Disruptions in daily life necessary to escape the stalker, including changes in employment, residence and phone numbers, may take a toll on the victim's well-being and lead to a sense of isolation.^[9]

According to Lamber Royakkers, "Stalking is a form of mental assault, in which the perpetrator repeatedly, unwantedly, and disruptively breaks into the life-world of the victim, with whom they have no relationship (or no longer have). Moreover, the separated acts that make up the intrusion cannot by themselves cause the mental abuse, but do taken together (cumulative effect)."^[7]

Gender studies of stalkers[link]

According to one study, women often target other women, whereas men generally stalk women only.^[10][11] However, a January 2009 report from the Department of Justice in the United States reports that "Males were as likely to report being stalked by a male as a female offender. 43% of male stalking victims stated that the offender was female, while 41% of male victims stated that the offender was another male. Female victims of stalking were significantly more likely to be stalked by a male (67%) rather than a female (24%) offender." This report provides considerable data by gender and race about both stalking and harassment.^[12] The data for this report were obtained via the 2006 Supplemental Victimization Survey (SVS), conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the U.S. Department of Justice.^[13]

Types of stalkers[link]

Psychologists often group individuals who stalk into two categories: psychotic and nonpsychotic.^[14] Stalkers may have pre-existing psychotic disorders such as delusional disorder, schizoaffective disorder, or schizophrenia. Most stalkers are nonpsychotic and may exhibit disorders or neuroses such as major depression, adjustment disorder, or substance dependence, as well as a variety of Axis II personality disorders (such as antisocial, borderline, dependent, narcissistic, or paranoid). Some of the symptoms of "obsessing" over a person is part of obsessive compulsive personality disorder. The nonpsychotic stalkers' pursuit of victims can be influenced by various psychological factors, including anger, hostility, projection of blame, obsession, dependency, minimization, denial, and jealousy. Conversely, as is more commonly the case, the stalker has no antipathic feelings towards the victim, but simply a longing that cannot be fulfilled due to deficiencies either in their personality or their society's norms.^[15]

In "A Study of Stalkers" Mullen et al.. (2000)^[16] identified five types of stalkers:

• Rejected stalkers pursue their victims in order to reverse, correct, or avenge a rejection (e.g. divorce, separation, termination).
• Resentful stalkers pursue a vendetta because of a sense of grievance against the victims – motivated mainly by the desire to frighten and distress the victim.
• Intimacy seekers seek to establish an intimate, loving relationship with their victim. To many of them the victim is a long-sought-after soul mate, and they were 'meant' to be together.
• Incompetent suitors, despite poor social or courting skills, have a fixation, or in some cases, a sense of entitlement to an intimate relationship with those who have attracted their amorous interest. Their victims are most often already in a dating relationship with someone else.
• Predatory stalkers spy on the victim in order to prepare and plan an attack – often sexual – on the victim.

The 2002 National Victim Association Academy defines an additional form of stalking: The vengeance/terrorist stalker. Both the vengeance stalker and terrorist stalker (the latter sometimes called the political stalker) do not, in contrast with some of the aforementioned types of stalkers, seek a personal relationship with their victims but rather force them to emit a certain response favourable to the stalker. While the vengeance stalker's motive is "to get even" with the other person whom he/she perceives has done some wrong to them (e.g., an employee who believes is fired without justification from their job by their superior), the political stalker intends to accomplish a political agenda, also using threats and intimidation to force his/her target to refrain and/or become involved in some particular activity, regardless of the victim’s consent.^[17]

Many stalkers^[quantify] fit categories with paranoia disorders. Intimacy-seeking stalkers often have delusional disorders involving erotomanic delusions. With rejected stalkers, the continual clinging to a relationship of an inadequate or dependent person couples with the entitlement of the narcissistic personality, and the persistent jealousy of the paranoid personality. In contrast, resentful stalkers demonstrate an almost “pure culture of persecution,” with delusional disorders of the paranoid type, paranoid personalities, and paranoid schizophrenia.^[16]

One of the uncertainties in understanding the origins of stalking is that the concept is now widely understood in terms of specific behaviors^[18] which are found to be offensive and/or illegal. As discussed above, these specific (apparently stalking) behaviors may have multiple motivations.

In addition, the personality characteristics that are often discussed as antecedent to stalking may also produce behavior that is not stalking as conventionally defined. Some research suggests there is a spectrum of what might be called "obsessed following behavior." People who complain obsessively and for years, about a perceived wrong or wrong-doer, when no one else can perceive the injury—and people who cannot or will not "let go" of a person or a place or an idea—comprise a wider group of persons that may be problematic in ways that seem similar to stalking. Some of these people get extruded from their organizations—they may get hospitalized or fired or let go if their behavior is defined in terms of illegal stalking, but many others do good or even excellent work in their organizations and appear to have just one focus of tenacious obsession.^[19]

Cyberstalking[link]

Cyberstalking is the use of computers or other electronic technology to facilitate stalking. A booming “spy shop” industry has sprouted up to supply Hi-tech equipment such as computer hacking or monitoring software, hidden cameras, microphones, and GPS tracking units.^[20]

Stalking by groups[link]

According to a U.S. Department of Justice special report^[12] a significant number of people reporting stalking incidents claim that they had been stalked by more than one person, with 18.2% reporting that they were stalked by two people, 13.1% reporting that they had been stalked by three or more. The report did not break down these cases into numbers of victims who claimed to have been stalked by several people individually, and by people acting in concert. Official Department of Justice documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, reveal that, of the 13% of victim reports of 3 or more stalkers "acting in concert", 41% of subjects in these cases reported that they were the target of teams or groups of stalkers working together.^[21] The data for this report were obtained via the 2006 Supplemental Victimization Survey (SVS), conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau for the U.S. Department of Justice.^[13]

According to a United Kingdom study by Sheridan and Boon,^[22] in 5% of the cases they studied there was more than one stalker, and 40% of the victims said that friends or family of their stalker had also been involved. In 15% of cases, the victim was unaware of any reason for the harassment.

Stalking by groups has been described as "gang stalking" by some commentators.^[23][24]

False claims of stalking and delusions of persecution[link]

In 1999, Pathe, Mullen and Purcell wrote that popular interest in stalking was promoting false claims.^[25] In 2004, Sheridan and Blaauw said that they estimated that 11.5% of claims in a sample of 357 reported claims of stalking were false.^[26]

According to Sheridan and Blaauw, 70% of false stalking reports were made by people suffering from delusions of persecution.^[26][27] Another study estimated the proportion of false reports that were due to delusions as 64%.^[28]

Multiple news reports have described how groups of Internet users have cooperated to exchange detailed conspiracy theories involving coordinated activities by large numbers of people and the use of "psychotronic weapons" and other alleged mind control techniques. These are generally reported by external observers as being examples of belief systems, as opposed to reports of objective phenomena.^[29][30]

Epidemiology and prevalence[link]

Australia[link]

According to a study conducted by Purcell, Pathé and Mullen (2002), 23% of the Australian population reported having been stalked.^[31]

Austria[link]

Stieger, Burger and Schild conducted a survey in Austria, revealing a lifetime prevalence of 11% (women: 17%, men: 3%).^[32][33] Further results include: 86% of stalking victims were female, 81% of the stalkers were male. Women were mainly stalked by men (88%) while men were almost equally stalked by men and women (60% male stalkers). 19% of the stalking victims reported that they were still being stalked at the time of study participation (point prevalence rate: 2%). To 70% of the victims, the stalker was known, being a prior intimate partner in 40%, a friend or acquaintance in 23% and a colleague at work in 13% of cases. As a consequence, 72% of the victims reported having changed their lifestyle. 52% of former and ongoing stalking victims reported suffering from a currently impaired (pathological) psychological well-being. There was no significant difference between the incidence of stalking in rural and urban areas.

England and Wales[link]

In 1998 Budd and Mattinson found a lifetime prevalence of 12% in England and Wales (16% female, 7% males).^[34] In 2010/11 43% of stalking victims were found to be male and 57% female. ^[35]

According to a paper by staff from the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre, a unit established to deal with people with fixations on public figures, 86% of a sample group of 100 people assessed by them appeared to them to suffer from psychotic illness; 57% of the sample group were subsequently admitted to hospital, and 26% treated in the community.^[36]

A similar retrospective study published in 2009 in Psychological Medicine based on a sample of threats to the Royal Family kept by the Metropolitan Police Service over a period of 15 years, suggested that 83.6% of the writers of these letters suffered from serious mental illness.^[37]

Germany[link]

Dressing, Kuehner and Gass conducted a representative survey in Mannheim, a middle-sized German city, and reported a lifetime prevalence of having been stalked of almost 12%.^[38]

United States[link]

Tjaden and Thoennes reported a lifetime prevalence (being stalked) of 8% in women and 2% in males (depending on how strict the definition) in the National violence against women survey.^[39]

Laws on harassment and stalking[link]

Australia[link]

Every Australian state enacted laws prohibiting stalking during the 1990s, with Queensland being the first state to do so in 1994. The laws vary slightly from state to state, with Queensland's laws having the broadest scope, and South Australian laws the most restrictive. Punishments vary from a maximum of 10 years imprisonment in some states, to a fine for the lowest severity of stalking in others. Australian anti-stalking laws have some notable features. Unlike many US jurisdictions they do not require the victim to have felt fear or distress as a result of the behaviour, only that a reasonable person would have felt this way. In some states, the anti-stalking laws operate extra-territorially, meaning that an individual can be charged with stalking if either they or the victim are in the relevant state. Most Australian states provide the option of a restraining order in cases of stalking, breach of which is punishable as a criminal offence. There has been relatively little research into Australian court outcomes in stalking cases, although Freckelton (2001) found that in the state of Victoria, most stalkers received fines or community based dispositions.

Canada[link]

Section 264 of the Criminal Code of Canada, titled "criminal harassment"^[40] addresses acts which are termed "stalking" in many other jurisdictions. The provisions of the section came into force in August 1993 with the intent of further strengthening laws protecting women.^[41] It is a hybrid offence, which may be punishable upon summary conviction or as an indictable offence, the latter of which may carry a prison term of up to ten years. Section 264 has withstood Charter challenges.^[42]

The Chief, Policing Services Program, for Statistics Canada has stated:

"... of the 10,756 incidents of criminal harassment reported to police in 2006, 1,429 of these involved more than one accused."

Japan[link]

In 2000, Japan enacted a national law to combat this behaviour, after the murder of Shiori Ino.^[43] Acts of stalking can be viewed as "interfering [with] the tranquility of others' lives" and are prohibited under petty offence laws.

Italy[link]

Following a series of high-profile incidents that came to public attention in the past years, a law was proposed in June 2008, and became effective in February 2009, making a criminal offence, punishable with imprisonment ranging from six months up to four years, any "continuative harassing, threatening or persecuting behaviour which: (1) causes a state of anxiety and fear in the victim(s), or; (2) ingenerates within the victim(s) a motivated fear for his/her own safety or for the safety of relatives, kins [sic], or others tied to the victim him/herself by an affective relationship, or; (3), forces the victim(s) to change his/her living habits". If the perpetrator of the offense is a subject tied to the victim by kinship or that is or has been in the past involved in a relationship with the victim (i.e. current or former/divorced/split husband/wife or fiancée), and/or if the victim is a pregnant woman or a minor, the sanction can be elevated up to six years of incarceration.^[44][45][46]

United Kingdom[link]

There is no offence which is described in law as "stalking". An attempt to create such an offence by the Stalking Bill 1996 failed. It was felt that the proposed offence failed to distinguish between reasonable and unreasonable conduct.

In England and Wales, "harassment" was criminalised by the enactment of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, which came into force on June 16, 1997. It makes it a criminal offence, punishable by up to six months imprisonment, to pursue a course of conduct which amounts to harassment of another on two or more occasions. The court can also issue a restraining order, which carries a maximum punishment of five years imprisonment if breached. In England and Wales, liability may arise in the event that the victim suffers either mental or physical harm as a result of being harassed (or slang term stalked) (see R. v. Constanza).

Already before the enactment of the Act, the Malicious Communications Act 1988 and the Telecommunications Act 1984 (now the Communications Act 2003) criminalised indecent, offensive or threatening phone calls and the sending of an indecent, offensive or threatening letter, electronic communication or other article to another person.

In 2012, the Prime Minister David Cameron stated that the government intended to make another attempt to create a law aimed specifically at stalking behavior.^[47]

In Scotland, provision is made under the Protection from Harassment Act against stalking. It is not a criminal offence, however, but falls under the law of delict. Victims of stalking may sue for interdict against an alleged stalker, or a non-harassment order, breach of which is an offence.^{[citation needed]}

United States[link]

The first state to criminalize stalking in the United States was California in 1990^[48] due to several high profile stalking cases in California, including the 1982 attempted murder of actress Theresa Saldana,^[49] the 1988 massacre by Richard Farley,^[50] the 1989 murder of actress Rebecca Schaeffer,^[51] and five Orange County stalking murders also in 1989.^[50][52] The first anti-stalking law in the United States, California Penal Code Section 646.9, was developed and proposed by Municipal Court Judge John Watson of Orange County. Watson with U.S. Congressman Ed Royce introduced the law in 1990.^[52][53] Also in 1990, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) began the United States' first Threat Management Unit, founded by LAPD Captain Robert Martin.

Within three years^[52] thereafter, every state in the United States followed suit to create the crime of stalking, under different names such as criminal harassment or criminal menace. The Driver's Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) was enacted in 1994 in response to numerous cases of a driver's information being abused for criminal activity, examples such as the Saldana and Schaeffer stalking cases.^[54][55] The DPPA prohibits states from disclosing a driver's personal information without consent by State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). As of 2011, stalking is an offense under section 120a of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).^[56] The law took effect on 1 October 2007.^[57]

See also[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• How To Stop A Stalker. Proctor, Mike. Prometheus Books, 2000.
• Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse Annotated Stalking Bibliography
• The Psychology of Stalking. Meloy, J. Reid. Academic Press, 2000.
• Stalkers and Their Victims, 2nd edition. Mullen, Paul E., Pathe, Michele, Purcell, Rosemary. Cambridge University Press, 2009.
• Surviving a Stalker: Everything You Need to Know to Keep Yourself Safe. Gross, Linda. Marlowe & Company, 2000.
• Lifetime prevalence and impact of stalking: Epidemiological data from Eastern Austria. Stefan Stieger; Christoph Burger; Anne Schild. European Journal of Psychiatry Vol. 22, N.° 4, (235-241), Zaragoza (ES) 2008, ISSN 0213-6163.
• Is This Stalking? A Comparison Between Legal and Community Definitions of Stalking. Susan Dennison and Don Thomson, paper presented at the Stalking: Criminal Justice Responses Conference convened by the Australian Institute of Criminology in Sydney, 7–8 December 2000
• U.S. National Center for the Victims of Crime Annotated Stalking Bibliography
• Davis, Joseph. A., ed. (2001). Stalking Crimes and Victim Protection. CRC Press. ISBN 0-8493-0811-9. 
• Stalking Crimes and Victim Protection. Davis, Joseph A. CRC Press, August, 2001.

External links[link]

• Stalking at the Open Directory Project

Dennis Avner (born in Flint, Michigan August 27, 1958) of Tonopah, Nevada, United States, is widely known as "Cat Man",^[1] though he prefers his Native American name, Stalking Cat. Avner has spent considerable resources to surgically modify his body to resemble that of a tiger. He holds the world record for the most body modifications.^[2][3][4]

Description of modifications[link]

• extensive tattooing, including facial tattooing
• hairline modification
• saline breast implants
• piercing of his upper lip and transdermal implants on his forehead to facilitate the wearing of whiskers
• facial subdermal implants to change the shape of the brow, forehead and the bridge of the nose (a planned future implant on the top of his head for mounting tiger-like ears)
• flattening of his nose via septum relocation
• filing and capping of his teeth to have a more feline appearance
• wearing green contact lenses with slit irides
• having his ears pointed and the earlobes elongated
• silicone injection in his lips, cheeks, chin and other parts of his face
• bifurcated upper lip

Avner himself claims not to keep track of the money he has spent on body modification^{[citation needed]}, although some sources do state a total. Avner, whose parents were of Huron and Lakota heritage, states that altering oneself to resemble one's own totem is an ancient Huron tradition. The former Navy sonar technician who currently works as a computer programmer took on the name Stalking Cat and began his modifications after a discussion with a Native chief who reportedly inspired him to 'follow the ways of the tiger'.

As a result of his unusual appearance, Stalking Cat has attained local celebrity status and frequently travels to attend interviews and photo sessions. He has appeared and been interviewed on such television and radio shows as Ripley's Believe It or Not!, Larry King Live, VH1's Totally Obsessed, Kerrang! Radio's The Night Before, BBC Choice's Anna in Wonderland (Episode 6), and Animal Planet's Weird, True & Freaky (2008 episode "Humanimals").

Many of Stalking Cat's body modifications were performed by Arizona based artist Steve Haworth. The first artist to begin the extensive tattoo work on Dennis's face was Larry Hanks of San Diego in 1985. He also tattooed scales on him and at this time Stalking Cat was referred to as "Cat Fish" although not by choice.

Medical ethics concerns[link]

Glenn McGee, director of the Center for Bioethics at Albany Medical College in New York, says of Avner, "Cosmetic surgery is a practice based on informed consent that needs to balance the risks with the benefits. It is possible to have a coherent view that is nonetheless detrimental to one's well-being. This is a patient who's being harmed by medicine in the interest of his tradition."^[5]

See also[link]

• The Lizardman
• Katzen
• The Enigma
• Lucky Diamond Rich
• Body modification

References[link]

External links[link]

• Dennis Avner's LiveJournal
• Cat Man – the human 'tiger' who enjoys climbing trees and eats raw meat every day – an article dated 2008-09-06 from The Daily Mail, which features a photograph of Stalking Cat

Barry Windham
Ring name(s)	Blackjack Mulligan, Jr.[1][2] Barry Windham[1][2] Yellow Dog[1][2][2] The Widowmaker[1][2] The Stalker[1][2] Blackjack Windham[1][2]
Billed height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)[1][2]
Billed weight	245 lb (111 kg)[1][2]
Born	(1960-07-04) July 4, 1960 (age 51)[1][2] Sweetwater, Texas[1][2]
Resides	Homerville, Georgia[1][2]
Billed from	Sweetwater, Texas
Trained by	Blackjack Mulligan[1] Harley Race[2]
Debut	November 27, 1979[1][2]
Retired	2004

Barry Clinton Windham (born 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 one-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion,^[3] a one-time United States Heavyweight Champion,^[4] a one-time Television Champion,^[5] a one-time Western States Heritage Champion,^[6] a four-time NWA (Mid Atlantic)/WCW World Tag Team Champion^[7] and a one-time NWA United States Tag Team Champion with Ron Garvin.^[8] In WWF, he was a two-time World Tag Team Champion with his brother-in-law, Mike Rotunda.^[9] On March 31, 2012, Windham was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of the Four Horsemen.

Professional wrestling career[link]

Early years (1980–1984)[link]

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.^[10]

World Wrestling Federation (1984–1985)[link]

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.^[11] Their tag team was named "U.S. Express".^[12] 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.^[13][14] At the first-ever WrestleMania, US Express dropped the titles to Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff.^[15] On the July 13 edition of Championship Wrestling, they beat Sheik and Volkoff for their second and final WWF Tag Team Championship,^[16][17] which they lost to Dream Team (Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake) in Philadelphia at The Spectrum on August 24.^[18]

National Wrestling Alliance (1986–1989)[link]

Championship Wrestling from Florida (1986)[link]

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,^[19] and feuded over the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship with Ron Bass.^[20]

Mid–card (1987)[link]

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.^[8] 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 joiningThe Four Horsemen.^[21] 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.^[22]

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.^[6][23] He defended the title against the likes of Rick Steiner,^[24] Big Bubba Rogers^[25] and Incubus.^[26] The title was also recognized by Bill Watts' Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF).^[21] 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.^[27] 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.^[28]

Four Horsemen (1988–1989)[link]

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.^[29][30] 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, the Four Horsemen (which also consisted of Anderson and Blanchard) and his heel turn was considered shocking at the time.^[31] 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.^[32][33] Windham was a dominant US Champion, who reigned for nine months. He defended the title against the likes of Brad Armstrong,^[34] Dusty Rhodes,^[35] Sting^[36] and Bam Bam Bigelow^[37] before dropping it to Lex Luger at Chi-Town Rumble in February 1989.^[38] His contract with NWA expired in March 1989.^[1]

Return to the WWF (1989)[link]

Windham returned to the WWF in June 1989 as the Widowmaker. Despite the nickname, Windham did not change his image much, portraying a heel cowboy type character. He went undefeated for four months and was to have been on Randy Savage's Survivor Series team, but was replaced by the Canadian Earthquake as Windham left the company in October 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.

World Championship Wrestling (1990–1994)[link]

Rejoining the Four Horsemen (1990–1991)[link]

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 edition of Clash of the Champions. He spent most of the time that year in tag team matches with the other Horsemen as partners.^[39] 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.^[40] 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.^[41]

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.^[1] 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.^[42] 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.^[43]

Face turn (1991–1992)[link]

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.^[1] Steamboat and Rhodes won the titles.^[1] 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.^[5][44] He dropped the title back to Austin on the June 13 edition of WorldWide.^[45]

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.^[7] 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.^[46]

Heel turn (1992–1994)[link]

At the end of the year, Windham teamed with Brian Pillman, who had also 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.^[47]

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.^[3][48] 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.^[49] 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.^[50] After a successful title defense against 2 Cold Scorpio,^[51] Windham dropped the NWA belt to Flair at Beach Blast 1993,^[52] 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.^[53]

Return to the WWF (1996–1998)[link]

The Stalker (1996)[link]

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.^[54]