The wrestling world, especially those within WWE, are currently mourning the sad news that Jack Lanza, best known as one of The Blackjacks, has passed away at the age of 86. A cause of death has not yet been confirmed. However, it was known he had been unwell dating back to at least 2016, after he missed his induction into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame for this reason. Not much is known about his personal life as he was very old school and rarely gave interviews out of character, although he is survived by his wife, Barbara.
While most modern wrestling fans will recognize his name from his time working as a road agent for WWE, he was a legendary pro wrestler in his day. He would initially be trained by Verne Gagne and competed between 1961 and 1985 for multiple promotions, usually in a prominent position. Most famously, he was known for his tag teams with Bobby Duncum Sr. and Bob Windham, better known by his ring name Blackjack Mulligan and held tag team gold in both the AWA and then named WWWF.
He would also achieve title success as a singles competitor by winning the WWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1965 and holding it was an incredible 611 days. Arguably though, his most significant career honor would come in 2006 when he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
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