Barry Windham is the son of the famed Texan, Blackjack Mulligan (in fact during Windham's early years, he dyed his hair black and wrestled as Blackjack Mulligan Jr.).  Windham wrestled in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (MACW) and in Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) early on in his career.

Windham was a popular babyface in Flordia and won several of the area's titles.  In a memorable angle, Windham defended his Florida title against the much hated Cowboy Ron Bass.  After losing the match, Bass (aided by the One Man Gang) brutalized Windham and humiliated him by putting a horse sadle on Windham's back and riding him around the ring.  For a time, Windham disappeared and a masked wrestler the Yellow Dog came back to feud with Bass (Bass often referred to Windham as a yellow dog in promos).

By 1984, Barry Windham had stepped out of his father's shadow and earned a name for himself as a strong singles and tag team competitor.  He was one of the most popular wrestlers but Pro Wrestling Illustrated's December 1984 issue asked the question "Do the Fans Expect Too Much From Barry Windham?"

Windham gained national attention when he teamed up with Mike Rotundo in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) to form the U.S. Express tag team.  The U.S. Express held the WWF Tag Team Titles on two separate occasions and appeared at the first Wrestlemania.  However Windham left the WWF after a dispute with owner Vince McMahon.

Windham resurfaced in the N.W.A. where he returned to FCW and then World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Windham was involved in some highly regarded matches with N.W.A. World Champion "Nature Boy" Ric Flair   .  Windham was unable to win the N.W.A. title but he held several prestigious belts such as the United States Heavyweight Championship, the United States Tag Team Titles, and the NWA World Tag Team Championship. 

After wrestling for a babyface for all of his career, Windham shocked his fans when he turned on tag team partner (and co-holder of the NWA World Tag Team Titles) Lex Luger in a match against Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson of the Four Horsemen.  Windham joined the Horsemen and feuded with the area's top babyfaces such as Dusty Rhodes and Nikita Koloff. 

Around 1989, Windham returned to the WWF where he went by the name "the Widowmaker".  The character did not go over big and Windham didn't last long in the WWF.   He returned to WCW where he won the WCW Television title and the World Tag Team Title with Dustin Rhodes.  Windham then reached the pinnacle of his sport when he won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from the Great Muta on February 21, 1993 in Ashville, North Carolina.  . Plagued by a knee injury, Windham lost the NWA title to Ric Flair (who had just returned to WCW) on July 18, 1993 in Biloxi, Mississippi.

With the exception of his run in the U.S. Express, Windham always seemed to have trouble getting over in the WWF.  The characters they saddled him with never helped so it was no surprise that when Windham returned to the WWF as the blue-faced wrestler known as the Stalker and the gimmick failed to take off.  After that debacle, Windham formed a team with Justin Bradshaw as the new Blackjacks (Windham's dad Blackjack Mulligan and Bradshaw's father Blackjack Lanza were the original Blackjacks).  

Windham returned to the place where he had had the most success-WCW.  He won the WCW Tag Team titles twice, once with Curt Hennig and the second time with brother Kendall.  During this time, Windham was probably best known for being part of the West Texas Rednecks, a heel stable which included Curt Hennig, Bobby Duncum Jr., and Kendall Windham (all second generation wrestlers).  While the Outlaws were supposed to be heels, they were cheered by fans when they wrestled rapper Master P and the No Limit Soldiers.  

After the demise of WCW, Windham wrestled for Major League Wrestling (MLW) and recently performed at the Wrestleunion convention.