We now have word on Mark Vance/Mark Pulliam from his family:
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This is Mark’s daughter Amy:
His birth date was on January 5,1964. He passed on March 13,2018 in his home(Mark Vance was 53 years old).
He passed from natural causes. He had been sick in the past few months.
He is survived by his three daughters and one son and five grandchildren. He was more then just the man you all may remember in the ring. He was a loving, caring father and grandfather. He was just a big ole teddy bear.
He would probably give me that look he would give in the ring when he was ready for a fight, for saying that.
I would like to say Thank you to everyone in the wrestling community for all the kind words and stories that you all have shared about my father.
Even in his bad health he always talked about wanting to get in the ring one more time.
Amy Meeks
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For our old friend Mark Pulliam/aka Mark Vance, back in 2009, he was in big trouble health-wise and for Mark back then, the count didn’t reach 10, but it did get to 8 and even then we knew it was getting late and now Today, we got the call from his daughter, that Mark Vance hit the ropes hard again, and they called out his number and this time it was at 10….Like a recent song I heard was saying, “He’s coming back at midnight and it’s 11:59……Time was running short and then it was all is OVER….If former Southern States Professional Wrestling referee George “Quick-Count” Dalton was here right now, he would hit the mat and say this one is over….Mark Vance gone, but for sure, not forgotten….
Back in day, I was doing some PA/public address announcing for the Southern States wrestling group/organization and Mark Pulliam, known then as ‘The Outlaw’ Mark Vance, was in the middle of the ring at Plato’s Crash Landing and we introduced the young Mark Vance with vigor and enthusiasm and he really seemed to appreciate the fanfare we used as we were calling out his name, or as they used to say, “You Talking To Me”….YES, and we will miss Mark Vance, truly a good guy if there ever was one, but the only problem with Mark was, sometimes he would get a little mixed up, or confused, and he wasn’t sure whose side he was on, or whose side he was supposed to be on…..(It is all about getting over and then when it is over, it is really over.)
As we hit the Big Dance, the NCAA’s this week, and yes it is time for “The Dance”, but it is also a time to remember Mark Vance, who had his chance and often times when Vance has his chance it was more about the dangerous side wrestling for Vance and not romance….But Mark Vance was a dreamer, going back to his childhood days in the Northeast area of Guilford County, and being the true dreamer he was, he was destined to become a “Dream Warrior” and be along side, for the ride, with Harold Hadnot…..Harold Hadnot became the godfather for Mark Pulliam’s/Mark Vance’s children and Harold also became a godfather in another sense, but at this time it is important the we focus on his friendship and relationship with “The Dream Warrior” Mark Vance, and it was a good one….
Not everything Mark and Harold did together always appeared to be above board, but what they did when those two got bored, is what brings out the best wrestler in all of us….When Mark and Harold got into the ring, it was enough to make a Methodist minister sing and the hope was that the cash register would go Ca-Ching, when the “Dream Warriors” did their thing and for most part the Cash Box did OK, and if it was bit empty it was OK, because that is the way a “Dream Warrior” calls it a day….They liked to play and have their way and I would say they really did make a name for themselves, around these parts of the Piedmont Triad….
I think Mark Vance/Mark Pulliam would be happy if we remembered him as a ‘Dream Warrior” and even though he was never a “Road Warrior”, he did spend a lot of time on the road over the years and he and I made several trips over to the Thomasville Armory and the High Point Armory to see Manny Fernandez and others act like a fool….But that is OK, that is the way it works, you take the good and the bad and at the end of the day you will be glad instead of sad, and I for one, am glad I knew Mark Vance and I will always remember his first night back there at the old Plato’s Crash Landing and how he landed in that ring and when the Ring Announcer called out his name, Mark Vance felt like a million dollars….You would have thought we were in the Madison Square Garden, but there we were at Plato’s Crash Landing…..
They say the day is long, but it is really short and if don’t believe me, just ask Mark Vance, but you can’t ask Mark because he has left us and he won’t back out for a ‘Curtain Call’….This young man will be missed and it sure was good to have known Mark Pulliam/Mark Vance….He was a different sort and he never made a million dollars in the wrestling business, but he sure loved what he was doing….
In closing I will just say this, Mark Vance will be missed and we want to remember him here today…..
RIP:Mark Pulliam/Mark Vance
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We take you back to our post on Mark Vance from 2009……….
Former wrestler facing tough odds with the count at 8, headed toward 9
Posted by Andy Durham on September 29, 2009 at 7:59 pm under Professional | 3 Comments to Read
Chemotherapy, radiation and blood transfusions.
Those are just a few of items facing a former professional wrestler as he begins his battle with Leukemia. He’ll have several new tag-team partners, as he faces an uphill fight to survive over the next couple of months.
This is not one of those loser-leaves-town matches, but in some ways it is pretty darn close. If George “Quick-count” Dalton were calling this encounter, the count would be going way too fast……..The call is already at 8 and it’s headed toward 9.
Former local wrestler Mark Vance/Mark Pulliam is in the fight of his life/for his life, and this one will be much tougher than even the biggest scrap of his career, when he went at it with Johnny B. Badd, as a Dream Warrior, down in Columbia, South Carolina back in the early 90’s.
This kind of match will take the life right out of you. Mark said he just wants to hear from some of his old wrestling buddies before he has to start counting the lights.
Diamond Dan Grondy knows what the knock-out punch feels like. He saw it for real, in the form of a clothesline coming right down Peachtree Street at him, from Rick Steiner back in the late 80’s.
This time for Mark Vance, the stakes could not be more real. He was a dreamer as a kid, and then became a Dream Warrior later in life. Now after experiencing hard nights and taking hard knocks at places like Plato’s Crash Landing, Vance is preparing for his last landing…….
He is ready to go if it is his time, but he’d like to leave on his own terms. Sometimes we don’t have a choice. If your number is up and if the count is at 9 and a-half, not even Tommy Young could save you. This makes me think back to a few occasions when Ed “The Boss” Ross was the referee.
Ed would have to clear his glasses and he always had a very strange, but yet distinct look on his face. I have been hearing reports that Ed Ross may be on the way to that big Ring of Honor in the sky also……
There are many members/memories of the local wrestling scene and I won’t ever forget the Friday night that Buddy Landel broke Athletic Director Bob Sawyer’s locker room door over at Grimsley High School and the following Monday, Landel slipped on a patch of ice outside the Madison Square Garden after a WWF Monday Night Raw show and lost his job the next day because he could not compete with the injured back/butt bone……
Jimmy Valiant comes to mind when you think of wrestlers that have made their mark in this area over the years. That man would kiss a mule if the animal was within 5 miles of the building and if the jackass was within 10 miles of the arena, then Valiant would go get the equine and ride him into the parking lot.
Mark Vance/Mark Pulliam brings back memories of all of the local venues that hosted wrestling matches.
In fact that would make quite a lucrative list….A list of all the local places that held matches in their buildings.
1)Plato’s Crash Landing(With Johnny “Rock” Hunter, Stan Hansen, Jumpin’ Joe Savoldi, Manager extraordinaire-Jimmy “The Genius”, “Cowboy” Chris Starr, “The Libyan Assassin”-Robbie McBride, Kenneth “Soulman” Stanback,”The Beastmaster” Rick Link, “The Outlaw” Mark Vance and others.)
2)The former Cosmos Club on Florida Street(I remember being in there one Monday night for a show.)
3)Lost Dimensions Night Club(No holds barred in this bar.)
4)Rider’s in the Country(Rod Davis/WMAG 99.5 used to be the ring announcer there.)
5)The Salvation Army Boy’s and Girl’s Club(Off of Aycock Street) Johnny Fairplay and TNA were there.
6)Glenwood Recreation Center(I defeated Sheriff BJ Barnes in a Arm Wrestling Match in there one Saturday night.)
7)Grimsley High School(Diamond Dan Grondy and Timber the Lumberjack along with Landel were there. We were supposed to have Smokey Mountain Wrestling, but they went out of business that same week.)
8 Page High School(Chris Plano and New Dimension did a show in the Mac Morris Gym.)
9)The Armory down on Franklin Blvd.(I don’t remember the promotion, but they had wrestling there)…..
10)In the outfield after the Greensboro Bats’ games at the War Memorial Stadium(Ricky Morton, Jeff and Matt Hardy as Surge and Willow the Wisp were there, and so was Bobby Fulton and the late “Pistol Pez” Whatley who may have came in as Shaska Whatley….)
11)Thomasville Armory(Famous for those Thanksgiving Night shows. Ken Spence and Chris Plano used to battle to see who could be the “King/Kingpin” of Thomasville wrestling promoters.)
12)High Point Armory(Saw “Hands of Stone” Ronnie Garvin and Masked Superstar Bill Eadie there.)
13)The Phillips Avenue Arena(Bobby Fulton, George South, Lodi, Scotty Matthews and the “ScrapYard Dog” all made their way down to the Phillips Arena with our MC Mr. Tim “I’m still too hot for this Stinkin’ Town” Blaze right in the middle of the over 1,000 fans that jammed that building for the “Last Fan Standing Match” on July 31, 2007. This was the single-most illustrious night in the history of local wrestling. This was the night that Junior and Big Mike chased a LIVE Hispanic Bear across the parking lot, while Cecil Carr tried to shoot the poor bear.)
14)Rockingham County High School(That night we had Barry Cohen, Diamond Dan Grondy, Bob Emory, Tony Suba, George South, Kevin “The Truth” Casey, and Flash, a local kid from Wentworth that nearly stole the show and my wallet…..)
15)Piedmont Sports Arena/Moulon Rouge/North Carolina Indoor Tennis Center(This was the local home-base for the IWA which was being run by Johnny Powers back in the late 70’s with Mighty Igor, The Masked Superstar, Boris Malenko, Dick “The Bulldog” Brower{With “Brower Power”} and Tam Walenbach all working shows at this venue on Norwalk Street.)
16)Eastern Guilford High School(South Atlantic Wrestling led by Frank Dusek and Paul Jones with Vince Torelli{Ken Shamrock} and the “War Eagle” Chris Chavis were on hand in the mid 90’s.)
17)Southeast Guilford High School(ACW came to SEG back in the late 90’s.)
18)Proehlific Park(Ric Flair and the gang were out at Ricky Proehl’s place in December of 2008.)
*****Some great theraputic wrestling stories and maybe you have a few you might want to add to the list. Let’s hope that Mark Vance/Mark Pulliam can read a few of these and that it helps him make it to the next Survivor Series…….******
You can still reach Mark Vance/Mark Pulliam at vancemark45@yahoo.com and we will try to keep you abreast of his condition………
Bruce Mitchell said,
I always got a big kick out of the ad Mark Vance co-sponsored on the old WKEW show, the one with the great hard-sell narration by our friend Python Wilson. I wish Mark the very best.
John Hitchcck said,
Those were the good old days, that is for sure.
I think I was there for Mark’s first match at MC Square verses the always dangerous Bam Bam Coleson.Most of those matches were from kids with little talent but a ton of heart. Everyone had a blast watching those cards and all of them got better and better as they wrestled match after match.
Best to you Mark from your oldest fan,
John Hitchcock
Bamm Bamm Coalson said,
Wow! Hitch e-mailed this link to me….Mark, I’ll definitely keep you in my prayers & wish the best for you!! As for Hitch’s statement about the MC Square match, it’s a miracle none of us were permanently hurt after the”excellent” training we received:):)!! It was absolutely a blast working with you in the ring the few times we got to go at it!! Keep battling & I’ll e-mail you to keep updated on things!
Best wishes,
Bamm Bamm Coalson
from Mark Pulliam’s daughter Amy:(Mark Pulliam/Mark Vance was 53 years old…..
This is Mark’s daughter Amy….
His birthday was on January 5,1964. He passed on March 13,2018 in his home. He passed from natural causes. He had been sick in the past few months.
He is survived by his three daughters and one son and five grandchildren. He was more then just the man you all may remember in the ring. He was a loving, caring father and grandfather. He was just a big ole teddy bear.
He would probably give me that look he would give in the ring when he was ready for a fight, for saying that.
I would like to say Thank you to everyone in the wrestling community for all the kind words and stories that you all have shared about my father.
Even in his bad health he always talked about wanting to get in the ring one more time.
Amy Meeks