J. J. Dillon had an extensive wrestling career. He broke into wrestling at the age of 29, starting out in the early 1970s as a referee before transitioning into a wrestler and then a manager, while winning many championships and managing a variety of wrestlers throughout many different territories around the country. He made his Madison Square Garden debut on April 23, 1984, when he challenged Tito Santana for the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship, losing by pinfall after a flying forearm by Santana.[2]
Dillon is most remembered in pro wrestling as a manager. He guided many wrestlers to singles and tag team titles in the NWA. Dillon, who became manager of Tully Blanchard,[3] achieved his greatest success as the manager of the Four Horsemen which consisted of "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, Blanchard, Arn Anderson , Ole Anderson, Lex Luger and Barry Windham. After leaving WCW in February 1989, he was a front office executive for the WWF until 1997. On April 21, 1997, he returned to WCW as an on-camera commissioner, a position which lasted until fall 1998. He returned to this role in 1999 before his final departure. In 2003, he had a short stint as an NWA representative in TNA.[citation needed]
On December 29, 2019, Dillon joined the Board of Directors of the International Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame.[7] On March 3, 2021, he returned to TNT to act as manager for Tully Blanchard on an episode of AEW Dynamite.[8] In 2022, he appeared on Judge Steve Harvey with wrestler Kevin Sullivan.[9]
Dillon, James J.; Teal, Scott; Varriale, Philip (2005). Wrestlers are like seagulls : from McMahon to McMahon. Hendersonville, TN: Crowbar Press. ISBN0-9745545-2-9. OCLC62596130.