Mid 20th Century
127-715: The Bushwhackers were a professional wrestling tag team who competed first as the New Zealand Kiwis and then as The Sheepherders during their 36-year career as a tag team. They wrestled in the World Wrestling Federation , Jim Crockett Promotions , and on the independent territorial wrestling circuits. The Bushwhackers consisted of Butch Miller and Luke Williams while the Sheepherders also included Jonathan Boyd and Rip Morgan as members at times. Williams and Miller were inducted into
254-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
381-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
508-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
635-673: A 1994 episode of the sitcom Family Matters , wrestling against Carl Winslow and Steve Urkel , who are forced to fill in for and wrestle as The Psycho Twins. They also appeared in the 1998 "How Many Times" music video for the Insane Clown Posse . The Bushwhackers released their autobiography "The Bushwhackers: Blood, Sweat & Cheers", along with writer John E. Crowther, on September 27, 2022. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
762-588: A Mission defeated Bigelow, Bastion Booger and the Headshrinkers. In March 1994, the Bushwhackers started feuding with SMW Tag-Team Champions The Heavenly Bodies ( Tom Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray ). Williams and Miller were undefeated against the Bodies until WrestleMania X , where they lost a dark match. In April they began a house show series with WWF Tag-Team Champions The Quebecers, but unlike
889-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
1016-532: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
1143-519: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
1270-585: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
1397-580: A couple of appearances in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) under the names Luke and Butch Dudley as "cousins" of The Dudley Brothers . In 1999, the Bushwhackers participated in Heroes of Wrestling , where Williams and Miller took on and defeated former WWF Tag Team Champions, The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff. Williams and Miller made one of their last appearances as active wrestlers on 1 April 2001 when they participated in
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#17328021845191524-402: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Continental Championship Wrestling Continental Championship Wrestling
1651-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
1778-651: A falling out with promoters in Louisiana with Mobile-Pensacola only running in the summer months. Kelly turned the promotion around from holding monthly and seasonal shows in a few towns which only drew a few hundred people to holding weekly shows in a different town night after night with local television exposure in each market, which led to each arena drawing thousands. Bob Kelly left the wrestling business in 1976 to enter real estate and spend more time with family, and Lee Fields found it more difficult to operate both his wrestling promotion and Mobile International Speedway at
1905-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
2032-625: A feud with Chris and Mark Youngblood . The feud saw Williams and Miller win the WWC World Tag Team Championship on 4 April, and then defend it until the Youngbloods regained the titles on 10 May in a steel cage match. After their spring run with the WWC, The Sheepherders returned to Florida and instantly became challengers for Mike Graham and Steve Keirn's NWA Florida Tag Team Championship . On 26 June 1987, they won
2159-460: A few days into their run with the WWF, the Bushwhackers had their first match with The Bolsheviks ( Boris Zhukov and Nikolai Volkoff ). In February, the Bushwhackers began a feud with The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers , the first feud to really feature the Bushwhackers on WWF television. The two teams took their conflict to WrestleMania V where the Bushwhackers were victorious. The teams clashed again on
2286-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
2413-563: A manager of their own, Jamison. Despite the addition of Jamison, the Beverly Brothers defeated the Bushwhackers at Royal Rumble 1992 . The Bushwhackers did gain some small measure of revenge on the Beverly Brothers when they defeated the team in a "dark match" at WrestleMania VIII . Luke and Butch continued their feud with the Beverlys throughout the spring and summer of 1992, generally coming out victorious in these encounters. On
2540-799: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
2667-678: A member, as Jonathan Boyd teamed up with Rip Morgan (former flag bearer for the Sheepherders & nephew to Butch Miller) under the name The Kiwi Sheepherders . Boyd and Morgan defeated their recurring nemeses, the Fabulous Ones, for the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship on 17 June 1985. In the storyline, the team was soon stripped of the titles due to their excessive cheating, but had the titles returned to them when they threatened to sue CWA management. The Fabulous Ones took them by beating them four times in
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#17328021845192794-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
2921-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
3048-569: A new feud with the newly signed team the Headshrinkers ( Fatu and Samu ), and were used to "put over" the team. Following a winless stretch against Fatu and Samu, the Bushwhackers restarted their now over year old rivalry with the Beverly Brothers. As in late 1992, these were comedy matches alongside midget Tiger Jackson against the Beverly Brothers and Little Louie. On 22 March 1993 the Bushwhackers appeared on Monday Night RAW , defeating Damien Demento and The Repo Man . This would be Luke and Butch's first RAW appearance; meanwhile, it would be
3175-524: A promotion owned by the Vachon family and Edouard Carpentier , in 1972 by fellow New Zealander Steve Rickard . Williams and Miller worked in Canada for various promotions, most notably Stu Hart 's Stampede Wrestling , billed as The Kiwis (Miller was known as "Nick Carter" and Williams was known as "Sweet William"). The Kiwis began their first recorded title reign by defeating Bob Pringle and Bill Cody for
3302-575: A row between 5 September and 12 October. The Kiwi Sheepherders then began feuding with another team: The Fantastics ( Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers ). In the winter of 1985, the Kiwi Sheepherders and the Fantastics traded wins back and forth with no side gaining a clear advantage in the feud. In January 1986, the Kiwi Sheepherders defeated the team of Koko Ware and Rick Casey as well as team of Tojo Yamamoto and Dirty Rhodes to reach
3429-561: A six-month promotional war over the Knoxville territory. Many of these defectors later joined the Kentucky based outlaw promotion International Championship Wrestling owned and operated by Angelo Poffo . After this, the Knoxville end of Southeastern experienced financial losses, and sold to promotions such as Jim Crockett Promotions and Georgia Championship Wrestling for the next five years. Fuller then made Birmingham his main end of
3556-503: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
3683-586: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
3810-558: A year-long feud with Roddy Piper and Rick Martel in 1980. This was when their name changed to The New Zealand Sheepherders . Their next stop was NWA Crockett Promotions in Charlotte, North Carolina. They won the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team titles on their third weekend in the territory from Buzz Sawyer and Matt Borne . They later lost the belts to Rocky Johnson and Dewey Robertson . The Sheepherders then worked for
3937-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
The Bushwhackers - Misplaced Pages Continue
4064-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
4191-412: Is generally believed the tournament they won to be crowned was actually a fabrication made up by SWCW. The Sheepherders dethroned The Fabulous Ones on 4 March and held the titles until they were retired by SWCW in September 1984. Miller and Williams then returned to Puerto Rico and the WWC, this time competing as The Sheepherders (Los Pastores). On 6 January 1985 they defeated Invader I and Invader III for
4318-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
4445-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
4572-643: The Saturday Night's Main Event XXIII , and once again the Bushwhackers were victorious. The Bushwhackers defeated the Rougeaus twice more, first at the 1989 Survivor Series and again at the 1990 Royal Rumble . The Bushwhackers quickly became one of the most popular duos with children, chiefly due to the wildly comedic nature of their antics (including their trademark "Bushwhacker walk"), their pastoral musical theme, and their friendly interaction with
4699-729: The NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship , but Lane and Keirn got the better of them on 30 November, regaining the belts. The Sheepherders then returned to the CWA Memphis territory. On 10 January, they beat Badd Company ( Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond ) for the CWA/AWA International Tag Team Championship but lost it to Badd Company as fast as they had won it. After the quick feud with Badd Company, The Sheepherders once again feuded with
4826-624: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
4953-641: The Stampede International Tag Team Championship on 6 January 1974. The Kiwis lost the title to Tokyo Joe and the Great Saki, only to regain it a short time later. The Kiwis lost the title for good to Stan Kowalski and Duke Savage and were unsuccessful in subsequent rematches. In 1974, they worked in Japan for International Wrestling Enterprise (IWE). They returned to their home country of New Zealand in late 1975 for
5080-775: The Sunshine Network , a regional sports cable channel that served the Southeastern United States . Their last TV episode aired on November 25, 1989. The promotion closed after their final show on December 6, 1989. Despite many huge angles over the years, this territory often has the status as "the lost promotion". Such obscurity was due to the lack of media coverage during the Gulf Coast and Southeastern years since both Lee Fields and Ron Fuller believed that their promotions should not be covered by wrestling magazines and often did not allow reporters in
5207-578: The UWF Tag Team Championship on 16 March 1986, but fell to The Fantastics on 30 March in Tulsa, OK . The Sheepherders continued for the UWF on and off over the next couple of years, taking time out to participate in the first-ever Jim Crockett Memorial Tag Team Cup , in which they beat Hector and Chavo Guerrero Sr. in the first round and The Rock 'n' Roll Express in the second round. In
The Bushwhackers - Misplaced Pages Continue
5334-836: The WWC North American Tag Team Championship in Bayamon, PR . They lost and then regained the titles from Invaders I & III in March, and then held on to the gold until August, when the Invaders won it back. While the Sheepherders were in Puerto Rico, another Sheepherders team was spreading destruction all over the CWA in Memphis. For the first time, a Sheepherder team existed without Luke Williams as
5461-732: The WWE Hall of Fame class of 2015, and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in 2020. Luke Williams and Butch Miller started wrestling as The Kiwis for NWA New Zealand (later known as All-Star Pro Wrestling) in 1966, where they achieved a great deal of regional success. After working Australasia and the Eastern Circuit (Singapore, Malaysia, Japan), the duo was booked in North America in "Grand Prix" (Quebec, The Maritimes, Ontario, Vermont),
5588-735: The WWF World Tag Team Title on the 27 April Saturday Night's Main Event XXIX against The Nasty Boys , but were defeated. In a televised 6-man tag-team match the Bushwhackers teamed with Tugboat against Earthquake and the Nasty Boys, Tugboat turned on his partners after a few minutes of action and joined Earthquake in attacking the two New Zealanders. After the heel turn Tugboat changed his name to Typhoon and together they became known as The Natural Disasters . The Bushwhackers were easily defeated at SummerSlam 1991 by
5715-477: The World Wrestling Council (WWC) in 1981 as Los Pastores . A short time into their run with WWC, they defeated Carlos Colon and Invader I for the WWC North American Tag Team Championship , defending it for over a month until being defeated by Los Medicos. Los Pastores regained the belts on 22 May and held them until coming up short against Jack and Jerry Brisco on 8 August 1981. After
5842-747: The WrestleMania X-Seven "Gimmick Battle Royal" which The Iron Sheik won. Luke was eliminated by Jim Cornette and Butch eliminated The Goon then got eliminated by Doink the Clown . On June 15 the team returned to Memphis one last time, fighting The Moondogs to a double disqualification on a special "Mid-South Clash of the Legends" show. During this period, they toured the UK with All Star Wrestling , often appearing in six-man tag matches teamed with Frank Casey, who had been wrestling for several years as
5969-557: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
6096-407: The independent circuit . As of 2022 he occasionally still wrestles for independent shows in the United States at 75 years old. On 23 February 2015, it was announced by WWE that The Bushwhackers would be 2015 inductees into the WWE Hall of Fame . On 28 March 2015, they both attended the event to accept their induction. On 2 April 2023, Miller died at 78. The Bushwhackers appeared as themselves in
6223-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
6350-617: The "British Bushwhacker" – a 'tribute' to Williams and Miller. Their last match as a team was on September 8, 2001, in Farmville, Virginia, losing to Carnage and Mr. Big Stuff. Miller would retired from wrestling in 2001 after a neck injury and Williams retired in 2002. Williams came out of retirement in 2007 where he worked for Ring Of Honor , appearances in New Zealand, Ultimate Championship Wrestling in Nova Scotia, Canada, and
6477-590: The "pretty boy"-styled, technically polished Fabulous Ones and the ugly, brawling savage Sheepherders made them effective opponents and repeatedly drew big crowds wherever they fought. The series of matches started out fairly evenly, with the Fabulous Ones and the Sheepherders splitting the wins. Later, bouts often ended without a definite winner. In late 1982, the Sheepherders won the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship from The Fabulous Ones. Between late December 1982 and mid-February 1983,
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#17328021845196604-584: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
6731-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
6858-460: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
6985-596: The 23 August 1992 "SummerSlam Spectacular" show that preceded the PPV in the United Kingdom, the Bushwhackers received a title shot against WWF Tag-Tam Champions Money Incorporated . However, in this match, which aired on the USA Network, they fell short as Irwin R. Schyster pinned Butch following interference by Jimmy Hart. Their next PPV appearance came at SummerSlam '92 , where they tag-teamed with Jim Duggan on
7112-653: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
7239-659: The Bushwhackers made their last appearance while under contract with the WWF, defeating Justin Bradshaw and Uncle Zebakiah at a house show. After leaving the WWF, the team made special appearances in the independent circuit , including a return to WWC for its 24th Anniversary show, where they were billed as the Sheepherders and took on old rivals, Invaders I & II. They also appeared at Terry Funk's WrestleFest in Amarillo to celebrate "50 years of Funk" where they lost to old rivals Mark and Chris Youngblood. In 1998, they made
7366-406: The Bushwhackers returned to the WWF after a six-month hiatus to participate in a tournament to crown new tag team champions. The Bushwhackers were beaten in the first round by eventual winners The Bodydonnas ( Skip and Zip ). When the Bushwhackers returned in 1996, they displayed traditional Australian stereotypes, including being accompanied to the ring by a giant kangaroo mascot. On 14 September,
7493-776: The Champions II , they faced off against the NWA United States Tag Team Champions , The Fantastics, in a losing effort. At Clash of the Champions III , they lost to Steve Williams and Nikita Koloff , despite the interference of Rip Morgan on their behalf. Just as it looked like the Sheepherders were about to face the Fantastics in the finals of a tournament to crown new United States Tag Team champions, Luke Williams and Butch Miller signed with Vince McMahon 's World Wrestling Federation (WWF). In December 1988, Williams and Miller debuted with
7620-614: The Eastern Tennessee territory he already established. This was initially labelled ”the Southern Division” of the SECW treating them as two separate entities despite the original plan to run a talent exchange between the two involving talent spending sixteen months in one end of the territory and then spend eight months in another to regain momentum after losing steam in the previous one. In June 1979, several members of
7747-483: The Fabulous Ones. Keirn and Lane dominated the matches and once again "ran off" the Sheepherders. After leaving Memphis, The Sheepherders were invited to participate in New Japan Pro-Wrestling 's "IWGP Tag Team Title League 1987". The round-robin tournament took place from 23 February to 20 March. They only had a brief stay with New Japan, opting to return to Puerto Rico and the WWC. Here they started
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#17328021845197874-418: The Knoxville end of the territory, with this expansion came a name change to Continental Championship Wrestling . After a failed negotiation with CBS , he settled on moving the television show out of the small television studio and into the big arenas where they did house shows in order to give the promotion a national look and feel. While the name Southeastern restricted the promotion to a more regional feel,
8001-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
8128-488: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
8255-412: The Sheepherders brawling their way to victory. Taylor and Rougeau redeemed themselves in the end by defeating the Sheepherders in a "coal miner's glove" match. The Sheepherders returned to the ring later that same night and defeated the territory's main stars Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee . The next feud of Boyd and Williams was with The Fabulous Ones ( Stan Lane and Steve Keirn ). The contrast between
8382-478: The Sheepherders captured the title when The Grapplers' manager Don Carson turned on them mid-match to ensure the Sheepherders' victory. The Sheepherders' run with the gold was short-lived; in June, Boyd legitimately broke his leg in a car accident, causing SWCW to name Bobby Jaggers as his replacement. After Williams and Jaggers lost a non-title match to Bob Sweetan and Sweet Brown Sugar , Williams turned on Jaggers and
8509-595: The Sheepherders lost to Fuller and Jimmy Golden and were "run out" of the territory. Boyd and Williams next appeared in the Memphis, TN -based promotion Continental Wrestling Association run by Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler . Making their debut in October 1982, the team quickly became involved in a feud with Jacques Rougeau and Terry Taylor , clashing weekly with them at the Mid-South Coliseum, with
8636-612: The UWF World Tag Team Championship after defeating the Lightning Express ( Brad Armstrong and Tim Horner ) on 16 October. The Sheepherders held the belts until the UWF was purchased by Jim Crockett and merged into Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), to form the forerunner of World Championship Wrestling (WCW). After this merger, The Sheepherders worked for JCP, participating in the third Jim Crockett, Sr. Memorial Tag Team Tournament Cup. At Clash of
8763-413: The WWF in the midst of its aggressive national expansion. The team's name was changed to The Bushwhackers and developed a more comedic style. The comedy act involved licking (each other, fans, and even their opponents), as well as using their existing distinctive march, swinging their flexed arms. The Bushwhackers made their debut on a matinee house show on December 26, 1988, facing The Bolsheviks . Only
8890-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
9017-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
9144-561: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
9271-427: The audience. This was a stark contrast to their long pre-WWF career as one of the most violent tag teams in wrestling. By 1990, the Bushwhackers were feuding with the newly established team Rhythm and Blues ( The Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine ). The Bushwhackers' WrestleMania VI appearance came at the expense of Rhythm and Blues as they showed up during a segment, attacking Honky Tonk Man and Valentine. Later on,
9398-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
9525-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
9652-525: The championship. A month later, The Sheepherders defended their Florida Tag Team title at The Great American Bash from the Miami Orange Bowl , brawling to a double disqualification with Jimmy and Ron Garvin . Their run with the title came to an end on 29 August at the hands of Graham and Keirn. After losing the Florida titles, Williams and Miller returned to the UWF and began a second run as
9779-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
9906-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
10033-469: The company, and their prospects for a world championship run had seemed to close. The WWF was entering a " New Generation " era in 1995, and the Bushwhackers were now one of the last legacy acts. Still quite popular with the fanbase, they began the year with a successful series of encounters on the house show circuit against The Heavenly Bodies. Both Luke and Butch appeared in the 1995 Royal Rumble as separate participants. They continued to wrestle throughout
10160-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
10287-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
10414-603: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
10541-409: The fall of 1993 they transitioned to a feud with another new team, this time facing Well Dunn in a house show series. In November 1993 they helped Doink the Clown in the clown's feud with Bam Bam Bigelow . Williams and Miller, as well as Mo and Mabel , all appeared at Survivor Series 1993 wearing the trademark green wig and face paint associated with Doink the Clown. The Bushwhackers and Men on
10668-491: The final WWF appearance for Repo Man (Barry Darsow). In August, the Bushwhackers made a quick trip to Puerto Rico to appear at the WWC 20th Anniversary show on 8 August where they defeated the team of Mr. Hughes and The Warlord . When the team returned to the US, Williams and Miller gave the new WWF duo The Quebecers their first defeat when Butch pinned Jacques Rougeau on the 23 August 1993 edition of All American Wrestling . In
10795-465: The finals of a tournament to crown new Southern Tag Team Champions, but they fell in the finals to the Fantastics. The feud culminated as the two teams clashed in a "No DQ Loser Leaves Town" match on 20 January 1986. The Kiwi Sheepherders lost and left Memphis, while the Fantastics rode a new wave of popularity gained from the feud. When Williams and Miller returned to mainland USA and Bill Watts ' UWF , they defeated Ted DiBiase and Steve Williams for
10922-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
11049-580: The first wrestling television tapings On the Mat . In 1976, Williams returned to Japan for IWE. Both men were inactive from wrestling for a few years. They returned to wrestling and reunited in New Zealand in late 1978. They made a stop for All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1979. Returning to North America in late 1979, they worked for 50th State Big Time Wrestling . Later the same year, they moved to Oregon to work for Don Owen's Pacific Northwest Wrestling , working from Northern California to Vancouver, where they had
11176-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
11303-460: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
11430-473: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
11557-480: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
11684-496: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
11811-491: The locker room to interview the wrestlers. This was to prevent the exposure to kayfabe and preserve the illusion of wrestling as a sport in the area. However, Fuller relented with the changeover to Continental in order to get national exposure for the promotion from the magazines. Such exposure was at an all-time high during the Eddie Gilbert period. Due to the expensive nature of archiving at television stations before
11938-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
12065-497: The name Continental gave fans the impression they toured all over the country, except Alaska and Hawaii. In 1988, WCOV-TV owner David Woods bought the controlling interest in the promotion from Ron Fuller, and he renamed it Continental Wrestling Federation in a further attempt to compete with Vince McMahon and appear to resemble a nationwide promotion, even to the point of getting a national TV deal with Financial News Network . Episodes also aired every Monday at 1:30 a.m. ET on
12192-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
12319-446: The pre-show (in a match that was subsequently aired on Prime Time Wrestling) and defeated The Mountie and The Nasty Boys. They were slated to team with The Natural Disasters against Money Inc. and The Beverly Brothers at the 1992 Survivor Series ; however on the 7 November edition of WWF Superstars they agreed to let former Jimmy Hart charges The Nasty Boys take their place after the duo turned on their manager. The Bushwhackers concluded
12446-428: The previous year the team was winless against Rougeau and Oullette. In the summer of 1994 they reversed fortunes and were undefeated against the preliminary tag-team The Executioners ( Dwayne Gill and Barry Hardy ). They finished the year defeating Well Dunn in numerous house show encounters, although at this point their opponents were little more than preliminary opposition. However, now five years into their tenure into
12573-607: The promotion to David Woods in 1988, the name was changed to Continental Wrestling Federation . Nashville promoter Roy Welch had purchased the Mobile-Pensacola end of Leroy McGuirk's Tri-State Wrestling. Unlike McGuirk, who only promoted in the Mobile-Pensacola area on special occasions called spot shows, Welch decided to make promoting in Mobile-Pensacola a frequent attraction in the summer. However, due to his obligations in Nashville, his son Buddy Fuller (Edward Welch)
12700-717: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
12827-564: The same time.. So he sold it to his cousin Ron Fuller around 1977-1978. In 1974, Ron Fuller purchased Southeastern Championship Wrestling based in Knoxville, Tennessee from John Cazana, where he focused mainly on the east Tennessee area. In 1977, Ron Fuller took over the territory his grandfather and father had founded when GCCW folded and Fuller expanded the SECW to run in the Southern Alabama, Northern Florida area in addition
12954-485: The spring, defeating the Bodies and Well Dunn and remaining undefeated against preliminary opposition on television. However, their appearances became far more sporadic in the second half of 1995 following WWF touring cutbacks. They would wrestle only five more times that year, losing to WWF Tag-Team Champions Owen Hart and Yokozuna and the newly arrived Blu Twins . They would work for United States Wrestling Association in Memphis, Tennessee , that fall. In March 1996,
13081-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
13208-638: The summer of 1986 and beat the Rock’N’Roll RPMs ( Mike Davis and Tommy Lane ) for the WWC World Tag Team Championship on 3 August. They defended the titles for about six weeks before losing them to the RPMs on 21 September. When this short run with the WWC ended, Williams and Miller traveled to Florida where they worked for Championship Wrestling from Florida . On 7 October, The Sheepherders ended The Fabulous Ones' first reign with
13335-506: The talent roster and behind the scenes personnel left SECW over frustrationd involving backstage politics with Ron's brother Robert Fuller who was considered lazy in terms of booking the territory, and spent many nights partying and felt his spot in Southeastern was owed to him since he was a member of The Welch/Fuller family. Led by Bob Roop , Ronnie Garvin , Bob Orton Jr. and Boris Malenko , All-Star Championship Wrestling fought
13462-495: The team left WWC, Miller decided he wanted to move closer to home to be with family and returned to Australia and New Zealand to wrestle. Williams remained in the United States, reforming the team with "Lord" Jonathan Boyd . The duo of Williams and Boyd quickly gained a reputation as one of the most violent, hard-hitting teams in the business. In late 1981 in South Eastern Championship Wrestling ,
13589-532: The team of Robert Fuller and Jos LeDuc had split up after LeDuc turned on Fuller during a match. LeDuc brought in the Sheepherders to be a part of his Commonwealth Connection stable to fight against Fuller and his family. In December 1981, the Sheepherders won the NWA Southeast Tag Team Championship , which had been vacated when Fuller and LeDuc split and defended the title against Fuller and various partners. On 11 September 1982,
13716-471: The team would be used to help establish newcomers The Orient Express ( Pat Tanaka and Akio Sato ). The feud with the Orient Express culminated at Survivor Series 1990 where Williams and Miller teamed up with Nikolai Volkoff and Tito Santana to form "The Alliance" and take on Sgt. Slaughter , Boris Zhukov and the Orient Express team dubbed "The Mercenaries". The Bushwhackers received a shot at
13843-470: The team. Their next feud was with the Beverly Brothers ( Blake and Beau ). The two teams first clashed at the 1991 Survivor Series where they were on opposite sides in a 4 on 4 elimination match. On the night the Beverly Brothers got the upper hand and eliminated both Williams and Miller. The Beverly Brothers' manager The Genius kept interfering in the matches so the Bushwhackers brought in
13970-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
14097-467: The territory from his father Roy Welch. Buddy's cousin Lee Fields (Albert Lee Hatfield) would save the territory and gave it the name "Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling". Lee Fields would eventually buy the territory from Roy Welch and Buddy Fuller, and run shows in the area for almost two decades with Rocky McGuire booking Dothan-Panama City and Bob Kelly booking Mobile-Pensacola and Mississippi after
14224-699: The territory with the Dothan end continuing to flourish, giving early exposure to future stars such as The Fabulous Freebirds , rising stars in the territory along the lines of Austin Idol , and appearances by Ric Flair who would defend the NWA World Heavyweight Title in the area each year. Five years later, Fuller decided that it was time to reach beyond the Southern Alabama/Northern Florida area and re-purchased
14351-464: The third round, they clashed with the Fantastics in a match that ended in a double DQ. Back in the UWF for its big "Mid South Superdome Show", The Sheepherders clashed with The Fantastics once more; this time Williams and Miller lost in a "New Zealand Boot camp" match to the UWF Tag champions. After being unable to beat the Fantastics in several rematches, The Sheepherders returned to Puerto Rico during
14478-532: The title switched hands between the teams four times, with The Fabulous Ones ending up champions in the end. On 28 March 1983, the Sheepherders wrestled their last match in the Mid-South Coliseum before leaving the CWA. Boyd and Williams resurfaced in Southwest Championship Wrestling (SWCW) only weeks later. Their first targets were the reigning Southwest Tag Team Champions The Grapplers ( Len Denton and Tony Anthony ). In May 1983,
14605-543: The title was vacated. While Boyd was out with the broken leg, Williams was reunited with his old tag-team partner Butch Miller. Williams and Miller stayed with SWCW through the rest of 1983, and into 1984, when the team came head to head with the Fabulous Ones once again, feuding over the SWCW World Tag Team Championship . The Fabulous Ones had supposedly won the title in Australia, though it
14732-519: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
14859-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
14986-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
15113-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
15240-535: The year by resuming their long-running feud with the Beverly Brothers on house shows, this time teaming with Tiger Jackson against Beau, Blake, and Little Louie in six-man matches. The Bushwhackers opened 1993 with another opportunity against WWF Tag-Team Champions Money Inc. Once again they were defeated, this time on a 25 January taping of WWF Superstars in San Jose, California. Beginning in February they began
15367-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
15494-646: Was a professional wrestling promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee , and Dothan, Alabama , from 1985 until 1989, owned by Ron Fuller . The promotion evolved out of the NWA-affiliated Southeastern Championship Wrestling and Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling territories owned by Fuller, who purchased the Knoxville territory from John Cazana in 1974 and the Alabama/Florida territory in 1977. When Fuller sold
15621-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
15748-737: Was made booker for Mobile-Pensacola, and Fuller eventually expanded the territory into Mississippi-Louisiana as well. At this point, the territory didn't even have a name, its own belts, or even its own wrestlers (aside from members of The Welch Family of course). They often relied on wrestlers and champions from Buddy's and their Uncle Lester Welch's territory. He ran in places like Tampa, Florida, and Atlanta, Georgia (which would eventually become Championship Wrestling from Florida and Georgia Championship Wrestling), as well getting help from his father in Nashville, Tennessee, and some occasional help from his Uncles Herb and Jack. These early attempts would start to unravel when Buddy Fuller failed to make payments to
15875-571: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
16002-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
16129-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
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