The American Males The American Males were a professional wrestling tag team in World Championship Wrestling ( WCW ) composed of Marcus Bagwell and Scotty Riggs . Their gimmick was of two " pretty boys " who were fond of their own bodies and popular with women . Riggs was Bagwell ' s third partner with whom he won the WCW World Tag Team Championship , the previous two being 2 Cold Scorpio and The Patriot . The American Males won the tag team title soon after they began teaming together but soon dropped the belts back to Harlem Heat , the previous champions . Bagwell and Riggs did not return to main - event status , and they eventually split up and feuded with each other . History . Background . Marcus Bagwell had competed in the tag team division in WCW since 1993 , during which time he held the WCW World Tag Team Championship with two different partners . Teaming with 2 Cold Scorpio , he held the title belts for three weeks . He later won the title twice more while teaming with The Patriot , a team that was dubbed Stars ' n ' Stripes due to the patriotic theme both wrestlers were using at the time . After being left behind by both partners , he expressed a desire to form a new tag team to challenge for the title again . According to WCW ' s storylines , his former partners believed that he was too demanding , and he was unable to find anyone interested in teaming with him due to his reputation as being " difficult to work with " . Formation . The team was formed in August 1995 when Scott Antol signed a WCW contract and was placed with " tag team specialist " Marcus Alexander Bagwell . In the process , both men changed their ring name s , Antol changing his last name to " Riggs " and Bagwell shortening his name to simply Marcus Bagwell . Once together , they both wore short shorts and leather vests ( later wrestling tights and suspenders ) to the ring and began clapping their hands over their head in time with their entrance music , which sang their praises between choruses of the team name being repeated over and over . They wrestled on the first episode of " Nitro " , defeating World Tag Team Champions Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck in a non - title match . Their first major appearance together came at the Fall Brawl pay - per - view , where they defeated The Nasty Boys in a match that aired on " Main Event " . " Pro Wrestling Illustrated " magazine stated that the team " work [ ed ] well as a unit and could soon challenge for the belts " . Bagwell commented on the team in a scripted interview , saying that he believed that his previous tag teams had failed because they were in a rush to win the title belts and that he planned to work slowly toward a title victory with Riggs . World Tag Team Champions . On the episode of " Nitro " after Fall Brawl , Riggs and Bagwell won the World Tag Team Championship after defeating then - champions Harlem Heat ( Booker T and Stevie Ray ) in an upset win in an impromptu match . The American Males had been scheduled to face The Blue Bloods , but Harlem Heat attacked both members of the Blue Bloods prior to the match and volunteered to take their place . As champions , the pair defeated Harlem Heat and the team of Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck . However , Bagwell and Riggs lost the titles back to Harlem Heat one week later on " Saturday Night " . The American Males remained top challengers for the title belts for the rest of 1995 but were unable to regain the championship from Harlem Heat . By the end of 1995 , The American Males were no longer being pushed by WCW ; they competed at Starrcade 1995 in a dark match and defeated The Blue Bloods . Through most of 1996 , they competed in the tag team division with no major storylines and never reached the same heights as when they were champions . They were able to defeat other mid - card teams like the Faces of Fear , and they competed in a dark match prior to Slamboree 1996 , defeating The Shark and Maxx . They were consistently defeated by the company ' s top tag teams , and " Pro Wrestling Illustrated " noted that they were getting lost in a " very deep " tag team division that included the Road Warriors , The Public Enemy , Harlem Heat , The Nasty Boys , the Blue Bloods , Lex Luger and Sting , the Four Horsemen , The Steiner Brothers , and The Outsiders , among others . In October 1996 , the team began showing signs of splitting , which intensified over the weeks . At " World War 3 " on November 24 , 1996 , the frustration came to a head as Bagwell attacked Riggs following both men ' s elimination from the three - ring battle royal that served as the main event . The next night on " Nitro " Eric Bischoff , representing the new World order ( nWo ) stable , informed all WCW wrestlers that they would become targets of the nWo if they did not join the group within 30 days . Bagwell and Riggs walked to the ring shortly after Bischoff ' s statement , with Bagwell looking to join and Riggs trying to talk him out of it . Bagwell decided to join the nWo , turning on Riggs and dissolving the team in the process . In a scripted interview , Bagwell stated , " Who needs Riggs anymore when I have the nWo ? ! " He also later stated that the team ' s lack of success after their first title reign was the fault of Riggs ' ineptitude , stating " I couldn ' t make up for all his weaknesses . " Split . Following the breakup , the former partners feuded for a while with Bagwell getting the better of Riggs . Riggs would go on to briefly feud with Raven , later joining The Flock , while Bagwell formed Vicious and Delicious with Scott Norton before suffering a severe neck injury that kept him out of action for a while . Bagwell later returned to WCW , teaming with Shane Douglas to win another tag team championship . After losing the championship , he formed another tag team , pairing with Lex Luger to form Totally Buff . In 2000 , when Riggs joined Extreme Championship Wrestling , he did a parody of the American Males gimmick by calling himself " The U . S . Male " and using their overhead clap taunt .