The Killer Bees

The Killer Bees were a tag team comprised of "Jumpin" Jim Brunzell and B. Brian Blair in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1985 to 1988 and later on in the independent circuit. The team name is a play off name for the Miami Dolphins' defensive unit known as the Killer B's as well as the fact that both team members last name started with a “B"
==History==
===Before the Bees===
Jim Brunzell had made his debut in the early 70s achieving most fame along with Greg Gagne as “The High Fliers" in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) where the two won the AWA World Tag Team Championship on two occasions.
B. Brian Blair was trained by Hiro Matsuda and made his debut in 1977 competing in various independent federations before 1985.
===World Wrestling Federation===
The two men were signed by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as they continued their national expansion through 1985 debuting under the "Killer Bees" name right away. The teaming of Blair and Brunzell was suggested by Hulk Hogan. The team had a special gimmick referred to as Masked Confusion where both wrestlers would pull out identical masks during the match to confuse their opponents and usually win their matches that way. The "Masked Confusion" idea was given to Blair by Billy Red Lyons who had used it in Maple Leaf Wrestling. The team debuted on June 17, 1985 defeating the team of Steve Lombardi & Dave Barbie. After facing several makeshift teams the Killer Bees started a long running feud with the Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart) who they wrestled somewhere between “300 and 600" times according to Blair himself. The Bees also had a running feud with the Funks (Hoss, Terry and Jimmy Jack). They faced Hoss and Jimmy Jack Funk in front of 70.000 people at The Big Event in Toronto (A card headlined by Hulk Hogan Vs Paul Orndorff). The team also received a couple of unsuccessful shots at the then WWF World Tag Team Champions The Dream Team.
The Killer Bees were a part of the “Wrestlers and NFL Players Battle Royal at WrestleMania 2 and next got the spotlight at WrestleMania III where they face Nikolai Volkoff & The Iron Sheik where they lost by disqualification. After WrestleMania III, the Killer Bees moved onto a feud with WWF newcomers Demolition (Ax & Smash).
The Killer Bee’s "signature" was two identical yellow & black masks that they team would put on during the course of a match to confused their opponents and referee so that no one could tell who was which. Despite this normally being a tactic used by the heels, the fans loved it when the Killer Bees used this gimmick to win matches – notably when the Killer Bees and The Young Stallions (Paul Roma & Jim Powers) became the sole survivors in the 1987 Survivor Series. Despite the Bees high-profile win at Survivor Series the team never won the world tag-team titles.
The Killer Bees’ last “Highlight" was when they appeared at the WWF Event known as “WrestleFest" where they lost to The Fabulous Rougeaus. The duo had their last match as a team on August 24, 1988 against the Young Stallions. In the fall of 1988 Brian Blair left the WWF, he was unhappy that the team had been promised the WWF Tag Team Championship three times but never won them. Brunzell remained with the WWF into the 1990s mainly being used to make younger stars look good in the ring.
===The Bees after the WWF===
Brunzell left the WWF sometime in the early 1990s and reformed the Killer Bees in Herb Abrams Universal Wrestling Federation where they won that promotion's tag-team titles before the federation folded and the Killer Bees stopped teaming for good. While there, they were unable to use the WWF-trademark name "Killer Bees" and were instead known as Masked Confusion.
==In wrestling==
*Finishing moves
:*Double Dropkick
*Signature moves
:*Bee Stinger
==Championships and accomplishments==
*Universal Wrestling Federation
:*UWF (Herb Abrams) Tag Team Championship (1 time)
==External links==
* Profile
Killer Bees, the
Category:Teams and stables
Category:1985 debuts
Category:1994 disbandments