The Bushwhackers

Luke and Butch, as **The Sheepherders**, debuted in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in late 1987, participating in the third Jim Crockett, Sr. Memorial Tag Team Tournament Cup. At *Clash of the Champions II*, they faced off against the WCW 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 and Butch signed with Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

In December 1988, Luke and Butch debuted with the WWF. 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 house show on December 26, 1988, facing The Bolsheviks.

Only 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 *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.

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, the team would be used to help establish newcomers The Orient Express (Tanaka and 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 the WWF World Tag Team Titles on the April 27, 1991 *Saturday Night's Main Event XXIX* against The Nasty Boys, but were defeated. In a televised six-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 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. During the night, the Beverly Brothers got the upper hand and eliminated both Butch and Luke. The Beverly Brothers' manager The Genius kept interfering in the matches so the Bushwhackers brought in 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 the August 23, 1992 "SummerSlam Spectacular" show that preceded the pay-per-view in the United Kingdom, the Bushwhackers received a title shot against WWF Tag Team Champions Money Inc.. However, in this match they fell short, as Irwin R. Schyster pinned Butch following interference by Jimmy Hart. Their next pay-per-view appearance came at SummerSlam '92, where they tag-teamed with Jim Duggan on 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 November 7 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 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 Mickey Moses 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 January 25 taping of *WWF Superstars* in San Jose, California. Beginning in February, they began 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 March 22, 1993 the Bushwhackers appeared on *Monday Night Raw*, defeating Damien Demento and The Repo Man.

The Bushwhackers gave the new WWF duo The Quebecers their first defeat when Butch pinned Jacques Rougeau on the August 23, 1993 edition of *All American Wrestling*. In 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. Luke and Butch, 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 a Mission defeated Bigelow, Bastion Booger and the Headshrinkers.

In March 1994, the Bushwhackers started feuding with The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray). Luke and Butch 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 the previous year the team was winless against Rougeau and Pierre. In the summer of 1994, they reversed fortunes and were undefeated against the preliminary tag team The Executioners (Duane 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.

Both Luke and Butch appeared in the 1995 Royal Rumble as separate participants. They continued to wrestle throughout the spring, defeating the Heavenly 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. They would wrestle only five more times that year, losing to WWF Tag Team Champions Owen Hart and Yokozuna and the newly arrived Blu Brothers.

In March 1996, 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 September 14, the Bushwhackers made their last appearance while under contract with the WWF, defeating Justin Bradshaw and Uncle Zebekiah at a house show.

In 1998, they made a couple of appearances in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) under the names **Luke and Butch Dudley** as "cousins" of The Dudley Brothers.

Luke and Butch made one of their last appearances as active wrestlers in the WWF on April 1, 2001, when they participated in the WrestleMania X-Seven "Gimmick Battle Royal", which The Iron Sheik won.

On February 23, 2015, it was announced by WWE that The Bushwhackers would be 2015 inductees into the WWE Hall of Fame. On March 28, 2015, they both attended the event to accept their induction.