recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
The U.S. Express

Mike Rotunda and Barry Windham were signed by the WWF in 1984. Once they joined the WWF, they were given a patriotic gimmick. "Captain" Lou Albano also became their manager.

**The U.S. Express** made their WWF wrestling debut on October 30, 1984, when they defeated the team of Mohammad Saad and Bobby Bass. On January 21, 1985, the U.S. Express beat the team of Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch for the WWF World Tag Team Championships. They would hold the titles for only two months before losing them to the team of The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff at WrestleMania when the Sheik hit Windham over the head with Freddie Blassie's cane allowing Volkoff to get the pin.

The U.S. Express became two-time Tag Team Champions when they regained the titles from Volkoff and the Sheik on June 17, 1985 in Poughkeepsie, New York on an episode of *WWF Championship Wrestling*. Their second reign would also last about two months before they lost the belts to The Dream Team (Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and Brutus Beefcake) in Philadelphia after Beefcake rubbed Lucious Johnny V's lit cigar in Windham's eyes, blinding him and getting the pin. The team broke up near the end of 1985 when Barry Windham left the WWF. They had their last match together under the WWF banner exactly one year to the day after they made their debut.

On the March 10, 2008 episode of *WWE Raw*, the U.S. Express made an appearance in a rematch from WrestleMania I against Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik. Before the match could begin, they were interrupted by Jillian Hall. She offered to sing for them before being given an airplane spin by Rotunda.
Stan Stasiak

During his stay with the World Wide Wrestling Federation from 1971-1979, Stasiak would get one of the biggest opportunities of his career, as he won the WWWF Heavyweight Championship on December 1, 1973, defeating Pedro Morales, who held the championship for nearly three years. Stasiak was used as a transitional champion, defeating Morales for the championship belt and holding it for just nine days before dropping it to Bruno Sammartino on December 10, 1973.

Stasiak also had a WWWF Heavyweight Championship title shot against Superstar Billy Graham in 1977.

He received an AWA World Heavyweight Championship title shot against Nick Bockwinkel in 1978 in Toronto.

Stasiak passed away on June 19, 1997.

In 2018, Stasiak was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of its Legacy wing.
The New Blood

### Members

Jeff Jarrett, Mike Awesome, Buff Bagwell, Bam Bam Bigelow, Booker T, Crowbar, Disco Inferno, Shane Douglas, David Flair, Goldberg, Juventud Guerrera, Bret Hart, Horace Hogan, Mark Jindrak, Johnny the Bull, Chris Kanyon, Billy Kidman, Konnan, Rey Mysterio, Jr., Ernest Miller, Sean O'Haire, Chuck Palumbo, Reno, Mike Sanders, Shawn Stasiak, Lance Storm, Vampiro. Big Vito, The Wall, Chris Candido, David Arquette

### Managers

Eric Bischoff, Vince Russo, Tylene Buck, Daffney, Miss Hancock, Kimberly Page, Madusa, Midajah, M.I. Smooth, Shakira, Tammy Lynn Sytch, Torrie Wilson

In early 2000, WCW brought back former WCW president Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo, putting them together to run WCW. On-screen, Bischoff and Russo took over and declared all WCW titles vacant on April 10, 2000. They also declared a new stable with both of them at the helm called **The New Blood**. It consisted of most of the younger wrestlers in WCW as well as longtime talent that had been largely in the background for years, feuding with "The Millionaire's Club", the older stars of WCW, whom they claimed held them all back.

On April 16, at Spring Stampede in Chicago, Illinois, all of the titles were filled with matches between the New Blood and the Millionaire's Club. The New Blood won all of the vacant WCW titles, with the exception of the WCW Hardcore Championship, which was won by Terry Funk. The feuds continued for another month or so before the New Blood disbanded.

The true end of the angle occurred on July 9 at Bash at the Beach in Daytona Beach, Florida, after the infamous Russo promo, which caused Hulk Hogan and Bischoff to leave the promotion. However, the New Blood theme continued in WCW coinciding with the New Blood Rising pay-per-view in August 2000.
The Kliq

**The Kliq** was formed in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1994 by Razor Ramon, Diesel, Shawn Michaels and The 1-2-3 Kid. In January 1995, Hunter Hearst Helmsley became the next member of The Kliq.

In April 1996, Ramon and Diesel signed contracts with WCW, the WWF's top competitor, with whom the company was embroiled in a bitter rivalry. Their last contracted match for the WWF took place on May 19, 1996 at Madison Square Garden. At the time, Helmsley and Diesel were wrestling as heels, while Michaels and Ramon were fan favorites. At the end of the night, Michaels wrestled Diesel in a steel cage match. Immediately after the match, Ramon entered the ring and hugged Michaels. However, Helmsley then entered the ring and hugged Ramon, followed by Diesel. The four wrestlers then group hugged for several seconds before they turned to face the crowd with their arms raised together.

On April 2, 2011, The Kliq, consisting of Diesel, 1-2-3 Kid, Triple H and Shawn Michaels, made a special appearance as Shawn Michaels was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. In 2014, at the conclusion of Razor Ramon's Hall of Fame induction, the members of The Kliq joined him onstage and reunited for the first time since the MSG incident. They reunited again in 2015 on an episode of *Raw*, and then again at Diesel's Hall Of Fame induction.
The Spoiler

The Spoiler joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the early 1980's and competed against WWF Champion Pedro Morales in Madison Square Garden. The Spoiler also had a match against Mil Mascaras. During his time in the WWF, The Spoiler also took part in feuds against Chief Jay Strongbow and Sonny King.

On December 16, 2006, The Spoiler passed away.
The Demon

In 1998, the Demon (under his real name **Dale Torborg**) was hired by World Championship Wrestling, where he spent the beginning of his tenure as an enhancement talent on the minor WCW weekend shows, *WCW Saturday Night* and *WCW Pro*. His fortunes changed in 1999, when Torborg became **The Demon**, where he was managed by Asya. The Demon received a match at SuperBrawl in early 2000, where he lost to The Wall after a chokeslam.

Afterwards, he was placed in a stable with Vampiro and The Insane Clown Posse called The Dark Carnival. He later turned against the group and feuded with Vampiro. When WCW was bought out by the then-World Wrestling Federation in 2001, the Demon's contract was not picked up.
The Enforcers

**The Enforcers** were formed when Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko started teaming in the summer of 1991 in WCW. Scott Steiner was injured in June and the WCW World Tag Team Championship had become vacant because the Steiner Brothers (Scott and Rick Steiner) were not able to defend the titles within the thirty-day window. The Enforcers were entered into the tournament for the titles and made it to the finals against Rick Steiner and Bill Kazmaier at *Clash of the Champions XVI: Fall Brawl* on September 5, 1991. The Enforcers were known for their dirty tactics and did not fail to deliver upon that at the *Clash*. They attacked Kazmaier with one of his weights during a power lifting demonstration at the beginning of the show. When the match came, they took advantage of his injured ribs and won the titles.

They then began a feud with Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes and broke Windham's hand in an out-of-ring attack before Halloween Havoc started on October 27, 1991. Windham and Rhodes had just arrived for an interview in Windham's car and the Enforcers slammed his hand in his car door as he was getting out of the vehicle. This injury came just before they were supposed to get their title match against the Enforcers at *Clash of the Champions XVII* on November 19, 1991. Nobody knew who Rhodes would get for a partner until just before the match when the returning Ricky Steamboat came out. The Enforcers lost the titles to them at the *Clash*.

After this *Clash*, The Dangerous Alliance was formed, with Anderson and Zbyszko as members. New manager Paul E. Dangerously paired Anderson with Bobby Eaton, ending the Enforcers' run as a tag team.
The Samoan Gangsta Party

In 1995 in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Samu returned and formed a partnership with his cousin, Rosey, and were known as "**The Samoan Gangster Party**", with Samu being known as "Sammy the Silk" and Rosey becoming "Big Matty Smalls". The two men did not wrestle for the WWF, but watched Fatu from afar as the former Headshrinker tried to turn himself into a positive role model for kids on the street. The angle was dropped as the Samoan Gangsta Party never got in the ring or confronted Fatu before he was repackaged.

In 1996, they worked for Extreme Championship Wrestling, debuting in June at *Fight the Power*. They feuded mainly with The Gangstas in a short but intense war.
The Hype Bros

In June 2015, Zack Ryder debuted in *NXT*, forming an alliance with Mojo Rawley, dubbing themselves as **The Hype Bros**. On the October 16 episode of *NXT*, The Hype Bros competed in a match for the NXT Tag Team Championship in a losing effort.

During the WWE Draft on July 19, 2016, Rawley was drafted to *SmackDown*. At Battleground, Rawley saved Ryder from a post-match beating by WWE United States Champion Rusev, officially uniting the Hype Bros on the main roster. The Hype Bros entered the SmackDown Tag Team Championship tournament, defeating The Vaudevillains in the first round before losing to Heath Slater and Rhyno in the semi-finals. On the October 25 episode of *SmackDown*, The Hype Bros defeated The Ascension to qualify as part of Team *SmackDown* for the 10–on–10 Survivor Series tag team elimination match at Survivor Series in a losing effort. The Hype Bros were eliminated earlier within five minutes when Ryder was pinned following a *Magic Killer* from Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.

On the December 13 episode of *SmackDown*, The Hype Bros competed in a tag-team battle royal to determine the number one contenders for the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship. Despite Rawley being eliminated, Ryder would go on to win the battle royal for his team and become the number one contenders. However, during the match, Ryder injured his knee and was seen using crutches backstage. It was later reported that Ryder would be out of action for four to nine months.

After six months of inactivity, Ryder returned on the June 13, 2017 episode of *SmackDown*, reuniting with Rawley. The Hype Bros would have an opportunity to become number one contenders for the SmackDown Tag Team championship on the June 27 episode of *SmackDown* in a match against champions The Usos, in which they were defeated.

Throughout the next few weeks on *SmackDown*, Ryder and Rawley would shown signs of dissension as Rawley would constantly tag himself into matches, which ultimately caused them to lose when they began arguing. On the October 10 episode of *SmackDown*, The Hype Bros faced Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable, Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango), and The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) in a fatal four-way match to determine the number one contenders for The Usos' SmackDown Tag Team Championship, in which The Hype Bros were unable to win.

On the November 28 episode of *SmackDown*, after losing a tag team match to the Bludgeon Brothers, Rawley attacked Ryder, thus turning heel and disbanding The Hype Bros. They faced each other on the Clash of Champions pre-show, with Rawley coming out victorious. The two then faced each other in the United States Championship tournament, with Rawley being victorious.
The Revolution

**The Revolution** was formed by Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, Shane Douglas and Perry Saturn on the July 29, 1999 edition of *WCW Thunder*. When the group first came together as fan favorites, it was with the idea that they were a group of younger wrestlers who had felt slighted by WCW management, never giving them the chance to be stars, while always giving older, more established wrestlers the top spots.

In October of that year, the gimmick of the group changed to one that was anti-America and anti-government. This was established with Benoit taking a microphone, looking toward the entrance stage, and stating that they were "tired of the politics going on in the back". The group even went so far as to create their own flag and claim to have left the United States and formed their own government.

Benoit and Malenko left the group in October, but Malenko turned on Benoit in a setup where Malenko had never really left The Revolution. The Revolution then added Asya and feuded with The Filthy Animals. The Revolution kidnapped Torrie Wilson and put her freedom up in a match against The Filthy Animals, which they lost.

In January 2000, Malenko, Saturn and Benoit left WCW along with Eddie Guerrero and formed The Radicalz in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), while Douglas took a hiatus, before returning to WCW in April.
The J-Tex Corporation

**The J-Tex Corporation** was conceived in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in July 1989, feuding primarily with WCW World Champion Ric Flair and Sting and then with the Four Horsemen after their surprise reformation later that year.

Prior to the Horsemen's reformation, Flair and Sting defeated Dick Slater and the Great Muta by disqualification at *Clash of the Champions VIII* on September 12, 1989. Post-match, Terry Funk tried to suffocate Flair by putting a plastic bag over his head. This led to their highly acclaimed non-title "I Quit" match at *Clash of the Champions IX* on November 15, in which Flair defeated Funk.

During this time, Muta faced Sting in one of the year's greatest feuds, eventually winning his WCW World Television Championship. The title had been vacated after a controversial match at The Great American Bash pay-per-view in July 1989, but eventually Muta won the title in a no disqualification match in September after using a blackjack. He held the title for four months before losing to Arn Anderson in January 1990.

Also at the 1989 Great American Bash, Ric Flair faced Terry Funk in the main event. After retaining his WCW title, Flair was attacked by Muta post-match. Sting came to Flair's rescue which, given their fierce rivalry the year prior, was an amazing surprise to fans. Sting and Flair feuded with Funk and Muta for the rest of the year, including a Thunderdome match called by Bruno Sammartino at Halloween Havoc. When Flair reformed the Four Horsemen in December 1989, Sting was quick to join him along with Arn and Ole Anderson.

The culmination of this feud took place on February 6, 1990 at *Clash of the Champions X*, where the two stables faced off in the main event of the six-man tag team steel cage match. During the event, however, the Horsemen returned to their heel nature; after demanding a WCW World Heavyweight title shot from Flair, Sting was effectively thrown out of the Horsemen, thus restarting their rivalry. This attributed to shifting the heat away from their feud with J-Tex Corporation, and despite their impressive roster, J-Tex ultimately disbanded shortly after the event.
The New Dream Team

After dumping Brutus Beefcake from the original Dream Team tag team in the World Wrestling Federation following WrestleMania III, Greg Valentine and Dino Bravo began wrestling as "**The New Dream Team**", starting out strong by defeating The Islanders in a series of house show matches, after which they continued the long running feud with the Rougeau Brothers (Jacques and Raymond), splitting matches between them over the summer, often in six-man matches with Beefcake joining the Rougeaus to take on Valentine, Bravo and their manager Jimmy Valiant. The Dream Team also had a couple of shots at the WWF Tag Team Champions The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart), but did not manage to repeat the success of the original Dream Team.

The New Dream Team's last major appearance as a team was at the inaugural Survivor Series, where they took part in a ten-team tag team elimination match. Valentine was pinned by Paul Roma of the Young Stallions, eliminating the team from the match.

After Survivor Series, the New Dream Team broke up quietly, as they simply stopped teaming up and went their separate ways. Johnny Valiant left the WWF, Greg Valentine began working as a singles wrestler reuniting with Jimmy Hart, and Dino Bravo came under the guidance of Frenchy Martin. Valentine and Bravo would later be teammates in Randy Savage's "King's Court" team at the Survivor Series, by which time Bravo had joined Valentine under Hart's management. Valentine and Bravo would also later team up again up against The Rockers in 1990.
The West Hollywood Blondes

In June 1999 in World Championship Wrestling, Lenny Lane approached Lodi and stated "*They're not doing much with me and they're not doing much with you. Why don't we form a tag team?*" Lane and Lodi were renamed **The West Hollywood Blondes**. The Blondes were an effective heel tag team, though they rarely won matches.

In an upset victory, Lane defeated Rey Mysterio, Jr. on the August 19 episode of *WCW Thunder* in Lubbock, Texas to win the WCW World Cruiserweight Championship. With the assistance of Lodi, he defended the title successfully throughout the next six weeks. On the October 3 episode of *WCW Monday Nitro*, Psychosis was announced as having defeated Lane for the World Cruiserweight Championship at an unspecified house show. Lane didn't appear that night and Psychosis defended and lost the title to Disco Inferno instead.

## The West Hollywood Blondes

### Managers

Miss Hancock

They returned as "**Standards and Practices**", a censorious duo who opposed the "adult themes" present in WCW. In a drastic departure from their previous appearance, they wore designer suits, carried briefcases and were accompanied by a secretary, Miss Hancock. She would often stand in the ring or on the announcers table and do a sultry dance. This would distract not only their opponents but Lenny and Lodi as well. Miss Hancock later left Lenny and Lodi, and Standards and Practices became simply **XS** until they both left or were released from WCW.
The Shadows

**The Shadows** was the name of a heel tag team in the WWF in 1987. The team consisted of two masked wrestlers known as Light and Dark or simply "Shadow No. 1" and "Shadow No. 2". Shortly after Moondog Rex left the original Demolition and was replaced by Smash, he and Jose Luis Rivera would form the masked Shadows tag team, and they would make their debut as a team in Worcester, Massachusetts on March 17, 1987, at a house show defeating the team of Lanny Poffo and Nick Kiniski. The Shadows would have their first television match also in Worcester, Massachusetts, on April 23, 1987, when they teamed with "Iron" Mike Sharpe and lost to Blackjack Mulligan, Billy Jack Haynes and Tito Santana. The Shadows also had a few matches against The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) during the Rockers first stint in the WWF (which only lasted two weeks) in 1987. Since the Shadows wore matching outfits of either black or white or black or grey and had nearly identical builds, the referees could not tell them apart, which allowed the team to make a lot of illegal switches during matches. The Shadows would also have a minor feud with The Killer Bees (a team composed of "Jumpin'" Jim Brunzell and B. Brian Blair) and would lose every match they had with the Bees. The Shadows scored a rare victory in Detroit, Michigan when they defeated the team of SD Jones and Lanny Poffo. The Shadows faced many top tag teams like The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers (Jacques and Raymond), The Can-Am Connection (Rick Martel and Tom Zenk), and Strike Force (Rick Martel and Tito Santana), and gave those teams many hard matches, though the Shadows always lost. The Shadows had very little success and never appeared on a pay-per-view card, though they did appear on a WWF home video called *WWF High Flyers* in which they had a match against the team of Paul Roma and Jim Powers (known as The Young Stallions). The Shadows would lose every match they had with the Stallions through early to mid-1987, and although Rivera was able to beat Jim Powers in some house show matches, he did not keep his winning streak as Powers would avenge his loss with a victory over Rivera in a house show match in October 1987. Rivera's partner Moondog Rex would also lose a match to Powers' partner Roma at a house show. The Shadows would continue to wrestle exclusively at house shows and wouldn't reappear on television until November 17. Shortly afterwards, the Shadows quietly disbanded.
The Eliminators

Perry Saturn and John Kronus were originally brought in to Extreme Championship Wrestling to job to the Steiner Brothers, however they would later defeat The Steiner Brothers and Taz at Gangstas Paradise on September 16, 1995.

Managed by Jason, The Eliminators started a violent feud with The Pitbulls whom they clashed with repeatedly between October 1995 and April 1996, losing to them at the supercard November to Remember 1995, although they would defeat them in rematches at December to Dismember and Holiday Hell 1995.

During their feud, the teams clashed in both in regular tag team competition such as during December to Dismember when teaming with Raven, Stevie Richards and The Heavenly Bodies in an Ultimate Jeopardy steel cage match against the Pitbulls, Public Enemy and Tommy Dreamer on December 9, 1995. After The Pitbulls' manager Francine cut Saturn's hair at *Big Apple Blizzard Blast* in February 1996, he shaved his head completely.

On February 2, 1996 at *Big Apple Blizzard Blast*, the Eliminators beat Cactus Jack and Mikey Whipwreck to win the ECW World Tag Team Championship. After disposing of the longtime rivals the Pitbulls at *Big Ass Extreme Bash* on March 8, the Eliminators were targeted by The Gangstas, setting off a bloody feud between the two teams facing them in a six-man tag team match with Brian Lee against The Gangstas and Tommy Dreamer at A Matter of Respect 1996 and later faced them in title defenses at *Fight the Power* and Hardcore Heaven 1996, the latter a resulting in a no contest.

On August 13, 1996, the Gangstas beat the Eliminators for the tag team titles in a four corners elimination match with the Bruise Brothers and the Samoan Gangsta Party at the supercard *The Doctor Is In* and, although defeated in subsequent rematches, The Gangstas managed to hold on to the gold until the Eliminators regained the titles at a house show in Middletown, New York on December 20, 1996.

As the Eliminators/Gangstas feud continued into 1997, another team entered the fray, making it a three-way between the Eliminators, the Gangstas and The Dudley Boyz. After defenses against teams such as Axl Rotten and D-Von Dudley and Sabu and Rob Van Dam, the Dudley Boyz won the tag team titles from the Eliminators at Hostile City Showdown on March 15, 1997, only to lose them back to the Eliminators at ECW's first pay-per-view Barely Legal on April 13, 1997.

On May 31, 1997, in Trenton, New Jersey, during a three-way dance with the Dudley Boyz and PG-13, Saturn tore his ACL when he landed on a crutch while executing a kick on Big Dick Dudley. Despite the injury, Saturn continued to compete and defeated the Dudley Boyz at Wrestlepalooza 1997, and Kronus continued defending the title in handicap matches against the F.B.I. before Saturn competed in a match that saw the Eliminators drop the tag titles back to the Dudley Boyz at a house show in Waltham, Massachusetts on June 20, 1997.

Saturn would leave ECW during his recovery, thus ending the Eliminators.
The Holly Cousins

Hardcore Holly, who had debuted in the World Wrestling Federation in 1994, introduced his on-screen "cousin" Crash Holly on August 16, 1999. After arguing over who was the toughest Holly cousin, the pair brawled all over the arena for the rest of the show. They teamed up for the first time at SummerSlam, and spent the next few weeks alternating between being rivals and partners. From September on, the cousins started teaming together full-time, during which time they took to the gimmick of claiming themselves to be well over 400 pounds, so they could be considered "superheavyweights".[2]

On October 18, 1999, on *Raw is War*, Crash and Hardcore won the WWF World Tag Team Championship together, defeating the Rock 'n' Sock Connection after Mankind refused to tag into the match, and Triple H interfered. They held the title for two weeks before dropping it back to Mankind and his new partner Al Snow on the November 4 episode of *SmackDown!*.

In early 2000, the Holly cousins began feuding over the Hardcore Championship. Hardcore had first won the title in early 1999, before Crash's debut; however, Crash won it on February 22, 2000, defeating Test. The pair soon started fighting each other for the title including in the "hardcore" battle royal at WrestleMania 2000, where Crash started off as the champion, but Hardcore left as champion. Crash regained the title the day after WrestleMania, and soon after this, the Holly cousins had their last match as a team for over six months.

During these months Crash concentrated on the hardcore division, winning the title twenty-two times (after introducing the infamous "24/7 rule"), and earning the nickname "the Houdini of Hardcore". Hardcore legitimately broke his arm in a match against Kurt Angle and was sidelined for most of this time.

In October 2000, Crash started feuding with Test and Albert. This set up the debut of another "cousin", Molly Holly. She debuted on November 6, 2000, on *Raw*, attacking Trish Stratus, who was managing T&A. This led to the Holly Cousins reuniting to feud with T&A and their manager, Trish Stratus.

Although Hardcore and Crash had opportunities to win the Tag Team Championship, they were never able to capitalize. They competed mainly in both the hardcore division and the tag title division for the next few months. Molly had multiple opportunities to win the Women's Championship, but lost them all.

In early 2001, the Hollys began feuding with the Dudley Boyz. In May 2001, Crash and Hardcore, along with Bubba Ray and D-Von Dudley became concerned about Molly's burgeoning relationship with Spike Dudley. This led to the Hollys-Dudleys feud intensifying, with both Spike and Molly caught in the middle. On May 28, 2001, the Dudley Boys famously put Molly through a table, with Spike lying on the table to try and protect her. As Molly and Spike's relationship progressed, the feud between the Hollys and the Dudleys worsened.

This led to the final break-up of the Holly cousins, as Molly started accompanying Spike for his matches, Crash joined the *Raw* brand until 2003, and Hardcore was re-injured in September 2002.
The Highlanders

In June 2006, vignettes began airing on *Raw* featuring **The Highlanders** (Robbie and Rory McAllister) exploring "the big city" and comparing the differences to their native Scotland.

The Highlanders made their *Raw* debut on July 3, with a victory over the duo of Matt Striker and Rob Conway. They followed this victory with another over the same team and were put on the fast track to a match for the Spirit Squad's World Tag Team Championship. When they were granted a match against Spirit Squad members Kenny and Mikey, The Highlanders were defeated after abundant interference by the other members. Throughout the month of August, The Highlanders continued to battle different tag teams until they won a triple threat tag team match over the team of Charlie Haas and Viscera and Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch, which made them the number one contenders to the Spirit Squad's title on the September 4 edition of *Raw*. They were unsuccessful in winning the title at Unforgiven, again because of interference from Spirit Squad members not technically a part of the match.

The Highlanders went on to lose a Texas Tornado match at Cyber Sunday and a tag team turmoil match at New Year's Revolution for a future tag title shot. In-between the pay-per-views, The Highlanders briefly feuded with Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch, with both teams exchanging wins on *Heat* before ending the feud on the December 4 episode of *Raw*, defeating Cade and Murdoch in a Roddy Piper tribute match.

In late 2006, they mostly competed on *Raw*'s sister show *Heat*, occasionally making appearances on *Raw*, throughout 2007, primarily to job to other teams or singles wrestlers such as Snitsky. On the September 24, 2007 episode of *Raw*, The Highlanders interrupted a match between Paul London and Brian Kendrick and Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch, due to The Highlanders getting tired of being held back from a World Tag Team Championship opportunity, thus the duo turning heel. Nothing came of this turn, however, as they lost a number one contenders match on November 12. They then feuded with London and Kendrick and Jim Duggan and Super Crazy, mainly on *Heat*.

The Highlanders had a Royal Rumble qualifying match, but lost to the team of Mick Foley and Hornswoggle. The Highlanders only appeared once on *ECW* before Rory tore his pectoral muscle and was sidelined for six months on February 2008. They lost to then-WWE Tag Team Champions John Morrison and The Miz. Robbie started wrestling on *Raw* again during this time, mostly on *Heat* and also formed a brief tag team with Charlie Haas during this time. Robbie also made an appearance on the March 17 episode of *Raw* as a part of the *Raw* roster taking on John Cena and Randy Orton. Robbie was the fourth man to be pinned, when Cena pinned him after a flying leg drop.

In their last televised match on August 11, 2008, they were defeated by Cryme Tyme. Both members of the team were released from WWE on August 15, 2008.
The Prodigette

The Prodigette debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in 2000, managing the stable Sideshow Freaks, which included Simon Diamond, Johnny Swinger, The Muskateer, Tom Marquez and Bilvis Wesley.

Feuding with Jazz, she also confronted male wrestlers including Jerry Lynn, who gave her a piledriver at her last appearance at the ECW Arena in 2001.
The Motor City Madman

The Motor City Madman debuted in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1987, when he was part of the tag team the "Motor City Madmen", managed by Paul E. Dangerously. During his subsequent time in WCW, he appeared at Starrcade 1990, teaming with Curtis Hughes against The Skyscrapers and at the *Clash of the Champions XIII: Thanksgiving Thunder*, where he was defeated by Lex Luger.
The Valiant Brothers

Jimmy and Johnny Valiant signed with Vincent J. McMahon's World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in May 1974 and debuted there around soon after. Their biggest success as a tag team came when they defeated Tony Garea and Dean Ho to win the WWWF World Tag Team Championship on the May 8, 1974 edition of *All Star Wrestling*. The Valiants quickly became a dominant heel tag team as they went on to successfully defend their titles for over a year before losing them to Dominic DeNucci and Victor Rivera on May 13, 1975. This made the Valiant Brothers the longest reigning champions of their era with a reign of 370 days. The record was broken fourteen years later by Demolition (Ax and Smash), who reigned as tag team champions for 470 days. After losing the titles, the Valiants battled against the likes of Tony Garea, Dean Ho, Chief Jay Strongbow and Haystacks Calhoun.

In 1978, the Valiant Brothers returned to WWWF but Jimmy retired and was replaced by "brother" Jerry Valiant. Jerry and Johnny began wrestling in the tag team division while Jimmy became their manager. In March 1979, the promotion was renamed the World Wrestling Federation, dropping 'Wide' from the name. On the March 24, 1979 edition of *Championship Wrestling*, Jerry and Johnny defeated Larry Zbyszko and Tony Garea to win the WWF Tag Team Championship. This second version of the Valiant Brothers was also successful, but Jerry could not achieve the popularity which Jimmy had achieved.

On July 13, 1979, they retained the championship in a match against The Jaguar of Colombia and Tito Santana. Jerry and Johnny lost the titles to Ivan Putski and Tito Santana on October 22. After unsuccessful attempts in winning back the titles from Putski and Santana, the Valiant Brothers broke up in 1980, putting an end to the team.

Jimmy and Johnny were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 1996 by Owen Hart and "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith.
Skull

Don Harris

Don Bruise

Patrick

Jarrod Grimm

Skull, along with his twin brother, appeared in ECW in 1994 as the Bruise Brothers. On February 5, the ECW Tag Team Championships were held-up after a controversial ending to a match between the Bruise Brothers and the incumbents, Public Enemy. The Bruise Brothers went on to participate in some of the first ECW hardcore matches, and feuded with Shane Douglas.

The Bruise Brothers were signed by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1995, where they were renamed "The Blu Brothers", Eli (8-Ball) and **Jacob** (Skull). They retained their trademark bushy beards and long hair and were managed by Uncle Zebekiah. They made their WWF debuts at the 1995 Royal Rumble and were defeated by Lex Luger and The British Bulldog in the opening match of WrestleMania XI.

They eventually left the WWF and returned to ECW in 1996 as the Bruise Brothers, competing once more in the tag division, and briefly joining Raven's Nest.

The Brothers returned to the WWF in 1996, as the short-lived "Grimm Twins," **Jason** (8-Ball) and Jarrod (Skull). In June 1997, they returned to the WWF as "8-Ball" and "**Skull**", joining the Disciples of Apocalypse stable with Crush and their cousin, Chainz. The DOA participated in the "gang wars" of 1997, feuding with the Nation of Domination and the Puerto Rican stable Los Boricuas. They went on to compete in the tag division throughout 1998. Their last match in WWF as a tag team was a defeat to Ken Shamrock and Mankind on May 14, 1999. Skull's last match was in a singles match against Ken Shamrock on May 15, 1999, in which he was defeated, and 8-Ball's last match was in a singles match against Ken Shamrock on May 16, 1999, in which he was defeated. Afterwards they were both released.

In 1999, the Brothers went to World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as "Gerald" (8-Ball) and "**Patrick**" (Skull). They were known collectively as "Creative Control". They went on to join the nWo 2000 in 2000, using their real names Ron Harris and **Don Harris**, acting as enforcers for Jeff Jarrett. They remained in WCW throughout 2000, feuding with Sid Vicious, Terry Funk and many of the younger tag teams, such as The Mamalukes. After winning the WCW World Tag Team Championship three times, the Harris Brothers began wrestling in singles matches in 2001, but WCW was purchased by the WWF in March 2001, and they were not hired.
The West Texas Rednecks

**The West Texas Rednecks** formed in June 1999 in WCW. The group developed from four wrestlers who fit the mold of a southern gimmick and had teamed with one another in the recent months. They were to be a heel group to feud with The No Limit Soldiers led by Master P. Although the Soldiers were packaged as a face stable, they failed to connect with the audience due to actions perceived as that of heels. In Master P's first and only appearance on *WCW* television, he bullied Curt Hennig by rejecting a present he gave to Silkk the Shocker (a custom made cowboy hat) and then assaulting him with a birthday cake. Although Hennig was a heel at the time, these actions made the No Limit Soldiers come across to the audience as heels themselves. Not helping the situation was that, even with backup, the Soldiers had more than twice as many members as Hennig's group. The feud was quickly dropped and the Rednecks were given other face groups to quarrel with instead. They lasted until late October 1999.

## The West Texas Rednecks

### Members

Curt Hennig, Barry Windham, Kendall Windham, Bobby Duncum, Jr., Curly Bill

The West Texas Rednecks were made up of leader Curt Hennig, brothers Barry and Kendall Windham, and Bobby Duncum, Jr.. They filmed several vignettes with them riding four-wheelers and recorded a country song called "Rap is Crap (I Hate Rap)".

While part of the West Texas Rednecks, the Windham brothers won the WCW World Tag Team Championship. Late in the group's run, they were joined by Curly Bill , who wore a particularly humorous cowboy outfit.

The group's main feuds were with Master P's No Limit Soldiers (Swoll, 4X4, Chase and BA), Four Horsemen members Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko, Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray), and The Filthy Animals (Konnan, Billy Kidman, Rey Misterio Jr., and Eddie Guerrero).
The Wolfman

In 1970, the Wolfman joined the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). He wrestled as a jobber. Later that year, he began being escorted to the ring with a chain around his neck by his manager Captain Lou Albano and sporting long hair and a scruffy beard. He won many squash matches, which he eventually led to WWWF Heavyweight Championship matches against Bruno Sammartino and Pedro Morales. He feuded with Pedro Morales and Gorilla Monsoon throughout his stint.

In 1975, he returned to the WWWF, this time being managed by Freddie Blassie. He had matches with Johnny Rodz and Tony Garea. The Wolfman did not last long as he left the WWWF once again soon after.

On January 10, 2016, the Wolfman passed away.
The Renegade

In 1995, the Renegade was signed by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage were involved in the main event feud with Ric Flair and Vader. Leading up to Uncensored, in which Hogan was scheduled to face Vader in a strap match in the main event, Hogan began hyping an "Ultimate Surprise" and showed a silhouette of a man with long hair and tassels tied to his arms, implying that the Ultimate Warrior was the man in question. On March 19 at Uncensored, the Renegade was billed by Hogan as "the man that's gonna bring Hulkamania into the 21st Century."

Soon after his debut, The Renegade acquired Jimmy Hart as his manager and soon defeated several heels while utilizing mannerisms, moves and entrance music very similar to the Ultimate Warrior's. On June 18, 1995, Renegade defeated Arn Anderson for the World Television Championship at The Great American Bash, his first and only championship. The following month at Bash at the Beach, Renegade defeated "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff to retain his title for the first time. Under a month later, on *Clash of the Champions XXI*, Renegade again retained his title in a rematch with Orndorff. Soon after, however, Renegade's momentum was virtually halted before he subsequently lost the World Television Title to Diamond Dallas Page on September 17 at Fall Brawl. He then went on to lose to Orndorff on an episode of *Main Event* preceding Halloween Havoc the next month in less than two minutes. On the November 6 episode of *Nitro*, after losing to Kevin Sullivan, Jimmy Hart turned on Renegade before ultimately splashing water in his face to remove his facepaint before saying "You're not a Renegade! You're just plain old Rick! A nobody! You're nothing!"

Renegade returned to television on the February 26, 1996 episode of *Nitro* in a losing effort to Lex Luger. Upon returning, Renegade's signature facepaint and singlet were replaced with trunks and tribal armbands. After wrestling sporadically at house shows, Renegade returned on the July 1 episode of *Nitro*, where he teamed up with Joe Gomez and The Rock 'n' Roll Express in a losing effort to The Four Horsemen. After competing in the World War 3 battle royal, which was won by The Giant, Renegade formed a short-lived tag team with Joe Gomez in late 1996, though the team was not successful as they were relegated to being jobbers. After their team ended in early 1997, Renegade turned heel for the first time in his career during a match with Scotty Riggs on the March 22 episode of *Saturday Night*, which he lost. Renegade remained a jobber while competing sporadically on *Nitro*, *Thunder*, and *Saturday Night*. After a five-month hiatus, Renegade returned on the August 12 episode of *Saturday Night* in a losing effort to Super Caló. Renegade would remain utilized as a jobber throughout the rest of 1997 and 1998, before wrestling the final match of his career on the December 7, 1998 episode of *Nitro*, which he lost to Wrath. He was released from WCW soon after.

On February 23, 1999, Renegade passed away.
The ECW Pitbulls

In 1989, Pitbull #1 and Pitbull #2 wrestled briefly in the World Wrestling Federation, losing to The Hart Foundation on March 4, 1989. They also lost to The Brain Busters on June 27, 1989, and the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers on *Prime Time Wrestling* aired on September 25, 1989.

The Pitbulls debuted in Extreme Championship Wrestling in April 1992, both competing in battle royals to crown the first ECW Heavyweight Champion; neither were successful. Pitbull #2 left shortly after, and Pitbull #1 became known as "the Pitbull" and won the WCW Television Championship on April 16, 1994. Later in 1994, the Pitbulls reunited and had notable feuds with Public Enemy and the Bad Breed. The feud with the Bad Breed culminated at November to Remember in a match where the losing team was forced to split up; the Pitbulls were victorious. The Pitbulls won their first and only ECW Tag Team Championship on September 16, 1995 at Gangstas Paradise from Raven and Stevie Ric

hards. They were soon joined by Francine, who became their manager and dubbed herself "The Beastmaster". One month later, they lost the titles back to Raven and Richards. In 1996, The Pitbulls moved into an intense feud with The Eliminators, which saw their manager Francine receive the *Total Elimination* on two occasions. The feud culminated at the first-ever CyberSlam in a three-on-three dog collar match, which saw Francine team with the Pitbulls against Stevie Richards with The Eliminators. The Pitbulls won the match after superbombing Richards and letting Francine pin Richards. However, The Eliminators hit the *Total Elimination* on Pitbull #1, Pitbull #2, and Francine after the match. After this, Pitbull #2 went on to win the ECW Television Championship on June 1 at the *Fight the Power* event; he held the belt for only twenty-one days before losing it to Chris Jericho at Hardcore Heaven.

On July 13, 1996 at Heat Wave, Francine turned on The Pitbulls and became the manager of Shane Douglas. The feud between Douglas and The Pitbulls culminated on April 13, 1997 at the first ECW pay-per-view Barely Legal, where Pitbull #2 faced Douglas for the Television Championship in a losing effort.

The team lost to the Headbangers on *WWF Shotgun Saturday Night* on August 24, 1998.

On March 4, 2000, they returned to ECW as they lost to Roadkill and Danny Doring.
The Gymini

As **Phi Dekappa U**, the Gymini wrestled The Pitbulls in the main event of the *Break the Barrier* supershow at the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 15, 1999.

On January 6, 2006, they debuted on WWE's *SmackDown!* brand as the proteges of Simon Dean, under a new team name of "**Gymini**". (The name was a play on both Simon Dean's gimmick - that of a nutrition supplement pitchman - and the mythological Gemini twins.) They were introduced to destroy Paul London and Brian Kendrick to the delight of Dean, and soon they became his henchmen under the pretext of being satisfied consumers of his nutrition system. Gymini also frequently wrestled on WWE B-show, *Velocity*, usually against jobbers. During the April 14, 2006 episode of *SmackDown!*, their full ring names were revealed as Jake and Jesse. Under the management of Dean, Gymini continued to dominate *SmackDown!*'s other tag teams before Jesse became injured. At the end of October 2006, the team appeared in various dark matches before *SmackDown!* events. On January 18, 2007, WWE announced that they had released the twins before they could return to television.
The Gangstas

New Jack and Mustafa Saed debuted as **The Gangstas** in ECW in 1995, the now two-man team were known for bringing weapons such as guitars, crutches and staple guns to the ring in trash cans and shopping carts. The team went on to hold the ECW World Tag Team Championship two times.

The team split in 1997, when Mustafa left ECW. New Jack found a new partner in John Kronus of The Eliminators, who, like New Jack, was left without a partner after the other half of The Eliminators, Perry Saturn, left ECW. Kronus and New Jack became known as The Gangstanators (a portmanteau of Gangstas and Eliminators) and held the ECW World Tag Team Championship once. With Mustafa gone, New Jack went on to greater fame, continuing to use the Gangsta gimmick. In 1999, The two former teammates began a brief feud when Mustafa returned at *Crossing the Line 1999*.
The New Brood

**The New Brood** was formed after the Hardy Boyz dumped Michael Hayes as their manager in August 1999 in the WWF, turned heel and became briefly associated with Gangrel. After winning a series of matches against the team of Edge and Christian, dubbed the "Terri Invitational Tournament", they won the services of Terri Runnels as their manager by winning the first ever tag team ladder match at No Mercy by defeating Edge and Christian. The fans gave both teams a standing ovation the next night on *Raw is War*. On that same night, The Hardy Boyz announced that they were not the New Brood – they were The Hardy Boyz. They called a truce with Edge and Christian, and the quartet attacked Gangrel after he bragged that he got to use the "services" of Terri while Matt and Jeff were recovering from last night. Gangrel ended his association with both teams.
The No Limit Soldiers

Master P was first introduced during a press conference on *WCW Monday Nitro* on June 14, 1999. In his only other televised appearance, on *Nitro* the following week, he and the his **No Limit Soldiers** (including Brad Armstrong, renamed "BA") bullied heel wrestler Curt Hennig by rejecting a present he gave to Master P's brother - a custom-made cowboy hat - with his brother stomping on it and Master P then assaulting Hennig with a birthday cake.

As part of the storyline, Hennig put together his own four-man country-themed stable of The West Texas Rednecks, along with Barry and Kendall Windham, and Bobby Duncum, Jr.. However, the Soldiers outnumbered Hennig's group by nearly two-to-one, and they were put over the Rednecks in a four-man tag match at Bash at the Beach pay-per-view on July 11 when Rey Mysterio, Jr. pinned Hennig. The country-rap angle abruptly ended thereafter as the Rednecks were moved into a new feud with The Revolution, save for a July 22 match on *WCW Thunder* in which Hennig pinned Soldiers newcomer Chase Tatum.

Another setback for the Soldiers was that the group consisted of either unestablished rookies such as Tatum and Swoll, who defeated experienced workers such as Fit Finlay and Lenny Lane; and repackaged veterans like Armstrong who would often take the brunt of opponents' offense in tag team matches before Swoll would enter to score the pin. This ultimately led to the dissolution of the Soldiers.
The New Midnight Express

The Midnight Express name was resurrected by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the 1998, when they put a combination of Bob Holly (as "Bombastic Bob") and Bart Gunn (as "Bodacious Bart") together as "**The New Midnight Express**" with Jim Cornette as their manager. On March 30, 1998, they defeated The Headbangers, but did not achieve much more success in the WWF.
The Insiders

In late 2000 in World Championship Wrestling, after The Natural Born Thrillers turned on Kevin Nash, Diamond Dallas Page and Nash formed **The Insiders**, a play on Nash's team with Scott Hall, The Outsiders. They feuded with the Perfect Event (Shawn Stasiak and Chuck Palumbo) and won the WCW World Tag Team Championships at WCW Mayhem on November 26, 2000. Shortly after, they were stripped of the titles by Commissioner Mike Sanders in mid-December. Weeks later, they won the titles back at WCW Starrcade. By February 2001, the team had split up, and the company was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation the following month.