The Headbangers

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The Headbangers
Tag Team
Members Mosh
Thrasher
Name(s) The Headbangers
Flying Nuns
The Sisters of Love
The Spiders
Heights Mosh:
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Thrasher:
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Combined weight 488 lb (221 kg/34.9 st)
Debut 1996[1]
Disbanded 2000
Promotions WWF
HWA
NWA
Independents

The Headbangers were the tag team of Mosh and Thrasher, whose most notable matches were in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). As the name of the team implied, their gimmick was that they were a pair of headbangers, complete with heavy metal related T-shirts, piercings, shaved heads, and black face paint.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] 1996-1998

The team debuted on WWF television wearing nuns' clothing and billed as the Flying Nuns, Sister Angelica and Mother Smucker. On an episode of Shotgun Saturday Night, Brother Love showed up to manage the Nuns. After the Nuns defeated the The Godwinns, Love renamed them the Sisters of Love.[2] The gimmick was short-lived, but they kept the skirts when they became The Headbangers in January 1997.[2][3] They later had T-shirts with the phrase "Real men wear skirts" and occasionally wore sports bras over their shirts.[4] The duo often carried a boombox to the ring, and on one occasion, Mosh vomited during an interview.[2]

Throughout 1997, The Headbangers (initially as heels, later as faces) feuded with The Godwinns, as well as Doug Furnas & Phil Lafon, often finding themselves on the losing end. They faced Legion of Doom during their surprise return match on February 24 to a double count-out. At WrestleMania 13, The Headbangers won a 4-way elimination match for a shot at the WWF Tag Team Championship. The team was seen on New York's WABC-TV in June, which re-aired on WWF programming.

The Headbangers' won the vacant Tag Team title at In Your House 17 due to run-in interference by Steve Austin.[5][6][7] They faced the New Age Outlaws in their debut match on October 20 and frequently challenged them into the following the year for the Tag Team title.

The two are seen backstage playing with Bret Hart's son, Blade, in the 1998 documentary film Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows. The footage depicts events from the previous year.

Both Mosh and Thrasher entered the 1998 Royal Rumble and both lasted over 10 minutes before Mosh was eliminated by Kurrgan and Thrasher by Steve Austin.[8] On February 17, 1998, The Headbangers won the NWA World Tag Team Championship from The Rock 'n' Roll Express during a WWF program. They feuded with The Quebecers and the Oddities throughout the year and become the first Maryland Championship Wrestling Tag Team Champions on August 18.[9]

[edit] 1999-2000

The Headbangers were both meant to compete in the 1999 Royal Rumble but were injured before the event. Consequently, they were used sparingly throughout 1999. Mosh, repackaged as Beaver Cleavage and then Chaz, performed in singles competition and began having problems with his on-screen girlfriend, Marianna Komlos.[10] He was kayfabe arrested on an episode of Sunday Night Heat in September after Komlos claimed he hit her.[1][10] After Chaz's match on October 5, Glen Ruth (Thrasher) showed GTV footage of Mariana applying makeup to create the effect of wounds.[1][11] This proved her accusations false, and The Headbangers subsequently reunited. They then took on a gimmick where they dressed as the opponents that they feuded with, such as the Dudley Boyz and Mean Street Posse. The duo later turned heel and began to dress in drag, most notably wearing breast cones.

Mosh entered in the 2000 Royal Rumble alone;[12] however, The Headbangers continued performing in tag team and singles matches.[13] Both men participated in the Hardcore battle royal at WrestleMania 2000 where Thrasher held the title for 43 seconds.[14][15] The team continued battling the likes of Too Cool and T & A until mid 2000.[13] They then separated and Mosh joined D'Lo Brown as Chaz to form Lo Down.[16]

Glen Ruth was released from WWF in 2000 and performed independently briefly before retiring. Charles Warrington (Mosh) was released from WWF in July 2001 and continues to perform occasionally at Florida shows.[10]

[edit] Criticism by WWE

Years after their departure from the company, The Headbangers have been the brunt of criticism by WWE media. One example can be found in a June 2007 article from a special magazine about the history of WWE champions. The article criticizes wrestlers who are considered not worth of winning a belt they held. An example would be Maven winning the Hardcore Championship, stating that there was nothing hardcore about him. The Headbangers are included in this article for their supposedly poor Tag Team Championship reign.

WWE's RAW 15th Anniversary magazine also includes a list of 15 superstars who "overstayed" their welcomes in the company. This has The Headbangers at #2, in front of Christy Hemme (#3), and behind Scott Steiner (#1). Maven also made the list at #6.

[edit] In wrestling

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

  • HWA Tag Team Championship (1 time)[17]
  • Insane Championship Wrestling
  • ICW Streetfight Tag Team Championship (1 time)[1]
  • Main Event Championship Wrestling
  • MECW Tag Team Championship (1 time)
  • New England Wrestling Federation
  • NEWF Tag Team Championship (3 time)[1]
  • Texas Wrestling Alliance
  • TWA Tag Team Championship (1 time)[19]

[edit] References

[[1]] Headbangers overstaying their RAW welcome

Professional wrestling
Portal
  1. ^ a b c d e f g The Headbangers. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-03.
  2. ^ a b c 1997. The History of WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-03.
  3. ^ Baines, Tim. Bangers a smash: Eccentric, yes, but WWF tag team caught up in fun. SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved on 2008-01-03.
  4. ^ Oppliger, Patrice A. (2004). Wrestling and Hypermasculinity. McFarland & Company, 115. ISBN 0786416920. 
  5. ^ a b W.W.W.F./W.W.F./W.W.E. World Tag Team Title. Wrestling Titles. Retrieved on 2008-01-03.
  6. ^ Ground Zero. Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved on 2008-01-03.
  7. ^ Gutschmidt, Adam. WWF IYH:Ground Zero. Online Onslaught. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
  8. ^ WWF Royal Rumble 1998. Hoffco Inc.. Retrieved on 2008-01-03.
  9. ^ a b Maryland Championship Wrestling Tag Team Title. Wrestling Titles. Retrieved on 2008-01-03.
  10. ^ a b c Wrestler Profiles: Chaz Warrington. Online World of Wrestling.
  11. ^ 1999. The History of WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-03.
  12. ^ Royal Rumble 2000. Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved on 2008-01-03.
  13. ^ a b 2000. The History of WWE. Retrieved on 2008-01-03.
  14. ^ W.W.F./W.W.E. Hardcore Title. Wrestling Titles. Retrieved on 2008-01-03.
  15. ^ WrestleMania PPV Cards. Wrestling Information Archive. Retrieved on 2008-01-03.
  16. ^ Tag Team List. Wrestling Information Archive. Retrieved on 2008-01-03.
  17. ^ Heartland Wrestling Association Tag Team Title. Wrestling Titles. Retrieved on 2008-01-03.
  18. ^ N.W.A. World Tag Team Title. Wrestling Titles. Retrieved on 2008-01-03.
  19. ^ Texas Wrestling Alliance Title Histories. Wrestling Information Archive. Retrieved on 2008-01-03.