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To the WWE Universe, The Bushwhackers were Butch and Luke, two weird guys who waved their arms, licked each other’s faces and were generally… strange. It’s hard to tell if they are being mentally deficient or just eccentric (most fans had the same questions about Hacksaw Jim Duggan). The Bushwhackers were never WWF World Tag champions at a time when most long serving tag teams won the titles. But there they were, always cheered and still remembered.
What a lot of fans don’t know is that the Bushwhackers were at one time a tag team of ass-kickers from New Zealand who were brutal, vicious and skilled enough to have what Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer called a five star tag team wrestling match in 1986 against The Fantastics.
Forget this image of the Bushwhackers:
And look at this image of the Sheepherders (credit Bob Leonard of CANOE Slam! Sports):
Luke Williams and Butch Miller, unlike a lot of wrestling foreigners were actually from their location of New Zealand. They were first known as The Kiwis and began wrestling in 1966, more than 20 years before their WWF debut. They ended up traveling the world, having a successful run in both Eastern and Western Canada, winning their first tag team championship at Stampede Wrestling in 1974. After a run in California in the late 70s they changed their name from the New Zealand Kiwis to the New Zealand Sheepherders. They also had a run in Puerto Rico as Los Pastores.
At some point in the 1980s, the original incarnation of the Sheepherders broke up as Butch Miller wanted to stay in New Zealand. Luke Williams found a new partner in “Lord” Jonathan Boyd and continued the violent reputation he had developed with Miller. The Sheepherders were the Briscoe Brothers of their time, creating fear and chaos through the South East United States, Memphis territory and the American Wrestling Association. It was in the AWA that the Sheepherders began a violent blood feud with the Fabulous Ones and captured the AWA Southern Tag championship in 1982. Unfortunately, Boyd found himself on the inactive list with a broken leg due to a car accident, leaving Luke Williams needing a new partner in Southwest Championship Wrestling. He found a temporary replacement in Bobby Jaggers, but the pairing didn’t last long. Luke needed something real. Luke needed Butch.
Butch and Luke reformed their Sheepherders, working through SWCW and returning to Puerto Rico before news came out that while in Puerto Rico, Jonathan Boyd returned from his broken leg to unite with Rip Morgan and form a brand new Sheepherders tag team in Memphis. The New Kiwi Sheepherders continued their violent, barbwire loving ways in Memphis with feuds against the Fabulous Ones and The Fantastics through the mid 80s.
Butch and Luke soon returned to the United States by working in Bill Watt’s UWF, reclaiming the name of the Sheepherders by beating Ted DiBiase and “Dr. Death” Steve Williams for the UWF Tag Team championship in 1986, only to drop the titles two weeks later to The Fantastics. It was during this time in the UWF that the Sheepherders had 37 barbed-wire cage matches against the Fantastics, including the before mentioned five star match. The Sheepherders developed some serious miles, working in everything from Jim Crockett Promotion’s Crockett Cup to NWA Florida to New Japan Pro Wrestling’s IWGP Tag League. It looked like the ultimate battle between the Sheepherders and the Fantastics would be set for the finals in the tournament to crown a new United States Tag Team championships, but someone got in the middle. That man? Vince McMahon.
Bushwhacked
Changing their name to the Bushwhackers, that wasn’t all that changed for Butch and Luke. While building a reputation for violence and brutality, the men had been in the business since the 1960s. The World Wrestling Federation was a chance to gain some career longevity by switching gears and becoming a comedy team. The former Kiwis entered the WWF in 1989, working against The Bolshevik’s and the Fabulous Rougeau’s, Jacques being familiar with the two from their run in Memphis. The Bushwhackers were common in the WWF midcard for comedic segments with Mean Gene Okerlund as well as getting over with the kids due to their “Bushwhacker Walk”, which is still immediately recognizable to this day.
While never leaving the midcard, the Bushwhackers outlasted most of their rivals in the company. Whether it was Rhythm and Blues, the Orient Express, the Headshrinkers, the Beverley Brothers or wearing Doink facepaint to join a Survivor Series team with Men on a Mission, there seemed to be nothing stopping the veteran Butch and Luke. After a short hiatus in 1996, the two returned as Australian stereotypes instead of being from New Zealand before finally disappearing from the WWF. By this point, Butch and Luke had been wrestling for 30 years.
While still making appearances in Puerto Rico, the Bushwhackers also had a comical run in Extreme Championship Wrestling as Luke and Butch Dudley, officially joining them with the Dudley Family. The Bushwhackers did eventually return to the WWF in 2001 for the WrestleMania X-7 Gimmick Battle Royal, neither winning. Butch Miller retired that year while Luke Williams continued to work in the independents as a Bushwhacker, being able to proclaim himself as a pro wrestler for over 40 years.
Hall of Fame or Bush League?
There’s a common misconception that the WWE Hall of Fame should be treated like a real Hall of Fame with qualifications and benchmarks. I can understand the complaint. It’s strange to see the Bushwhackers, never once WWF tag team champions, making the Hall before more established teams like the Hart Foundation, British Bulldogs, Steiner Brothers, Midnight Express, Rock and Roll Express and more still sit on the sidelines. But the Hall of Fame is more like a Walk of Fame, a place where anyone involved in the WWE Universe can eventually enter. It’s not so much about who enters first but that everyone enters eventually. A big reason for this induction to happen now is because the health of both Butch Miller and Luke Williams isn’t the best. Inducting them now means not having to induct them posthumously later, and we’re already unfortunately inducting Macho Man Randy Savage after his passing. In due time we will see the likes of the Dudley Boys and Demolition make their entry in the Hall. Having the Bushwhackers in now doesn’t change the merit of others.
Are they deserving? Absolutely. We’re talking about a tag team that came from New Zealand to make a career all over the world. A team that made a name for themselves in a dozen promotions, who survived multiple names, members and incarnations without losing steam. They were more than their WWF career, but even with their WWF career, they ended up proving they could completely change their image and what they staked their reputation on (violence) and instead become kid friendly and comical, re-igniting their fire and wrestling to a 30th anniversary. How many other tag teams can say they were still working 30 years later? That’s an accomplish well deserving of any Hall of Fame.
Photo from bushwhackerluke.net
