This late night WWE program aired from 1997-1999
Nowadays, for some reason, the WWE tries to pretend the former tag team champions never existed. I don't see why. Maybe it was because they wore kilts and sports bras over their shirts? The Headbangers weren't on par with say...The Hart Foundation in the ring or anything, but they had a great deal of presence and a cool gimmick in my book. It was good to see a couple of guys whose entire shtick was tailored to the fact that they were into metal and punk music. Whether they actually listened to Wayne Newton or Pantera on their own time was their own business.
If you were a WWF/WWE fan up until that point you'd know that the company barely acknowledged any type of outside entertainment unless it was an artist or band that was appearing to sing the national anthem at Wrestlemania. It seemed to me as a young kid that the WWE writers took us all for shut in morons who didn't know what was going on in the world around us. They came a long way from the Rock N Wrestling connection that was ushered in by Hulk Hogan, Cyndi Lauper, and Captain Lou. Thankfully, WWE realized their mistake and now uses music to their full advantage in advertising and in the wrestlers theme songs.
It just seemed like The Headbangers didn't get a fair shake. If their gimmick was tweaked a bit they may have been taken more seriously. At least they'll always have this kick ass Lazer Tag advertisement they starred in to hang on the wall in their dining room forever.
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4 comments:
Although I definitely identified with their general aesthetic, I never really believed these guys as their characters. They just seemed like silly, slapdash, kiddie versions of that world. A character like Raven or someone could successfully incorporate that metal style into his character, but just for visual appeal - he was more than his clothes. The Headbangers were really no more than the sum of their shitty face paint and silly dance and goofy outfits, imho
seeing Thrasher playing Lazer Tag is my moment of levity for the day
p.s. - i had their action figures
J.Astro - you're absolutely right but I think that "kiddie versions" or various worlds is what we came to expect from mid to late '90s WWE programming.
Brian - lmao! I had them too! haha. I also still have the lazer tag set that was photoshopped onto their forearms! lol
There's something I love about the kiddie wrestling days of past. That Lazer Tag ad made my year. I would give anything to watch a neon covered arena filled with clowns, barbers, dentists, and Elvis impersonators, haha.
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