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The Bushwhackers were a professional wrestling tag team who competed first as the New Zealand Kiwis and then as The Sheepherders during their 36-year career as a tag team. They wrestled in the WWE, Jim Crockett Promotions, and on the independent territorial wrestling circuits. The Bushwhackers consisted of Butch Miller and Bushwhacker Luke while the Sheepherders also included Jonathan Boyd and Rip Morgan as members at times. Williams and Miller were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2015, and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in 2020.
Williams and Miller worked in Canada for various promotions, most notably Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling, billed as The Kiwis (Miller was known as "Nick Carter" and Williams was known as "Sweet William"). The Kiwis began their first recorded title reign by defeating Bob Pringle and Bill Cody for the Stampede International Tag Team Championship on 6 January 1974. The Kiwis lost the title to Tokyo Joe and the Great Saki, only to regain it a short time later. The Kiwis lost the title for good to Stan Kowalski and Duke Savage and were unsuccessful in subsequent rematches. In 1974, they worked in Japan for International Wrestling Enterprise (IWE). They returned to their home country of New Zealand in late 1975 for the first wrestling television tapings On the Mat. In 1976, Williams returned to Japan for IWE. Both men were inactive from wrestling for a few years.
Their next stop was NWA Crockett Promotions in Charlotte, North Carolina. They won the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team titles on their third weekend in the territory from Buzz Sawyer and Matt Borne. They later lost the belts to Rocky Johnson and Dewey Robertson.
The Sheepherders then worked for the World Wrestling Council (WWC) in 1981 as Los Pastores. A short time into their run with WWC, they defeated Carlos Colon and Invader I for the WWC North American Tag Team Championship, defending it for over a month until being defeated by Los Medicos. Los Pastores regained the belts on 22 May and held them until coming up short against Jack Brisco and Gerald Brisco on 8 August 1981.
and Williams next appeared in the Memphis, TN-based promotion Continental Wrestling Association run by Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler. Making their debut in October 1982, the team quickly became involved in a feud with Jacques Rougeau and Terry Taylor, clashing weekly with them at the Mid-South Coliseum, with the Sheepherders brawling their way to victory. Taylor and Rougeau redeemed themselves in the end by defeating the Sheepherders in a "coal miner's glove" match. The Sheepherders returned to the ring later that same night and defeated the territory's main stars Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee.
The next feud of Boyd and Williams was with The Fabulous Ones (Stan Lane and Steve Keirn). The contrast between the "pretty boy"-styled, technically polished Fabulous Ones and the ugly, brawling savage Sheepherders made them effective opponents and repeatedly drew big crowds wherever they fought. The series of matches started out fairly evenly, with the Fabulous Ones and the Sheepherders splitting the wins. Later, bouts often ended without a definite winner. In late 1982, the Sheepherders won the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship from The Fabulous Ones. Between late December 1982 and mid-February 1983, the title switched hands between the teams four times, with The Fabulous Ones ending up champions in the end. On 28 March 1983, the Sheepherders wrestled their last match in the Mid-South Coliseum before leaving the CWA.
Boyd and Williams resurfaced in Southwest Championship Wrestling (SWCW) only weeks later. Their first targets were the reigning Southwest Tag Team Champions The Grapplers (Len Denton and Tony Anthony). In May 1983, the Sheepherders captured the title when The Grapplers' manager Don Carson turned on them mid-match to ensure the Sheepherders' victory. The Sheepherders' run with the gold was short-lived; in June, Boyd legitimately broke his leg in a car accident, causing SWCW to name Bobby Jaggers as his replacement. After Williams and Jaggers lost a non-title match to Bob Sweetan and Sweet Brown Sugar, Williams turned on Jaggers and the title was vacated. While Boyd was out with the broken leg, Williams was reunited with his old tag-team partner Butch Miller.
Williams and Miller stayed with SWCW through the rest of 1983, and into 1984, when the team came head to head with the Fabulous Ones once again, feuding over the SWCW World Tag Team Championship. The Fabulous Ones had supposedly won the title in Australia, though it is generally believed the tournament they won to be crowned was actually a fabrication made up by SWCW. The Sheepherders dethroned The Fabulous Ones on 4 March and held the titles until they were retired by SWCW in September 1984. Miller and Williams then returned to Puerto Rico and the WWC, this time competing as The Sheepherders (Los Pastores). On 6 January 1985 they defeated Invader I and Invader III for the WWC North American Tag Team Championship in Bayamon, PR. They lost and then regained the titles from Invaders I & III in March, and then held on to the gold until August, when the Invaders won it back.
The Kiwi Sheepherders then began feuding with another team: The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers). In the winter of 1985, the Kiwi Sheepherders and the Fantastics traded wins back and forth with no side gaining a clear advantage in the feud. In January 1986, the Kiwi Sheepherders defeated the team of Koko Ware and Rick Casey as well as team of Tojo Yamamoto and Dirty Rhodes to reach the finals of a tournament to crown new Southern Tag Team Champions, but they fell in the finals to the Fantastics. The feud culminated as the two teams clashed in a "No DQ Loser Leaves Town" match on 20 January 1986. The Kiwi Sheepherders lost and left Memphis, while the Fantastics rode a new wave of popularity gained from the feud.
After being unable to beat the Fantastics in several rematches, The Sheepherders returned to Puerto Rico during the summer of 1986 and beat the RockβNβRoll RPMs (Mike Davis and Tommy Lane) for the WWC World Tag Team Championship on 3 August. They defended the titles for about six weeks before losing them to the RPMs on 21 September. When this short run with the WWC ended, Williams and Miller traveled to Florida where they worked for Championship Wrestling from Florida. On 7 October, The Sheepherders ended The Fabulous Ones' first reign with the NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship, but Lane and Keirn got the better of them on 30 November, regaining the belts.
The Sheepherders then returned to the CWA Memphis territory. On 10 January, they beat Badd Company (Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond) for the CWA/AWA International Tag Team Championship but lost it to Badd Company as fast as they had won it. After the quick feud with Badd Company, The Sheepherders once again feuded with the Fabulous Ones. Keirn and Lane dominated the matches and once again "ran off" the Sheepherders.
After leaving Memphis, The Sheepherders were invited to participate in New Japan Pro-Wrestling's "IWGP Tag Team Title League 1987". The round-robin tournament took place from 23 February to 20 March. They only had a brief stay with New Japan, opting to return to Puerto Rico and the WWC. Here they started a feud with Chris Youngblood and Mark Youngblood. The feud saw Williams and Miller win the WWC World Tag Team Championship on 4 April, and then defend it until the Youngbloods regained the titles on 10 May in a steel cage match.
After their spring run with the WWC, The Sheepherders returned to Florida and instantly became challengers for Mike Graham and Steve Keirn's NWA Florida Tag Team Championship. On 26 June 1987, they won the championship. A month later, The Sheepherders defended their Florida Tag Team title at The Great American Bash from the Miami Orange Bowl, brawling to a double disqualification with Jimmy Garvin and Ron Garvin. Their run with the title came to an end on 29 August at the hands of Graham and Keirn.
After losing the Florida titles, Williams and Miller returned to the UWF and began a second run as the UWF World Tag Team Championship after defeating the Lightning Express (Brad Armstrong and Tim Horner) on 16 October. The Sheepherders held the belts until the UWF was purchased by Jim Crockett and merged into Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), to form the forerunner of World Championship Wrestling (WCW). After this merger, The Sheepherders worked for JCP, participating in the third Jim Crockett, Sr. Memorial Tag Team Tournament Cup. At Clash of the Champions II, they faced off against the NWA 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 Williams and Butch Miller signed with Vince McMahon's WWE (WWF).
Only a few days into their run with the WWF, the Bushwhackers had their first match with The Bolsheviks (Jim Barrell 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 the 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.
The Bushwhackers quickly became one of the most popular duos with children, chiefly due to the wildly comedic nature of their antics (including their trademark "Bushwhacker walk"), their pastoral musical theme, and their friendly interaction with the audience. This was a stark contrast to their long pre-WWF career as one of the most violent tag teams in wrestling. 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 (Pat Tanaka and Akio 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".
Their next feud was with the Beverly Brothers (Mike Enos and Wayne Bloom). The two teams first clashed at the 1991 Survivor Series where they were on opposite sides in a 4 on 4 elimination match. On the night the Beverly Brothers got the upper hand and eliminated both Williams and Miller. The Beverly Brothers' manager Lanny Poffo 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 23 August 1992 "SummerSlam Spectacular" show that preceded the PPV in the United Kingdom, the Bushwhackers received a title shot against WWF Tag-Tam Champions Money Incorporated. However, in this match, which aired on the USA Network, they fell short as Irwin R. Schyster pinned Butch following interference by Jimmy Hart. Their next PPV appearance came at SummerSlam '92, where they tag-teamed with Jim Duggan in a dark match that was subsequently aired on Prime Time Wrestling, and defeated Jacques Rougeau 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 7 November 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 Louie in six-man matches.
In August, the Bushwhackers made a quick trip to Puerto Rico to appear at the WWC 20th Anniversary show on 8 August where they defeated the team of Curtis Hughes and The Warlord. When the team returned to the US, Williams and Miller gave the new WWF duo The Quebecers their first defeat when Butch pinned Jacques Rougeau on the 23 August 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. Williams and Miller, 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, Mike Shaw and the Headshrinkers.
In March 1994, the Bushwhackers started feuding with SMW Tag-Team Champions The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray). Williams and Miller 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 Oullette. In the summer of 1994 they reversed fortunes and were undefeated against the preliminary tag-team The Executioners (Dwayne 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. However, now five years into their tenure into the company, and their prospects for a world championship run had seemed to close.
The WWF was entering a "New Generation" era in 1995, and the Bushwhackers were now one of the last legacy acts. Still quite popular with the fanbase, they began the year with a successful series of encounters on the house show circuit against The Heavenly Bodies. Both Luke and Butch appeared in the 1995 Royal Rumble as separate participants. They continued to wrestle throughout the spring, defeating the 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 following WWF touring cutbacks. They would wrestle only five more times that year, losing to WWF Tag-Team Champions Owen Hart and Yokozuna and the newly arrived Harris Brothers. They would work for United States Wrestling Association in Memphis, Tennessee, that fall.
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 (Chris Candido and Tom Prichard). When the Bushwhackers returned in 1996, they displayed traditional Australian stereotypes, including being accompanied to the ring by a giant kangaroo mascot. On 14 September, the Bushwhackers made their last appearance while under contract with the WWF, defeating John Layfield and Dutch Mantel at a house show.
Williams and Miller made one of their last appearances as active wrestlers on 1 April 2001 when they participated in the WrestleMania X-Seven "Gimmick Battle Royal" which The Iron Sheik won. Luke was eliminated by Jim Cornette and Butch eliminated The Goon then got eliminated by Doink the Clown. On June 15 the team returned to Memphis one last time, fighting The Moondogs to a double disqualification on a special "Mid-South Clash of the Legends" show. During this period, they toured the UK with All Star Wrestling, often appearing in six-man tag matches teamed with Frank Casey, who had been wrestling for several years as the "British Bushwhacker" β a 'tribute' to Williams and Miller.
Their last match as a team was on September 8, 2001, in Farmville, Virginia, losing to Carnage and Mr. Big Stuff. Miller would retired from wrestling in 2001 after a neck injury and Williams retired in 2002.
Williams came out of retirement in 2007 where he worked for Ring Of Honor, appearances in New Zealand, Ultimate Championship Wrestling in Nova Scotia, Canada, and the independent circuit. As of 2022 he occasionally still wrestles for independent shows in the United States at 75 years old.
On 23 February 2015, it was announced by WWE that The Bushwhackers would be 2015 inductees into the WWE Hall of Fame. On 28 March 2015, they both attended the event to accept their induction.
On 2 April 2023, Miller died at 78.
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