The Brain Busters was the
World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...
(WWF) name for the
professional wrestling
Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...
tag team of
Arn Anderson
Martin Anthony Lunde (born September 20, 1958), better known by his ring name Arn Anderson, is an American professional wrestling Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Agent, road agent, author, and retired professional wrestler. Although he ...
and
Tully Blanchard. Anderson and Blanchard adopted this name after joining the WWF in 1988 after leaving
Jim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions, at times branded as Eastern States Championship Wrestling and Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, is a Family business, family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United Sta ...
, where the two men had wrestled as part of
The Four Horsemen stable and had won the
NWA World Tag Team Championship
The NWA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling World Tag Team Championship, world tag team championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance. From 1948 to 1982, the NWA allowed List of National Wrestling Alliance territories ...
twice. As a team, Anderson and Blanchard are regarded by WWE as three-time world tag team champions, having won the
WWF Tag Team Championship during their time in the WWF.
History
National Wrestling Alliance (1986-1988)
Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard were founding members of the Four Horsemen, and often teamed up for six and eight man tag team matches with
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Flair's career spanned 50 years.
He is ...
and
Ole Anderson
Alan Robert Rogowski (September 22, 1942 – February 26, 2024), better known by the ring name Ole Anderson (), was an American professional wrestler, booker, and promoter.
Following a stint in the U.S. Army, Rogowski made his professional ...
.
Blanchard was the number two
heel
The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg.
Structure
To distribute the compressive forces exerted ...
in the NWA, behind only
NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Flair's career spanned 50 years.
He is ...
, winning the
NWA United States Heavyweight Championship, the
NWA National Heavyweight Championship
The NWA National Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the U.S.-based, National Wrestling Alliance (NWA).
The championship was established in January 1980 as the top singles title of Georgia Cha ...
and the
NWA World Television Championship. Meanwhile, Anderson was designated as the "Enforcer" of the stable, and teamed with Ole Anderson as the final version of The Minnesota Wrecking Crew. In the spring of 1987, Ole was kicked out of the Four Horsemen, and was replaced with associate member Lex Luger.
[ Shortly after losing the Television Title, Blanchard quickly began teaming with Arn and targeted the NWA World Tag Team titles.][
]
First reign
Tully and Arn won the NWA World Tag Team Championship
The NWA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling World Tag Team Championship, world tag team championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance. From 1948 to 1982, the NWA allowed List of National Wrestling Alliance territories ...
on September 29, 1987 by defeating The Rock 'n' Roll Express
The Rock 'n' Roll Express is a professional wrestling tag team consisting of professional wrestlers Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton. The duo began teaming together in Memphis in the early 1980s, followed by Mid-South Wrestling (later to be known a ...
after The Midnight Express attacked Ricky Morton prior to the match.[ They were immediately challenged by ]The Road Warriors
The Road Warriors, also known as the Legion of Doom, were a professional wrestling tag team originally composed of Road Warrior Hawk (Michael Hegstrand) and Road Warrior Animal (Joseph Laurinaitis).. They performed under the name "The Road W ...
to a title match at Starrcade '87 in the LOD hometown of Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. Despite a hostile pro LOD crowd, the Horsemen retained the titles on a reverse decision. The Horseman would next receive a stiff challenge from ex-Horsemen Lex Luger
Lawrence Wendell Pfohl (born June 2, 1958), better known by the ring name Lex Luger, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, bodybuilder, and gridiron football player. He is best known for his work with Jim Crocke ...
, and longtime Horseman rival Barry Windham
Barry Clinton Windham (born July 4, 1960) is an American retired professional wrestler. The son of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan, he is best known for his appearances with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and the World Wrestling Federation (W ...
, who were dubbed the Twin Towers.[ The teams met at Clash of the Champions I live on TBS and the challengers upset the Horsemen, when heel miscommunication caused Anderson to get hit by a chair from Horsemen manager J. J. Dillon, and pinned by Luger.
]
Second reign
Arn and Tully regained the titles less than a month later on April 20, 1988 when Barry Windham turned on his tag-team partner and joined the Four Horsemen.[ The duo would mainly defend the titles against various combinations of teams between the trio of Sting, ]Nikita Koloff
Nikita Koloff (born Nelson Scott Simpson, March 9, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Jim Crockett Promotions and its successor, World Championship Wrestling between 1984 and 1992, wher ...
and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams.[ Things began to sour behind the scenes for the champions, as the ]National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc.
Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...
(NWA) launched its first-ever uninterrupted pay-per-view, The Great American Bash, promoters were attempting to draw a large gate and, according to the DVD ''Ric Flair and The Four Horsemen'', Blanchard had suggested a rematch with the Road Warriors, but instead they were booked against Sting and Koloff, (whom they wrestled to a time limit draw), and when the PPV payouts were given out, it was discovered that Dillon who was their manager received 3 times the payout of the 2-time World Tag Team Champions. This was the last straw for Blanchard, who saw this as an insult and immediately prepared to give his notice. Meanwhile, on camera, the champions had begun a feud with NWA United States Tag Team champions The Midnight Express, with the storyline being that Anderson and Blanchard considered the Midnight Express to be ungrateful punks who weren't on their level. The Midnight Express won the titles from the Horsemen on September 10, 1988,[ as both Blanchard and Anderson gave their notices to ]Jim Crockett Promotions
Jim Crockett Promotions, at times branded as Eastern States Championship Wrestling and Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, is a Family business, family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United Sta ...
, ending the original Four Horsemen and according to Blanchard, it was the end of an era.
World Wrestling Federation (1988-1989)
The duo made their debut late in October 1988, as "The Brain Busters", due to being under management of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan (and, by default, members of the Heenan Family). It was commonplace for the WWF at this time to assign wrestlers to some sort of gimmick, or new identity. Aside from the Brain Busters team name, Anderson and Blanchard were allowed to keep their names and ring persona. The only changes Arn and Tully made to their style were pointing to their heads to show they were smarter than everyone else and the use of a spike piledriver as a finishing move.
The Brain Busters made their pay-per-view
Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast.
Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...
(PPV) debut at the 1988 Survivor Series in the 10 team tag match, where they eliminated the Hart Foundation
The Hart Foundation is the name of several derivative tag teams and Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Stable, stables composed primarily of members and close friends of the Hart wrestling family. The name originated in the World Wrestling ...
, before being eliminated via double disqualification with the Rockers. This led to a match with the Rockers on ''WWF Superstars of Wrestling
''WWF Superstars of Wrestling'' (later shortened to ''WWF Superstars'' and to ''Sunday Morning Superstars''), also referred to as ''Maple Leaf Wrestling'' in Canada, was an American professional wrestling television program that was produced b ...
'' where both teams were again disqualified before the match could even get started. This kicked off a red hot series of house show
A house show (also commonly called a live event) is a professional wrestling event produced by a major Professional wrestling promotion, promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in o ...
matches. One match in particular on January 23, 1989 at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
was rated as one of the 50 greatest matches in the Pro Wrestling Illustrated
''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...
(PWI) 10th anniversary issue, where the Brain Busters narrowly defeated the Rockers as Anderson held down Marty Jannetty's leg as Blanchard pinned him. The teams wrestled to a double countout on the March 11, 1989 '' Saturday Night's Main Event XX''.[
The Brain Busters made their first and only WrestleMania appearance at ]WrestleMania V
WrestleMania V was a 1989 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the fifth annual WrestleMania and took place on April 2, 1989, at the Atlantic City Convention Hall in ...
against former WWF Tag Team Champions Strike Force. After an even start, the Brain Busters dominated the ex-champions as Rick Martel
Richard Vigneault (born March 18, 1956) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler, trainer, and television presenter, better known by his ring name, "The Model" Rick Martel. He is best known for his appearances with the American Wrestling As ...
walked out on Tito Santana
Merced Solis (born May 10, 1953), better known by the ring name Tito Santana, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, Professional wrestling school, trainer, and retired school teacher.
Solis has stayed a Face (profession ...
and he was brutalized and beaten after a spike piledriver and eventually pinned.
After their WrestleMania win, the Brain Busters finally got to face the WWF World Tag Team Champions Demolition
Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction (building), deconstruction, which inv ...
and defeated them by disqualification on the May 27, 1989 '' Saturday Night's Main Event XXI''. The Brain Busters defeated Demolition for the titles in a rematch on July 18, 1989 in a two out of three falls match
Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...
. After losing the first fall, by pinfall, the Busters won the second fall, via disqualification, and won the third fall, with a distraction from Bobby Heenan and a steel chair thrown in from André the Giant, the Brain Busters ended Demolition's then-record-breaking 478-day title reign and became the first team to win both the WWF and NWA World Tag Team Championship.[ It also was the first time a title changed hands in a two-out-of-three falls match where one of the decisions ended in a disqualification. After then defeating ]The Hart Foundation
The Hart Foundation is the name of several derivative tag teams and stables composed primarily of members and close friends of the Hart wrestling family. The name originated in the World Wrestling Federation in 1985 with the original Hart Foundat ...
in a non-title match at SummerSlam
SummerSlam is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by the world's largest professional wrestling promotion, WWE. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is considered WWE's second biggest event of the year behind th ...
, they then lost the titles back to Demolition on October 2, 1989, in an equally controversial fashion as Blanchard, who was the illegal man, was pinned after receiving the Demolition Decapitation finisher.[ As was customary at the time, the Busters continued to defend the titles on house shows until the title change was acknowledged on television on November 4, 1989.][
]
Split
Their last match was a best-of-three-falls contest against The Rockers on '' Saturday Night's Main Event XXIV''. The Brain Busters lost the first fall after not following directions from an enraged Heenan, who left the ringside area. The Brain Busters won the second fall, after which Heenan fired them during a backstage interview. The Rockers would go on to win the third and final fall of the match. On the day of the 1989 Survivor Series, Tully Blanchard failed a drug test and the lack of a suitable replacement saw him replaced by Heenan who would wrestle for the first time since WrestleMania V. Arn Anderson left the federation more or less immediately after the pay-per-view and returned to the NWA in December. However, the NWA refused to rehire Blanchard when news of his failed drug test became known,[ thus ending the Brain Busters for good. Tully Blanchard would renegotiate a new contract with NWA a few months later, but ultimately declined what he considered to be a very low offer (reportedly half of a previous verbal agreement), and instead signed with the ]American Wrestling Association
The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The promotion was born out of the Minneapolis ...
(AWA).
Championships and accomplishments
*National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc.
Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...
** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-Atlantic version)'' ( 2 times)
*''Pro Wrestling Illustrated
''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...
''
** Tag Team of the Year (1989)
**Ranked them No. 15 of the 100 best tag teams during the ''PWI Years'' in 2003
* World Wrestling Federation/WWE
** WWF World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time)[
**]WWE Hall of Fame
The WWE Hall of Fame is a List of halls and walks of fame, hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when An ...
(Class of 2012) – with The Four Horsemen
See also
*Anderson family
The Anderson family is a fictitious family of professional wrestlers, largely consisting of billed brothers, cousins and children.https://www.midatlanticgateway.com/2016/03/blood-thicker-than-water.html>
Gene Anderson
NWA Hall of Famer Gene ...
* FTR (professional wrestling)
* The Dangerous Alliance
* The Enforcers
* The Four Horsemen
* The Heenan Family
* The Minnesota Wrecking Crew
References
External links
Profile at OWW
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brain Busters
Championship-winning tag teams (WWE)
Heenan Family members
Jim Crockett Promotions teams and stables
WWE Hall of Fame team inductees
WWE teams and stables