Stars and Stripes was a

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 Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

composed of The Patriot and Marcus Alexander Bagwell.

History

Stars and Stripes was formed in WCW in the summer of 1994 when The Patriot and Marcus Bagwell formed a

face The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect th ...

(fan favorite) tag team. Bagwell, who had previously held the

WCW World Tag Team Championship The WCW World Tag Team Championship, originally known as the NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-Atlantic version)'', was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and later the World Wrestling ...

while teaming with

2 Cold Scorpio Charles Bernard Scaggs (born October 25, 1965) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name 2 Cold Scorpio. He gained fame for his performances in professional wrestling promotions such as World Championship Wrestling (WCW ...

, got wrestling gear to match The Patriot's patriotic look. Stars and Stripes teamed for the first time on May 28 episode of '' Saturday Night'', defeating

Dick Slater Richard Van Slater (May 19, 1951 – October 18, 2018) better known by his ring name "Dirty" Dick Slater, was an American professional wrestler who wrestled in the 1970s, 1980s, and mid-1990s for various promotions including Mid-Atlantic Champ ...

and Chris Sullivan in a tag team match. Shortly after the pair began teaming, Pretty Wonderful (

Paul Roma Paul Centopani (born April 29, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler and boxer, better known by his ring name Paul Roma. He is best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling between 1984 ...

and

Paul Orndorff Paul Parlette Orndorff Jr. (October 29, 1949 – July 12, 2021), nicknamed "Mr. Wonderful", was an American professional wrestler and football player, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Champions ...

) won the WCW World Tag Team Championship. Bagwell and The Patriot faced the new champions in a series of non-title matches on

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 ...

s. They defeated Roma and Orndorff in the majority of the matches, but they were unable to win the title belts during a match between the teams at

Fall Brawl Fall Brawl was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) List of NWA/WCW closed-circuit events and pay-per-view events, event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and was held in September from 1993 through 2000. The name wa ...

on September 18. They faced each other one week later on the September 25 episode of ''Saturday Night'', and Stars and Stripes won the match and the championship. Bagwell and The Patriot defended the title in a series of rematches over the next month, but they dropped the belts back to Pretty Wonderful at Halloween Havoc 1994 on October 23. The

feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

continued between the teams, and Stars and Stripes regained the championship on November 16 at Clash of the Champions XXIX. Had Roma and Orndorff won the match, The Patriot would have been forced to remove his

mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment, and often employed for rituals and rites. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, ...

. The team defended the belts against a series of challenger but lost them in a match with

Harlem Heat Harlem Heat was a professional wrestling tag team composed of two brothers, Booker and Lash Huffman (better known as Booker T and Stevie Ray). The team achieved their greatest success in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where they won the WCW ...

on December 8 during a taping of ''WCW Saturday Night''. They were unable to regain them in subsequent rematches; the match was not aired for several weeks, however, so Stars and Stripes continued to be billed as champions at events until the match was shown on television. Bagwell and The Patriot resumed their rivalry with Pretty Wonderful and were given a title match against Harlem Heat at Clash of the Champions XXX, but the champions retained the belts. In February 1995, Stars and Stripes began a series of matches with The Blue Bloods ( Lord Steven Regal and Earl Robert Eaton). They also wrestled Romeo Valentino and Dino Casanova at SuperBrawl V in a

dark match Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that o ...

and defeated them in one minute and ten seconds. After the match, Bagwell and The Patriot were attacked by

Big Van Vader Leon Allen White (May 14, 1955 – June 18, 2018), better known by his ring names Big Van Vader or simply Vader, was an American professional wrestler and professional American football, football player. During his career, he performed for New J ...

. The team continued to face Harlem Heat and The Blue Bloods (with

Steve Austin Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson and later Steven James Williams; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, producer and retired Professional wrestling, profes ...

substituting for Bobby Eaton). They wrestled in another dark match at Uncensored 1995, defeating the team of

Bunkhouse Buck James "Jimmy" Golden (born August 1, 1950) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under the ring name Bunkhouse Buck. He also appeared in WWE as Jack Swagger Sr. A me ...

and

. In May 1995, The Patriot was entered in a tournament for the vacant WCW United States Championship, but was eliminated in the first round by

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 ...

. Shortly thereafter, the team disbanded when The Patriot left WCW. Bagwell remained in WCW, holding the tag team belts once more while teaming with

Scotty Riggs Scott Antol (born March 1, 1967) is a retired American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1993 to 1999 under the ring names Scotty Riggs and Riggs. Antol i ...

to form The American Males.

Championships and accomplishments

( 2 times)

References

{{Authority control Masked tag teams Stars and Stripes