The New Zealand Militia
| The New Zealand Militia | |
|---|---|
| Tag team | |
| Members | Rip Morgan Jack Victory |
| Name(s) | The New Zealand Militia The Royal Family The Maulers |
| Debut | 1989 |
| Disbanded | 1992 |
| Years active | 1988–1992 |
The New Zealand Militia were a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Jack Victory and Rip Morgan. The duo began teaming in 1989 in World Championship Wrestling.
Beginnings
[edit]Morgan has been a part of Jim Crockett Promotions in 1988, serving as the flag bearer for The Sheepherders. He had also spent time that year in World Class Championship Wrestling, where Victory also was wrestling and teaming with John Tatum.[1] Victory would join the National Wrestling Alliance (Jim Crockett Promotions) in September 1988 as The Russian Assassin #2.[2]
World Championship Wrestling (1989–1991)
[edit]The New Zealand Militia
[edit]On the April 22nd edition of World Championship Wrestling Victory teamed with Rip Morgan for the first time, but the new duo was defeated by Randy Rose & Ranger Rose. On the June 10th edition Victory and Morgan's team became official; now known as The New Zealand Militia,[3][4] they faced The Dynamic Dudes ((Shane Douglas & Johnny Ace) in the quarterfinals of a tournament to crown new NWA World Tag-Team Champions.
The New Zealand Militia would face the Dynamic Dudes and Ding Dongs in a series of house show matches. On the August 5th edition of World Championship Wrestling Sting & Eddie Gilbert defeated Victory & Morgan via disqualification after Terry Funk and The Great Muta attacked Sting. A day later on The Main Event the Militia were defeated by The Midnight Express. They rebounded on August 12th on NWA Pro to defeat The Dynamic Dudes, and on August 14th at a TV taping in Charleston WV the Milita would defeat Ranger Ross & Scott Hall.[citation needed]
As the summer concluded The New Zealand Militia transitioned to a house show series with the newly formed Steiner Brothers, but were unsuccessful in numerous matches. In September they resumed their feud with the Dynamic Dudes and would later move on to a house show series with The Road Warriors where they were winless. On the November 19th edition of Main Event they were defeated by Sting & Brian Pillman. Lord Littlebrook came to ringside, scolded Victory and Morgan, and said that if they were to listen to him he would take them to the top.[citation needed]
On the November 25th edition of World Championship Wrestling the Milita appeared with Lord Littlebrook for the first time and defeated Ricky Nelson & Mike Jackson. A week later they would defeat Carl Nelson & Mike Thor. The Militia's newfound win streak came to an abrupt end on the December 30th edition of World Championship Wrestling when they were defeated by Arn Anderson & Ole Anderson.[citation needed]
The New Zealand Militia faced The Dynamic Dudes on the first 1990 episode of the Main Event. [5] In January they faced Eddie Gilbert & Tommy Rich, trading wins on the house show circuit. On the February 3, 1990 edition of NWA Worldwide the New Zealand Militia entered a tournament to crown new United States Tag-Team Champions but lost in the quarter finals to eventual winners Brian Pillman & Tom Zenk. [6] On the February 24, 1990 edition of NWA Worldwide the Militia unsuccessfully challenged The Steiner Brothers for the NWA Tag-Team Championship.[citation needed]
The Royal Family
[edit]On the March 10th edition of World Championship Wrestling the New Zealand Militia was renamed The Royal Family. Still managed by Lord Littlebrook, Victory was now dubbed "Jacko Victory". The Royal Family defeated Zan Panzer & GQ Status, and while successful in televised matches against preliminary competition, The Royal Family continued to be winless against The Road Warriors in house show matches. On March 30, 1990 the Royal Family defeated The Fantastics in Lynchburg, VA. The Royal Family defeated Rick Ryder & Rocky King on the May 19th episode of World Championship Wrestling; after this Victory temporarily left the promotion to compete in South Atlantic Pro Wrestling.[7]
Victory returned to reform The Royal Family on December 16, 1990. WCW held the "Pat O'Connor International Tag Team Tournament" as part of the 1990 Starrcade with eight teams representing various countries. The storyline was that the Royal Family had won a tournament in Australia to earn the rights to represent Australia and New Zealand; in reality none of the teams had won qualifying tournaments. Victory and Morgan lost to "Team Japan" (Masa Saito and The Great Muta) in the first round of the tournament.[8] [9] On February 24, 1991 the Royal Family competed at the WrestleWar 91 PPV, losing to The Young Pistols. On April 13, 1991 on NWA Pro Victory & Morgan defeated The Lightning Express, and after the match the Royal Family said that they were after both the United States and World Tag-Team Championships.
However the Royal Family was winless that month on the house show circuit, falling to the tandems of Big Josh & Dustin Rhodes and The Junkyard Dog & Tommy Rich. The Royal Family's last significant appearance with WCW was on April 28, 1991, where they teamed up with Black Bart as they unsuccessfully challenged the team of the Junkyard Dog, Ricky Morton and Tommy Rich for the WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championship.[10] On May 1, 1990 on The Main Event they were defeated by Sting & Lex Luger. On May 10th at a house show in Cincinnati, Ohio the Royal Family lost in an upset to Ron Cumberledge & Brad Armstrong, and a day later fell to The Junkyard Dog & Sam Houston. Now mired in a long losing streak, the Royal Family ended its WCW run with a defeat to Tom Zenk & The Junkyard Dog. [11]
Global Wrestling Federation (1991)
[edit]In 1991 Victory and Morgan made their way to the Global Wrestling Federation in Dallas, Texas, this time as "The Maulers." The duo competed in the tournament for the first ever GWF Tag Team Championship. In the first round they defeated "Wet'n'Wild" (Steve Ray and Sunny Beach), followed by a victory over Chaz and Terry Garvin. In the third round – the semi-finals of the tournament – the Maulers lost to eventual tournament winners Chris Walker and Steve Simpson.[10]
World Wrestling Federation (1992)
[edit]Wrestling as the Maulers, Victory and Morgan also wrestled a dark match at a WWF Superstars taping in Mobile, Alabama on March 9, 1992, defeating Jim Cooper and John Allen.[12]
Smoky Mountain Wrestling (1992)
[edit]The Maulers did not stay in the GWF after the tournament, instead moving on to Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) in Tennessee. They competed in a tournament to determine the first ever SMW Tag Team Champions. In the first round the Maulers defeated the Rich Brothers (Davey Rich and Johnny Rich), but lost to The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Jackie Fulton) in the second round to be eliminated from the tournament.[10] Their short lived run in SMW was the last time Morgan and Victory teamed together on a regular basis.
References
[edit]- ^ "Matches « Jack Victory « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
- ^ "JCP – 1988 Results". thehistoryofwwe.com. January 16, 2023.
- ^ Dave Meltzer (July 2003). Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. p. 17.
- ^ Cawthon, Graham (2014). The History of Professional Wrestling Vol 4: World Championship Wrestling 1989–1994. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1499656343.
- ^ "WCW – 1989 Results". 16 January 2023.
- ^ Will, Gary; Royal Duncan (1994). "United States: 19th century & widely defended titles – NWA, WWF, AWA, IWA, ECW, NWA". Wrestling Title Histories (3 ed.). Archeus Communications. p. 23. ISBN 0-9698161-1-1.
- ^ https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=317972 [bare URL]
- ^ Adamson, Matt (17 February 2008). "Going Old School: Starrcade '90". 411mania. Retrieved 28 May 2008.
- ^ "WCW – 1990 Results". 16 January 2023.
- ^ a b c Duncan, Royal and Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ "WCW – 1991 Results". 16 January 2023.
- ^ "1992". thehistoryofwwe.com. 16 January 2023.