KING KONG BUNDY & BIG JOHN STUDD
1985-1986
Many wrestling fans secretly have a favorite "monster" tag team. It's a guilty pleasure kind of thing, thanks to the scientifically-proven fact that everyone wants to see smaller guys get flattened into smithereens.
Now for you, that may be The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon), Three Minute Warning (Rosey and Jamal) or The Twin Towers (Big Boss Man and Akeem). But to me - it's King Kong Bundy and Big John Studd by a fairly wide margin.
Not only did Bundy and Studd personify eeeeeevil, but they also had fairly different body shapes; Bundy being the 440-pound "walking condominum" while Studd was billed as being nearly as tall as Andre The Giant.
It made for a tough combination to ignore.
While the super team of Bundy & Studd never went as far as I would personally would have liked to see them go (there was NO reason why they couldn't have been WWF Tag Team Champions in that era), the two still participated in several top angles.
They terrorized Andre, with Bundy breaking The Giant's ribs at a house show in Toronto. The photo used for Mike Rickard's weekly column here in CBW is taken from the subsequent series of rematches, with Andre enlisting the help of Hulk Hogan, Hillbilly Jim and others to get his revenge.
When Andre was suspended, the two heels joined forces trying to prove that Andre was really The Giant Machine under a hood. And while it's never been scientifically proven.... I had to think they were on to something there.
Bundy & Studd were also pivotal in the epic feud between Hulk Hogan and Paul Orndorff, opposing the two of them on the night that Orndorff turned heel on television. Bundy & Studd instantly embraced Mr. Wonderful as one of their own, cheering "Won-der-ful! Won-der-ful!" as manager Bobby Heenan explained the development.
Speaking of Heenan.... he should NOT be underestimated in the success of this duo, serving not only as their mouthpiece but also as an instigator and occasional tag team partner.
I remember the break up of Bundy & Studd like it was yesterday (pretty impressive considering it was 30+ years ago!). The monsters took on WWF Tag Team Champions The British Bulldogs; there was your typical malfunction at the junction; and before you knew it, Bundy and Studd were shoving each other. Sadly, they would never team again - but their impact on wrestling shouldn't be overlooked.