Not Man Enough

Some wrestling fans have wondered why this popular Tag Team — the Rockers — never held the WWE Tag Team Championship belts.   They were skilled high-fliers and certainly beloved by certain segments of the wrestling fan base (boys under 12, girls age 14 to 17, and gay men of all ages.)

So why were they denied the satisfaction of winning the gold and instead were forced to job to other teams like the British Bulldogs, Demolition, and the Hart Foundation?

Actually on October 30, 1990, Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty did defeat the champion Hart Foundation and win the belts in a Best of Three Falls match.  However, later that week, the titles were stripped from their waists and given back to the Hart Foundation, the match was never aired, and the record books never officially recognized the Rockers as champs.  What happened?

Some fantastic action photos from this historic (but rarely seen) match have surfaced, so let’s take a closer look at these two Tag Teams in action and see if we can sort out what was happening at the time and why the Rockers have been denied their rightful place in wrestling history.

Late in the 1980’s, the glamorous Hair Bands ruled the music scene.  These gender-bending musicians wore make-up, grew out their hair, and dress in flamboyant costumes to emphasize their femininity.

Some Baby-Face tag teams like the Rockers adopted a similar style, teasing out their long hair and sporting wild, brightly-colored gear.  Perhaps the most effeminate, flamboyant looking outfits ever worn by the Rockers are these shredded baby blue tights with rainbow colored leggings worn for this match against the Harts.  The intention of these costumes was to sissify the Rockers.

Admittedly, the Hart Foundation wear pink, a color also associated with femininity.  However, the power and strength of the Hart Foundation is evident in their thick, masculine physiques and the effectiveness of their brutal attacks in the ring.

As discussed in my Warriors in Pink article, dressing the brawny bodies of the Hart Foundation in pink actually served to make them seem even stronger and more confident.

Notice that in this match, we only see the Rockers dominating the Harts when they work together — when they double-team one opponent.  This also emphasizes the relative weakness of the Rockers: it takes two of them to gain an advantage over one of the Harts — particularly the big “Anvil” Jim Neidhart.

So I believe the Rockers’ rainbow colored clothing and long hair — and their need to work together to be successful — are intended to imply that they are a queer couple.  It is acceptable for young girls to cheer for them, but the hetero-sexual adult males in the audience are meant to be suspicious of these sissies.

And I believe THIS is why the Rockers were never officially permitted to hold the championship belts:  because the WWE and pro wrestling in general (particularly in the 1980s) celebrated masculinity and rejected anything feminine.  The promoters, the male fans, the patriarchal power structure did not want to see two fairies as champs.

These pretty-boy Baby-Face tag teams were used to attract the young female fans (and gay guys) to the sport.  It was perfectly acceptable for the flamboyant Rockers to wrestle mid-card, giving certain fans something to drool over before the Real Men took to the ring for the important main event.

However, the message of pro wrestling is that dudes — strong, manly straight dudes — dominate the world.  And there are far more hetero-sexual male fans watching pro wrestling and buying tickets, so the stories and outcomes must satisfy their tastes.  Therefore, having a sissy-boy team like the Rockers holding the title belts would make the straight male fans feel threatened.

So it was no surprise when the Harts took control of the match and began picking apart the Rockers.  This is what is expected to happen — the more masculine guys are supposed to beat up the homos. The straight male fans feel a sense of satisfaction each time the big bad Harts slam Shawn on the mat (as the young girls in the audience shriek in horror).

Notice in this photo there is no red rope.  During the second fall in this three fall match, the top rope popped loose and fell off.  This is part of the reason this match was never aired — because the rope broke which looks low budget and unprofessional.

Also at this time, Jim Neidhart was in trouble with the bosses.  He was skipping some of his appearances or something, so the decision was made to fire him.  His contract required him to wrestle one final match and give up the title straps.  The promoters figured that, with their dominant Heel Tag Team, the Hart Foundation, getting ready to break up, they may as well allow the most popular Baby-Face team, the Rockers, to hold the straps for a while.

But soon after losing their belts to the Rockers, Neidhart apologized to the bosses and agreed to clean up his act, so they decided not to fire him after all!  Now they could allow the Harts to continue their reign of terror as the champs — they just had to take the belts back from the Rockers.

So you had a perfect storm of reasons to deny the Rockers the belts:  you had the broken rope in the second fall which looked like crap; you had Neidhart promising to become a model employee; and you had the male dominant audience who didn’t want the Rockers to win.

So history was re-written, the victory by the new champs was buried, the belts were given back to the Harts, and the Rockers became jealous of each other and their relationship soon broke up.  Oh well, this is what happens in pro wrestling if you’re not manly enough.

But the WWE recently acknowledged the Rockers’ victory by posting the final minute of the match on the WWE website, where the Rockers pin both Harts following a clumsy two-on-two maneuver.

On YouTube, you can also watch the aftermath of the fight where the Rockers celebrate and the Harts don’t even want to shake their hands.  Check out how disappointed and ashamed all the wrestlers appear to be.