The Executioners (professional wrestling)

The Executioners is the name of several tag teams of masked wrestlers who wrestled in the World (Wide) Wrestling Federation.

The Executioners (1970s)

Infobox Wrestling team
article_name=The Executioners
type=T
members=Executioner #1
Executioner #2
Executioner #3
names=The Executioners
heights=Executioner #1:
height|ft=6|in=7
Executioner #2:
height|ft=6|in=10
Executioner #3:
height|ft=6|in=2
weights=convert|755|lb|kg|abbr=on
former_members=
debut=1976
disbanded=1976
promotions=WWWF|

The first version of Executioners was founded by Executioner #1 who was a masked wrestler wrestling for World Wide Wrestling Federation. In 1976, he trained Executioner #2 and the two became a tag team in WWWF.

Together, the Executioners captured the WWWF Tag Team Championship on May 11, 1976 by defeating Louis Cerdan and Tony Parisi. Later, they were joined by a third masked wrestler who called himself Executioner #3 because he was the third member of the Executioners.

The Executioners were stripped of their titles on December 7 because Executioner #3 was used in a title defense against Chief Jay Strongbow and Billy White Wolf. A three-team tournament occurred on the same day and Executioner #3 unmasked himself under his real name Nikolai Volkoff.

Volkoff selected Tor Kamata as his partner and then The Executioners & Nikolai Volkoff and Tor Kamata were defeated by Chief Jay Strongbow and Billy White Wolf in the three-team tournament. Later, the team was abandoned when the Executioners went on their own way.

Championships and accomplishments

* WWWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) - Executioner #1 & Executioner #2

The Executioners (1980s-1990s)

Infobox Wrestling team
article_name=The Executioners
type=T
members=Duane Gill
Barry Hardy
names=The Executioners
Lords of Darkness
former_members=
debut=1988
disbanded=December 20, 1993
promotions=WWF|

There was also a second version of the Executioners and these were also masked wrestlers. These consisted of Duane Gill ("Pain") and Barry Hardy ("Agony") in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They both formed two tag teams The Executioners and Lords of Darkness.

Their teams were mainly jobbers who lost to tag teams. Their first popular match was against The Steiner Brothers on March 1, 1993 edition of "WWF Monday Night RAW" which they lost. After that match, they would lose to tag teams in WWF. Their tag team ended in 1994.

Match history

* January 23, 1993 - ECW/WWA Show: ECW Tag Team Champions The Super Destroyers def. The Lords of Darkness
* March 1, 1993 - RAW: The Steiner Brothers def. The Executioners
* March 22, 1993 - RAW: The Steiner Brothers def. The Executioners
* September 6, 1993 - RAW: The Quebecers def. The Executioners
* October 11, 1993 - RAW: The Rock 'n' Roll Express def. The Executioners
* December 20, 1993 - RAW: Men on a Mission def. The Executioners

Executioner Agony also was sometimes a jobber for singles wrestlers such as Lex Luger.

Championships and accomplishments

* World Wrestling Association

Singles wrestlers

Buddy Rose (1985)

Some wrestlers have portrayed The Executioner gimmick as singles wrestlers. The first singles wrestler to compete as The Executioner was Buddy Rose at WrestleMania I. It was the opening match of WrestleMania where Buddy Rose as The Executioner lost to Tito Santana after a Figure four leglock.

Terry Gordy (1996)

In 1996, another wrestler Terry Gordy, a WCCW legend who was also a part of the Fabulous Freebirds debuted in WWF on PPV as the masked Executioner. He attacked The Undertaker after Undertaker defeated Mankind in a Buried Alive match. This led Undertaker and Executioner to a match at PPV. The match was an Armageddon Rules Match. He lost the match to The Undertaker when he couldn't answer the 10 count. It was his only match in WWF and after that, The Executioner never appeared in WWF.

List of wrestlers who portrayed The Executioner

1976

* Wladek Kowalski
* Big John Studd
* Nikolai Volkoff

1985

* Buddy Rose

1993

* Duane Gill
* Barry Hardy

1996

* Terry Gordy

External links

* [http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/e/executioners.html The Executioners Profile At OWW]