Texas Hangmen (1991–1992) The two men who would later be known as the Godwinns first started teaming in the
United States Wrestling Association under the names Tex Sallinger (Phineas) and Master Blaster (Henry) in 1991. Master Blaster was masked while Sallinger was not. Due to their stature and ring outfits, some mistakenly believed that Sallinger and Blaster were a well traveled team known as "The Texas Hangmen" under a different gimmick as the Hangmen had recently left the USWA. The team feuded mainly with
Jeff Jarrett and
Robert Fuller as a part of the “Texas/Tennessee” storyline. After achieving little notoriety in the USWA, the two men were signed by
World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1992.
Tex and Shanghai (1992–1994) The duo was renamed "Tex Slazenger" and "Shanghai Pierce" who remained masked and made their debut in November 1992. Their debut was without much fanfare as they were at best perceived as a mid-card team used to help establish higher-level teams. They did have a “mini-feud” of sorts with Kent and Keith Cole, the
Cole Twins. Tex and Shanghai would mainly appear on the WCW “B” shows such as
WorldWide and
WCW Saturday Night. Tex Slazenger somehow got a cult following among the fans of the “Saturday Night” tapings who'd chant for him when he was in the ring. During one Saturday Night show, color commentator
Jesse Ventura nicknamed them "the Texicans" although the name never became official. Tex and Shanghai appeared at very few WCW
pay-per-view (PPV)s losing every time they were in the spotlight except for one occasion:
Battlebowl in 1993. Tex and Shanghai found themselves on opposite sides in a “Lethal Lottery” tag-team match, which meant that one of them would actually get a PPV victory.
Rick Rude and Shanghai Pierce won the match but Shanghai was quickly eliminated in the ensuing
battle royal. In their time in WCW, they helped put over future tag-team champions such as
2 Cold Scorpio and
Marcus Alexander Bagwell and
Cactus Jack and
Maxx Payne. In 1994, Shanghai Pierce was unmasked during a bout with
Johnny B. Badd and from that day forward appeared unmasked. Sometime after the summer of 1994, Tex and Shanghai left WCW; Shanghai was signed by the
WWF while Tex worked a stint in the
independent circuit that included a return to his old stomping grounds of the USWA.
The Godwinns (1996–1998) Canterbury had joined the WWF in late 1994 and been repackaged with a “Hog Farmer” gimmick and renamed “Henry O. Godwinn”. Canterbury first worked as a
heel with the
Million Dollar Corporation under
Ted DiBiase’s management and then later as a
face after being kicked out of the
stable. In the early parts of 1996, Dennis Knight was signed with the WWF and became “Phineas I. Godwinn”, originally billed as Henry's cousin, but later changed to Henry's brother. The team was managed by
Hillbilly Jim and actually made their debut shortly before the tournament began to crown new tag team champions after
Billy Gunn suffered a neck injury. The Godwinns made it all the way to the finals at
WrestleMania XII where they lost to
the Bodydonnas. The Godwinns feuded with the Bodydonnas for the next couple of months, not just over the tag team titles but because Phineas had become infatuated with the Bodydonnas' manager
Sunny, something which initially worked against the Godwinns. The Godwinns finally got their revenge on the Bodydonnas by winning the tag team titles from them in May 1996. Sunny also joined with them at this point, although she specifically joined to use Phineas and remain near the tag team gold. At
In Your House 8: Beware of Dog, the Godwinns lost the titles to
the Smokin' Gunns, and Sunny moved on as she paired up with Billy Gunn and kept close to the tag team titles. For the rest of 1996, the Godwinns would remain a solid
mid-card team. During a match in April 1997, Henry Godwinn suffered a cracked
C7 vertebra when
the Legion of Doom botched a
Doomsday Device. Henry was told to take at least 15 weeks off to fully recover from the injury but returned in less than 8 weeks. The turn and subsequent feud with
the Headbangers would pay off as the Godwinns won tag gold once more on October 5, 1997 at
Badd Blood. After the feud with the Legion of Doom ended, they engaged in a short feud with the returning
Quebecers that failed to gain fan interest. The team began to flounder again with no real direction.
Southern Justice (1998) As a result, the two were repackaged, thus ditching the Hillbilly gimmick and false names. On the June 1st, 1998 edition of Raw, the two adopted a "Southern Hired Gun" type of gimmick that saw them wear sharp suits and sunglasses and use their real names of
Mark Canterbury and
Dennis Knight for the first time and backing up
Jeff Jarrett. The team was named "Southern Justice" and they backed up Jeff Jarrett in a feud with
D-Generation X. They even clashed with D-X at the
Breakdown: In Your House PPV where they lost to
Billy Gunn,
Road Dogg, and
X-Pac. Shortly after the PPV, Canterbury herniated his C7 vertebrae and pinched a spinal nerve; this necessitated spinal fusion surgery, a result of Canterbury returning to the ring before he should have. After the neck injury and spinal fusion, Canterbury left the WWF and retired from pro wrestling. ==Championships and accomplishments==