Beginning (1994–1996) They were both trained by
Larry Sharpe in New Jersey in the early 1990s. Warrington and Ruth teamed up in 1994 as the Spiders in their home state, New Jersey, for the
National Wrestling Alliance. They made an
Eastern Championship Wrestling appearance in June 1994, losing to
The Bad Breed (
Axl and
Ian Rotten). Also they worked for
United States Wrestling Association (USWA) feuding with the Rottens and
The Eliminators. They had a brief stint in Dallas for the NWA in 1995. Later that year they moved down to Tennessee in
Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW). It was there that they changed their gimmicks to the Headbangers. Their slogan was "Real men wear skirts." During their time in SMW, they feuded with The
Rock 'n' Roll Express (
Ricky Morton and
Robert Gibson) and
The Thugs (
Tracy Smothers and
Tony Anthony), and later sided with
Jim Cornette and
Terry Gordy in their feud with
Brad Armstrong over the
SMW Heavyweight Championship. By the end of the year, SMW folded and they returned to
United States Wrestling Association. In December 1995, they debuted as jobbers in the WWF as the Spiders, the Arachnoids, and even used their real names. On an episode of
Monday Night Raw they got a World Tag Team Title shot against the Smoking Gunns. Afterwards, they continued working for the USWA and the
independent circuit.
World Wrestling Federation (1996–2000) WWF Tag Team Champions The team debuted on WWF television on the November 24, 1996 episode of
Superstars under their Headbangers gimmick defeating
Alex Porteau and
Aldo Montoya. Shortly after that, they began wearing
nuns' clothing and billed as the Flying Nuns (a play on the
television show of the same name), Sister Angelica and Mother Smucker. They were also humorously billed as hailing from a monastery in the Himalayas. On an episode of
Shotgun Saturday Night,
Brother Love showed up to manage the Nuns. After the Nuns defeated
The Godwinns, Love renamed them the Sisters of Love. The gimmick was short-lived, but they kept the skirts when they returned to being The Headbangers in January 1997. They later had T-shirts with the phrase "Real men wear skirts" and occasionally wore
sports bras over their shirts. The duo often carried a
boombox to the ring, and on one occasion, Mosh
vomited during an
interview. Mosh and Thrasher would lose the titles to the Godwinns at
Badd Blood: In Your House in October. They faced
The New Age Outlaws in their debut match as a team on October 20 and frequently challenged them into the following the year for the Tag Team title. The two are seen backstage playing with
Bret Hart's son, Blade, in the
1998 documentary film Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows. The footage depicts events from the previous year. Both Mosh and Thrasher entered the
1998 Royal Rumble and both lasted over 10 minutes before Mosh was eliminated by
Kurrgan and Thrasher by Steve Austin. On February 17, 1998, The Headbangers won the
NWA World Tag Team Championship from
The Rock 'n' Roll Express, which aired on the February 23 edition of Raw Is War. They lost the belts the following month to
The Midnight Express. They feuded with
The Quebecers and the
Oddities throughout the year and become the first
Maryland Championship Wrestling Tag Team Champions on August 18 defeating Jimmy Cicero and Julio Sanchez in the finals of a tournament.
Split and reunion The Headbangers were both meant to compete in the
1999 Royal Rumble, but Thrasher suffered a (legitimate) knee injury and was shelved while Mosh was (kayfabe) attacked backstage by
Viscera as a way to write both men off television. While Thrasher was injured, Mosh would be repackaged as Beaver Cleavage and then Chaz, performed in singles competition and began having problems with his on-screen girlfriend,
Marianna Komlos. He was
kayfabe arrested on an episode of
Sunday Night Heat in September after Komlos claimed he
hit her. This proved her accusations false, and The Headbangers subsequently reunited. They then took on a gimmick where they dressed as the opponents that they feuded with, such as the
Dudley Boyz and
Mean Street Posse. The duo later turned heel and began to dress in
drag, which included wearing breast cones. Mosh entered in the
2000 Royal Rumble alone eliminated by
Rikishi; however, The Headbangers continued performing in tag team and singles matches. Both men participated in the
Hardcore battle royal at
WrestleMania 2000 where Thrasher held the title for
43 seconds defeating
Joey Abs. The team continued battling the likes of
Too Cool and
T & A until July 2000. Thrasher focused on his singles career and was taken off WWF TV and the main roster later that month. Glenn Ruth was released from the WWF in December 2000, after working several months in their developmental territory
Power Pro Wrestling in Memphis, and Charles Warrington was released from the WWF in August 2001.
Criticism by WWE Years after their departure from the company, The Headbangers have borne the brunt of criticism by
WWE media. One example can be found in a 2007 article in
WWE Magazine about the history of WWE champions. The article criticized wrestlers who are considered not worthy of winning a belt they held. The Headbangers were included in this article for their supposedly poor
Tag Team Championship reign. The article suggested that the team had the titles by default since it was "in between the eras of
The Smoking Gunns and the
New Age Outlaws." WWE's
Raw 15th Anniversary magazine also includes a list of 15 superstars who "overstayed" their welcomes in the company. This has The Headbangers at #2, behind only
Scott Steiner. Mosh and Thrasher appeared on the
Ring of Honor pay-per-view Best in the World on June 24, 2012 as the masked tag team Guardians of Truth, managed by the
Truth Martini. They lost to the
Briscoe Brothers. Later on, the two would unmask themselves and go on to compete as The Headbangers. They then competed on the Independent Circuit. In March 2013, both Headbangers were present during a
WWE Smackdown taping. On June 18, 2013, The Headbangers defeated The South Side Playaz Club (Craig Steele and Joe Hardway) at PWS Dream on 6th Anniversary iPPV. The Headbangers made their debut for Championship Wrestling Entertainment (CWE) competing in a triple threat match at Wrestlefest 2015. In 2016 they made their debut for Fighting Evolution Wrestling. On March 31, 2017 they defeated
Cryme Tyme at Fighting Evolution Wrestling in Orlando, Florida. Later that same year they went Australia to wrestle for World Series Wrestling and feuded with
The Basso Brothers. In October 2023, the Headbangers appeared on the
NWA pay-per-view
Samhain, losing a tag match to The Southern 6 (
Kerry Morton and Alex Taylor).
Return to WWE (2016) The duo made their first appearance as a team in WWE since 2000 on the August 30, 2016 episode of
SmackDown Live as heels and participants of the
SmackDown Tag Team Championship tournament, losing against
Heath Slater and
Rhyno in the first round. They returned on the November 1 episode of
SmackDown, losing to
The Usos in a
Survivor Series qualifying match. Then they were seen again on the November 15 900th episode of
SmackDown, teaming with other heel tag teams. ==Championships and accomplishments==