The Shadows (professional wrestling)
| The Shadows | |
|---|---|
| Tag team | |
| Members |
Randy Colley Jose Luis Rivera |
| Name(s) |
The Shadows Shadow #1 & Shadow #2 Light & Dark |
| Combined weight | Unknown |
| Billed from | Parts Unknown |
| Debut | 1987 |
| Disbanded | 1987 |
| Promotions | WWF |
The Shadows was the name of a heel jobber professional wrestling tag team in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1987. The team consisted of two masked wrestlers known as Light and Dark or simply "Shadow #1" and "Shadow #2".The team consisted of Randy Colley who was "Shadow #1" and Jose Luis Rivera who was "Shadow #2".[1]
History
Colley was previously part of the tag team Demolition as the original Smash, and before that a tag team called The Moondogs as Moondog Rex and was a one time WWF Tag Team Champion with Moondog King and then later Moondog Spot. The Moondogs were very successful since the Moondogs held the WWF tag team title once as well having won many tag team titles in the World Wrestling Council (WWC). Rivera had wrestled in the WWF before as The Red Demon, and under his real name, and under both identities wrestled against both babyfaces and heels.[2] Shortly after Colley left Demolition and was replaced by Barry Darsow, Colley and Rivera would form the masked Shadows tag-team, and they would make their debut as a team in Worcester, Massachusetts on March 17, 1987 at a house show defeating the team of Lanny Poffo and Nick Kiniski,[3] and The Shadows would have their first TV match also in Worcester, Massachusetts on April 23, 1987 when they teamed with "Iron" Mike Sharp and lost to Blackjack Mulligan, Billy Jack Haynes and Tito Santana.[4] The Shadows also had a few matches against The Rockers during the Rockers first stint in the WWF (which only lasted two weeks, and which after they were fired) in 1987.[5] Since the Shadows wore matching outfits of either black or white or black or grey and had nearly identical builds, the referees could not tell them apart, which allowed the team to make a lot of illegal switches during matches. The Shadows would also have a minor feud with The Killer Bees a team composed of "Jumpin'" Jim Brunzell and B. Brian Blair and would lose every match they had with the Bees.[6] The Shadows scored a rare victory in Detroit, Michigan when the defeated they team of SD Jones and Lanny Poffo.[7] The Shadows faced many top tag-teams like The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers (Jacques and Raymond), The Can-Am Connection, (Rick Martel and Tom Zenk), and Strike Force (Rick Martel and Tito Santana), and gave those teams many hard matches, though the Shadows always lost. The Shadows had very little success and never appeared on a pay-per-view card, though they did appear on a Coliseum WWF home video VHS cassette called WWF High Flyers in which they had a match against the team of Paul Roma and Jim Powers, known as The Young Stallions, and it was a match that which the Shadows had with the Stallions where Vince McMahon called Roma and Powers "Two Young Stallions" thus naming the team. Rivera and Colley would lose every match they had with the Stallions through early to mid 1987, and although Rivera was able to beat Jim Powers in some house show matches, but he didn't keep his winning streak as Powers would advenge his loss with a victory over Rivera in a house show match on October 1987.[8][9] Rivera's partner Colley would also lose a match to Powers' partner Roma at a Boston Gardens house show.[10] Colley and Rivera would continue to wrestle exclusively at house shows and wouldn't reappear on TV until November 17. Shortly after the Shadows then quietly disbanded.
Aftermath
After the Shadows disbanded, Colley then left the WWF and joined Continental Wrestling, while Rivera would stay with the WWF and form another masked heel jobber tag team called Los Conquistadores with fellow prelim. wrestler and Puerto Rican Jose Estrada, Sr.. Rivera would go on to achieve much greater success with the Conquistadors than as he did with the Shadows, as the Conquistadors appeared on the pay-per-view card the 1988 Survivor Series, and the Conquistadors won much more matches, and defeated some top tag-teams.
In wrestling
- Signature moves
References
- ↑ "Shadows « Tag Teams Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
- ↑ "Matches « Jose Luis Rivera « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
- ↑ Cawthon, Graham (2013). the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 1: WWF 1963 - 1989. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 1492825972.
- ↑ The Shadows team first tv match, YouTube video, 2013-09-25, retrieved 2016-09-17
- ↑ "Rockers". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
- ↑ Cawthon, Graham (2013). the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 1: WWF 1963 - 1989. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 1492825972.
- ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Matches « Shadows « Tag Teams Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 2016-07-14.
- ↑ Cawthon, Graham (2013). the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 1: WWF 1963 - 1989. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 1492825972.
- ↑ The Shadow 2 vs Jim Powers WWF 1987, YouTube video, 2013-09-27, retrieved 2016-10-21
- ↑ The Shadow 1 vs Paul Roma WWF 1987, YouTube video, 2013-09-27, retrieved 2016-10-21