MULKEYS v THE GLADIATORS
This was arguably the biggest moment ever aired on WCW TV. For the couple of years preceding this match, the Mulkeys – pale, skinny twin brothers– epitomized the idea of the TBS Jobber. Sure, there were the Mikes Starbuck and Simani; Gary Royal, Nelson Royal, Ricky Nelson, Sam Houston, and the legendary Thunderfoot #2. But no one compared to the hapless Mulkeys, who jobbed pathetically week in and week out to the Midnights and other, lesser lights. The Gladiators had been built up for a couple of weeks by Tony Schiavone. West Coast Tag team champions, he called them; whatever that meant to anyone. The Gladiators were mentioned almost reverentially, and it seemed all too typical that the Mulkeys were being served up to these masked stalwarts as jobbers d’jour. The Mulkeys, of course, are standing in their corner, waiting to be destroyed as the Gladiators’ hard rockin’ theme music – some anonymous hair metal guitar slop – plays on. It doesn’t take much to imagine them as a parody of the Road Warriors, as the Gladiators storm the ring in matching blue masques and bodysuits (shades of – oh, bitter irony –Thunderfoot One and Thunderfoot Two during their glory years) and start clubbing away at the established enhancement workers. One of the Gladiators tosses Bill Mulkey out of the ring, and they start putting the boots to Randy as Bill rolls around on the concrete. Gladiator One or the Other with a backbreaker. Bill pulls himself onto the apron. The referee shepherds one of the Gladiators outside the ring in an attempt to restore order. The in-ring Gladiator vertical suplexes Bill in, but trips over Randy who at this point is on all fours. Bill lands on top of the Gladiator as they both fall over the dazed, and crawling, Randy. Referee Scrappy McGowan with an emphatic three count and David Crockett ruins a pair of Haggars. The Mulkeys get to say some words after the match: "It’s unbelievable. We don’t know what to say," Bill declares. Randy adds, "We don’t knowwhat to say." Five star match and interview, of course.
