Follow my blog with Bloglovin By the time I became a full-fledged, all-in wrestling fan in 1983, the Moondogs were being used as enhancement talent in the WWF. But in 1981 Rex and King captured the WWWF Tag Team Championships with some help from their manager, Capt. Lou Albano and a trusty bone.
Bone to the neck
Courtesy: WWE
If you don't remember the Moondogs, look them up. Even though when I watched them in action they lost most of their matches, Rex and Spot were still an entertaining duo. The original incarnation of the team was Rex and King. On March 17, 1981, the duo beat Tony Garea and Rick Martel (long before his modeling days) for the gold. Martel was fighting with Albano on the apron when Moondog King blasted Gareawith the bone and allowed Rex to get the pin.
Rex & Spot
Courtesy: WWE
During the course of their run, King left the team. That's when Spot was added. The new Moondogs lost the tag team titles back to Garea and Martel later that summer. The 'dogs stuck around and put over other teams like Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda, The British Bulldogs and The Killer Bees. They continued to carry those big rawhide bones to the ring along with their mangy hair and tattered jeans. But they never dug up any more tag team gold.
Rex gets smashed...
Courtesy: WWE
Fun fact, Rex is the Superstar who came up with the idea for the team Demolition and actually played Smash first. But fans recognized him through the makeup and continued chanting Rex during the team's first few matches, so he was replaced with Barry Darsow.
Sadly, I'm writing a second memorial piece in as many days. The legendary Ivan Koloff has died. In the first 48 days of 2017 we've lost Rex King, "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka, Chavo Guerrero Sr., George "The Animal" Steele, Nicole Bass and now "The Russian Bear."
The Russians Courtesy: WWE
By the time I started watching wrestling in the early 80s, Koloff was nearing the end of his career. He was teaming with nephew Nikita and Krusher Kruschev. Together this threesome held the NWA six man tag team titles. Ivan and Nikita were also the NWA tag team champions, feuding with the likes of The Rock 'n Roll Express, Dusty Rhodes and Magnum TA and the Road Warriors.
When Nikita turned good, Uncle Ivan moved on to team with the Powers of Pain under the management of Paul Jones. That trio would also go on to win the six man tag team championship. Eventually, even Ivan would turn good and ended up reuniting briefly with Nikita to battle the Russian Assassins. His time in the ring ended a few years later when he retired from wrestling.
Ivan's biggest claim to fame though came long before I started watching wrestling. It actually happened before I was born. Koloff pinned Bruno Sammartino to win the WWWF championship. It was a tremendous feat, as Bruno had been the champion for nearly eight years. Granted, his time as champ only last three weeks, but the significance of the ending of Bruno's streak as champ is arguably as impactful as Brock Lesnar ending Undertaker's WrestleMania win streak.
For that feat alone, Koloff should have been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame many years ago. I don't know why he's not there yet. Maybe there were behind the scenes reasons. I know in 2015 he joined the concussion lawsuit other Superstars have filed, so who knows now that he's died if WWE will look past that and ever induct him.
Ivan Koloff
I must also admit that I was convinced all along that Ivan was really a Russian. He played the character so well it's a testament to the man behind the gimmick, Oreal Perras who was born in Canada. Rest in peace, Russian Bear. You will be missed.
By the time I started really watching wrestling in 1984, the Moondogs had become nothing more than enhancement talent, but these two mangy men had quite a reputation in the early 80's. Moondog Rex and Moondog King won the tag team titles in 1981. During their reign, King had to leave the company over visa issues and was replaced by Moondog Spot.
The Moondogs were a tough team, with shaggy hair and shredded jeans. Lead by then bad guy manager, Captain Lou Albano, they carried giant bones to the ring and didn't hesitate to use them on opponents when the opportunity arose. In the early days of their gimmick, their bite was worse than their bark.
Like I mentioned at the start of this post, most of my memories of Rex and Spot were putting over other guys. I remember a young Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda beating the Dogs on their quest for the WWF tag team gold.
Moondog Rex as Smash
The Moondogs eventually split and Rex was actually an original member of Demolition. Randy Colley played the role of Smash, but legend has it that his face paint wasn't quite good enough and fans chanted "Moondog!" when they saw him. Add that to the fact that he had contract issues with the company and he was soon out and replaced by Barry Darsow.
Moondog Spot would head south and work in the USWA where he was paired with new dogs, including Spike and Cujo. They were a force to be reckon with under the management of Richard Lee. The vicious dogs feuded with crowd favorites like Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Lawler.
The Moondogs with Capt. Lou
Spot, who was played by Larry Latham, died in the ring back in 2003 after suffering a heart attack. He was 51 years old.
Through the years other members like Splat, Max, and Mange were added to the mix. There's no denying these guys were some of the most brutal during their time in wrestling.
Another old school wrestler has gone to the great ring in the sky. King Curtis Iaukea died earlier today.
My generation will remember him from his time as Kamala's short lived manager in the WWF back in the 80's. At that time, he was simply known as "The Wizard" and wore a long black cloak. I remember he wasn't on TV very long. I'm not sure why that is. There was a WWF Magazine article featuring him. I think it was actually an interview. I do recall his few appearances having a deep booming voice. He sounded a little crazy in the promos he cut. I guess when you're hanging out with Kamala and Sika you have to be a little unorthodox.
He was also, as you can see from this picture, the Master of the Dungeon of Doom. That's the ill fated group that was determined to rid the world of Hulkamania. It didn't work. He was the man behind Kevin Sullivan and all his minions like Kamala, Zodiac, and the Shark. I don't remember him being too involved with the angle, other than cutting some vignettes where he sat in a that giant chair and bellowed commands to Sullivan. Years later, a wrestler by the name of Prince Iaukea came along in WCW. No relation to Curtis, but the name was given to the Prince as a tribute to the legend.
Until I did a little research on him, I didn't know a whole lot about Curtis. I knew from looking at him he was obviously a wrestler in his early days. He had the "Dusty Rhodes forehead" going with all the scars.
Curtis wrestled all over the world and in the NWA, AWA, and WWWF (World Wide Wrestling Federation). In the 1970's, he and Baron Mikel Scicluna held the tag team champions in the WWWF. Curtis held various other titles, both single and tag team, in the territories he wrestled.
And one final fact, this one a fun fact: Iaukea appeared in the 3 Stooges film: The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze.
