| The Headhunters | |
|---|---|
| Tag team | |
| Members | Headhunter A / Squat Teamer #1 / Mofat / Demon Clown Headhunter B / Squat Teamer #2 / Mahim |
| Name(s) | The Headhunters The Squat Team The Arabian Butchers Los Reggaetones |
| Billed heights | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) (both) |
| Combined billed weight | 652 lb (296 kg) (even) |
| Billed from | Puerto Rico |
| Debut | 1987 |
| Disbanded | October 14, 2018 |
| Trained by | Johnny Rodz |
The Headhunters were aprofessional wrestlingtag team who consists of Americantwin brothersManuel andVictor Santiago (born August 11, 1968, in New York, New York), best known by the respectivering names,Headhunter A andHeadhunter B,[1] although they were announced as Mofat and Mahim (spellings uncertain) during their appearances inECW.
The Santiago brothers trained underJohnny Rodz and both debuted in 1987. There were among the Puerto Rican wrestlers brought to Canada during the talent exchange betweenLutte Internationale and theWorld Wrestling Council. On June 23, 1987, The Headhunters defeated Len Shelley and Louis Laurence at theVerdun Auditorium in Montreal.
In 1991 The Headhunters travelled toJapan and began wrestling forW*ING. In August 1992, they were awarded the newly created W*ING International New Generation World Tag Team Championship. They held the titles until November 6, 1992, when they lost toCrash the Terminator andMr. Pogo inSapporo. The brothers regained the titles on May 19, 1993, defeatingMiguelito Perez andYukihiro Kanemura inHonjo, and held them until the promotion closed in March 1994.
The Headhunters went to Mexico working for theUniversal Wrestling Association. They feuded with theLos Villanos.
The Headhunters debuted inEastern Championship Wrestling in August 1993, taking part in a tournament for the vacantECW Tag Team Championship. The Headhunters were eliminated from the tournament after fighting their opponents,Ivan Koloff andVladimir Koloff, to a double disqualification. AtUltraClash on September 18, 1993, The Headhunters defeated Crash the Terminator and Miguelito Perez in a baseball bat match.
The Headhunters began wrestling forConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in the 1990s, and on June 30, 1995 inMexico City they defeatedEl Texano andSilver King to win theCMLL World Tag Team Championship. They held the titles until November 3, 1995, when they were defeated byAtlantis andRayo de Jalisco, Jr.
The Headhunters returned to Japan in the mid-1990s. They joined theInternational Wrestling Association of Japan soon after its inception, and became the first IWA World Tag Team Champions by defeatingDick Slater andNobutaka Araya on November 17, 1994, inYokohama. They lost the titles to El Texano and Silver King on March 3, 1995, inHiroshima, but regained them on August 20, 1995, inKawasaki, Kanagawa. Their second reign ended when they lost toCactus Jack andTracy Smothers on September 29, 1995, in Yokohama. The brothers also wrestled forFrontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, and on March 30, 1996, they defeatedSuper Leather andJason the Terrible inTokyo to win theFMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship. They held the titles for over a year, finally losing to Hido and Kanemura on April 25, 1997, inOsaka. The Headhunters also held the FMW World Street Fight Six Man Tag Team Championship on two occasions in 1996, teaming withSuper Leather andHisakatsu Oya respectively.
The Headhunters debuted in theWorld Wrestling Federation on January 21, 1996, at theWWF Royal Rumble, renamed "The Squat Team". Identified as "Squat Team #1" and "Squat Team #2" respectively, the Headhunters took part in theRoyal Rumble match, but were both eliminated, withYokozuna eliminating Team #2 after 24 seconds andVader eliminating Team #1 after 71 seconds. The night after Royal Rumble they lost toAvatar andAldo Montoya in a dark match. The Headhunters briefly appeared on WWF television as "The Arabian Butchers" on the June 30, 1997, episode ofRaw, a tag teammanaged byJim Cornette. They made an appearance forShotgun Saturday Night on November 25, 1997 in a dark match losing toLos Boricuas (Savio Vega andMiguel Perez Jr.).
The Headhunters returned to Eastern Championship Wrestling, since renamed Extreme Championship Wrestling, in January 1996. On February 17, 1996, atECW CyberSlam 1996, losing toThe Bruise Brothers. In March 1996 atBig Ass Extreme Bash, losing to theDudleys (Buh Buh Ray Dudley andDances with Dudley) in a tag team bout and losing toThe Gangstas and the team of2 Cold Scorpio andThe Sandman in a three-way tag team match. They made their final appearance with the promotion in April 1996 atMassacre on Queens Boulevard, again losing to The Gangstas and 2 Cold Scorpio and The Sandman in a three-way tag team match.
On September 11, 1997 the Headhunters teamed withJake Roberts losing toHakushi,Hayabusa, andMasato Tanaka atTerry Funk's WrestleFest inAmarillo, Texas.
In the 2000s, The Headhunters began wrestling on theMexicanindependent circuit. In November 2006, The Headhunters began working dates forAsistencia Asesoría y Administración. Headhunter A would become a regular in the spring, officially joining heel stableLegión Extranjera. He quit the promotion in September 2008, choosing to return to the independent circuit. Both Headhunters have since worked regularly forIWRG andNWA Mexico. In December 2008, the two wrestled on the debutPerros del Mal Producciones show promoted byPerro Aguayo Jr.
On July 15, 2006 they wrestled forJuggalo Championship Wrestling losing toKevin Sullivan and Rude Boy.
They also made return tours in Mexico and Japan. They participated inGame Changer Wrestling's Jersey J-Cup Tag Team Tournament defeating in the first roundDanny Demanto andTommy Dreamer. Later that night they got eliminated from the tournament in the semi-final to The Beast Squad, Kyle the Beast andMonsta Mack.