Brian Wickens

Brian Wickens

Class of 2015

Career[]

Luke Williams started wrestling for NWA New Zealand (later known as All-Star Pro Wrestling) in 1964 where he achieved a great deal of regional success. Williams, along with his friendButch Miller, were brought to America in 1965 by fellow New ZealanderSteve Rickard, who was also the booker for “NWA Hawaii”. Luke and Butch initially worked in Canada forStu Hart’sStampede Wrestling billed as The Kiwis (Butch was known as “Nick Carter” and Luke was known as “Sweet Williams”). The first recorded title that the Kiwis won was in 1974, when the duo beat Bob Pringle and Bill Cody for the Stampede International Tag Team Championship on January 6, 1974. The Kiwis lost the titles to Tokyo Joe and the Great Saki, only to regain them a short time later. The Kiwis lost the titles for good when Stan Kowalski and Duke Savage defeated them and kept the titles away from them in subsequent rematches.

The Sheepherders[]

Main article:The Bushwhackers#the Sheepherders

After leaving Stampede Wrestling, the Kiwis began doing double duty inNWA Pacific Northwest as well as the Canadian-based International All-Star Wrestling around 1979-1980 as "the Kiwi Sheepherders". In 1979, the team won theNWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship on three occasions between 21 July and 5 August 1980, before they left the territory. On 22 September, the Sheepherders lost the gold to Dutch Savage andStan Stasiak, only to regain them a week later. On 11 February 1980, the Sheepherders became double champions when they downed Dutch Savage and Stan Stasiak once again, this time for the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship. Top facesRick Martel and “Rowdy”Roddy Piper teamed up in May, to take the NWA Canadian tag title from the Sheepherders and, in effect, run the duo out of the Northwest region by August, gaining the NWA Pacific Northwest tag titles when the Sheepherders left the promotion.

The next stop for the Sheepherders was a brief stay in theMid Atlantic Championship Wrestling territory run byJim Crockett. In MACW, the two won theNWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship by beatingMatt Borne andBuzz Sawyer for the gold. The Sheepherders held onto the gold for close to three months beforedropping it toDewey Robertson and George Wells on 12 December. After losing the titles, Luke and Butch headed for warmer weather as they traveled toPuerto Rico and began working for theWorld Wrestling Council as Los Pastores. While in Puerto Rico, the team won theWWC North American Tag Team Championship twice while touring the island.

The New Sheepherder[]

Main article:The Bushwhackers#the New Sheepherder

After the team left WWC, Butch decided that he wanted to return closer to home and went toAustralia to wrestle. Luke remained in the United States determined to keep the “Sheepherders” name on everyone's lips by teaming up with “Lord”Jonathan Boyd (formerly of the Royal Kangaroos). The duo of Williams and Boyd quickly gained a reputation of one of the most violent, hard hitting teams in the business. One of the first people to feel the wrath of the “new and improved” Sheepherders wasRobert Fuller inSouth Eastern Championship Wrestling. In December 1981, the Sheepherders won theNWA Southeast Tag Team Championship that had been vacated whenRobert Fuller and Jos LeDuc split. After winning the title, Boyd and Williams became embroiled in a bitter feud with Robert Fuller and various partners including his brotherRon Fuller and his cousinJimmy Golden (later known as Bunkhouse Buck). One act that made the Sheepherders the most hated men in SECW for a while was when the duokayfabe attacked and injured Jimmy's father Billy Golden. After almost 10 months with the title, the Sheepherders were finally defeated by Fuller and Golden; this ended the feud on a high note for the face duo, as the Sheepherders were “run out” of the territory.

Boyd and Williams moved slightly more north as they began to work in theMemphis based promotionContinental Wrestling Association owned and operated byJerry Jarrett andJerry Lawler. In the CWA, the Sheepherders would start a feud that stood as their most memorable, bloody, and brutal as the team kicked off a long running feud withThe Fabulous Ones (Stan Lane andSteve Keirn). The “pretty boy”, well polished Fabulous Ones and the ugly, brawling savage Sheepherders were the perfect opponents and repeatedly drew big gates all over the country. The matches started out pretty evenly, but soon turned brutal and often without a definite winner. In late 1982, the Sheepherders won theAWA Southern Tag Team Championship from Lane and Keirn, which only turned the intensity of the matches up a notch. Between late December and mid-February, the two teams traded the belts back and forth 4 times with the Fabulous Ones ending up with possession of them in the end. On 28 March, the Sheepherders wrestled their last match in the Mid-South Coliseum before leaving the CWA.

Boyd and Williams resurfaced inSouthwest Championship Wrestling only weeks later, continuing their brutal and destructive ways. Their first target was the reigningSouthwest Tag Team Champions “The Grapplers” (Len Denton and Tony Anthony). In May, the Sheepherders won the gold from the duo through nefarious means; before the match Williams and Boyd had bribed the Grapplers’ manager Don Carson and promised he would become a tag team champion, Carson turned on the Grapplers mid match to ensure the Sheepherders’ victory. The Sheepherders run with the gold was short lived; Jonathan Boyd legitimately broke his leg in a car accident in June which forced the SWCW to nameBobby Jaggers as a replacement. After Williams and Jagger lost a non-title match to Bob Sweetan andSweet Brown Sugar, Williams turned on Jaggers and the titles were vacated. While Boyd was out with the broken leg, Williams was reunited with his old tag-team partner, Butch straight from Australia.

In wrestling[]

• Finishing and signature moves
  • Battering Ram

• Tag teams and stables
  • The Bushwhackers/The Kiwis/The Sheepherders/Los Pastores/Men From Down Under

• Managers
  • Jonathan Boyd
  • Billy Golden
  • Ox Baker
  • Lady Maxine
  • Don Carson
  • Jamison
  • André the Giant

• Wrestlers trained
  • Bruce Santee

Championships and accomplishments[]

• Allied Powers Wrestling Federation 2000
  • APWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) withButch
• American Wrestling Association
  • Continental Wrestling Association
    • CWA International Tag Team Championship (1 time) withButch Miller
• Championship International Wrestling
  • CIW Tag Team Championship (1 time) withNitro
• Empire Championship Wrestling
  • SWCW Championship (1 time)
• National Wrestling Alliance
  • Capitol Sports Promotions
    • WWC World Tag Team Championship (2 times) withButch Miller
  • Championship Wrestling from Florida
    • NWA Florida Tag Team Championship (1 time) withButch Miller
    • NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship (1 time) withButch Miller
  • Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
    • NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (1 time) withButch Miller
  • Pacific Northwest Wrestling
    • NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship (4 times) withButch Miller
  • Vancouver All-Star Wrestling
    • NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (1 time) withButch Miller
• Prairie Wrestling Association
  • PWA Mayhem Championship (1 time)
• Southwest Championship Wrestling
  • SWCW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) withButch Miller
• Stampede Wrestling
  • Stampede International Tag Team Championship (2 times) withNick Carter
• Steeltown Pro Wrestling
  • SPW Provincial Championship (1 time)
• Ultimate Championship Wrestling
  • UCW Tag Team Championship (2 times) withThe Honky Tonk Man (1) andMaritime Menace (1)
• Universal Wrestling Federation (Bill Watts)
  • UWF Tag Team Championship (2 times) withButch Miller
• World Wide Wrestling Alliance
  • WWWA Tag Team Championship (2 times) withButch Miller
• World Wrestling Entertainment
  • WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2015)

External links[]

• Brian Wickens on Twitter(@BushwhackerLuke)
• BushwhackerLuke.net
• The Bushwhackers profile on WWE.com