Stars and Stripes was a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nati ...

composed of The Patriot and

Marcus Alexander Bagwell Marcus Alexander Bagwell (born January 10, 1970) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name, Buff Bagwell. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from 1991 to 2001, where he was a fi ...

History

Stars and Stripes was formed in WCW in the summer of 1994 when The Patriot and Marcus Bagwell formed a

face The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...

(fan favorite) tag team. Bagwell, who had previously held the

WCW World Tag Team Championship The WCW World Tag Team Championship (previously NWA (Mid-Atlantic) World Tag Team Championship) was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and later the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) ...

while teaming with

2 Cold Scorpio Charles Bernard Scaggs (born October 25, 1965) is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name 2 Cold Scorpio (sometimes spelled Too Cold Scorpio). He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling, Extrem ...

, got wrestling gear to match The Patriot's patriotic look. Stars and Stripes teamed for the first time on May 28 episode of '' Saturday Night'', defeating

Dick Slater Richard Van Slater (May 19, 1951 – October 18, 2018) better known by his ring name "Dirty" Dick Slater, was an American professional wrestler who wrestled in the 1970s, 1980s, and mid-1990s for various promotions including Mid-Atlantic Champion ...

and Chris Sullivan in a tag team match. Shortly after the pair began teaming,

Pretty Wonderful Pretty Wonderful was a professional wrestling tag team composed of "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff and "Pretty" Paul Roma who competed in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1993 and 1994 History The making of the team In the leading up to ...

(

Paul Roma Paul Centopani (born April 29, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Paul Roma. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling between 1984 an ...

and

Paul Orndorff Paul Parlette Orndorff Jr. (October 29, 1949 – July 12, 2021), nicknamed "Mr. Wonderful", was an American professional wrestler and college football player, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Cham ...

) won the WCW World Tag Team Championship. Bagwell and The Patriot faced the new champions in a series of non-title matches on house shows. They defeated Roma and Orndorff in the majority of the matches, but they were unable to win the title belts during a match between the teams at Fall Brawl on September 18. They faced each other one week later on the September 25 episode of ''Saturday Night'', and Stars and Stripes won the match and the championship. Bagwell and The Patriot defended the title in a series of rematches over the next month, but they dropped the belts back to Pretty Wonderful at

Halloween Havoc 1994 The 1994 Halloween Havoc was the sixth annual Halloween Havoc professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). It took place on October 23, 1994, from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. In 20 ...

on October 23. The feud continued between the teams, and Stars and Stripes regained the championship on November 16 at Clash of the Champions XXIX. Had Roma and Orndorff won the match, The Patriot would have been forced to remove his

mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and pra ...

. The team defended the belts against a series of challenger but lost them in a match with

Harlem Heat Harlem Heat was a professional wrestling tag team composed of two brothers, Booker and Lash Huffman (better known as Booker T and Stevie Ray). The team achieved their greatest success in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where they won the WCW ...

on December 8 during a taping of ''WCW Saturday Night''. They were unable to regain them in subsequent rematches; the match was not aired for several weeks, however, so Stars and Stripes continued to be billed as champions at events until the match was shown on television. Bagwell and The Patriot resumed their rivalry with Pretty Wonderful and were given a title match against Harlem Heat at

Clash of the Champions XXX ''Clash of the Champions'' is an American series of professional wrestling television specials that were produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) in conjunction with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). T ...

, but the champions retained the belts. In February 1995, Stars and Stripes began a series of matches with

The Blue Bloods The Blue Bloods was a heel professional wrestling stable in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) that consisted of "Lord" Steven Regal, "Earl" Robert Eaton, and "Squire" David Taylor, along with their butler Jeeves, who operated in the middle to ...

( Lord Steven Regal and Earl Robert Eaton). They also wrestled

Romeo Valentino Romeo Valentino (born July 8, 1968Pro Wrestling Illustrated. "Statistics for Professional Wrestlers." ''PWI 2001 Wrestling Almanac and Book of Facts''. Vol. IV. No. 1. Fort Washington, Pennsylvania: London Publishing Co., 2001. (pg. 53)) is a reti ...

and

Dino Casanova David Mark DiMeglio (February 8, 1967 – March 1, 2002) was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Dino Casanova. He competed in independent promotions in the Northeastern United States including Eastern Championship Wr ...

at SuperBrawl V in a

dark match Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnivals and circuses. In the past, professional wrestlers used such terms in the presence o ...

and defeated them in one minute and ten seconds. After the match, Bagwell and The Patriot were attacked by Big Van Vader. The team continued to face Harlem Heat and The Blue Bloods (with

Steve Austin Steve Austin (born Steven James Anderson; December 18, 1964), better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American media personality, actor, and retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most ...

substituting for Bobby Eaton). They wrestled in another dark match at Uncensored 1995, defeating the team of

Bunkhouse Buck James "Jimmy" Golden (born August 1, 1950) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under the ring name Bunkhouse Buck. He also appeared in WWE as Jack Swagger Sr. A member o ...

and

. In May 1995, The Patriot was entered in a tournament for the vacant

WCW United States Championship The WWE United States Championship is a professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#Location-specific championships, championship promoted by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion, promotion WWE, currently de ...

, but was eliminated in the first round by Ric Flair. Shortly thereafter, the team disbanded when The Patriot left WCW. Bagwell remained in WCW, holding the tag team belts once more while teaming with Scotty Riggs to form The American Males.

Championships and accomplishments

( 2 times)

References

{{Authority control Masked tag teams Stars and Stripes