The Colossal Connection 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 o ...
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 ...
of
André the Giant
André René Roussimoff (; 19 May 1946 – 28 January 1993), better known by his ring name André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. Roussimoff was known for his great size, which was a result of gigantism caused by exce ...
and
Haku who competed in the
World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
(WWF) in 1989 and 1990. The team was managed by
Bobby Heenan
Raymond Louis Heenan (November 1, 1944 – September 17, 2017) was an American professional wrestling manager, color commentator, wrestler, and comedian. He performed with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation ...
and a part of
the Heenan Family
The Heenan Family was a stable of wrestlers managed by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan beginning in the 1970s. Heenan managed wrestlers under the Heenan Family name in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) Geo ...
.
History
André the Giant and Haku were both members of Bobby Heenan's stable of wrestlers known as the
Heenan Family
The Heenan Family was a stable of wrestlers managed by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan beginning in the 1970s. Heenan managed wrestlers under the Heenan Family name in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) ...
, and had teamed occasionally at house shows during the summer and fall of 1989, but were formally joined as a team in the latter half of 1989 to form the Colossal Connection.
This was partly done because of André's ailing health, hoping to prolong his career, but also to provide The Heenan Family with a replacement tag team to fill the void of
Tully Blanchard
Tully Arthur Blanchard (born January 22, 1954) is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and manager. He is best known for his appearances with Jim Crockett Promotions and the World Wrestling Federation in the mid-to-late 1980s as a member of ...
and
Arn Anderson
Martin Anthony Lunde (born September 20, 1958), better known by the ring name Arn Anderson, is an American professional wrestling road agent, author, and retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a m ...
(
The Brain Busters
The Brain Busters was the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) name for the professional wrestling tag team of Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard. Anderson and Blanchard adopted this name after joining the WWF in 1988 after leaving Jim Crockett Promotio ...
) who were leaving the WWF to return to the
NWA
NWA or Nwa most commonly refers to:
* N.W.A ("Niggaz Wit Attitudes"), a hip hop group from Compton, California, US
* National Wrestling Alliance, a professional wrestling organization
NWA or Nwa may refer to:
Music
* New Weird America, a subgenr ...
. The Colossal Connection appeared at
The 1989 Survivor Series as part of the four-man team known as ”The Heenan Family" (along with Arn Anderson and Bobby Heenan). The team faced the ”Warriors” a team composed of the
Ultimate Warrior,
Jim Neidhart
James Henry Neidhart (February 8, 1955 – August 13, 2018) was an American professional wrestler known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation as Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, where he was a two-time WWF Tag T ...
and
The Rockers
The Rockers were an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty who teamed from 1985 to 1992. The team worked for NWA Central States Wrestling, the American Wrestling Association, Continental Wrestli ...
. André was quickly counted out in the opening moments of the match while Haku lasted a bit longer, but ultimately lost. Heenan was forced to wrestle at the Survivor Series as Blanchard was released by the WWF on the day of the event after testing positive for
cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...
. Heenan was the last surviving member of the team, but was easily defeated by the Warrior.
After Survivor Series, the Colossal Connection challenged the two time
WWF Tag Team Champions
The World Tag Team Championship was the original professional wrestling world tag team championship in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) promotion, and the promotion's third tag team championship overall. Originally established by the then- ...
Demolition
Demolition (also known as razing, cartage, and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down of buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a ...
, winning the titles on December 13, 1989
(shown on TV December 30), launching them into a feud with Demolition.
Demolition regained the titles at
WrestleMania VI
WrestleMania VI was the sixth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on April 1, 1990, at SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario in Canada, marking the fi ...
.
At WrestleMania, Haku and Heenan both turned on André.
During most of their matches, Haku did almost all of the wrestling, with André coming into the ring only for the finish. During the match at Wrestlemania, Haku wrestled Demolition by himself, never tagging in the Giant due to André's ongoing health problems that ultimately caused his death less than three years later. Even so, André did engage in action during that bout - both in having interfered in the match without being tagged, and after the bout whilst confronting Heenan and Haku.
While Demolition was the most frequent Colossal Connection opponent during their Tag Team championship run, André and Haku also defended against
The Rockers
The Rockers were an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty who teamed from 1985 to 1992. The team worked for NWA Central States Wrestling, the American Wrestling Association, Continental Wrestli ...
(
Shawn Michaels
Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative. Widely regarded as one of ...
and
Marty Jannetty
Fredrick Martin Jannetty (born February 3, 1960) is an American professional wrestler who has worked for promotions including the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), World Championship Wres ...
) and
The Hart Foundation
The Hart Foundation is the name of several derivative tag teams and stables composed primarily of members and close friends of the Hart wrestling family. The name originated in the World Wrestling Federation in 1985 with the original Hart Foundat ...
(
Bret Hart
Bret Hart (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE under a legend's contract. A member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler, he has an amateur wrestling backgr ...
and
Jim Neidhart
James Henry Neidhart (February 8, 1955 – August 13, 2018) was an American professional wrestler known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation as Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, where he was a two-time WWF Tag T ...
). The Colossal Connection also faced Hulk Hogan and the
Big Boss Man in a non-title match at a
house show
A house show or live event is a professional wrestling event produced by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive du ...
just before WrestleMania VI; Hogan and Bossman won, marking the only time (other than their WrestleMania VI match) that André and Haku lost a match as an official tag team. (The Hogan-Bossman vs. Colossal Connection match also marked one of the last matches pitting Hogan vs. André the Giant).
The WrestleMania VI match where they lost the titles to Demolition was Andre's last televised match in the WWF, although he did tag-team with Haku at least one other time, fulfilling their final contractual obligation, that coming on April 10, 1990, when the Colossal Connection wrestled Demolition for the WWF Tag Team Championship at a house show in
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...
. During that match, Andre was knocked out of the ring, and Demolition won by countout; after the match, Andre and Haku fought each other, marking the end of the team. Andre went on to tag-team with
Giant Baba
, best known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter, and professional baseball player. He is best known as a co-founder of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), a promotion he founded in 1972 along with Mitsuo Momota ...
on April 13 at a combined WWF/All Japan/New Japan show in
Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
; the Andre-Giant Baba team defeated Demolition in a non-title match when Andre pinned
Smash.
Later that year Andre retired from wrestling and was released by the company in late 1991. Haku would form
The Faces of Fear
The Faces of Fear was a professional wrestling tag team of The Barbarian and Meng in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) that existed between 1996 and 1999. The two were first paired together in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as part of Th ...
with the Barbarian.
Championships and accomplishments
*
World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
:*
WWF World Tag Team Championship
The World Tag Team Championship was the original professional wrestling world tag team championship in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) promotion, and the promotion's third tag team championship overall. Originally established by the then- ...
(
1 time)
See also
*
The Dungeon of Doom
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
*
The Faces of Fear
The Faces of Fear was a professional wrestling tag team of The Barbarian and Meng in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) that existed between 1996 and 1999. The two were first paired together in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) as part of Th ...
*
The Heenan Family
The Heenan Family was a stable of wrestlers managed by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan beginning in the 1970s. Heenan managed wrestlers under the Heenan Family name in the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the National Wrestling Alliance's (NWA) Geo ...
*
The Islanders
References
External links
OWW Colossal Connection Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colossal Connection
André the Giant
The Heenan Family members
WWE teams and stables
WWE World Tag Team Champions