The Moondogs were 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 ...

stable A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

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) and in two

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

promotions: the

Continental Wrestling Association Continental Wrestling Association (later the Championship Wrestling Association) was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually ref ...

(CWA) and the

United States Wrestling Association The United States Wrestling Association (USWA) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. The company was founded when the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association merged with the Dallas-based World Class Wrestling ...

(USWA). They were known for wrestling in frayed blue jeans, sporting shaggy blond hair and beards and carrying animal bones around with them (which they chewed and used as weapons).

Origins

The name "

moondog Louis Thomas Hardin (May 26, 1916 – September 8, 1999), known professionally as Moondog, was an American composer, musician, performer, music theoretician, poet and inventor of musical instruments. Largely self-taught as a composer, his ...

" seems to have originated with American musician Louis T. Hardin (1916–1999) who used the nickname from the 1940s.Scotto, Robert. Moondog, The Viking of 6th Avenue: The Authorized Biography. Process Music edition (22 November 2007) His instrumental song "Moondog Serenade" inspired DJ

Alan Freed Albert James "Alan" Freed (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965) was an American disc jockey. He also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts, helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout Nor ...

to use the Moondog moniker in the 1950s until legal action from Hardin resulted in a judgement in Hardin's favor. The Moondog gimmick in wrestling was born in 1973 when

Lonnie Mayne Ronald Doyle "Lonnie" Mayne (September 12, 1944 – August 14, 1978) was an American professional wrestler in the 1960s and 1970s who frequently went by the name Moondog Mayne. He wrestled in various National Wrestling Alliance territories, as w ...

became Moondog Mayne in the

World Wide Wrestling Federation Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. was an American sports promotion company. It was run by Vincent J. McMahon from 1953 to 1982. Operating as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing p ...

. He continued using the gimmick in Portland, Texas, California and Georgia. He died in 1978 after being struck by car. In 1980, Moondog Hawkins wrestled in the WWF, in which the gimmick was short-lived. Hawkins became Moondog Rex.

World Wrestling Federation (1980–1987)

Moondog Rex Randy Colley (May 2, 1950 – December 14, 2019) was an American professional wrestler better known as Moondog Rex. He was best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation as a part of The Moondogs, and as the original Smash of D ...

and

Moondog King Edward John White (May 18, 1949 – August 26, 2005) was a Canadian professional wrestler, best known as Sailor White and as Moondog King of The Moondogs when he joined the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) in the early 1980s. White won cham ...

joined the

(WWF) in October 1980, where they defeated

Rick Martel Richard Vigneault (born March 18, 1956) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler, trainer, and television presenter, better known by his ring name, Rick Martel. He is best known for his appearances with the American Wrestling Association, the ...

and

Tony Garea Anthony Gareljich (born 20 September 1946) is a New Zealand retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Tony Garea. He is best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestl ...

for the

WWF 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- ...

. After winning the title, Moondog King was replaced by

Moondog Spot Larry Wayne Booker (June 6, 1952 – November 29, 2003), better known by his ring names Moondog Spot and Larry Latham, was an American professional wrestler. Professional wrestling career Early career (1977–1981) Booker debuted in 1 ...

after King—a Canadian—was denied entry into the United States in 1981. Rex and Spot's

gimmick A gimmick is a novel device or idea designed primarily to attract attention or increase appeal, often with little intrinsic value. When applied to retail marketing, it is a unique or quirky feature designed to make a product or service "stand ou ...

consisted of them carrying chewed up bones to the ring and wearing cut-off blue jeans. While in the WWF, the Moondogs feuded with

Bob Backlund Robert Louis Backlund (born August 14, 1949) is an American retired amateur and professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation from 1976 to 1984 and in the 1990s, wher ...

Ivan Putski Józef Bednarski (born January 21, 1941) is a Polish former professional wrestler and bodybuilder, best known by the ring name Ivan Putski. He was given the nicknames "The Polish Hammer" and "Polish Power". Putski is a former WWF World Tag Team ...

, Pat Patterson, and the

Wild Samoans The Wild Samoans was the professional wrestling tag team of Afa and Sika in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The Samoans held 21 tag team championships around the world. Gimmick The Wild Samoans ...

. In 1984, on an episode of

Maple Leaf Wrestling Maple Leaf Wrestling was the unofficial name in the 1970s and 1980s of the professional wrestling promotion run by Frank Tunney in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. History Queensbury Athletic Club The promotion, initially known as the Queensbury Athle ...

, Moondog Rex earned a

WWF Championship The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, representing the Raw brand division. It is one of two world titles on WWE's main roster, alongside SmackDown's ...

title shot against

Hulk Hogan Terry Eugene Bollea (; born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is widely regarded as the most recognized wrestling star worldwide and the most popular wrestler of the 19 ...

. In 1987, Rex was repackaged as Smash of

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 ...

, along with Ax. However, fans easily recognized him and gave him chants of "Moondog," leading to him being quickly replaced by

Barry Darsow Barry Allen Darsow (born October 6, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler who performed as Smash, one half of the tag team Demolition. He also wrestled as Krusher Kruschev, Repo Man, The Blacktop Bully and "Mr. Hole in One" Barry ...

. Rex and Spot then teamed together until 1990 in various promotions.

Continental Wrestling Association/United States Wrestling Association and Smoky Mountain Wrestling (1983–1996)

The Moondogs had two runs in Memphis. Their first run took place in the

in 1983, where they were managed by

Jimmy Hart James Ray Hart (born January 1, 1944) is an American professional wrestling manager, executive, composer, and musician currently signed with WWE in a Legends deal. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World ...

and feuded with

The Fabulous Ones The Fabulous Ones were a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Stan Lane and Steve Keirn that was active between 1982 and 1991 with brief reunions during the 1990s. The Fabulous Ones competed primarily in North American territories such as ...

. They captured the

AWA Southern Tag Team Championship The AWA Southern Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the Tennessee area from the 1940s through the late 1980s. It was originally named the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-America version)'' from its ince ...

from the Fabs on April 4, 1983, and lost it back to them on April 25, in a no-disqualification match. The feud continued throughout 1983 and ended when The Moondogs lost a leaves town match to the Fabs on January 16, 1984. In October 1987, the Moondogs wrestled for

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba, ...

. Moondog Spike and Moondog Spot faced opponents such as

Jumbo Tsuruta , better known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) for most of his career, and is well known for being the first ever Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, having won the PWF Heavyw ...

Mighty Inoue Sueo Inoue (born April 12, 1949), better known by the ring names Mighty Inoue () and All Mighty Inoue, is a Japanese professional wrestler and referee (professional wrestling), referee. He is best known for his appearances with International Wrest ...

Haruka Eigen (January 11, 1946 – November 28, 2016) was a Japanese professional wrestler. He was an executive director of Pro Wrestling Noah. Sumo career In July 1961, Haruka Eigen began wrestling as a sumo. He was part of the Tatsunami stable. He quit su ...

and Tiger Mask II. In late 1991, The Moondogs returned, this time managed by Richard Lee. Spot and Spike captured the

USWA Tag Team Championship The USWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary professional wrestling tag team championship promoted by the Memphis, Tennessee-based United States Wrestling Association (USWA). The Continental Wrestling Association and World Class Wrestling ...

on November 30, 1991. In early 1992, The Moondogs gained a new ally in The Big Black Dog, whom they would later feud with. Moondog Cujo was added to the group in April 1992, teaming with both Spot and Spike separately. The New Moondogs of Spot and Cujo recaptured

and traded the title with

Jeff Jarrett Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett (born July 14, 1967) is an American professional wrestler and promoter. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he also serves as Director of Business Development. Beginning his career in his father J ...

and

Jerry Lawler Jerry O'Neil Lawler (born November 29, 1949), better known as Jerry "The King" Lawler, is an American color commentator and professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, although he has not performed as a full-time commentator since Apr ...

throughout 1992. During October 1992, The Moondogs gained another ally in Moondog Fifi, who won the

USWA Women's Championship The USWA Women's Championship was a women's professional wrestling title in the American professional wrestling promotion, the United States Wrestling Association. Title history Combined reigns See also *United States Wrestling Associatio ...

from

Miss Texas The Miss Texas competition was founded in 1937 as a scholarship contest for young women. The winner represents Texas in the Miss America pageant; three winners have gone on to be crowned Miss America (but none since 1975). To become Miss Texas ...

. The feud between Jarrett/Lawler and The Moondogs was voted the 1992 PWI Feud of the Year by ''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publish ...

''. Cujo left the group during September 1992. On December 28, The Moondogs lost the title to

The Harris Brothers Donald Harris and Ronald Harris (born October 23, 1960) are American twin brothers best known for their professional wrestling careers with promotions including Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, and the World Wrestling ...

, managed by Bert Prentice and Mike Samples. The teams traded the belts back and forth until the Moondogs captured them for the last time on February 22, 1993. The feud ended in March 1993, when The Harris Brothers beat The Moondogs in a manager's hair vs hair match with Samples' hair vs Lee's hair on the line. On January 30, 1993, the Moondogs gained another ally in Moondog Splat, who replaced Spike. On March 8, 1993,

Brian Christopher Brian Christopher Lawler (January 10, 1972 – July 29, 2018) was an American professional wrestler. He is best remembered for his career in the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE), where he performed as "Too Sexy" Brian Christopher and Grand M ...

teamed with The Big Black Dog to defeat The Moondogs for the tag team title. The Moondogs won it back the next week. Moondog Cujo and Spike replaced Spot and Splat in July 1993. August 1993 saw the Moondogs meet one of their noteworthy rivals, The Dogcatchers, which played off of the Moondogs' name. The teams feuded throughout August and September 1993. From November 1993 to March 1994, the team appeared in

Smoky Mountain Wrestling Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Appalachian area of the United States from October 1991 to December 1995, when it was run by Jim Cornette. The promotion was based in Knoxville, Tennessee, wit ...

, feuding again with The Harris Brothers and

The Rock 'n' Roll Express The Rock 'n' Roll Express is a professional wrestling tag team consisting of professional wrestlers Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton. The duo began teaming together in Memphis in the early 1980s, followed by Mid-South Wrestling (later to be known a ...

. Spike and Splat also appeared in W*ING's 1993 Most Dangerous Tag War Tournament, finishing with 0 points. 1994 saw the team change again with Spot and a new Moondog Rex taking up the Moondog name until Moondog Rover replaced Rex in 1996, before the team disbanded.

Independent circuit

In the latter part of 2003, the Moondogs (Spot and Puppy Love) began working in

Memphis Wrestling Memphis Wrestling was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Memphis, Tennessee. History Memphis Wrestling evolved from an earlier short-lived promotion called Memphis Championship Wrestling. In 2019, Dustin & Maria Starr with th ...

, with April Pennington acting as their manager. On November 29, 2003, Moondog Spot died in the ring during a

battle royal Battle royal (; also royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants that is fought until only one fighter remains standing, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules. In recent times, the term has been used in a ...

in Memphis. Moondog Cujo appeared at the Clash of the Legends show in Memphis on April 29, 2007, where he defeated The Barbarian.

Members

Core

*Moondog King ( Edward White) - From October 1980 to July 1981 *Moondog Rex (

Randy Colley Randy Colley (May 2, 1950 – December 14, 2019) was an American professional wrestler better known as Moondog Rex. He was best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation as a part of The Moondogs, and as the original Smash of D ...

) - From October 1980 to December 1986 *Moondog Spot ( Larry Booker) - From July 1981 to September 1996, June 2003 to November 2003 *Moondog Spike ( William Smithson) - October 1987 and from December 1991 to January 1993 *Moondog Cujo ( Lanny Kean) - From April 1992 to October 1993 *Moondog Greg Murray - From January 24, 2021 to Present

Others

*Moondog Baron (DJ Baron) *Moondog Buddy (Sean Taylor) *Moondog Bernard (Casey Bernauer) *Moondog Davis (Chris Dillon) *Moondog Duke (Frank Cody 1969-2012) *Moondog Fido (Buddy Donovan) *Moondog Fifi (

Diane Von Hoffman Phyllis Burch (April 13, 1962 – July 6, 2017) was an American professional wrestler active from 1979 to 2013. Burch wrestled under the names Diane Von Hoffman, The Teutonic Terror, and Lady Beast. She wrestled in Memphis's United States Wr ...

) *Moondog Grizzly (Ted Grizzly) *Moondog Mange (Jimmy Stone) *Moondog Max (John Walton) *Moondog Molsonn (Jak Molsonn) *Moondog Moretti (Ed Moretti) *Moondog Mort (Joel Goltry) *Moondog Nathan (Nathan Randolph) *Moondog Pongo (Charles Richards) *Moondog Puppy Love (Mike Flowers) *Moondog Ravage (Brad Worell) *Moondog Rex (Nathan Brian Randolph) *Moondog Rover (Paul J. Mcknight) *Moondog Runt (James McClain) *Moondog Spike (William Wantland) *Moondog Splash (Charles Edward Harrell) *Moondog Splat (Robert White) *Moondog Spot (Tony Nardo - 1987-1988) *Moondog Wenzel (Bryan Wenzel) *Moondog X (Brian Jellison)

Championships and accomplishments

( 1 time) – Rex and Spot *Dyersburg Championship Wrestling **DCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) * International Championship Wrestling (New England) **

IWCCW Tag Team Championship The ICW / IWCCW Tag-Team Championship was the top tag-team championship of International World Class Championship Wrestling between 1984 and 1995 where IWCCW closed down operations. Since the ICW/IWCCW championships were not given "world title" s ...

( 1 time) – Spike and Spot *Ozark Mountain Wrestling **OMW Tag Team Championship (1 time) *''

'' ** PWI Feud of the Year (1992) vs.

and

USWA World Tag Team Championship The USWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary professional wrestling tag team championship promoted by the Memphis, Tennessee-based United States Wrestling Association (USWA). The Continental Wrestling Association and World Class Wrestling ...

( 14 times) – Splat and Spot (4), Spike and Spot (3), Rex and Spot (3), Cujo and Spike (2), Cujo and Spot (1) and Rover and Spot (1) **

(1 time) – Fifi *

World Wrestling Council The World Wrestling Council (WWC) (Spanish: "Consejo Mundial de Lucha"), is a Puerto-Rican professional wrestling promotion based in Puerto Rico. It was originally established as Capitol Sports Promotions in 1973 by Carlos Colón Sr., Victor J ...

WWC Caribbean Tag Team Championship The WWC Caribbean Tag Team Championship was a third-string tag team championship that was defended in the World Wrestling Council The World Wrestling Council (WWC) (Spanish: "Consejo Mundial de Lucha"), is a Puerto-Rican professional wrestling ...

( 1 time) – Rex and Spot **

WWC North American Tag Team Championship The WWC North American Tag Team Championship was a major tag team championship that was used and defended in Capitol Sports Promotions. It is sometimes referred to as the WWC North American Tag Team Championship, though this isn't entirely accu ...

(

2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...

) – Rex and Spot **

WWC World Tag Team Championship The WWC World Tag Team Championship is the tag team title contested for in the Puerto Rican professional wrestling promotion, the World Wrestling Council. History Abroad (2017) On February 11, 2017, Thunder and Lightning defended the WWC World T ...

( 1 time) – Rex and Spot *

( 1 time) – Rex, King & Spot (who replaced King during title reign) *''

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four We ...

'' ** Feud of the Year (1992) vs.

and

*UFO Wrestling **UFO Tag Team Champions 2008–2009 (1 time) Max and Bidondi "The Animals" *Ultimate Wrestling Dynasty **UWD Hardcore Champion 2007–2008 (2 times) Max *New World Wrestling **NWW Tag Team Champions 2005–2006 (1 time) Max and Kohuko *New Generation Wrestling **NGW Tag Team Champions 2004 (2 times) Max and Ryan Bean