A former champion in WWE recalls one of the most infamous character changes in company history.
Repackaging a wrestler can either be the best or worst thing to happen to a performer’s career. Some of the most successful rebrandings have included “Stunning” Steve Austin evolving into the “Stone Cold” persona and Isaac Yankem having a complete gimmick overhaul to become Kane.
Unfortunately, not all changes have been for the better. Cody Rhodes has gone on record to voice his displeasure at the Stardust persona and D-Von Dudley becoming Reverend D-Von was regarded as a big misfire from the company. However, one of the worst rebrands in company history took place back in 1999.
Attitude Era fans will remember The Headbangers as the heavy metal-loving tag team made up of Mosh and Thrasher. With Thrasher going down with an injury, the company decided that Mosh should undergo a character change and remain on TV while his partner recovered. It was at this point that fans were introduced to Beaver Cleavage.
The infamous gimmick saw Beaver Cleavage appear in vignettes where it was heavily implied that he was attracted to his mother. Lasting approximately one month, the man formerly known as Mosh would pick up one victory against Christian while portraying the uncomfortable character before later dropping the Beaver Cleavage character and announcing that the woman who appeared alongside him was his girlfriend, not his mother. Following WWE going on to run an alleged domestic abuse storyline involving the duo, Mosh and Thrasher were reunited before the year came to a close.
Speaking with Wrestling News, Mosh admitted that he did have reservations at first but did enjoy the vignettes:
“I was a little hesitant, but at the same time, a little excited at the opportunity to do my own thing and figure something out. The Beaver Cleavage thing was, I mean, it was fun. It was funny. Those vignettes were hysterical. It was so much fun doing the vignettes, and then, you know, my head’s buried in boobs every night outside the ring doing vignettes. I mean, who’s complaining? The only complaint I had, and hindsight being 20/20, looking back at it now, I didn’t like the girl who was my mother. We just didn’t click, personalities. We didn’t get along.
At that point, I was like, this is going to suck. We just weren’t a good fit, but I didn’t look at it from the business side of it going, ‘I don’t have to like her. We just have to get along on TV. I have to like her for 10 minutes. That’s it.’ I didn’t look at it that way. I didn’t even look at it back then where, you know, they were bringing all these females in and whoever had a female valet kind of was getting pushed to the top. That’s when Jeff had Debra, and Lita was coming in like, you know, all these women were coming in and the guys were getting pushed.
So we did the vignettes. I did the one match against Christian. I have another undefeated gimmick. Beaver Cleavage never lost, but that’s when you know, Sable was doing her sexual harassment suit and all this other stuff is going on. So anything that was sexually edgy, and I mean, let’s be honest, they were insinuating I was having sex with my mother. I mean, that’s where the gimmick was going. That’s when they killed it off and they’re like, you’re just gonna be Chaz, this kid from New Jersey.”
When Did The Headbangers Last Wrestle In WWE?
With their initial run coming to an end in early 2001, The Headbangers made a brief return in 2016. Their final match in the promotion was a 16-man tag match on the 900th episode of SmackDown.