The Headshrinkers turning face in 1994

[Celexa Bliss 54]

So this was a bit before my time as a fan, but basically, it seems that shortly after WrestleMania X, The Headshrinkers started targeting The Quebeccers and Captain Lou Albano returned to manage them. I have seen the match where the titles changed hands and honestly, it feels like two heel teams fighting for the belts. Contrast this with later appearances, after the switch from Samu to Seone, where they were very clearly faces. So what was the logic here? That adding Captain Lou would be enough to get the fans behind them? Were they gaining popularity on the house show circuit? Or was it just that there was nobody else ready or over enough to beat The Quebeccers?

[SirLucas]

Funny thing the Headshrinkers turned face the week or two after WrestleMania when they challenged the Quebecers for the tag team titles. Then the subsequent week, they were on the heel team for the ten man tag on Raw, the match that was cut from WrestleMania. It was werid because they still worked heel as a one-off.

[Aceorton]

I remember people being pretty solidly behind them when they turned face, considering Afa didn't exactly win them any points and Captain Lou was a dinosaur from an earlier era. It was especially impressive since they didn't "speak English" or really change the way they worked. I fully accepted it at the time as well -- kind of an unspoken respect thing. They'd been around almost two years at that point and their matches were always good.

Of course, the Quebecers were also loathed, so I'm sure that also played a big part. Anybody who took the belts from them was bound to get some love.

[fg]

If they did get cheers, I think they were losing support. The reason? They had TWO managers at ringside whereas the heel side Most of the time had none. Also, when Seone joined them, they played it up by saying “the opponents don’t know which ones they will be facing” (mostly it was Seone and the future Rikishi).

Hard for them to be sympathetic when they have those odds in their favor. Sure, Undertaker made it work because back than always had the advantage during his matches back then because he was an undead zombie who felt no pain and drew endless strength from an urn. But the Shrinkers couldn’t.

[tirtefaa]

All that I know was that...man was the tag scene completely dead when the Steiners left. It's amazing that the QUEBECERS were the central tag team during this time. Like I can't stress how awful this division was from early 1994 to all the way up to around 1998.

[chazraps]

They were super over at Summerslam 1994.

[wrestlingrecap]

I remember having a hard time getting behind them when they were confused by having to wear boots?

[tafkaga]

The tag division was indeed dead and pretty much every tag team match revolved around the titles. The Quebecers needed more opponents, and the Headshrinkers were really the only established and seasoned tag team on the roster after the Steiners left. Beyond them they had the Smoking Guns and Men on a Mission, with occasional appearances from The Bushwackers. They also used the Heavenly Bodies sometimes to create the illusion of depth but they never actually seemed like a true WWF tag team.

I think the logic was just that the crowd would go for the simple-minded savage comedy routine.

[Honeybear Lyder]

Tag division was not as dead as you guys think. There were the Quebecers, Heavenly Bodies, Headshrinkers and Well Dunn on the heel side, and MOM, The Smokin' Gunns, The Bushwhackers and 123 Kid and his tag partner of the day on the face side. Not that shallow.
The kayfabe reason for the turn was, apparently, being friends with Lou Albano. There was an interview segment one week where the Quebecers were boasting about being unbeatable and got interrupted by Albano who randomly showed up and asked whether they would accept the challenge of any tag team he'd put together and whether they'd put the belts on the line. They agreed, laughing him off and Albano left, only to interrupt another interview segment the next week by bringing out the Shrinkers. The Quebecers tried to reason by saying "these guys are our friends", to which Captain replied "they're not your friends, they're my friends". I also remember Johnny Polo throwing a fit screaming "No! They could beat us!"