Highlanders (professional wrestling)
Highlanders | |
---|---|
Oban, Scotland[2] | |
Billed from | Oban, Scotland[3] |
Debut | 2000[1] |
Disbanded | 18 January 2014 14 December 2019 |
Years active | 2000–2014 2019 |
Trainer | Waldo Von Erich[1][4] |
The Highlanders were a Scottish
History
Couch and Murray were both born and raised in Oban, Scotland, where the team was billed from.[1] Couch was born on 20 September 1974 and Murray was born on 28 November 1979.[5]
Couch first started going to a wrestling school at the behest of co-worker at CAMI Automotive, Inc.[6] where he met future tag team partner Murray. The two were trained by Waldo Von Erich at the Von Erich/Hart Brothers School of Wrestling.[1][4]
Independent circuit (2001–2005)
They debuted in 2001, and the two men began wrestling as the team Highlanders with promotions such as GLCW, PWA and NSPW, which ran shows in
World Wrestling Entertainment (2005-2008)
Ohio Valley Wrestling (2005–2006)
In July 2005, they signed a developmental deal with World Wrestling Entertainment and were assigned to their "farm territory" Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) where they wrestled for several months.[4]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/The_Highlanders_in_Kitchener%2C_Ontario%2C_Canada.jpg/200px-The_Highlanders_in_Kitchener%2C_Ontario%2C_Canada.jpg)
In June 2006 vignettes began airing on Raw featuring The Highlanders exploring "the big city" and comparing the differences to their native Scotland in classic Fish Out Of Water style.[6]
Raw (2006–2008)
The Highlanders made their Raw debut on 3 July, with a victory over the duo of
The Highlanders went on to lose a Texas Tornado match at Cyber Sunday and a Tag Team Turmoil match at New Year's Revolution for a future tag tile shot. In-between the pay-per-views, The Highlanders briefly feuded with Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch, both teams exchanging wins on Heat before ending the feud on the 4 December episode of Raw, defeating Cade and Murdoch in a Roddy Piper tribute match.
In late 2006, they mostly competed on Raw's sister show Heat, occasionally making appearances on Raw, throughout 2007, primarily to job to other teams or singles wrestlers such as Snitsky.[2][13] On the 24 September 2007 episode of Raw, The Highlanders interrupted a match between Paul London and Brian Kendrick and Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch, due to The Highlanders getting tired of being held back from a World Tag Team Championship opportunity, thus the duo turning heel.[14] Nothing came of this turn, however, as they lost a number one contenders match on 12 November.[15] They then feuded with London and Kendrick and Jim Duggan and Super Crazy, mainly on Heat.
The Highlanders had a
The Highlanders only appeared once on ECW before Rory tore his
In their last televised match on 11 August 2008 they were defeated by Cryme Tyme.[16] Both members of the team were released from WWE on 15 August 2008.[17]
Return to independent circuit (2008–2019)
In September 2008, Rory and Robbie returned to the Independent wrestling scene appearing mostly in single matches all over the U.S. and Canada, as well as Europe. In April 2010 they became the CWI tag team champs in Ontario Canada. Also in 2010, Robbie became the MPW Ontario heavyweight champion by defeating Tyson Dux. In August 2011 Highlander Robbie appeared on the CWI east coast tour with his hair cut short and beard shaved off and announced he was no longer Highlander Robbie McAllister and from that point on he was to be known as Robert Graham.
The Highlanders reunited on 19 January 2013 at the WAR X - 10th Anniversary show in Lima, Ohio.[18] The two would reunite again for the last time at WAR 11th Anniversary on 18 January 2014.[19]
In December 2019 they reunited and fought in two tag team matches together at the Battle On The Border Christmas shows, during which they won the Battle On The Border Tag Team Championships.[20][21] They never defended the titles however, with the titles remaining inactive. They were eventually vacated in September 2021, with the duo having technically reigned as Champions for 637 days.[22]
Personal life
Murray, a graduate of Clemson University, now works in aviation management and is a single father raising his son, Ian and a daughter, Sophia. Rory makes limited wrestling appearances and is signed to Think Ink Signatures out of New York. In his spare time Rory can be found boxing or doing canvas painting. Rory now resides in a rural area outside of Cincinnati, Ohio.Archive|access-date=2011-02-23 |publisher=twnpnews.com |date=2008-02-06}}</[4]
Robbie married Rhonda in 2003, and they have a son named Treyton, born on 27 April 1996.
The Highlanders both have Scottish designed tattoos, of which some represent their families.[23]
On the live, 27 March 2008 episode of TNA Impact!, Robbie was in attendance at the Impact Zone and was shown on camera (under his real name to prevent a WWE/TNA lawsuit).[4] This reportedly had a WWE official calling him and ordering that he leave immediately, which he did.[4] The event was mere days prior to WrestleMania weekend when both companies were in the Orlando area. Robbie lost his $5,000 WrestleMania paycheck due to the appearance.[24] Robbie later said in an interview that "I was very unhappy in WWE, and in retrospect I think it was kind of my way to get fired."[25]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Robbie-McAlister-Postmatch%2C-RLA-Melb-10.11.2007.jpg/220px-Robbie-McAlister-Postmatch%2C-RLA-Melb-10.11.2007.jpg)
Championships and accomplishments
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Robbie_McAllister_in_January_2011.jpg/170px-Robbie_McAllister_in_January_2011.jpg)
- Battle On The Border
- Battle On The Border Tag Team Championship (1 time)
Kayfabe Conquest Heavyweight champion (1 time) Rory
- Border City Wrestling
- BCW Can-Am Heavyweight Championship (1 time) – Robbie
- Championship Wrestling International
- CWI Tag Team Championships (1 time)
- Great Canadian Wrestling
- GCW Canadian Championship (1 time) – Robbie
- Legend City Wrestling
- LCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) – Robbie
- Maximum Pro Wrestling
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- TWA Powerhouse
- TWA Championship (1 time) – Robbie[26]
Robbie is one of TNA’s most watched moments ever.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Rennie, Steve (19 April 2005). "Highlanders set sights on WWE". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 6 July 2006.
- ^ a b c d "The Highlanders Tag Team Profile". Online World Of Wrestling. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
- World Wrestling Entertainment. Archived from the originalon 2 February 2007. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Xamin, Mark. "Humble Highlander grateful for WWE run". SLAM! Sports. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
- ^ "Russell Murray". IMDb.
- ^ )
- ^ "WWE Raw Results – July 26, 2004". Online World Of Wrestling. 16 July 2004. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
- ^ Williams III, Ed (3 July 2006). "Stolen Championship". WWE. Retrieved 27 December 2007.
- ^ Williams III, Ed (10 July 2006). "Service with a slam". WWE. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
- ^ Zeigler, Zack (24 July 2006). "Samoan Sabotage". WWE. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
- ^ Zeigler, Zack (4 September 2006). "R-K-Ohhhhh". WWE. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
- ^ Hoffman, Brett (17 September 2006). "Strength in numbers". WWE. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
- ^ Clayton, Corey (6 August 2007). "Checkmate: Booker beats Lawler in battle of kings". WWE. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
- ^ Clayton, Corey (24 September 2007). "Tag turmoil". WWE. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
- ^ Adkins, Greg (15 November 2007). "Reluctant Partnership". WWE. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
- ^ Sitterson, Aubrey (11 August 2008). "Culture clash". WWE. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
- ^ "WWE releases several Superstars, referee Wes Adams". WWE. 15 August 2008. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
- ^ "WrestlingData profile". Retrieved 2 January 2014.
- ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "WAR 11th Anniversary « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- ^ CAGEMATCH » Tag Teams Database » Highlanders » Matches
- ^ CAGEMATCH » Events Database » BOTB Christmas Chaos"
- ^ CAGEMATCH » Titles Database » BOTB Tag Team Championship
- World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
- ^ "Final Smackdown Number, Highlander Loses Money, DH Smith". Wrestling-Edge. Archived from the original on 18 April 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
- ^ Colin Hunter (28 February 2011). "CANOE -- SLAM! Sports - Wrestling - Highlander Robbie still making a living on indy circuit". slam.canoe.ca. Retrieved 13 March 2011.
- ^ "TWA Championship Title History". TWA Powerhouse. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)