Headhunters (professional wrestling)

The Headhunters
The Headhunters
Tag team
Members	Headhunter A / Squat Team #1; Headhunter B / Squat Team #2
Name(s)	The Headhunters; Swat Team; The Arabian Butchers
Billed heights	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) (both)
Combined; billed weight	652 lb (296 kg) (even)
Debut	1987
Trainer	Johnny Rodz

The Headhunters is a professional wrestling tag team that consists of twin brothers Manuel and Victor Santiago (born August 11, 1968 in Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico), better known by their respective ring names, Headhunter A and Headhunter B.

Career

The Santiago brothers trained under Johnny Rodz and both debuted in 1987.

In the early 1990s, The Headhunters travelled to Japan and began wrestling for W*ING. In August 1992, they were awarded the newly created W*ING International New Generation World Tag Team Championship. They held the titles until November 6, 1992, when they lost to Crash the Terminator and Mr. Pogo in Sapporo. The brothers regained the titles on May 19, 1993, defeating Miguelito Perez and Yukihiro Kanemura in Honjo, and held them until the promotion closed in March 1994.

The Headhunters debuted in Eastern Championship Wrestling in August 1993, taking part in a tournament for the vacant ECW Tag Team Championship. The Headhunters were eliminated from the tournament after fighting their opponents, Ivan Koloff and Nikita Koloff, to a double disqualification. At ECW UltraClash on September 18, 1993, The Headhunters defeated Crash the Terminator and Miguelito Perez in a baseball bat match.

The Headhunters began wrestling for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in the 1990s, and on June 30, 1995 in Mexico City they defeated El Texano and Silver King to win the CMLL World Tag Team Championship. They held the titles until November 3, 1995, when they were defeated by Atlantis and Rayo de Jalisco, Jr.

The Headhunters returned to Japan in the mid-1990s. They joined the International Wrestling Association of Japan soon after its inception, and began the first IWA World Tag Team Champions by defeating Dick Slater and Nobutaka Araya on November 17, 1994 in Yokohama. They lost the titles to El Texano and Silver King on March 3, 1995 in Hiroshima, but regained them on August 20, 1995 in Kawasaki, Kanagawa. Their second reign ended when they lost to Cactus Jack and Tracy Smothers on September 29, 1995 in Yokohama.

The brothers also wrestled for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, and on March 30, 1996, they defeated Super Leather and Jason the Terrible in Tokyo to win the FMW Brass Knuckles Tag Team Championship. They held the titles for over a year, finally losing to Hido and Kanemura on April 25, 1997 in Osaka. The Headhunters also held the FMW World Street Fight Six Man Tag Team Championship on two occasions in 1996, teaming with Super Leather and Hisakatsu Oya respectively.

The Headhunters debuted in the World Wrestling Federation on January 21, 1996 at the WWF Royal Rumble. Identified as Swat Team #1 and Swat Team #2 respectively, the Headhunters took part in the Royal Rumble match, but were both eliminated, with Yokozuna eliminating Headhunter B after 24 seconds and Vader eliminating Headhunter A after 71 seconds. In 1997, The Headhunters briefly appeared on WWF television as The Arabian Butchers, a tag team managed by Jim Cornette.

The Headhunters returned to Eastern Championship Wrestling, since renamed Extreme Championship Wrestling, on February 17, 1996 at ECW CyberSlam 1996, losing to The Bruise Brothers. They made a final appearance on March 8, 1996 at the ECW Big Ass Extreme Bash, losing to the Dudleys (Buh Buh Ray Dudley and Dances With Dudley) in a tag team bout and losing to The Gangstas and the team of 2 Cold Scorpio and The Sandman in a three way tag team match.

In the 2000s, The Headhunters began wrestling on the Mexican independent circuit. In 2006, they appeared briefly with Juggalo Championshit Wrestling.

In December 2006, The Headhunters began working dates for Asistencia Asesoría y Administración. Headhunter A would become regular in March 2007, officially joining heel stable Legión Extranjera. He quit the promotion in September 2008, choosing to return to the independent circuit. Both Headhunters have since worked regularly for both IWRG and NWA Mexico. Most recently the two wrestled on the debut Los Perros Del Mal show promoted by Perro Aguayo Jr..

Weekly Pro reports that the Japanese wrestling promotion, HUSTLE, has booked the reunion of The Headhunters. The tag team is set to work the promotion's 10/10 and 10/16 Korakuen Hall events in Tokyo. On the 10/10 show, they will fight HG & RG. On the 10/16 show, they will fight HG & Wataru Sakata.