Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka
Real name: James Smith
Home: The Fiji Islands
Membership: Superstars, the Dangerous Alliance, Hot Stuff International
A.K.A.: Big Snuka, Great Snuka
Finisher: Superfly Splash
Background: Ok, this might be one of the main reasons why I lost my passion for the whole WWF comic thing. Clipped version, Superfly would have been a take on Daredevil.
Slightly longer version, yeah. Odds are no one is going to do a podcast on Spider-Man committing a murder.
King Kong Bundy
Real name: Christopher Pallies
Home: Atlantic City, NJ
Membership: The Heenan Family, Million Dollar Corporation
A.K.A.: Big Daddy Bundy, Boom Boom Bundy, Chris Bundy, Man Mountain Cannon, Jr.
Finisher: The Avalanche
Background: Sometimes one is given powers; other times one earns them. Or in Bundy's case he was big a big dude who liked hurting people.
He was working as a bouncer (splatter as some called him, as his customers tended to go splat rather than bounce) when Bobby Heenan saw him. He offered him money to beat up people and for most of the 80's Bundy was one of the Brain's most loyal employees.
That's it. No bad childhood, no traumatic battlefield flashback. Just a big old guy who liked squashing people. He was traded in the 90's to the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase, but that is written elsewhere.
Background: Some stories have a happy ending. This isn't one.
Wendi Richter was working as a ranch hand when she was exposed to a strange gas pouring out of the Earth's crust. When she awoke, she found herself blessed with inhuman strength and the ability to move the Earth. Vowing to use her powers for good, Wendi became Texas's number one hero and soon McMahon invited her to New York City.
Wendi made a splash, soon becoming easily the second most popular hero on the roster, behind only Hogan himself. She fought the good fight but as her star grew, others shrank. Moolah, noticing that Richter was making all her students look like chumps (plus actually turning them over to the police, violating the working arrangements she had with Titian, Inc.), so it was decided that she had to go.
Wendi had fought with a costumed thief calling herself the Spider Lady, beating the crook easily the few times they fought. At least until one night before the assembled crowds, when the Spider Lady used unusual moves and utterly beat Wendi to a pulp before the crowd (at least that was how it was reported). With her reputation in tatters, Wendi left the team.
She made sure to unleash her full power on Moolah's fleet of limos though.
Background: A hard one to write. The public at large, Mary Lillian Ellison was the picture of a mildly eccentric society dame. Grand, an institute in unto herself, with the society pages filled with tales of her scandals.
The public, which only knew her as the slightly salty old gal, was unware of her being a crime boss. She came by it the old fashioned way. She used to be the moll of crime boss the Jungle Lord. As his eye candy, she was expected to do nothing but sit still and look pretty. She noticed, however, and when her boss got sent up, she went into business for herself.
For the 60's and 70's she was more or less quiet, at least publicly. When she did crimes, it was either masked or through a doxy. In the 80's she started being more open about her crime but by the 90s she became a more comedic figure as to best throw people's guards off.
She retired rich and avoided prison. Sometimes the bad guys win.
Tito Santana
Real name: Merced Solis
Home: Toluca, Mexico
Membership: NYPD, Superstars, Strike Force
A.K.A.: El Matador
Finisher: Figure Four Leglock
Background: Solis moved to the US as a child and showed great proficiency at nearly field he participated in. He could have been a world class athlete, doctor, or even a politician. He went into law enforcement.
Starting out with the borer patrol, his devotion to duty got him noticed. He was soon sent to the Big Apple and found himself sporting a brass shield of a detective. His actions got him on McMahon, Sr.'s radar and he was soon acting as the Superstars police liaison.
When McMahon, Jr. took over, Santana (he changed his name) took leave and officially joined the Superstars. He was seen more as a trainer than a real star, however and slowly faded to the background.
Partnered with the volatile Rick Martel, the newly dubbed Strike Force had an impact but collapsed under the pressure. Santana tried to hang with the growing number of superhumans, even becoming the costumed Matador but eventually he retired from the scene and got into journalism, becoming a reporter.
Big John Studd
Real name: John Minton
Home: Los Angles, CA
Membership: The Heenan Family, the Executioners, partners with King Kong Bundy
A.K.A.: Captain USA, Executioner#2, Masked Destroyer, Masked Superstar#2
Finisher: Reverse Bearhug1
Background: Dreams can fail.
John Minton wanted to be a hero. Unlike his peers, he didn't want to be running around with Superstars. No, he relocated to the West Coast, wrapped himself in the American flag and fought crime as Captain USA!
And made almost no impact whatsoever. Crime was still a thing, corruption festering away in the nation's soul. etc. That's when the Brain found him.
Bobby Heenan offered him what the heroes of the day couldn't...namely healthcare and a steady paycheck. Slapping a mask on him, Minton became Executioner#2 but managed to impress the Brain enough that he was renamed Big John Studd.
As the resident giant of the Heenan Family, Studd was mostly sent to fight Andre the Giant and occasionally Hulk Hogan. Some thing changed though. After time, Studd grew tired of being a villain and turned against Heenan, even working together with others heroes like Hacksaw Jim Dugan.
In the end, Studd opted to retire. He fought a good and bad fight, made some money, and got out while he could. Isn't that the dream for most?
Captain Lou Albano
Real name: Louis Albano
Home: Carmel, NY
Membership: The Sicilians, the Orient Express, the Headshrinkers, the Moondogs, the Blackjacks, the Wild Samoans, the Machines, the British Bulldogs
A.K.A.: Leaping Lou Albano, the Captain
Finisher: Non' yer business
Background: Why's he called the Captain? Cuz he'll never steer you wrong!
Lou Albano was a guy with some breaks, good and bad. He tried to be a hero at first, really, but "Leaping Lou" failed to make the cut for the Superstars. He went the other way and became a pirate themed robber for a while before he started hiring himself out.
You see, Lou had ideas. Why sweat it off fighting guys in tights when he could tell them where to hit and get a cut of the profits?
Lou was good, darn good and soon the Northeast was equally cut between him, "Classy" Freddie Blassie, and the Grand Wizard. When McMahon Jr. came to power, Lou found himself thrust into the public eye. He also caught the eye of pop singer Cyndi Lauper. A feud kicked off but the public grew enamored of the rubber band wearing faster talker. He and Lauper settled things, after their proxies duked it out, but when Roddy Piper and "Cowboy" Bob Orton assaulted the Cap after an awards ceremony the public was fully on the captain's side.
Lou finally found himself on the Superstars team at last but mostly in an advisory position. He was quietly retired and dedicated himself to charity work for real.
