Author: Curt Hennig, brothers Barry and Kendall Windham, and Bobby Duncum Jr. created memorable moments in WCW in 1999 as part of the short-lived stable and country music band, the West Texas Rednecks. Everyone involved had a lot of fun with it, and despite them playing the role of heels, they began getting over with the fans. That was until "someone with blonde hair" who says "brother" a lot put a squash to it all!
Who were the West Texas Rednecks?
The West Texas Rednecks were made up of leader Curt Hennig, brothers Barry and Kendall Windham, and Bobby Duncum, Jr. Although Hennig was actually from Minnesota, WCW billed him as being from Texas like the others.
The faction filmed several vignettes with them riding four-wheelers, and they recorded a country song called “Rap is Crap (I Hate Rap),” which amusingly received airplay on radio stations in the south and on WCW television.
The song is mainly about the band’s apparent dislike for the genre of rap music and their fondness of country music (including Willie Nelson), Minnie Pearl, country girls, and NASCAR races. The song also touches upon some of their favorite things associated with the south.
Watch “Rap is Crap” by the West Texas Rednecks:
“Rap is Crap (I Hate Rap)” was written by Jimmy Hart and Howard Helm and can be found on WCW Mayhem: The Music. Before releasing this track, their first theme song, “Good Ol’ Boys,” was based on Jeff Jarrett’s theme song from the mid-1990s.
Jimmy Hart’s version replaces the verse about the band watching their own “wrestling every week on TV” with watching “the Grand Ole Opry every week on TV.”
Watch “Good Ol’ Boys” by the West Texas Rednecks:
During their time together as a stable, The Windham brothers won the WCW World Tag Team Championship. Near the end of the group’s existence, they were joined by Curly Bill (aka the king of fuck money himself, Virgil), who wore a particularly humorous cowboy outfit.
Their main feuds were with Master P’s No Limit Soldiers (Swoll, 4X4, Chase and BA), Four Horsemen members Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko, Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray), and The Filthy Animals (Konnan, Billy Kidman, Rey Misterio Jr., and Eddie Guerrero).
The group was originally called The West Texas Outlaws, with West Texas Rednecks first being intended as an insult. The combination of the popularity of the name West Texas Rednecks, however, combined with the commentators rarely using the stable’s proper name, resulted in the Rednecks becoming the group’s official name.
Curt Hennig and Barry Windham Discuss Their Hit Song, “Rap Is Crap”
“Curt and I were riding down the highway one night in Houston, Texas,” Barry Windham remembers in an interview with In Your Head Online. “We were bouncing ’round a few ideas, and we just thought that was too easy.”
“The main thing we were trying to do was get Curt to fit [in the WCW]. With Curt being the hunter and outdoorsman and everything, plus the talent he had, it was easy. Everything just fell together.”
“I thought it was great,” Hennig admitted in an interview with Pro Wrestling Radio. “I just went out and did an interview to dog out the rap a little bit. It’s not that I hate rap music; I just thought someone oughta go against it. I said, ‘Rap is crap,’ and it caught on.”
Hennig continued, “I’m telling you, it was a hot deal. The signs came out of the woodwork, and they were singing the song. Every one of the boys in the locker room too, when you went past – even the Mexicans: ‘Raaaaap eeeezz craaaap…’
“It was a lot of fun to do. [WCW] didn’t realize I could sing that good. (laughs) God bless Bobby Duncum. We had a good group of guys.”
Unfortunately, the West Texas Rednecks disbanded only four months after their formation. As for why? Curt Hennig gave a bit of a hint.
“All I can tell you is someone with blonde hair came up to me and said, ‘I can’t follow that, brother!’ (laughs) And that’s the last anyone saw of the group…”
Despite only being a short-lived gimmick, let us all reflect on the undeniable glory of the West Texas Rednecks!
WATCH: No Limit Soldiers (Rey Misterio Jr. and Konnan) and West Texas Rednecks (Bobby Duncum & Curt Hennig) argue on May 31st, 1999’s episode of WCW Monday Nitro
These stories may also interest you:
- Curt Hennig – Better Than Perfect
- WWE Gang Wars – How Factions Changed the Wrestling Landscape in 1997
- WCW – The Failure and End of Monday Nitro
Some quotes used in this article compiled by Matt Pender and shared here with thanks to our friends over at ‘Wrestling’s Glory Days’ Facebook page.
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