Bushwhacker Luke on Losing Butch, WWE Hall of Fame and Wild Tag Team Memories
- Lee Herbert
- Aug 12
- 5 min read
THE BUSHWHACKERS are WWE Hall of Famers and one of the most beloved tag teams in the history of sports entertainment. Butch Miller and Luke Williams arrived in the World Wrestling Federation from New Zealand in December 1988 and made an immediate impact, scoring big wins over the likes of The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, The Brain Busters and The Powers of Pain.
Their unorthodox style combined primitive brawling inside and outside the ring with smart tag team tactics – including their signature double gutbuster.
Before arriving in the WWF, the fun-loving duo were known in the territories as The Kiwis and The Sheepherders, competing in brutal cage matches, barbed-wire bouts, and brass-knuckles wars. They captured championships in New Zealand, across Europe, and throughout the United States before making the jump to Vince McMahon’s cartoonish WWF of the late ’80s.
Repackaged as lovable eccentrics instead of bloodthirsty villains, The Bushwhackers became fan favourites. In interviews they slobbered over sardines, got involved in bizarre skits, and perfected their now-iconic arm-swinging march – the TikTok dance craze of its day. Children adored them, and their antics made them stand out even alongside the biggest legends of the era.
They weren’t about long technical classics or top-rope risks – their head-licking, wild-eyed style was pure entertainment. The Bushwhackers were wrestling’s equivalent of Saturday morning cartoons: outrageous, ridiculous, and impossible to forget.
On episode 64 of Wrestling Life, WWE Hall of Fame legend Bushwhacker Luke Williams sat down for an exclusive tell-all interview with Ben Veal, opening up about:
The passing of his friend and partner, Bushwhacker Butch
Favourite memories of Butch
Getting started in pro wrestling
Wrestling in New Zealand
Working for Stu Hart in Stampede
British wrestling memories – Dynamite Kid, Marty Jones
Getting the call from Vince McMahon
Turning babyface in the WWF
The creation of The Bushwhackers’ entrance
His memorable appearance at Royal Rumble 1991
Favourite opponents in the WWF
Entering the WWE Hall of Fame in 2015
The Bushwhackers’ lasting legacy.
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Bushwhacker Luke: My First Meeting with Vince McMahon
Luke Williams recalls the story of joining the World Wrestling Federation – and his very first interactions with Pat Patterson and WWF owner Vince McMahon.
“I’m picking up my messages and I call this number. Pat [Patterson] answers and he says, ‘I’ve got someone to talk to you.’ And I still don’t know who Pat is! Then the voice says, ‘G’day Kiwi, this is Vince McMahon.’
“I was so glad to hear that voice. I’d been sending tapes going right back to Betamax, which was in the early ’80s. I’d be sending tapes of us to his dad.
“He said, ‘I’d like you guys to come in.’ And I said, ‘When?’ He said, ‘Whenever you can.’ And straight away I said, ‘Next Wednesday.’ He said, ‘When you get home there will be tickets on your doorstep.’ When I got home on Monday morning, there were tickets on my doorstep.”
Bushwhacker Luke on His Hilarious 1991 Royal Rumble Elimination
WWE Hall of Famer Bushwhacker Luke shares the full story behind his iconic Royal Rumble 1991 elimination – whose idea it was, and why he’s still mad at Vince McMahon.
“Vince stopped playing that in 2018. I was mad! He used to play it before every Royal Rumble in the promotion, from 1991 right through to 2018.
“Everyone would come to me and say, ‘I saw your march at the Royal Rumble!’”
Bushwhacker Luke Remembers SummerSlam 1992 Dark Match
Luke looks back on teaming with Hacksaw Jim Duggan against The Mountie and The Nasty Boys at SummerSlam 1992 – in front of a packed house at London’s Wembley Stadium.
“Oh mate, a stadium that holds that many people… to fill that up takes three hours for the public to get their arses in the seats."
“Being the first match, it was so easy. People were waiting to see something. So when Butch and me, plus Hacksaw came out, with Hacksaw doing the ‘Hooooo’ and me and Butch doing the ‘Woah!’ and the ‘Yeah!’ – I think we took nine minutes to touch our opponents.
“The whole audience was just like a football game. The whole audience was singing with us.”
Bushwhacker Luke on Working with Money Inc.
WWE Hall of Famer Bushwhacker Luke looks back on some of the top tag teams he faced – including Money Inc’s “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster.
“The Million Dollar Man and IRS… they were the best."
“We worked with them in England and Europe. We did overseas tours with them for 14 days, and they were the best."
“We were over big in your country, mate.”
Luke Williams on The Bushwhackers’ WWE Hall of Fame Induction
Bushwhacker Luke reflects on being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2015 alongside his longtime tag partner, Robert “Butch” Miller.
“When they called me up on the phone, I said, ‘It’s about f— time!’ I was excited.
“Going to WWE was a big one, but then going in the Hall of Fame… that was the highlight of our life, mate.”
Bushwhacker Luke Opens Up About Butch’s Death
Luke shares his emotions over the passing of his partner and friend Butch – and the memories of their decades together in the wrestling business.
“Butch and me had been together since 1965. That was very sad, mate. Boy, that was the hardest part of my life, seeing him take his last breath.
“I was with him every day. We travelled everywhere every day. For the first 20 years we shared the same hotel room, from ‘65 to ‘85. We were together all the time.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lee Herbert is the author of Rampage — a heartfelt tribute to the glory days of the WWF’s first UK boom. Packed with moments, merch, and memories, it explores how a golden era of American wrestling turned a generation of British kids into lifelong fans. Lee’s writing is a celebration of everything that’s great about professional wrestling. Order your copy NOW!
WRESTLING LIFE ONLINE: REAL TALK FROM REAL TALENT
Wrestling Life with Ben Veal shines the spotlight brightly and positively on those who shaped wrestling's past, drive its present and influence its future. Widely available, the show features honest, open and inspiring conversations with many of the sport's biggest names, including Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Mick Foley, Lilian Garcia, Candice Michelle, Buff Bagwell, Doug Williams, Eric Bischoff and many more. The show is presented by award-winning journalist and content creator Ben Veal, co-author of Marc Mero's autobiography, Badd To Good: The Inspiring Story of a Wrestling Wildman.
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