This week's Australian Wrestling Chronicles is being written in conjunction with Matthew Hester's Creature vs. Creature competition. I hope you enjoy it!
For those of you that missed part three of the Australian Wrestling Chronicles on World Wrestling All-Stars, you can read it here. Now let's get on with the article!
Over the years there have been several versions of The Fabulous Kangaroos, but in this article I will focus on the original team which consisted of Roy Heffernan and the original "Man of a Thousand Holds" Al Costello.
The Fabulous Kangaroos are described by many as one of the greatest tag teams in all of professional wrestling. Their ability to get the fans to hate them with such a passion was second to none.
Throughout their career's, Costello and Heffernan wrestled some of the best wrestlers at the time, and they will always be known as pioneers of tag team wrestling.
The Fabulous Kangaroos were responsible for popularizing tag team wrestling in the "golden era" of the business in the late 50s and 60s. They helped keep the struggling division alive; and without them, who knows what the state of tag team wrestling would be today?
The pair were so famous around the world, that it was a common misconception among some wrestling fans that this duo created tag team wrestling. The reason they suggested such a thing is because tag team wrestling was often referred to as "Australian Rules" wrestling, or "Relevos Australianos" in Mexico.
The original idea of The Fabulous Kangaroos came from Costello who thought of having a tag team where both members showed every Australian stereotype that people overseas portray Australians to be like. He believed that an "Ultra Australian" gimmick would work very well, and evidently he was correct.
The Fabulous Kangaroos' gimmick proved to be very successful in getting heat from the Canadian and American crowds. The tag team's ring attire consisted of them wearing bush hats similar to the ANZACs from war time.
They also brought cardboard boomerangs to the ring that they would throw into the crowd, as well as a large Australian flag with "The Fabulous Kangaroos" written on it. The cherry on top for the duo was their theme song of Waltzing Matilda, the unofficial Australian anthem.
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