Posted on by bdamage1
Brian Damage
There is definitely a pecking order in professional wrestling. There are the top stars who get the big pay days and compete in the main event, then there are the mid carders who get solid pushes, but not overly pushed and then there are low card wrestlers or the curtain jerkers. They are the ones who get victories here and there, but are really used to make others look better. Some call them carpenters, while others use the term enhancement talent and others simply call them jobbers. Regardless, they serve a very important role in any wrestling company. In 1996, Vince McMahon and the WWF attempted to rewrite what a jobber was and looked like to fans.
It all happened in May of 1996, it was announced that the World Wrestling Federation had signed a total of five new wrestlers to join their roster. They were Tony Anthony, Alex Porteau, Bill Irwin, Tom Brandi and Tracy Smothers. All had achieved some level of success in other territories and wrestling promotions throughout their careers. As talented as they might have been, the WWF wasn’t interested so much in what they could do in a wrestling ring, but rather what they could do for others in the company.
Vince McMahon was tired of the average jobber coming out on TV with no look, no backstory, no gimmick and no personality. There was no question, that fans were also getting bored with some random guy who looked like he was plucked right off the street and into a wrestling ring…only to lose with little or no offense. In short, McMahon wanted to “elevate” what a jobber was in the WWF. He wanted everyone in his company to have a gimmick and a “hook” that could make fans believe that the matches they were viewing were all competitive…even though deep down they were still semi squash matches.
That is where Irwin, Porteau, Smothers, Anthony and Brandi came in. They were going to be “glorified jobbers” to the stars. The only difference was, they would be given gimmicks, vignettes and even occasional victories on WWF TV to give fans the appearance that these five wrestlers were stars themselves. Even though the intentions of the company were not genuine. While the five wrestlers had the red carpet rolled out for them in typical WWF fashion…none were the wiser to the punchline.
That is until Tom Brandi read about himself and the others in the dirt sheets. It was there that Brandi smartened up to the gig as it was being reported that all five were simply signed to become low end talent for the company. According to Brandi, he tried to warn the others about the ploy, but either the others didn’t believe him or simply didn’t care and wanted the pay day anyway. Brandi called himself and the rest of the group the KOD 5 aka The Kiss of Death Five. Simply put, the five of them had no real hope of moving up on the card.
Despite the knowledge of being lame ducks in the vast ocean of the WWF…Brandi held out hope that he could use his talent and looks to somehow impress Vince McMahon and make a nice little career for himself. Each wrestler was handed their specific gimmick and were as follows…
Alex ‘The Pug’ Porteau
Porteau had initially made a decent career for himself wrestling for World Class Championship Wrestling and then for the Global Wrestling Federation both based in Dallas, Texas…before getting signed to the WWF. Porteau wasn’t given a very specific gimmick other than that of an accomplished amateur wrestler turned pro.
TL Hopper (Tony Anthony)
TL Hopper was a wrestling plumber…who was most known as ‘The Dirty White Boy’ in several southeastern territories before his WWF stint.
Freddie Joe Floyd (Tracy Smothers)
Smothers made a name for himself in several territories and promotions including the USWA, Smoky Mountain Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling before becoming the very generic Freddy Joe Floyd in the WWF.
Salvatore Sincere (Tom Brandi)
Tom Brandi had gotten a push in WCW as Johnny Gunn and worked several territories and independent groups before becoming the brash, cocky heel known as Salvatore Sincere.
The Goon (Bill Irwin)
Irwin was another veteran of the territories having worked for Mid South, World Class, the AWA and others before being bestowed the Goon character…a hockey playing wrestler. The Goon was initially offered to a young Chris Jericho who turned the gimmick down. The late Chris Duffy was given a tryout with the Goon gimmick, but ultimately went to Bill Irwin instead.
Most of the KOD 5 didn’t last longer than a year with the company. Most of that had to do with the WWF developing more of an “attitude” and changing the format for their shows. Tom Brandi lasted the longest as he would revert back to being Tom Brandi and even had a small feud with Marc Mero over Sable. Nevertheless, the KOD 5 pretty much lived up to their name within the WWF.