The 3 Faces of Fear was a professional wrestling trio in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) led by Kevin Sullivan and included The Butcher (formerly Brutus Beefcake) and Avalanche (formerly Earthquake). This short lived stable came together in 1994 to fight against Hulkamania spreading through WCW and disbanded in 1995.
History[]
Coming Together[]
In June 1994 Hulk Hogan signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and soon got a huge fan in Kevin Sullivan's storyline brother David Sullivan, something which did not sit well with Kevin who quickly developed an intense hatred of Hulk Hogan and everything associated with him a hatred so strong that Kevin Sullivan turned on his brother after a tag-team match and beat him up.
At Clash of the Champions XXVIII Hulk Hogan was scheduled to defend the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against Ric Flair, however at the top of the show Hulk Hogan was attacked by a masked man all in black who struck Hogan in the knee with a metal pipe resulting in Hogan being sent to the hospital. The angle imitated the very well known assault on Olympic Figure Skater Nancy Kerrigan that had happened about six months earlier). Hogan made his return to the arena just in time for the main event but despite fighting valiantly against the "injury" he lost by count out.
From August through October of 1994 Hulk Hogan tried on several occasions to find out who the mystery assailant was but to no avail.
Side Note: At the Clash Arn Anderson was the man under the mask but he was never supposed to be the actual person revealed as the attacker, the man under the mask was originally supposed to be Curt Hennig.
As a group[]
It was not until Halloween Havoc 1994 that the mysterious masked man was revealed: It was Hulk Hogan's long time friend Brutus Beefcake, who took the name of The Butcher and revealed that it was Kevin Sullivan's influence that made him turn on his former friend. Shortly after the Butcher was revealed the two were joined by another former World Wrestling Federation star, the Avalanche and the three of them formed the 3 Faces of Fear to destroy Hulkamania.
Their first real shot at doing just that came at Clash of the Champions XXIX on November 16, 1994 when the trio took on Hulk Hogan "Hulkamaniac" Dave Sullivan and Sting in the main event. The 3 Faces of Fear lost but laid the foundations for the Butcher's shot at Hulk Hogan's WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
Hulk Hogan defeated the Butcher at Starrcade 1994 to retained the championship. After the match Randy “Macho Man” Savage made an appearance, initially looking like he had joined the 3 Faces of Fear but soon showed that he was still one of the good guys and sided with Hulk Hogan.
The 3 Faces of Fear's last shot at destroying Hulkamania came at Clash of the Champions XXX as Kevin Sullivan and the Butcher clashed with Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage in the main event. Once again the troup was unable to overcome Hulkamania and then saw themselves pushed out of the main event spotlight when Vader attacked Hulk Hogan after the match.
The Break up[]
When the group proved unable to get the best of Hulk Hogan and his friends they started to disintegrate, with Kevin Sullivan attacking the Butcher after their loss to Hulk Hogan at Clash of the Champions XXX. During the attack Sullivan kicked the Butcher in the head so hard that he got amnesia and forgot who he was (Storyline wise. This played off a very serious head injury the Butcher received in 1990). After the attack the Butcher became known as The Man with No Name and briefly feuded with Kevin Sullivan.
Kevin Sullivan and "The Man with No Name" had a match at Slamboree 1995 which Kevin Sullivan won and after which "The Man with No Name" disappeared from television.
While Kevin Sullivan and the former Brutus Beefcake were feuding Avalanche would continue his feud with Sting but the references to the group the “3 Faces of Fear” were quickly phased out.
After the break up[]
After the 3 Faces of Fear broke up they actually reunited again during 1995, this time in another stable called Dungeon of Doom which Kevin Sullivan also led. The Avalanche was given a new gimmick and called “The Shark” while Brutus Beefcake appeared as the “Zodiac”, neither change was explained on air and no references to their time in the 3 Faces of Fear was made.
This stable is not related to the tag-team known as The Faces of Fear except that they were members of the Dungeon of Doom and named by the same booking committee after the original 3 Faces of Fear.
In wrestling[]
- Finishing moves
- Kevin Sullivan
- The Avalanche
- Avalanche Splash (Running seated senton)
- The Butcher
