The Gimmick
Once upon a time....
....in the southeastern US, there were these two guys
that had a tag team called the Serial Thrillaz. Hailed as one of
the top two tag teams on the independent circuit (along with Matt and
Jeff Hardy), they went everywhere, did everything, and took NO
prisoners. Mike Maverick and Shane Helms were nearly unstoppable,
even besting the Hardys in a match in Zebulon, NC that is hailed to this
day as one of the best tag team matches not involving blood, ladders,
tables, or anything BUT wrestling to have ever taken place, and
certainly the best on the indies.
Time went on, and Shane Helms started working with
Shannon Moore, Joey Matthews, and Christian York in a stable in Memphis
called the 'Badstreet Boys.' Shane and Mike continued working as a
team as well, but gradually, they began to drift apart...a drift that
became permanent when Shane and Shannon were signed to World
Championship Wrestling.
Mike and two other OmegaPowers, Otto Schwanz and Cham
Pain, were out together one night, doing who knows what, when they ran
off the road in a small South Carolina town called 'Lizard Lick.' The
car was totaled, all three men were badly injured, and it probably would
have been the end of all three careers, and maybe even all three lives.
Would have.
Except for the fortunate circumstance of a family of
South Carolina backwoodsmen (and women) that came across the three
fallen grapplers, dragged them from the wreckage of their vehicle,
brought them to the combination moonshine still-tarpaper shack that
passed for the family estate, and nursed them back to health.
Unfortunately, all three men had sustained serious
head injuries, and as they healed, they became engrossed in
this....delusion. An amnesiac fantasy that they were a part of
this Lizard Lick genetic wading pool. A sick, wrong, twisted
psychosis that led them to believe that they were a part of
the Dupp Family.
Now, I'm not sure what it was that Ma and Pa Dupp fed
these guys. Or perhaps it was the enchanting assets of their
daughter, Mae. Whatever it was, Mike, Otto, and Cham Pain became
Jack Dupp, Bo Dupp, and Puck Dupp. And the world has never been
the same. Gone was 'Thug Life,' replaced by 'Y'all better watch
yer ass.' Where once was street cool and city tough, now there was
redneck swagger and corn-fed, down home hog-wrangling muscle.
The scary part?
The fans ate it up. Jack, Bo, and Puck quickly
left the indy scene and headed to ECW, where they became icons of
fingersniffing, chew-slobbering, redneck culture, and now, Jack and Bo
are working for the WWF, often against their former friend (who they no
longer remember) Joey Abs and his Mean Street Posse.
Puck Dupp regained his memory, and his name, and is
working again as Cham Pain.
Jack Dupp, along with 'Brother' Bo can be found
working dark matches for the WWF, and are expected to make their TV
debut sometime in late summer of 2000.

The Shoot
Mike Maverick is a great guy, quiet until you get to
know him, but with a keen sense of humor and an incredible tolerance for
pain...while he was still teaming with Shane Helms, he made several
appearances with both arms in casts after breaking them in a fall.
And interesting note to this is that Otto and Mike have worked together,
doing a german gimmick like Otto's (I won't tell you what Mike was
called, he'll pummel me for it), before the Serial Thrillaz started
working as a team in SCW. Devoted son, dedicated father, and
actually (surprisingly) a true family man when he's at home, Mike is an
unstoppable opponent in the ring. From his days as Ludwig through
his 'Thug Life' in the Serial Thrillaz, and now with Otto/'Bo' Dupp in
the WWF, Mike has remained a solid, entertaining performer with a great
grasp of ring psychology ans storytelling and an absolutely terrifying
6'8" physical presence that surely makes any opponent he faces
question their sanity. Look for 'Jack Dupp' and 'brother Bo' at a
WWF show near you.

The Pics
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Mike Maverick, back in the day's of
'Thug Life' with the Serial Thrillaz. |
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Mike runs into a powerslam from Chilly Willy |
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Some hapless masked jobber gets his neck crushed
by a Maverick Top Rope Legdrop |
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Jack Dupp (trailed by Puck and Bo)
photo courtesy ECW Wrestling, ©1999 |
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Jack Dupp preparing to beat the hell out of Kid
Cash |
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Jeff Hardy with a slingshot ropeflip moonsault
onto a helpless Maverick |
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Mike, feeling much less helpless, provides the
quid pro quo for the shot above |
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This was one of the Serial Thrillaz'
finishers. Pretty self-explanatory looking at the
pictures. Tremendously exciting to watch...unless you're
the poor bastard that Shane was landing on.... |
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Shane Helms launches himself onto an opponent off
Mike's back |
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Twin powerbombs from the Thrillaz |
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You'll still see Shane hit this pose on TV once in
a while.... |
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Shane and Mike prepare to go over on Matt and Jeff
in one of the greatest matches ever |
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I honestly haven't the slightest idea what was
happening here, but it looks very painful. Interesting
photo because everything BUT Mike and Jeff seems to be
moving.... |
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Another Serial Thrilla finisher that you will see
Matt and Jeff Hardy use occasionally now - leaping off opposite
turnbuckles, with Mike dropping the leg across the chest, and
Shane dropping one across the groin of the opponent |
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Chillin backstage in Durham, NC |
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The Future Thrillaz - Mike Maverick, Joey 'The
Future" Matthews, and Shane Helms |
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Matt Hardy, John Henry, and Mike Maverick after an
SCW show at the Berkeley Cafe |
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