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Luke and Butch signed on with the WWF in the midst of its national expansion, giving them a national and international exposure unlike anything they had ever had before. The team changed their name to The Bushwhackers and changed their violent style to a comedic style which was an instant hits with the fans. The comedy act involved licking, arm motions and more. The Bushwhackers made their debut on January 3, 1989 on a WWF Superstars of Wrestling taping.

In February, the Bushwhackers began a feud with The Fabulous Rougeaus, the first feud to really feature the Bushwhackers on WWF television. The two teams took their conflict to WrestleMania V, where the Bushwhackers were victorious in their WWF pay-per-view debut as a team. The WrestleMania match was not the end of the Bushwhackers/Rougeau feud, as the teams clashed again on the October 14 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event (taped ); once again the Bushwhackers were victorious. The Bushwhackers and the Rougeaus clashed twice more, first at the 1989 Survivor Series and again at the 1990 Royal Rumble both times with the Bushwhackers getting the best of the Rougeau brothers.

During this time, the Bushwhackers began to feature in a long series of comedic vignettes, usually subjecting "Mean" Gene to their wild and wacky ways (and Sardine eating antics). These vignettes were often featured on Coliseum Home Video releases where they served as the "link" between matches.

By 1990, the Bushwhackers were established as a solid mid-card comedy act feuding with the newly establish heel team known as Rhythm and Blues (The Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine. The Bushwhackers’ WrestleMania VI appearance came at the expense of Rhythm and Blues as they showed up during a segment, attacked Honky Tonk Man and Valentine and then broke Rhythm and Blues’ guitars to the delight of the crowd. At Survivor Series 1990, Luke and Butch teamed up with Nikolai Volkoff and Tito Santana to form "The Alliance" and take on Sgt. Slaughter, Boris Zhukov and the Orient Express team dubbed "The Mercenaries". The Bushwhackers eliminated the Orient Express but were eliminated themselves as well.

At the 1991 Royal Rumble, Luke set a rather unfortunate record as he lasted a total of four seconds. Using the trademark arm-swing entrance, he climbed into the ring, walked across in a straight path, and was thrown over the top rope by Earthquake. In a televised Six man tag-team match, the Bushwhackers teamed with Tugboat to face Earthquake and the Nasty Boys, Tugboat turned on his partners after a few minutes of action and joined the Earthquake in laying the two out cold. After the heel turn, Tugboat changed his name to Typhoon, and together they became known as "The Natural Disasters". The Bushwhackers demanded a chance to get even with the big team but were easily defeated at 1991's SummerSlam. After defeating the Bushwhackers, the Natural Disasters targeted André the Giant who was at ringside on crutches due to an injury. The assault was stopped by the Legion of Doom who ran off the Natural Disasters.

After the Natural Disasters began feuding with the Legion of Doom, the Bushwhackers came across a team that was the total opposite of what they were. Luke and Butch, the fun loving, "working class" guys, started a feud with the rich, snobby, and bratty Beverly Brothers. The two teams first clashed at the 1991 Survivor Series where they were on opposite sides in a four on four elimination match. On the night, the Beverly Brothers eliminated both Luke and Butch. The Beverly Brothers’ manager The Genius kept interfering in the matches so the Bushwhackers brought in a manager of their own, the nerdy Jamison. Unfortunately even the addition of Jamison was not enough to prevent the Beverly Brothers from winning at 1992's Royal Rumble. In 1993, the Bushwhackers were used to "put over" the newly signed team the Headshrinkers and made a few appearances in comedy matches alongside midget "Tiger" Jackson (later Dink "The Clown") against the Beverly Brothers and "Little" Louie.

In November, Luke and Butch helped Doink the Clown in his feud with Bam Bam Bigelow. Luke and Butch, as well as Mabel and Mo, all appeared at 1993's Survivor Series wearing the trademark green wig and facepaint associated with Doink. The Bushwhackers and Men on a Mission defeated Bigelow, Bastion Booger and the Headshrinkers in a match that was more for laughs than serious wrestling. The team also faced another recently signed team: Stephen Dunn and Timothy Well also known as Well Dunn. By 1995, the Bushwhackers were used almost exclusively to put over teams such as The Blu Brothers.

In March 1996, the Bushwhackers entered a WWF Tag team title tournament, however they were beaten in the first round by eventual winners The Bodydonnas. When the Bushwhackers returned a few months later, it was a slightly revamped version that ignored the fact that both members were from New Zealand, as they displayed traditional Australian Stereotypes, including being accompanied to the ring by a giant kangaroo mascot. On , the Bushwhackers made their last appearance while under contract with the WWF.

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