Rory and Robbie McAllister made up The Highlanders tag team that was a 2000s version of The Bushwhackers. They didn't see potential as a comedy tag team, though. Rory says it was Vince McMahon's idea and he was vocal against McMahon's vision.The team debuted on TV in June 2006 with a series of vignettes showing them adjusting to life in the United States after growing up in Scotland. Rory says he was disappointed with the direction WWE chose for their tag team.
"I was disappointed, but not surprised," Rory told Slam Wrestling about WWE's decision on how to present their tag team. "When they decided to go in the direction that they went in, I was pretty vocal against it. I wasn't a big fan of the whole goofy thing at all."
Rory says he talked to Vince McMahon before they ever went on TV and said fans wouldn't take the team seriously as an act worth spending money to see. He told Vince he wasn't a fan of the decision.
"I had that discussion with him and he was like, 'Let's see how it goes,'" Rory said. "It pretty much played out like I expected it to."
The team was relegated to mid-card status and they appeared infrequently on TV until being released in August 2008. Robbie McAllister says they had no chance, though, because of WWE's anti-tag team policy.
"It's hard to be successful in today's wrestling because, number one, Vince McMahon doesn't really like tag team wrestling," Robbie said. "That's the understanding we kept hearing from producers and agents and stuff like that. So, right off the gun, you have a blackball against you, if you're trying to become a main stage in WWE."
