For the last several months, Sonya Deville and Mandy Rose have been one of the best feuds going for WWE.
It all started back in April, when Deville betrayed her former friend, accusing her of being selfish and vowing to ruin her life. The two have been at odds ever since, and things escalated even further a few weeks ago. Deville once again attacked Rose, but this time cut her hair to make her “as ugly on the outside as she is on the inside”. Rose responded by challenging her to a hair vs. hair match this weekend at SummerSlam.
But this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this kind of match take place. So, we decided to look back at five other times where someone’s locks were on the line.
*Disclaimer: TWM does not promote nor support the actions of US President Donald Trump, so neither he nor his match vs. Vince McMahon at WrestleMania 23 will be discussed in this article.*
Roddy Piper vs. Adrian Adonis (WrestleMania III: March 29th, 1987)
Kicking things off is one of only two hair vs. hair matches from the World Wrestling Federation days.
Roddy Piper officially joined the WWF full-time starting in 1984. He started off managing “Dr. D” David Schultz and “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff before moving into wrestling. Shortly after, he was given the infamous talk show, Piper’s Pit.
For the next two years, he feuded with the likes of Hulk Hogan and Mr. T before taking a leave of absence from the company. He returned in 1986 as a face but discovered that The Flower Shop, hosted by Adrian Adonis, replaced Piper’s Pit. To rub more salt into the wound, Adonis even hired Piper’s former bodyguard, “Cowboy” Bob Orton.
Piper went on to repeatedly crash the show, which led to a showdown between the two segments. However, it resulted in him getting beat down by Adonis, Orton, and Don Muraco. Piper then responded by destroying The Flower Shop set with a baseball bat.
The two finally came to blows on The Grandest Stage of Them All. The bout was also billed as Piper’s retirement match so he could become a full-time actor. While he ended up returning to the ring two years later, his then-swan song was a sweet one. He won the match with some assistance from Brutus Beefcake, who did the honors of cutting Adonis’ hair.
Adonis and Beefcake began feuding afterwards, but the former received his pink slip from the WWF two months later.
Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Nash (RAW: August 18th, 2003)
Up next is one of the few hair vs. hair matches that took place on TV.
Kevin Nash spent most of May and June chasing after Triple H and the World Heavyweight Championship. The two faced off at Judgement Day, but Triple H got himself disqualified in order to retain the title. Nash got his rematch at Bad Blood in a Hell in a Cell match with Mick Foley serving as the special guest referee, but lost.
He then started feuding with Chris Jericho in August. It wasn’t long before the two put their hair on the line. Thanks to some brass knuckles and a low blow, Y2J walked away victorious and Nash’s long locks were history.
Turns out, Nash needed short hair for his role as “The Russian” in Marvel’s Punisher film. He later underwent neck surgery and left WWE for TNA in 2004. Jericho went on to feud with Rob Van Dam for the Intercontinental Championship, winning it for the sixth time in his career.
Molly Holly vs. Victoria (WrestleMania XX: March 14th, 2004)
After Sunday, this one will no longer have the distinction of being the only women’s match in WWE where the loser lost her hair.
Molly Holly defeated Gail Kim to win the Women’s Championship for a second time in July 2003. Kim turned heel, and her and Holly feuded with Lita and Trish Stratus. This eventually led to a title match between Holly and Lita at Survivor Series, where the former retained.
In February 2004, she lost the title to Victoria in a Four-Way Elimination match. This kicked off a feud between the two, with things coming to a head at WrestleMania XX. Holly vowed that if she couldn’t win the title, she’d shave her head. Well, Victoria won, so the champ personally delivered the loser her consolation prize: baldness.
Holly has stated that it was her idea, pitching it to Vince McMahon because she wanted to do something shocking at The Showcase of the Immortals. She clearly got her wish, and spent the next few months wearing various wigs to try and hide her bald head.
She appeared sporadically afterwards, eventually leaving the company and wrestling full-time in 2005. Victoria went on to hold the Women’s Championship until June 2004, losing it to Stratus in a Fatal Four-Way match at Bad Blood.
CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio (Over The Limit: May 23rd, 2010)
Then we come to the most recent instance of a follicle related match in WWE.
CM Punk spent most of 2010 converting people to the straight-edge lifestyle, starting with Luke Gallows. He went on to convert members of the audience, making them pledge their allegiance to him and shave their heads as a sign of their devotion. One of those disciples was Serena, who began accompanying Punk and Gallows to the ring.
The Straight Edge Society looked to bolster their ranks and had their eyes on Rey Mysterio. He didn’t seem too thrilled with the idea, however, and refused. This led to a street fight between him and Punk at WrestleMania XXVI, where if he lost, he would join the group. While Mysterio won the match, the feud was far from over.
A rematch took place at Extreme Rules, but this time Punk vowed to shave his head if he lost. Thanks to some interference from the SES’ newest member, Joey Mercury, he won the match and kept his hair intact.
But wait, there’s more! A rubber match between the two took place at Over The Limit, where both stipulations were in effect. Punk lost and was shaved bald, despite Gallows and Serena’s efforts to stop it from happening.
Punk, embarrassed by his baldness, started wearing a black luchador mask. Later in the year, Serena was released, and Mercury went on the shelf due to injury. In September, Punk defeated Gallows in a match on SmackDown, officially ending the SES.
Mysterio went on to feud with The Undertaker, eventually winning his second World Heavyweight Championship.
Edge vs. Kurt Angle (Judgement Day: May 19th, 2002)
Finally, we come to one of the best hair vs. hair matches in history.
During the WWF Draft Lottery of 2002, both Edge and Kurt Angle were drafted to SmackDown. The two then entered a feud, with Angle defeating Edge at Backlash in April. A second match took place at Judgement Day the following month, but this time someone’s hair was on the line.
After some late match shenanigans, Edge rolled Angle up to secure the victory and shaved the Olympic gold medalist bald. In reality, Angle suffered from alopecia and looked for an image change, so it didn’t look like he was suffering from hair loss.
This wasn’t the end of the feud, however; that took place on the May 30th episode of SmackDown, when the two faced off inside a steel cage. Edge beat Angle but hurt his arm in the process, and was out of action for a month.
Angle then went on to hold numerous open challenges on SmackDown, where John Cena made his television debut for the WWE. Afterwards, he feuded with the likes of The Undertaker and Rey Mysterio before winning the WWE Championship that December at Armageddon.
While there was a winner and a loser, both men benefited from their hair vs. hair match. Edge established himself as a legitimate singles competitor that was worthy of the main event scene. On the other hand, Angle went from being a goofy character to a more focused and serious competitor that embodied the Ruthless Aggression era.
It just goes to show that stars can be born out of silly stipulation matches. Will that happen with Sonya Deville and/or Mandy Rose? Tune in to SummerSlam this Sunday and find out!