By 1990, the Bushwhackers were established as a solid mid-card comedy act feuding with the newly established 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 R & B's 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.