The two men were signed by the WWF as it continued its national expansion through 1985, debuting under the "Killer Bees" name. The name was inspired by the 1972 Dolphins' linebackers, whose names all began with the letter 'b,' and were the first to use the moniker. Blair was already a part of the company wrestling as a singles competitor in 1984, mostly as "enhancement talent", but previously being a mid-card wrestler with lot of potential during 1980 and 1983. The teaming of Blair and Brunzell was suggested by Hulk Hogan. Because Blair and Brunzell were similar in build, the team had a special gimmick referred to as Masked Confusion where both wrestlers would put on identical masks during the match to confuse the opponents and referee and usually win that way—despite this normally being a tactic used by the heels. The “Masked Confusion" idea was given to Blair by Billy Red Lyons, who had used it in Maple Leaf Wrestling (albeit as a singles wrestler).