The American Males were formed in August 1995 in World Championship Wrestling (WCW), when Scott Antol signed a WCW contract and was placed with "tag team specialist" Marcus Alexander Bagwell. In the process, both men changed their ring names, Antol changing his last name to "Riggs" and Bagwell shortening his name to simply Marcus Bagwell. Once together, they both wore short shorts and leather vests (later wrestling tights and suspenders) to the ring and began clapping their hands over their head in time with their entrance music, which sang their praises between choruses of the team name being repeated over and over. They wrestled on the first episode of Nitro, defeating World Tag Team Champions Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck in a non-title match. Their first major appearance together came at the Fall Brawl pay-per-view, where they defeated The Nasty Boys in a match that aired on Main Event.
On the episode of Nitro after Fall Brawl, Riggs and Bagwell won the World Tag Team Championship after defeating then-champions Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) in an upset win in an impromptu match. The American Males had been scheduled to face The Blue Bloods, but Harlem Heat attacked both members of the Blue Bloods prior to the match and volunteered to take their place. As champions, the pair defeated Harlem Heat and the team of Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck. However, Bagwell and Riggs lost the titles back to Harlem Heat one week later on Saturday Night. The American Males remained top challengers for the title belts for the rest of 1995, but were unable to regain the championship from Harlem Heat.
By the end of 1995, The American Males were no longer being pushed by WCW; they competed at Starrcade 1995 in a dark match and defeated The Blue Bloods. Through most of 1996, they competed in the tag team division with no major storylines and never reached the same heights as when they were champions. They were able to defeat other mid-card teams like the Faces of Fear, and they competed in a dark match prior to Slamboree 1996, defeating The Shark and Maxx.
In October 1996, the team began showing signs of splitting, which intensified over the weeks. At World War 3 on November 24, 1996, the frustration came to a head as Bagwell attacked Riggs following both men's elimination from the three-ring battle royal that served as the main event.
The next night on Nitro, Eric Bischoff, representing the New World Order (nWo) stable, informed all WCW wrestlers that they would become targets of the nWo if they did not join the group within thirty days. Bagwell and Riggs walked to the ring shortly after Bischoff's statement, with Bagwell looking to join and Riggs trying to talk him out of it. Bagwell decided to join the nWo, turning on Riggs and dissolving the team in the process.
Following the breakup, the former partners feuded for a while with Bagwell getting the better of Riggs.