TSM Profile Tag Team Edition: Demolition

[King Kamala 0]

This is becoming the new Let's Talk About... thread for me (though someone feel free to start one of those up again if the mood strikes). Anyways I figured it's time for our first tag team edition of TSM Profile...

Name: Demolition

Members: Ax (Bill Eadie, 1987-1990, mid '90s-present)), Smash (Randy Colley, 1987. Barry Darson, 1987 to 1991, 2007 to present), Crush (1990 to 1991)

Height: Ax- 6'3''

Smash- 6'2

Crush- 6'6''

Combined Weight: Various, depending on combination.

Years active: 1987 to 1991, 2007-present

Accomplishments: 3 time WWF Tag Team Champions. Had the longest reign in the title's history.

 

Career Summary: Demolition debuted in January '87, managed originally by Luscious Johnny V. After only a few matches, Randy Colley was replaced as Demolition Smash, allegedly because he was too recognizable as the man who played Moondog Rex. He would be replaced by Barry Darsow, a recent signee from Jim Crockett Promotions. Over the course of '87, Demolition would build up momentum defeating all of the established babyface tag teams in the WWF. They would soon replace Luscious Johnny V with another former wrestler, Mr. Fuji as their manager.

 

At WrestleMania IV, Demolition would win their first WWF Tag Team titles, defeating Strike Force. They would go on to be champions for a record 478 days. Not only that but they were on top of one of the greatest tag team divisions in WWF history, including (at various points during the reign) the likes of; The Hart Foundation, The British Bulldogs, The Rockers, The Fabulous Rougeaus, The Powers of Pain, The Killer Bees, Strike Force, and The Brainbusters. At Survivor Series '88, Demolition turned face after Mr. Fuji abandoned them to manage their arch-rivals, The Powers of Pain. Demolition conquered The Powers of Pain and Mr. Fuji and retained their titles in a 3 on 2 match at WrestleMania V.

 

Demolition finally lost the titles in a two out of three falls match to The Brainbusters on The July 29th, 1989 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event. A little over three months later, Demolition would regain the titles in a rematch against The Brainbusters on Superstars but their second reign was short-lived as they fell to the superteam of Andre The Giant and Haku, more popularly known as The Colossal Connection on The December 30th, 1989 edition of Superstars.

 

In a memorable match at WrestleMania VI, Demolition would recapture the title from The Colossal Connection and would begin their third and final WWF Tag Team titles reign. Shortly after WrestleMania, a new member named Crush would join the team and Demolition would once again turn heel. In kayfabe, Crush joining the group was a result of their new bad attitude but in reality, McMahon added a new member to the team as a result of Ax's illness problems. At SummerSlam '90, The Hart Foundation would defeat Demolition for the titles with the help of recent arrivees, The Legion of Doom (a team that many initially accused Demolition of ripping off).

 

Demolition would feud with The Legion of Doom and WWF World Champion, The Ultimate Warrior over the course of the Fall of '90. This feud culminated in a match at Survivor Series '90 where The Warrior, Intercontinental Champion Kerry Von Erich, and The Legion of Doom would defeat Mr. Perfect and all three members of Demolition. Shortly thereafter, Ax left the WWF. Smash and Crush floundered as a team for several months afterwards before being repackaged (Darsow as Repo Man and Crush as....er...Crush, a fun loving Hawaiian).

 

Bill Eadie and The WWF would be embroiled in lawsuits for the better part of the '90s and into the '00s over The Demolition name. Eadie wrestled as Ax, regularly on the indie circuit, attempting to reignite the team with the original Smash, Randy Colley and newcomer, Demolition Blast. In 2007, the classic Demolition lineup of Darsow and Eadie would reunite on the indie circuit. Most notably, they teamed up with The One Man Gang and competed in the 2008 CHIKARA King of Trios tournament.

 

Some Questions to perhaps to start the discussion

1. Better as heels or babyfaces?

2. Do you think they ever really shed the LOD/Road Warriors ripoff label?

3. Similar follow up; Demolition or The Legion of Doom/Road Warriors?

4. Where would you rank them amongst the great tag teams of their era? Of all time?

5. Favorite matches, moments, etc.

[Diamonddust 0]

1. Better as heels or babyfaces?

-It doesn't matter to me. Demolition worked either way.

 

2. Do you think they ever really shed the LOD/Road Warriors ripoff label?

-Ehhh... The Road Warriors were always the more successful team, and they came before Demolition. As a result, Demolition will always have that stigma, even though they were a great team and gimmick.

 

3. Similar follow up; Demolition or The Legion of Doom/Road Warriors?

-Honestly... I'd take The Road Warriors. Demolition was over, but they weren't at the level of Hawk and Animal's popularity.

 

4. Where would you rank them amongst the great tag teams of their era? Of all time?

-They are clearly one of the best tag-teams of the late 80's/early 90's, and they rank real high on the list of WWE tag-teams. As far as all time, well, somewhere in the top 20-25.

 

5. Favorite matches, moments, etc.

-The first wrestling show I ever went to was when they were "testing" Crush out with the team. I forgot who Demolition was facing (This was the summer of 1990, I think)... but I still remember people in the crowd cheering, "We Want Ax!" We had no idea who this "other" guy with Demolition was.

[ChrisMWaters 0]

What, no love for Demolition Blast?

 

[Demolition Blast is an indy only Demo member.]

[King Kamala 0]

I was very close to putting him in the members list but then I realized nobody really knows and/or cares about the dude.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Hey Kamala, I really liked Demolition.

 

[garfieldsnose 0]

Me, too.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

As a young mark, Demolition was probably my favorite tag team in all of wrestling. I think I would have liked LOD a little more had they actually won the NWA titles and consistently dominated the division, but from the time I started watching in '87 until the the time they left the company they had one short reign. As a kid I really cared about that stuff and Demolition was far more dominating.

 

Calling Demolition a LOD ripoff is a little unfair, in my opinion. It's not like we're talking the Powers of Pain here, which was such a rip it's not even funny. Darsow and Eadie could at least work a little and weren't as dependent on the squash. Sure, they co-opted the look and feel, but damn if they didn't look badass doing it.

 

Because of the ripoff label and the fact that they disappeared off the map after LOD arrived in '91, they get forgotten in the grand scheme of things. They flat out dominated that division for the better part of three years, which should put them up there with the greats of all time. There aren't many classics under their belt but the 2/3 falls with the Hart Foundation was superb. It's an underrated backlog of matches.

 

Demolition will always have a place in my heart. Two of the biggest markout moments I had as a kid were Demolition related. The first was when Ax and Smash started the '89 Rumble. I was watching on PPV at a neighbor's house and I almost lost it when they had to fight each other. But that was nothing compared to how crazy I went when I saw them beat the Brain Busters on Prime Time. That title win came out of nowhere. It was huge.

[garfieldsnose 0]

The face paint scared me as a kid, but my first PPV was WrestleMania VI and I was ecstatic to see them beat Andre and Haku because the people I watched it with, my babysitter and her family, were going nuts. So I figured I had to go apeshit if they were, and then I really started liking them. I was torn at SummerSlam 90 (my first live event, as it was in Philly) since I loved Demolition and the Hart Foundation. I must have been the only kid there cheering for Demolition.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

I remember around '98 or '99 there was a rumor that Vince Russo wanted to package Brian Adams and Bryan Clark together as the new Demolition. Who knows if that was just internet speculation or not (the timetables are way off), but I do know that Eadie was still fighting with the company over the name at the point, which may have killed the whole thing. Ironically enough, they showed up in WCW shortly after as Kronik, which would at least add some credence to the rumor.

 

How do you think a new Demolition would have gotten over in the Attitude era? We know that LOD didn't fare too well in that environment, but McMahon would have probably protected a WWF creation a little better. Was it a gimmick better left to the late '80s or was it something that could have been adapted?

[Dandy 0]

I will add more later, but here a re a couple of remarks. It's Barry Darsow, not Barry Darson. And yes, Cheech, I think that Demolition and LOD could have been upgraded and evolved, and new versions of the team could still work if evolved properly. More on that later, though.

[King Kamala 0]

I think Demolition would have worked well in the Attitude era with a little bit of tweaking. I think straight up ass kickers will work regardless of era.

 

To get a bit off topic but I think the problem with LOD during The Attitude era was they looked really weak in their feud against The New Age Outlaws. They looked like a bunch of washed up old farts (which they were, to be fair) instead of the unstoppable badasses yesteryear and repackaging them as LOD 2000 only really made things worse.

[Maztinho 0]

I think Demolition would have worked well in the Attitude era with a little bit of tweaking. I think straight up ass kickers will work regardless of era.

 

To get a bit off topic but I think the problem with LOD during The Attitude era was they looked really weak in their feud against The New Age Outlaws. They looked like a bunch of washed up old farts (which they were, to be fair) instead of the unstoppable badasses yesteryear and repackaging them as LOD 2000 only really made things worse.

 

Demolition could have easily worked in the Attitude era, they had borderline S&M gear as it was, bring them in as Goldust's henchmen and let them beat the shit out of people, and Goldust rub himself on the outside.

 

I always dug them as a kid, HERE COMES THE AXE, HERE COMES THE SMASHER!

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

That Rick Derringer-penned theme may have been my second favorite of that entire era, right behind Hogan's "Real American."

[King Kamala 0]

Funny anecdote I misunderstood that lyric for a while as a kid as "Here comes the ass smash."

 

Great theme music like Cheech said, it's definitely up there with "Real American", Ted DiBiase's theme, and The Fabulous Rougeaus theme in terms of best themes of the era. Many thinking about it, WWF really knew how to produce entrance music back then. I'm having a hard time thinking of bad ones.

[Diamonddust 0]

Funny anecdote I misunderstood that lyric for a while as a kid as "Here comes the ass smash."

 

Great theme music like Cheech said, it's definitely up there with "Real American", Ted DiBiase's theme, and The Fabulous Rougeaus theme in terms of best themes of the era. Many thinking about it, WWF really knew how to produce entrance music back then. I'm having a hard time thinking of bad ones.

 

Quick question - Was it Vader who used the recycled guitar riff from the Demolition theme for his own WWE theme?

 

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

I think Demolition would have worked well in the Attitude era with a little bit of tweaking. I think straight up ass kickers will work regardless of era.

 

To get a bit off topic but I think the problem with LOD during The Attitude era was they looked really weak in their feud against The New Age Outlaws. They looked like a bunch of washed up old farts (which they were, to be fair) instead of the unstoppable badasses yesteryear and repackaging them as LOD 2000 only really made things worse.

 

On that note while I wasn't much of a fan of Doz's single career I did like it when they made him a member of LOD with the face paint and all and had him and Animal as a team. Maybe later get a new member to take over for Animal. Who from that era I don't know. And have the old LOD pass the torch to the new one.

 

Of course, the storylines around the time Doz was a member was just...bad. You know Hawk was alcoholic and drunk during matches and then he fell from the titantron. And didn't Droz try to kill him or sold him drugs or something like that.

 

And the only good thing about when they were LOD2000 was that outfit Sunny wore as their manager.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

I actually have to say the "drunk Hawk" angle was probably one of the things I was enjoying most during that era of RAW. I thought it was hilarious.

[BruteSquad_BRODY 0]

WWF magazine teased a Demolition return in 1998 (?) Both in the Informer section and the Heroes and Legends segments

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Yeah, I'm not sure what that was all about. I really doubt they were going to bring back Ax and Smash at that point. Maybe it was supposed to be Crush and someone new?

[King Kamala 0]

Yeah, as someone said earlier, I think they were going to bring in Bryan Clarke.

 

I remember a Vic Venom Informer column around the time of WrestleMania XIII or so that hinted that Crush was going to leave The Nation of Domination and reform Demolition to fight 'em off.

[Boner Kawanger 0]

I suppose everyone saw this over Halloween, right?

 

[YourKock'sReallyGreat 0]

I still remember Ax wrestling as Axis the Demolisher during his GWF on Espn days.

[Rendclaw 0]

When I saw Demolition for the first time, the first thing I thought was "These guys are Road Warrior ripoffs!"

 

They kind of grew on me, but the studs, spikes and facepaint made me think that they were WWF's answer to the Road Warriors. Don;t get me wrong, they were good wrestlers, but when LOD came into the WWF, I was looking very forward to a protracted program against Demolition. I don;t know, but it just seemed that it wasn;t given enough time to be successful... I remember marking out big time when Warrior was introduced into the feud, but after seeing a match where Hawk was playing Ricky Morton for most of the match, I kinda lost interest. To my way of thinking, the match had to go back and forth for the entire time. Hawk being and big and strong as he was, it didn't make too much sense the way the matches went. I would think that just building up the "its anyone's match" angle from the start all the way to the finish would have worked a lot better.

[cabbageboy 0]

To answer:

 

1. Better as heels or babyfaces? Demolition was good either way actually. There wasn't much difference in the gimmick either way.

2. Do you think they ever really shed the LOD/Road Warriors ripoff label? Oddly enough, as a kid watching wrestling I never even thought of them as being a ripoff at all. The Powers of Pain? They were real similar to the LOD. But Demolition were built nothing like LOD and didn't wrestle a similar style. They just had a vaguely similar Mad Max gimmick. Ironically enough, while fans may have gotten over this, the WWF didn't. Once LOD joined the company Demolition were jobbed out and done by 1991.

3. Similar follow up; Demolition or The Legion of Doom/Road Warriors? Obviously Demolition didn't have as long of a career as a team, but I will take them here. LOD mostly just squashed and no sold people, being of little use in actual matches. It's painful to watch Hawk in that face in peril role.

4. Where would you rank them amongst the great tag teams of their era? Of all time? From 1987-90 they were tremendous, solid champions. All time? I have no idea, but I'd take them over anyone now.

5. Favorite matches, moments, etc. The two SS matches vs. the Harts, the various Brainbusters matches, and of course the Survivor Series 88 double turn with the Powers of Pain. That was a really great match.

 

[Beto Chavez 0]

Demolition will always be my favorite tag team of all-time. I grew up watching them before I even knew who the Road Warriors were. (Didn't have NWA programming.)

[Gert T 0]

Some Questions to perhaps to start the discussion

1. Better as heels or babyfaces? Babyfaces, they were just too damn popular.

 

2. Do you think they ever really shed the LOD/Road Warriors ripoff label? Part of me says yes at the time, because of how much bigger the WWF is/was. But in regards to this question, they haven't "aged well".

 

3. Similar follow up; Demolition or The Legion of Doom/Road Warriors? LOD, although I wasn't a huge fan of either team.

 

4. Where would you rank them amongst the great tag teams of their era? Of all time? Era, probably Top 5, All-time, maybe Honorable Mention

 

5. Favorite matches, moments, etc. The ending of SS '88 was memorable, wanting to get their hands on Fuji at WM V, and their work in the '90 RR match.

 

 

 

[Zack Malibu 0]

There was indeed a rumor about Clarke and Adams doing a gimmick as "Demolition 2000". I want to say it was roughly before they became Kronik, because it was more plausible it could happen, as Adams would have been in WCW for 2 years and Clarke for 3 at that point, so it seems that when it comes to contract status, they'd have been able to jump.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Demolition will always be my favorite tag team of all-time. I grew up watching them before I even knew who the Road Warriors were. (Didn't have NWA programming.)

 

Yeah, ditto. I had a vague familiarity with Hawk and Animal because some friends had their AWA figures and I'd seen them on magazine covers and stuff, but didn't get WCW until about '91 or so. I always thought Demolition were awesome.

 

As a side question, how come WWF didn't stick with the make shift tandem of Animal and Crush, and at least get them on TV? I would think they could have gotten a good 6 months to a year of mileage out of them doing a program with some heel team.