Demolition |
Demolition debuted in the WWF in January 17th 1987 on an episode of Superstars squashing Salvatore Bellomo & Mario Mancini. The original Demolition was Bill Eadie (Ax) and former Moondog Randy Colley (Smash). The Demolition team was built to be a duo of fear and menace so when fans saw Moondog Rex posing as a Road Warrior the reaction was a puzzled.
After a few shows Colley wasn't working as Smash and was replaced by Barry Darsow (who was fresh off his successful run as Krusher Khrusherev in the NWA). The Demolition team was improved with Darsow added to the team but they were far from WWF gold and glory. While the team did well throughout most of 1987 (getting a few key wins over the Islanders and Killer Bees), fans simply couldn't get past that they had be branded as Road Warrior knock offs. Even a manager change (from Johnny V to Mr. Fuji) and a unique feud with Billy Jack Haynes & Ken Patera didn't seem to do much.
Ax & Smash |
By the summer of 1988 Demolition was at the top of the WWF Tag Team ranks. However a new baby face team called the Powers Of Pain showed up in the WWF (they had just come from the NWA where they had feuded with ironically enough the Road Warriors). Upon The Powers Of Pain arrival they squashed every tag team they face and announcer built up a possible meeting with Demolition. By the fall the two teams were in a heated feud but the WWF began to realize something. Demolition was far more over than the Powers and fans were actually cheering the heel Demolition over the face Powers Of Pain. Thus, came the infamous double turn at the 1988 Survivor Series.
3 Time Tag Team Champions |
Demolition spent the rest of the summer and early fall as baby face Tag title contenders continuing to battle the Twin Towers, The Brain Busters and The Powers Of Pain. Despite no longer being the champs, Demolition was still the biggest tag team on the scene. After some bizarre out of ring politics, Demolition regained the titles in October 1989. It was clearly a transitional reign though as they lost them to the newly formed Colossal Connection team of Andre The Giant and Haku. Ax and Smash spent the remainder of 1989 and the beginning of 1990 feuding with the new tag team champs. The blow off was set up at Wrestlemania VI where the Demolition would regain their WWF Tag Team titles for a third time. At this point Demolition's run was reaching it's peak. Ax and Smash were getting pops as big as Hulk Hogan (if you don't believe me watch Wrestlemania VI and you'll know what I mean).
Ax, Smash, and Crush |
Throughout the Fall of 1990 Demolition and LOD feuded. However it was not the dream match that fans had hoped for. Often it was booked as six man tag team matches where the baby face LOD & Ultimate Warrior would defeat the heel Demolition team of Ax Smash & Crush. By late 1990 it was clear Bill Eadie's health wasn't getting any better. The WWF released him shortly after Survivor Series and Demolition was reduced to Smash and Crush. Although they continued to feud with LOD throughout late 1990/early 1991, the matches were even less spectacular than before. Legion Of Doom would often squash the new Demolition in less then 5 minutes. By this time Demolition's popularity was getting really low. It was amazing how far Demolition had fallen since the arrival of LOD. In the fall of 1991 they were headlining house shows and now in early 1991 they were being squashed on a regular basis. The LOD/Demolition feud was canned shortly after the 1991 Royal Rumble and Smash and Crush were placed into a feud with the Rockers. Although Demolition was jobbing to Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty around the horn they at least weren't being squashed and were actually having some good matches.
Repo Man (Smash) |
While fans have not had a taste of Demolition in the WWF since August of 1991, they are still considered one of the greatest tag teams to ever grace the promotion. Demolition was branded as Road Warrior knock offs when they debuted but they soon melded into a team of their own having fantastic matches with various tag teams on the roster between 1987-1991. Demolition was able to adapt to another team's style while the Road Warrior simply beat the crap out of every team they faced. I'm a huge Demolition fan and to me they far surpassed the LOD in terms of a tag team. I also felt that the WWF totally dropped the ball with Demolition when Adams came on board as Crush. The Smash & Crush Demolition team was vastly underrated in my opinion and they had a youth to them that the original Demolition lacked. While the original Demolition team of Ax and Smash is what the team will always be remembered for, much could've been done with the Crush & Smash Demolition team that wasn't.
In WWF, Demolition were three-time Tag Team Champions, and hold the records for both the single longest tag title reign and the most combined days as reigning champions.
Ax and Smash will appear as playable characters in WWE '12, marking their first WWE video game appearance as a team
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