Off-Topic: Do You Remember “Demolition?”

The original Demolition duo
(image from IGN.com)

When I was a young kid in the late 80s, there few things more fun than watching WWF Superstar Wrestling. It was a treat seeing big, burly men in wilder-than-my-imagination outfits slug out with each other in the interest of winning gold-laced-and-oversized belts and the adoration of fans.

Smash smashing
some dude
(image from bleacherreport.net)

Among the legendary figures were the all-American Hulk Hogan, the high-flying Macho Man Randy Savage, the memorable Hacksaw Jim Duggan, and the enigmatic Ultimate Warrior. These were the stars who held up the wrestling heavens way before the Rock, Batista, Triple H and Rey Mysterio.

And among these great individual talents were pairs of powerful gladiators that went by the tag-team label. The most famous ones were the Rockers (Shawn Michaels & Marty Janetty), the British Bulldogs (Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith), the Hart Foundation (Brett Hart & Jim Neidhart) and, of course, the Legion of Doom (LOD) a.k.a the Road Warriors (Animal & Hawk).

But my favorite was Demolition.

Ax delivering the final blow
(image from bleacherreport.net)

Demolition was a tag team that first entered the scene in 1987, and dominated until the early 90s. Their images was aimed at rivaling that of the Road Warriors, hence their gothic appearance and use of studs/spikes. Like the Road Warriors, Demolition’s members also had single-term names. The first two were Ax (Bill Eadie) & Smash (Barry Darsow, who later became the Repo-man).

These guys were instant hits, and quickly became favorites of mine. Though they were considered heels for most of their career, Demolition had an edge and malevolently attractive aura about them that just seized the fancy of wrestling aficionados.

They had epic battles with Strike Force (Rick Martel & Tito Santana), the Powers of Pain (The Warlord & Barbarian), and the Brain Busters (Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard).

Eventually, due to Bille Eadie’s health, they had to add a ‘reserve’ third member named Crush (Brian Adams, who would eventually become Kona Crush and just Crush). They eventually waned in their twilight years, which was signaled with a loss to LOD.

The final Demolition lineup with Crush
(image from dieselcrew.com)

Nevertheless, Demoliton is still considered one of the pillars of the WWE in the years that bridged the 80s and the 90s, which was the “golden age” of the wrestling tag-team. They have the longest reign as tag team champions, and have paved the way for more quirky teams and characters.

Demolition was pure wrestling awesomeness.