Demolishing the Hall of Fame: A Look at Demolition’s Career Part 2

Last week, we left off with Randy Colley leaving Demolition and Barry Darsow leaving MACW after a pay dispute. The fates were primed to bring together one of the best tag teams ever. Today, we will look back at the highs and lows of Demolition.

Demolition

Year One

Demolition would debut at a Springfield Civic Center show. The team would be paired with manager Luscious Johnny V, and would beat The Islanders in their first match. It would only take two matches, and before Randy Colley would be dropped.

Barry Darsow would step into the role in a match on Superstars from February 14, 1987. The team would participate in a Battle Royal at Saturday Night’s Main Event. They would switch managers to Mr. Fuji during this time as well.

The classic Demolition trio of Ax, Smash, and Fuji was not in place. This is how most of us remember them. The mix of Lord Humungus’ attire, KISS style make-up, and the power and technique of the team set them apart from everyone else in the WWF.

The team would be undefeated until June 6, losing to The Can-Am Connection at a show in the Boston Garden.

They became known as one of the most dominant teams in the WWF. Holding wins over every established face team from the time period. They would make their PPV debut at the first Survivor Series. They would eliminate The Roufeau Brothers, but get disqualified for shoving Dave Hebner.

Demolition was being built as an unstoppable force. And because of their size, power, skill, and look, it made sense. These were two big guys who could also wrestle, and it made them believable as a monster force.

Tag Team Champions

Demolition would finally become Tag Team Champions at WrestleMania IV. After Ax hit Rick Martel with Fuji’s cane, Smash would get the pin and begin a 478-day run as champions. A record that wouldn’t be broken for almost 30 years, when The New Day broke it in 2016.

It makes sense that Demolition would hold the record for so long. Most teams had at least one of the elements they did, but no one else could combine everything into a complete package like Demolition did.

The team had debuted as heels, and stayed that way through 1987 and the first half of 1988. But after their tainted win at WrestleMania IV, and inflicting further injury on Rick Martle. Can-Am Connection brought in The Powers of Pain as babyface mercenaries to exact revenge.

The teams would be on opposite sides at the 1988 Survivor Series. During the match, Fuji would turn on Demolition and join Powers of Pain. This would cause both teams to flip their alignment. With Demolition going face and the Powers of Pain turning heel.

Power of Pain were really the perfect foil to establish Demolition as faces. They could match them in power and actually make Demolition look in trouble.

During the feud with Power of Pain, Ax and Smash would draw numbers #1 and #2 for the Royal Rumble. Instead of waiting out the clock, the team would tear into each other for the full two minutes. And once #3 Andre the Giant entered the match, they went right back to working together.

Record-Setting Championship Run

They would set the record for longest reigning Tag Team Champions after beating Powers of Pain and Mr. Fuji at WrestleMania V. This would also end their feud with the Powers of Pain.

After WrestleMania V, they would enter a feud with the Twin Towers (Akeem and Big Boss Man) and then with The Brainbusters. They would lose to The Brain Busters by disqualification at Saturday Night’s Main Event XXI and then finally lose the titles to The Brain Busters at Saturday Night’s Main Event XXII in a Two Out of Three Falls match.

Final Runs as Champions

Losing their record-breaking run to The Brain Busters is nothing to be ashamed about. Arn and Tully were two of the best wrestlers at the time, and had honed their team for years in the NWA. The loss was also not clean, as Andre the Giant would throw a chair in the ring for Anderson to use on Smash.

At SummerSlam, Demolition would team with King Duggan to beat Andre and The Twin Towers to finally bring closure to their feud. During the match, Darsow would show his strength by body slamming both Akeem and Boss Man. Demolition would then focus on getting their titles back, finally beating the Brain Busters on a November episode of Superstars.

They would then feud with The Colossal Connection (Andre and Haku). They would lose the titles to the team in December, before regaining them at WretsleMania VI. This would be their third and final run as Tag Team Champions.

Final Year

Crush

Shortly after winning the Tag Team Championships for the third time. Bill Eadie would be hospitalized due to a shellfish allergy. This stint made Vince McMahon leery about keepig him in the ring. So, the team would get a new member, Brian Adams, as Crush.

After reading Darsow’s book, it seems Eadie was fully cleared to return to action. But McMahon had lost faith in him and refused to let him do much more in the ring. Fearing a lawsuit if something bad happened during a match.

The team would turn heel again, and the belts would be defended using the Freebird Rule. Smach and Crush would defend the titles through the Spring and Summer, finally dropping them to the Hart Foundation in a Two Out of Three Falls match.

This match would end when the newly signed Legion of Doom kept Ax from subbing into the match. Demolition would then be fed to the Legion of Doom. They would face them in a series of trios matches, with LOD teaming with the then WWF Champion, Ultimate Warrior.

A Fall from Grace

With LOD on the roster, Demolition was shuffled down the card and regained the managerial services of Mr. Fuji. They would be on the losing end at Survivor Series, and Ax would soon leave the WWF altogether. This was explained in kayfabe as an order from WWF President Jack Tunney that there could only be two members of Demolition.

Seriously, that is the best they could come up with? Like, Demolition could only have two members in an era where stables like Heenan’s Family had several wrestlers. Maybe if Vince weren’t so careless with the team. And let Ax continue wrestling, he wouldn’t have had to pull this out of his ass.

Smach and Crush would continue as Demolition, but it was clear the team was done. They would lose to Genichiro Tenryu and Koji Kitao at WrestleMania VII. A far cry from beating Haku and Andre the Giant.

The team would do a summer tour with SWS, but Smash would soon take a leave of absence, and Smash would soon leave the WWF as well.

So, Demolition’s WWF career ends not with a bang but a whimper. With team members leaving quietly, as the team’s value was wasted. The longest reigning Tag Team Champions got jobbed down the card and tossed aside for shiny new toys.

Both Darsow and Adams would return to the WWF. Darsow as Repo Man and Adam as Kona Crush. Crush would beat Repo Man at SummerSlam 1992. And Crush would have a feud with Randy Savage in 1993.

Post WWF

But this wasn’t the end for Demolition. Colley had kept the gimmick and changed his name to Detroit Demolition and had been a mainstay in Continental Championship Wrestling and WWC.

Eadie would use the name Axis the Demolisher on the independent circuit and took in Colley as well as Richard Charland under the name Demolition Blast. They would soon be served by a cease and desist letter issued by the WWF.

Eadie would fail to sue the WWF for the rights to the gimmick. But the team would sign a deal with Jakks Pacific to make Demolition Class Superstars action figures.

Darsow would wrestle as Smash in Australia between his time as Repo Man and the Black Top Bully.

Unfortunately, Brian Adams would pass away on August 13th, 2007.

Darsow and Eadie would reunite for the first time in 16 years at a United States Xtreme Wrestling Event. They would beat the Christopher Street Connection (Buff-E and Mace) to win the UXW Tag Team Championships.

They would team with One Man gang in the 2008 CHIKARA King of Trios. And return in 2012 to take part in the Tag Team Gauntlet.

They would be named as part of a class action lawsuit against the WWE in 2026. Which alleged that wrestlers incurred traumatic brain injuries during their tenure, and the company concealed the risks of the injuries.

They would have their last match on May 6th, 2017, with both Eadie and Darsow retiring later that year.

Sadly, Randy Colley would pass away on December 14th, 2019.

And finally, on March 2nd, 2026, The Undertaker announced that Demolition would finally be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2026.

A Hall of Fame Career

What a wild ride Demolition had. Darsow and Eadie took very different paths to the WWF, but once they were together, it was magic. For three years, Demolition ruled the WWF’s Tag Team Division.  And this was an era when the Tag Team Division was probably the deepest and strongest.

Of course, McMahon would lose faith in them and shove them aside once he had LOD. But for that three-year run, no one could touch them. Their record as the longest-running WWF Tag Team Champions wouldn’t be broken for almost 30 years. Fans growing up during their run would always remember them, not as LOD rip-offs, but as a top team in their own right.

Their combination of power and technique set them apart from a lot of the other big man tag teams. They were usually just power guys who went out and beat guys up. Demolition could actually wrestle, and knew letting the other teams get hope spots would heighten the drama of the match.

This is a team that is fully worthy of its The WWE Hall of Fame induction, and it’s just a shame it took so long to happen.