As WWE expanded into the national and then global brand that is has become, the company was able to sign some remarkable tag teams: The Hart Foundation, The Rockers, and The British Bulldogs for example. But all of those teams came to WWE as a package deal. Bill Eadie and Barry Darsow came to the WWE separately before becoming the company’s first homegrown team, Demolition.
Ax and Smash did exactly as their namesakes said, and they carved a path of destruction through the WWE for almost five years, winning the WWE Tag Team Championship three times and holding it for a record that stood until The New Day broke it in 2016. Despite their issues with the company, they remain one of the most devastating and beloved tag teams of all time.
8 Randy Colley As Smash
Back in the early eighties, Randy Colley and several other superstars had white bleached hair and looked like muscle-bound surfing hippies: The Moondogs. Colley was Moondog Rex, and had gotten the gimmick over big time. So much that when he came up with the Demolition gimmick and was the original Smash, the fans in attendance recognized Rex immediately and were chanting "Moondogs!" at him, ruining the allure of the great new gimmick he created. Vince McMahon decided it would be best to cast another performer in the role.
7 The Inspiration
When Rick Derringer’s iconic Demolition theme cranked out into the arena, you knew Demolition's opponents for the evening were making sure they were “wearing darks (to borrow a JRism).” How could they not? The team stomped to the ring wearing spiked vests and black hockey masks, and would remove them to reveal crazy painted faces.
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Some might claim the team were a Road Warrior ripoff and some would claim they’d be wrong. The members of Demolition and guys like Bruce Prichard have always contended that the act was more inspired by Lord Humongous from Mad Max and Jason Voorhies along with face paint inspired by KISS.
6 Johnny Valiant
Except for their run as faces, Ax and Smash were generally accompanied to the ring with Mister Fuji. But their original manager was actually Johnny Valiant, the former manager of The Dream Team. But Vince McMahon’s military school roommate just didn’t fit the mold of what the team was meant to be, a living, breathing nightmare; pure evil. Valiant was more of a salesman, and it wasn’t before long Demolition aligned themselves with Mister Fuji.
5 Lawsuits With WWE
You might be wondering why one of the greatest tag teams of all time has yet to take their rightful place in the WWE Hall of Fame. Perhaps one day, but the bridge between the team and the company has been - pardon the pun - demolished. After Ax left the company, he not only tried to take the gimmick with him as Axis the Demolisher, but he even added a new member named Blast. WWE served him with a cease and desist order. Years later, both Ax and Smash joined one of the many concussion lawsuits that were brought against the company.
4 Why Crush Joined The Team
Shortly after the team were able to pull off the three-peat for the tag titles at WrestleMania 6, they headed to Japan for a tour. It was here that Bill Eadie found out he was allergic to shellfish in the worst way possible, as he had a heart attack.
Once he recovered, the company decided it would be best to pair Ax and Smash up with a new member to shoulder the load while Ax tried to get back to one-hundred percent. This is why Crush was signed and tapped to join the team. The original idea was that Eadie would eventually transition to a managerial role for the team and backstage role for the company.
3 Life Before Demolition
One of the reasons Demolition was so heralded is that the team were a homegrown WWE creation. Both Bill Eadie and Barry Darsow toured the territories separately before coming together as a team. Eadie spent much of his time under a hood as The Masked Superstar and even came to WWE for a brief time as part of the hilarious gimmick, The Machines. Darsow spent his time in the NWA as nasty Russian heel, Krusher Kruschev, who teamed up with Nikita Koloff.
2 Why The Masks
The second time Demolition went heel, they had Crush in tow and were back with Mister Fuji. The trio was still being used to mitigate the strain on Bill Eadie, who was unfortunately getting restless and had no interest in taking the agent role that was carved out for him.
The team also donned masks for a brief time instead of face paint, which made it even more impossible to tell them apart, minus Crush’s size over the other two. Supposedly painting their faces was getting to annoy Eadie during this time as well.
1 Friends With Andre
Andre the Giant’s final match with WWE was at WrestleMania 6, defending the tag titles with Haku against Demolition. You might as well go out working with people you can trust and who are your friends. Andre had a long friendship with Ax, who was also one of the few men who bodyslammed him in the territories before WrestleMania 3. But Andre was also friends with Darsow, Haku, and Heenan. Aside from not having a traditional “final match,” there wasn’t a much better way to go.