Long-running promotions like WWE have decades’ worth of midcarders who never made it to the top and are mainly remembered by people who were around for their runs. One such example is Crush — sometimes known as Brian Adams — who was a member of Demolition before going solo and later jumping to WCW.
Adams wrestled from the late 1980s all the way to the early 2000s, and sadly died in 2007 due to the wrong combination of painkillers. Modern fans might not even be aware of him, so let’s take a look at the career of the man famously known as Crush, starting with the surprising name who trained him.
10 Trained By Antonio Inoki
Hawaiian-born Brian Adams didn’t set out to enter the wrestling business, but ended up getting discovered when he was stationed in Japan with the United States Air Force. While serving, he started boxing, which resulted in legendary New Japan Pro-Wrestling founder Antonio Inoki taking interest in Adams. As a result, Adams was invited to join the NJPW Dojo when he completed his Air Force service, and the future Crush became one of the only gaijin to graduate from the Dojo, alongside Chris Benoit.
9 Wrestled In Pacific Northwest Wrestling
Following his time in New Japan, Brian Adams returned to the United States, where he made his first impressions on Western fans in NWA-affiliated Pacific Northwest Wrestling. There, he was initially presented as The American Ninja, presumably based on his NJPW training. Adams would make appearances for PNW from 1987 to 1993, making several returns to the promotion after his various departures from WWE. Notable opponents during his time in PNW include Billy Jack Haynes and Playboy Buddy Rose, both of whom also wrestled for WWE.
8 Joined Demolition In WWE
The year 1990 saw Brian Adams finally debut for WWE, where was immediately made a part of the tag team Demolition. When he joined up, Ax and Smash already held the Tag Team Championship, so thanks to the Freebird Rule, Crush was able to defend the titles alongside his partners despite not initially winning them.
At the time, Ax’s in-ring career was winding down, so Crush was crucial in keeping the team afloat — that is, until Demolition dropped the belts to The Hart Foundation in a 2/3 falls match at SummerSlam 1990.
7 Went Solo As Crush
Demolition eventually dissolved in 1991, with Brian Adams returning to Pacific Northwest Wrestling, but WWE brought him back in 1992 with a whole new gimmick. He was still called Crush, but instead of being a Road Warriors knockoff, his new persona played off his island upbringing so that Crush was now a Hawaiian surfer dude. After a goofy feud with Doink that culminated at WrestleMania 9, Crush took part in Yokozuna’s “Stars and Stripes Challenge” where he failed to bodyslam the WWE Champion but got kind of close, resulting in Yoko taking Crush out in a later match with repeated Banzai Drops.
6 Repackaged As A Heel
Upon recovering from Yokozuna’s attack, Crush returned to WWE television and immediately turned heel on buddy Randy Savage for suggesting he try to pick up Yokozuna to begin with. As a result, Crush rolled out a new heel version of his gimmick, with darker ring gear and face paint. Despite Hawaii being one of the United States, his new persona was foreign heel adjacent, with Crush taking on Mr. Fuji as his manager and competing as part of the “Foreign Fanatics” at the 1993 Survivor Series.
5 Leader Of Disciples of Apocalypse
In 1995, Brian Adams got into legitimate trouble with the law, resulting in imprisonment. This, too, became incorporated into his kayfabe character as Crush returned to WWE over the summer of 1998 with a biker look and an ex-con gimmick. Soon enough, he had his own stable in the Disciples of Apocalypse, a biker gang that included guys named Skull, Chainz, and 8-Ball, and together they feuded with rival factions Los Boricuas and The Nation of Domination.
4 Joined The nWo In WCW
After departing WWE in 1997, Brian Adams jumped ship to World Championship Wrestling, initially teaming with Bret Hart only to turn on The Hitman in favor of joining the villainous New World Order faction. However, by this point guys turning heel to reveal nWo T-shirts was already old hat, and Adams failed to impress in his new role.
Mainly functioning as one of the nWo’s many bodyguard type characters alongside Scott Norton and Horace Hogan, Brian Adams ended up relegated to the nWo B-Team, the faction for wrestlers not important enough for the nWo group with all the big stars.
3 Paired With Bryan Clark As KroniK
After eventually ditching the nWo and portraying the KISS Demon for a couple of appearances, by 2000 would finally get a decent push in WCW, ironically alongside another ex-WWE wrestler deemed forgettable. Brian Adams and Bryan Clark — formerly known as Adam Bomb — became the tag team KroniK, who often worked as mercenaries for hire, beating up babyfaces for the highest bidder. But they were also successful in the ring, capturing the WCW World Tag Team Championship twice.
2 KroniK Feuded With The Brothers Of Destruction In WWE
After WWE bought WCW, Kronik eventually began to show up on WWE television as part of the WCW/ECW Alliance during the Invasion storyline, during which they entered a feud with The Brothers of Destruction at the direction of Stevie Richards. Adams and Clarke’s big match with Kane and the Undertaker happened at Unforgiven 2001 in an infamously disappointing match due to pretty much everyone involved not being in the best physical condition at the time thanks to injury or illness.
1 Finished Out His Career In Japan
Following the disastrous Unforgiven match, KroniK was sent to developmental, with Brian Adams performing in the Heartland Wrestling Association until leaving WWE in late 2001. After departing, Adams and Brian Clarke continued teaming up as KroniK, making their way to All Japan Pro Wrestling, where they became AJPW World Tag Team Champions. His final match happened for Japan’s Wrestle-1, where KroniK lost to Goldberg and Keiji Mutoh in the Tokyo Dome in a bout that resulted in a spinal injury for Brian Adams that caused him to retire.