Most of us have at least heard of the WWE tag team Demolition from the late 80s to the early 90s. They were groundbreaking, they were awesome, they were also a tag team that went from imitation to glory.
Imitation is the highest form of flattery
There was one tag team during the 1980s that dominated the landscape. Their style was one of beat and destroy. There was nothing flashy about them aside from their Mohawks and face paint. They were the Road Warriors, and their home at the time was the NWA.
Every promotion wanted their own Road Warriors, and soon copies of them started cropping up everywhere. From the Blade Runners (Sting and Ultimate Warrior) to the Powers of Pain (the Warlord and the Barbarian), no promotion went without.
The WWE was no exception.
Vince McMahon had made no secret he wanted the Road Warriors in the WWE, but he couldn’t get them. So, instead he focused on creating his own team.
That’s were the idea of Demolition came in.
The original brainchild of the original Smash (Randy Colley, who was deemed to recognizable and was replaced with Barry Darsow as Smash) and Bill Eadie (Ax), the team was given the wardrobe and music by Rick Derringer to rival that of the Road Warriors’ entrance (Iron Man by Black Sabbath).
The result was a birth of a phenomena
While copies of other acts sometimes work out, they rarely reach the level of dominance like Ax and Smash of Demolition. They held the tag team championship three times for a combined 698 days. They became a force that was unrivaled in the WWE, but after a few years, things were about to change.
Road Warriors come to WWE
As much as it would be great to say Demolition’s run came to a glorious end, it didn’t. In fact, it ended without any fanfare when the WWE signed the Road Warriors and they arrived in WWE rings as the Legion of Doom.
Eventually, Demolition faded into the rearview as Legion of Doom took over the WWE tag team division and cemented themselves as the best tag team in history.
Deals broken and no Hall of Fame
There’s little doubt that Demolition deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, but it’s doubtful they will be any time soon.
The reason stems to Vince McMahon reneging on a deal with Ax to become a road manager in 1990, and then Vince sued Ax over his diluted use of Axis the Demolisher in the Indie circuits. Ax countersued, claiming Vince McMahon promised him a staff position in exchange for the rights to the name Demolition. In short, McMahon allegedly double-crossed him.
It’s understandable for Ax to remain upset to this day, as if it wasn’t enough to allow them to fall into obscurity, Vince McMahon ensured everything to do with the Demolition name remained his.
No matter how their run ended, there’s little doubt that Demolition rose from being an imitation to glory. It’s a feat not many have pulled off, and they deserve to be remembered for their accomplishments.
