MR. TITO: Demolition Finally Joins WWE Hall of Fame – Better Late Than Never

”Here comes the Ax, and here comes the Smasher. The Demolition, walking disaster!” The great theme song by Rick Derringer, the same guy who created the “Real American” theme for Hulk Hogan. FINALLY, after DECADES of waiting, one of very best WWE tag teams of all time, Demolition is finally going into the WWE Hall of Fame for the class of 2026. We’ll get into the WHY it took so long here in a second, but let’s consider Demolition’s accomplishments, first, as a WWE tag team.

– 3 time WWE Tag Team Champions
– Holder of the longest tag team title reign for almost 25 years
– Only lasted from 1987 through 1991, but DOMINATED that period of time that featured Hart Foundation, Brain Busters (Tully & Arn), Rockers, British Bulldogs, Can-Am Connection, Killer Bees, Islanders, and the Rougeau Brothers.

Then, you realize the extensive careers that both Ax (Bill Eadie) and Smash (Barry Darsow) had before the initial version of Demolition formed (Randy Colley was the initial Smash during 1987). Bill Eadie began wrestling during 1972 and had a very successful career as Masked Superstar and is arguably a Hall of Famer based on that run alone. Barry Darsow started in 1983 and had success as the Russian wrestler named Krusher Khruschev. The beauty of pro wrestling is that you can repackage very talented performers into something else and they’ll make it work. Demolition was WWE’s answer to the Road Warriors who were tearing it up in AWA and NWA, but their attire honestly resembled the band KISS back when they wore make-up through the early 1980s (later put it back on during 1996).

In my opinion, Demolition was a better team in the WWE than Road Warriors. Notice how I said “in the WWE”, before you have a heart attack.

When the Road Warriors were on your roster, they were expected to receive top billing or be up there as a featured act. On top of that, Hawk and Animal didn’t always mesh well with their opponents and that involved both men NOT SELLING for their opponents. Because of that, they were totally one-dimensional… While that worked in AWA and NWA where they were allowed to main event cards, in the WWE, tag team wrestling was NOT a main event attraction UNLESS main event stars were in the match acting as a tag team (Mega Powers, for example).

Road Warriors weren’t coachable, as they pushed back on finishes (though I’d agree, who could take them in a real fight?) and later, Hawk became a personnel problem to manage. Quite the opposite with Demolition who was billed as being tough, but they actively worked to make their opponents look great in the match. Aside from jobbers, you didn’t see them dominating opponents and no-selling for them. Quite the opposite… Eadie was a consummate professional and Darsow followed by example as the younger wrestler. They were a perfect mix of young versus old, with each having a skillset that complemented each other well as a tag team. Both men were dedicated to their craft and got over. If they were such a “Road Warriors rip-off”, then why didn’t Powers of Pain get over in the WWE? Because Demolition gave the WWE more as a tag team than being a so-called ripoff.

These guys held the Tag Titles repeatedly and with length during the PEAK years of the WWE. They won their first tag titles at Wrestlemania 4 and lost their 3rd tag titles through SummerSlam 1990. Those are the very peak years following the massive Wrestlemania 3 event and it’s no surprise, to me, that WWE became wobbly as a promotion through that SummerSlam 1990 event. The best Tag Team was gone, along with the Main Event scene eroding with Ultimate Warrior having weak opponents and growing an ego after Wrestlemania 6.

Why did Demolition end? By 1990, Vince McMahon became concerned with Bill Eadie’s health as Ax and hence why Bryan Adams was added to the group as “Crush”. They operated as a 3-person unit until eventually, President Jack Tunney deemed the trio as being “illegal” and ordered them to become a 2-person team again. In truth, Bill Eadie left the WWE likely due to this situation.

But things got dicey after this… The Demolition with Smash and Crush didn’t last long, as both wrestlers would become singles wrestlers in their own way (Crush would become a colorful wrestler from Hawaii and Smash would become the Repo Man, greatest gimmick of all time!). Ax, however, felt healthy enough to keep wrestling on the independent scene and did so as Axis the Destroyer and even reformed variations of a Demolition name with other tag partners. WWE’s legal team pushed back and challenged Eadie’s gimmick and portrayal as a former Demolition member on the indies. There always lurked legal pressure anytime Eadie or Darsow portrayed themselves as Demolition.

Then during the 2010s, both Darsow and Eadie joined the class action lawsuit regarding the handling of concussions by the WWE throughout the years. That lawsuit lasted through 2018, but being on opposite sides of the legal aisle continued bad relations with Vince McMahon.

For decades, Demolition was denied the WWE Hall of Fame. Based on various legal battles, they were practically blackballed from the WWE by Vince McMahon who also kept wrestlers such as Ultimate Warrior and Bruno Sammartino out as well based on their bad blood with Vince. However, Vince McMahon no longer belongs to the WWE and TKO now owns the WWE. The doors are wide open for Demolition to FINALLY receive their tag team flowers.

It’s a good thing because Bill Eadie is 78 years old, while Barry Darsow is 66. Good thing, as average life expectancy in the United States is 79 years old but 76 years old for men.

But for 25 years, Demolition was kept out of many merchandise opportunities and guest spots on WWE shows. They should have been PRAISED as one of the greatest tag teams to ever operate in the WWE, yet they were buried instead.

Sorry, but the New Day’s “record breaking” reign that defeated Demolition’s was a joke. It only happened because Vince was butthurt by the concussion lawsuit, period. Further, New Day is wrestling in the day and age when the brand split created two sets of tag teams and when tag team wrestling wasn’t a priority for the WWE like it somewhat was during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Damn guaranteed money killed tag team wrestling in the WWE. Before, Vince would pay live gate money to anyone involved in a match and the tag teams would split that money. Post 1998, everybody is making a downside guarantee and thus Vince paid more per match with tag teams than singles wrestlers. Same exact idea is happening repeatedly in the music industry, where executive would rather pay just 1 artist than an entire band. Fewer mouths to feed (or pay).

Blackballing Demolition, especially Bill Eadie, was just another indication of what a petty joke that Vince McMahon became and I’m glad that he’s gone from the WWE. The guy held weird grudges and was very controlling of wrestlers whom he helped escort out of his promotion.

Within the past 25 years, anything could have happened with Darsow or Eadie. Pro wrestlers, especially ones from the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s didn’t have a high life expectancy because of the reckless culture that promoters like Vince McMahon led. Wrestling promoters, before 2007 (gee, wonder why that year?), looked the other way on what wrestlers did or took as long as they made it to the ring and performed reasonably well. Then, they’d bury any wrestler wanting a freakin’ day off or some time off to heal an injury. Whether you were dealing with concussions or other injuries, you were forced to do it or lose your spot on the roster. Hence why many pills were swallowed by this crew just to get through it.

Despite all of that loyalty of working over 300 days per year, working hurt, and not seeing the guaranteed money that today’s wrestlers receive, both Eadie and Darsow were denied financial opportunities because Vince McMahon is a psychopath who wouldn’t let anyone be in his WWE unless he controlled everything you did and did so at a lowball price. Proud of Darsow and Eadie for sticking it out, though they lost DECADES of not receiving their proper flowers by newer generations becoming wrestling fans. But hey, both are still alive and get to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and get to do so without any Vince McMahon drama stopping them.

So suck on that, Vince. Ax and Smash get to be on WWE television while you can’t. How is that Janel Grant lawsuit going for ya?

Congrats to the GOAT WWE tag team on finally joining the WWE Hall of Fame. Should have happened many, many years before but now Ax and Smash get to join without any Vince drama. Life is still good for them and in the end, they won.

Do me a favor and check out either 2 out of 3 fall matches with the Brain Busters or Hart Foundation for the WWE Tag Titles. And pretty much everything else because they didn’t have any stinkers.

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