Demolition after Summerslam 1990

[THTRobtaylor]

There was a very real reason Demolition ended up as it was, and sadly one that today people would say what? really? but Bill Eadie (Ax) got diagnosed with a heart issue - not a serious one, today it'd be sorted with a few pills but then it was major problems an enough for him to be removed from the team as "a risk" and thus from the payroll. Today it'd be no issue - Agent job etc... but then, you can't work...you can't work...

Crush was brought in as a gradual replacement but it quickly became clear that without Ax regularly in the ring, the (hate the pun but no other choice) heart of the team was gone and it was better to let LOD take up the mantle.

Bill Eadie was always special, as Masked Superstar or as Ax - Smash was a damn fine worker...Crush green as grass, if only they'd done it a year sooner then the Demo/Freebird team would have worked... Demoliton just ended cos of bad luck.

[sdelfin]

The way I recall Bill Eadie telling the story is that he had a major allergic reaction to shellfish while in Japan that affected his heart. As mentioned already, it ultimately wasn't a huge deal but Vince wasn't taking any chances. Enter Crush.

Demolition declined quickly, and I believe unnecessarily. Obviously the seeds were being planted at Wrestlemania 6 for the Harts to possibly have a run with the belts again. This leads me to believe that Vince either already signed the Road Warriors or that he fully believed he would get them and he needed to be ready to turn Demolition heel in a hurry. Demolition was still massively over at WM6, getting the loudest reaction outside of the main event match. So I suspect the quick and poorly-executed heel turn is why the crowds didn't care about them as heels.

And as mentioned, the feud technically happened. It was mostly six-man tags with the Warrior involved. I'm not sure anyone came out of that feud looking good. It hurt Warrior's run as champ because he wasn't defending the belt on house shows. Demolition came out of that feud looking weak. And LOD didn't gain much because they never got to beat the real Demolition properly, and Demolition didn't look competitive in the process.

[GameOver]

Originally Posted by Dr.

Well the feud certainly did happen. I remember watching a match on Saturday Night's Main Event between the two teams, and here is another one from Wrestling Challenge that a cursory search found. I also remember the match from Survivor Series where Demolition was on Mr. Perfect's team and the Legion of Doom was on Ultimate Warrior's. So the two teams did clash for sure. How the feud ended I don't recall. Also, Demolition didn't leave; they split up. Ax had an injury or some issue that severely limited him, so left WWE. Crush and Smash were repackaged. Ax's issues also were the cause for Crush being added to the group.

Ax became allergic to shellfish and was hospitalised, that was the injury, but if i recall there was also some heat between WWF and Ax (might have been drug related) but needless to say he was eventually released and there was some friction between the two former best friends Ax and Smash as a result, Crush was added to the team b4hand but like Darren Drozdoff was added to LOD to replace Hawk, it didn't work and eventually Crush went on hiatus some time later leaving Smash to go solo and then the Repo-Man gimmick b4 he finally left too.

Post WWF, WWF owned the rights to there character names/likeness so they couldn't use them anywhere else, in fact they tried when the reunited a long time post WWF but WWF sent them a cease and desist, they counter sued for the rights to the name and lost.

[HeenanGorilla]

Originally Posted by MMK

I knew it was over for Demolition when Vince had them wear gimp masks instead of their trademark helmets and facepaint.

LOD were never able to duplicate Demolitions success in WWF. It's no coincidence that the greatest era in tag team wrestling was from 87-89 when Demolition were the main focal point. The tag team division was so deep during that period they had their own Survivor series style match featuring 5 tag teams/10 men on each side. But the division crumbled when LOD took Demolitions spot.

LOD's only Wrestlemania match was a 15 second squash match against the jobber team of Hercules and Paul Roma. Compare that crapfest to the defining pop Demolition received after defeating Andre and Haku a year earlier. That pop rivaled the one Warrior recieved later in the night. Fact is Demolition were more over than the LOD.

LOD may have been a big fish in a small NWA pond but they failed to connect on the big stage in WWF. Which is why they fizzled out just a year later.

If you watch Survivor series 1990, which was Ax's last match, you'll notice that Ax didnt slick his hair back, which was kind of a big FU to Vince.

As a tike I went as Ax for Halloween in 89. Unfortunately my parents made me wear my winter coat. I dont recall Demolition wearing winter coats and snow pants but at least i got to take off the helmet and stick out my tongue at every house I stopped at. "Trick or treat! Gimme somein to eat or i'll kick your teeth down your throat!"

Herc and Roma I GUESS can be considered jobbers, though I loved the timing of their finisher. But, yeah, at that time they were jobbers.

Your big fish in a little pond comment is where you lose credibility. The Road Warriors, historically, are far more significant than Demolition. And I only read this post because I liked Demolition so much---but let's be fair here. Road Warriors/LOD were the real deal. Had they been in the WWF instead of their small poind, they would have been bigger than Demolition ever was. More intense, better physiques, tougher...and quite frankly, Demo's finisher came from the second rope. LOD's - the top rope. Some symbolism there as they were on a higher level.

And I guess you were banking on no one here being familiar with Jerry Seinfeld's Superman costume/Halloween bit. You pretty much ripped it off verbatim, using Ax instead of Superman. The bit about your parents making you wear a winter coat and you not remembering Ax wearing a winter coat....Why didn't you just come on here and say "What's the deal with LOD?" PS...Deafening, not defining.

[LODemolition]

I always wondered why LOD didn't have a match at WrestleMania VIII. All they did was come out and cut a promo where Paul Ellering joined them for the first time in WWF. Seriously, even the Bushwhackers had a dark match.

As far as the feud with Demolition, I recall looking forward to that so much since they're my 2 favorite teams of all-time (obviously) and it just not delivering. I did like the 6-man tag of Warrior & LOD vs. all 3 Demolition members. I think the tape I had was called Wrestlefest where that took place, at MSG if I remember right. There could've been some very epic matches between these 2 teams and to be honest I don't remember a single one.

[Jonyboyuk2]

After SummerSlam 1990, Axe was limited to what he could do due to a heart condition. I believe Crush was introduced as the stand in guy. Then about a year of them both treading water- Crush became the Hawaiian Surfer dude and Smash became Repo Man. I have a feeling that they were all released at some point and then brought the two able guys to come back and wrestle as the above characters.

[justtxyank]

Originally Posted by TheLittleOne

just like we never really got a true Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair feud

????

Hogan and Flair had a series of really good matches for WCW in 1994 and then continued to feud on and off until 2000, producing a good match basically every time. Did you mean in WWF?

Anyway, Eadie didn't want to retire from wrestling, but he did want to leave the ring and get an agent job. When that didn't work out he left and formed Demolition teams with a few people in Japan. I actually have a picture of him with the Canadian Giant from a Japanese tour.

I think he and Darsow have teamed up on the independents as well, but I'm not sure about that.