Demolition Appreciation

[Deleted]

Feb 4, 2010 14:42:46 GMT -5 The Boglin said:

Ax and smash were way better workers then Hawk and Animal. LOD I think is overrated. They just no sold and destroyed, while the Demo's actually had matches. I'd rather watch Demolition vs The Hard foundation, then the road warriors squashing random NWA wrestlers any day.

Demolition > Road Warriors

I won't get into your whole post right now, but I will point out that the Road Warriors no sold as part of their gimmick, but also knew how to work a match. Their programs with Arn and Tully and the Midnight Express, two of the best tag teams of all time (not random NWA wrestlers), required real ring psychology and selling to get the crowd to believe that these smaller guys could really give them a contest. You don't headline territories just by doing squash matches -- you have to have compelling programs.

Demo apologists, please just give it up.

[June]

Feb 4, 2010 14:42:46 GMT -5 The Boglin said:

Ax and smash were way better workers then Hawk and Animal. LOD I think is overrated. They just no sold and destroyed, while the Demo's actually had matches. I'd rather watch Demolition vs The Hard foundation, then the road warriors squashing random NWA wrestlers any day.

Demolition > Road Warriors

Hawk and Animal were 2 of the most popular wrestlers in wrestling history, they popped the crowd like no other act, so I'd say they were the better workers, seeing as how a worker is judged by how they "work" the crowd, not on how well they fake fight. If you've seen the Road Warriors in their pre-WWF days, you would know that their really was nothing fake about a Road Warriors match.

[The Boglin]

The Warriors deserve their place in history, no doubt but i disagree with you about your definition of "working". What you're saying is also important but I still think Demolition is better. I'm sure growing up in the south you have your bias and thats fine, i have mine. For my money nothing is better then the Axer and smasher. Till this day they have the record for holding the WWF tag belts for the longest time and they had them when tag team wrestling actually meant something.

[BCizzle]

The Road Warriors were a little too much like the modern-day DX, squashing everybody. They did look awesome and were a great team, but Demolition were very cool in their own way. They didn't have the physiques, but had a badassness which was fun to watch. And I thought this was supposed to be a Demolition appreciation thread, not a defend them against LOD-fan thread. They looked cool, had cool S&M gear, a great theme song, were kinda lame when they added Crush, but were WWF tag champs for a long time because people really liked them.

I thought the Powers of Pain were very cool, too, and should have had a much better run in the WWF. And this thread made me wonder, is Sting a Road Warrior knock-off?

[June]

Feb 4, 2010 21:07:58 GMT -5 The Boglin said:

The Warriors deserve their place in history, no doubt but i disagree with you about your definition of "working". What you're saying is also important but I still think Demolition is better. I'm sure growing up in the south you have your bias and thats fine, i have mine. For my money nothing is better then the Axer and smasher. Till this day they have the record for holding the WWF tag belts for the longest time and they had them when tag team wrestling actually meant something.

Tag team wrestling did mean something in the WWF, but it meant much more outside of the WWF were even greater teams such as (Arn & Tully, Arn & Ole, Midnight Express, Rock n Roll Express, Freebirds, America's Team, The Von Erich's, Fantastics, Fabulous One's, Rude & Raging, Varsity Club, The Russians, Brisco Brothers, ect) all were looking up to the greatness that was the Road Warriors.

Demolition dominated, but against inferior competition.

[T R W]

Sting in the Blade Runners was definitely a Road Warrior knock-off. The UWF wanted their own version as well. But I would say that sting, and the warrior, later developed into their own characters that were not Road Warrior knock-offs.

[The Boglin]

Feb 4, 2010 22:38:03 GMT -5 June said:

Feb 4, 2010 21:07:58 GMT -5 The Boglin said:

The Warriors deserve their place in history, no doubt but i disagree with you about your definition of "working". What you're saying is also important but I still think Demolition is better. I'm sure growing up in the south you have your bias and thats fine, i have mine. For my money nothing is better then the Axer and smasher. Till this day they have the record for holding the WWF tag belts for the longest time and they had them when tag team wrestling actually meant something.

Tag team wrestling did mean something in the WWF, but it meant much more outside of the WWF were even greater teams such as (Arn & Tully, Arn & Ole, Midnight Express, Rock n Roll Express, Freebirds, America's Team, The Von Erich's, Fantastics, Fabulous One's, Rude & Raging, Varsity Club, The Russians, Brisco Brothers, ect) all were looking up to the greatness that was the Road Warriors.

Demolition dominated, but against inferior competition.

Actually i disagree, I'll take the bulldogs, hart foundation, rockers, Roeagu brothers over those teams

[The Abdominal Toaster™]

Not that my opinion counts lol.

I will tell you I though Demolition were awesome. I never really seen the Road Warriors til later on when they came to the WWF. I knew there was another company I just didnt know who it was or what starts they had until around 1995 which was late. As soon as the L.O.D came in Demolition was on it's last legs due to a supposed injury to Ax thus Crush replacing him were pushed aside due to a lack luster heel run. Demolition were awesome back in the day and they were both great workers however you can't mess with the real thing. It's like changing Coke with some no name store brand cola you get what you pay for....

For the work Demolition did for the business, that alone makes them stand as their own team. I once never considered them as a rip of of L.O.D. Mind you had I seen Hawk and Animal before Ax and Smash my opinion may be different but really who knows...

I respect both teams but still feel Demoltions theme kicks ass!

[The Boglin]

I actually don't feel they are a rip off either, they worked matches entirely different, maybe they started out that way sure but I still think they stand on their own.

[✖ AJ]

Great tag team... plus I loved their theme song.

[June]

Feb 4, 2010 22:47:52 GMT -5 The Boglin said:

Feb 4, 2010 22:38:03 GMT -5 June said:

Tag team wrestling did mean something in the WWF, but it meant much more outside of the WWF were even greater teams such as (Arn & Tully, Arn & Ole, Midnight Express, Rock n Roll Express, Freebirds, America's Team, The Von Erich's, Fantastics, Fabulous One's, Rude & Raging, Varsity Club, The Russians, Brisco Brothers, ect) all were looking up to the greatness that was the Road Warriors.

Demolition dominated, but against inferior competition.

Actually i disagree, I'll take the bulldogs, hart foundation, rockers, Roeagu brothers over those teams

I can respect your opinion, but none of the teams you listed could sell out a show as the advertised mainevent. The Anderson's, Tully & Arn, Freebirds, Von Erich's, The Brisco's, R & R Express & Midnight Express all did.

The Rockers were mega over in the WWF, but never held the straps, and usually opened show's, Rougue's were good heels, but nobody paid to see them get beat, which is why they were opening match jobbers.

The Hart Foundation were great, but not a mainevent level tag team that could not be counted on as a maineventers on one of WWF's A-Shows.

Bulldogs are the class of your list, but I would not take them above Arn & Tully, Arn & Ole, Von Erich's, Freebirds, or Midnight Express. I even have a hard time taking them over the R & R Express & Brisco's.

[Deleted]

^^^ I was going to let this go and let the Demolition appreciation begin, but I'll say that of Boglin's original list, I think the British Bulldogs and the Hart Foundation can stand with that elite list of tag teams you posted. You'll notice your list included teams from different territories. A lot of WWF/E fans didn't watch or know about any other wrestling, and they just read back today's WWE dominance into the past. If you look at wrestling publications and awards from back then, the best tag teams were never from the WWF. It doesn't matter whether some kid in the northeast thinks the NWA was a minor league. People whose job it was to know, report, and sell wrestling knew that while the best marketing work was being done by Vince, the best wrestling was happening elsewhere.

I also agree with Boglin's definition of what makes a good worker, I just think he underrated how good Hawk and Animal were as workers.

Objectively speaking, Demolition started off as an idea to replace/imitate the Road Warriors and their success, but Eadie and Darsow, along with Vince's marketing, made the team a huge success. Subjectively speaking, I could never take them seriously because the first time I saw them I almost fell off the couch laughing. I don't think they're the best team ever, but different people have different criteria and standards.

[The Boglin]

i don't think LOD were bad workers, both were good enough, Hawk mainly, i just said Ax and Smash were better workers. Clearly LOD will be remembered more and I guess more people don't agree with me, Demolition is my favorite tag team ever though.

[BigDaddyChacon]

Demolition were bad-asses!!! I still love them.

[CMPunkSavior]

Demolition is my favorite tag team of all time. The theme music, the masks, the double teams, the ring attire, Mr Fuji when he was there, etc. They were completely over, have the record for the longest tag team title reign ever and are the only team to walk out of Wrestlemania in 3 straight years with the titles.

That being said, the Hart Foundation, Brain Busters, and Strike Force to name a few were all light years ahead of them in wrestling ability. Remember this was a team of which one half consisted of a guy who came in as "Super Machine" and the other half would later be Repo Man/Blacktop Bully/Barry "Hole in One" Darsow". I know we all loved Darsows gimmacks but let's be serious. They'd last about a week by today's standards but for their time they were it.

There's a lot of great tag teams that never got the chance at a title reign because of Demolitions popularity. It's really kind of sad how it all ended though, once LOD came in they got sent to the back burner and eventually sent packing. They went from beating Andre the Giant (one of the greatest of all time) and Haku no slouch in his own right for the titles at Wrestlemania 6 to losing the next year at Wrestlemania 7 (mind you this was Smash and Crush by now) to two Japanese guys no one at the show had ever heard of.

Regardless though I'll always hold a special place in my wrestling heart for them. From winning the titles at Wrestlemania 4 after hitting Martel with Fuji's cane to squaring off as entrants 1 & 2 at the 89 Royal Rumble (a spot I would love to see today if there were actually any real tag teams in the WWE) to the massive pops at Wrestlemania 6. Would love to see a HOF inction for them one year if only for nostalgia.