Unitled Demolition Project Day 14

Demolition© vs Twin Towers - Boston - 4/22/89

Demolition vs. Twin Towers
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VR: This is the first Demolition/Twin Towers match. So its going to be the beta version of the Copps match two weeks later. The big difference here is there is little stooging by the Towers. Otherwise its the same basic structure. Smash tries running over Bossman but nothing happens. Bossman takes his turn to run over Smash but nothing. Smash gets the advantage after Bossman misses a avalanche in the corner.

Now Demolition start working over Bossman. Just like Copps they are going after the arm. It goes a little longer here and Bossman's selling is less comedic.

Bossman picks up Smash and runs across the ring to tag Akeem. I loved this spot because it gets across how the Towers are not going to be ran over like any other team.

Akeem is much more serious in this match. Less Fred Sanford selling. Working like the One Man Gang and mauling Smash.

Demos regain the advantage and return to the arm work and some double teaming. Soon Akeem punches Ax in the throat and tags Bossman. One thing I love about Demolition is how they continue fighting back while in trouble. Some guys just look like they are selling until its their turn.

Bossman catches Ax in a bear hug and Akeem runs into him making a Ax sandwich.

Akeem charges Ax while he is draped on the ropes then Bossman does. Now the Towers do the double avalanche which should have been a finisher. Bossman does not bother going for the pin. Towers go for it again but Ax moves and Bossman gets crushed by the African Dream. Now we go into the sequence from Ontario. Only difference is its not as smoothly executed. Demos and Akeem wipe out the ref and Bossman clocks them with the nightstick. Might be camera work but it a lot more painful.

MD: I have to admit, this match had me real worried. We did the Toronto match first, and that match came about a week and a half later and served the EXACT same purpose as this one, to set up a later rematch with Garvin as the ref. There was every reason to believe that this was going to be the same match done the same way and totally throw off the "One Towers match a week" plan we had. Well, there are differences and there are similarities, and to me, it's sort of fascinating to see the differences and to see how the match evolved in the week or two between this match and the MLG match as they worked it in front of different crowds to figure out what worked and what didn't. It's a wonderfully fascinating experiment in comparing and contrasting, actually. So instead of my normal write up, I'll be doing a lot of call-backs to that match.

Announcers are Tony and Lord Alfred. Alfred was really good all the way up to 91 or so. Never let anyone tell you otherwise. Here he mentions from the get go that he doesn't know what the Demos will do against the Towers as well as the fact that Akeem was wearing his lucky boots. The Towers pre-match ritual is a bit different here. Akeem jives and Bossman shows off his agility by stretching his leg out on the top rope.

In the MLG match, things went like this: Bossman started out with Smash, tried things over-confidently, got them countered, and immediately started to eat the arm-work selling in a wibbly-wobbly sort of way for a few minutes until he reversed an irish whip to Akeem who ate more non-arm clubbery offense before the Towers took over after an eye rake.

HERE it goes like this: It starts out with Bossman and Smash and it's a lot more even to begin with. Smash hits Bossman with a back elbow off the ropes and Bossman no-sells it, leading to a Demos conference. Bossman hits Smash with one off the ropes and Smash no sells it, leading to a Towers conference, and the crowd eats it up. Bossman eats a foot on a corner splash, walks into back and forth Ax and Smash punching and then the arm work begins. Less wibbly-wobbly selling. More using the ropes by the Demos. Less vehemence in general. It's a bit more about control here. It goes on for a while until Bossman picks up smash in a bear-hug type position and runs to his corner with him. It looks just as neat as the Irish Whip reversal in the MLG match.

Akeem comes in and Smash dodges HIS avalanche in the corner. Smash is actively outquicking them here. Demos take over on Akeem using arm work on him as well, which they don't do in the later match. Akeem sells in a jive sort of way which is sort of what you see Bossman do in the other match but not here. Double back elbow by Demolition, which will get a call-back later. Ax with a neck-vice on Akeem. In the Toronto match, Akeem gets out with an eye-rake. Here he uses a jab to the throat and the Towers take over. I really do appreciate the subtle differences.

Ok, in the MLG match, Ax took a boot to the back from the outside, and then ate a ton of offense for a few minutes before the Towers hit the double avalanche, running slam, 747 combo, which Smash broke up, leading on towards the hot tag (after the roll up out of Akeem's dance) and the finish. Here, almost immediately after Bossman comes in he reverses a whip into the corner and Ax ends up eating a Bearhug/Avalanche, then the slam, and then a slightly better 747. Smash breaks up the pin, but here we have a lot of match left. They were given a few more minutes in this earlier Boston match and it shows. Instead of leading to the hot tag. Akeem hits what Wikipedia so convenient calls the "leapfrog body guillotine" or what I call "you know, that move where Bossman runs across the ring and sits on the guy hanging in the ropes." Then Bossman comes in and hits it too.

Now the Towers really take over, clubbering and double-teaming and grinding down and using the ring-rope and goading Smash. There's a double back elbow that calls back to what the Demos did before and some hope spots from Ax that get cut off. All of this leads to the double avalanche. Towers go to the well once too often and miss a second one. No dancing roll-up here, but great timing all around to make it look like a believable near miss with Ax getting out of the way at the last second. Hot tag, ref bump, double stun gun, and Bossman comes in with the nightstick, doing a number on both Demos. The ref makes it seem as if he was counting when he was really calling for the DQ against the Towers. The later match was a double DQ with the Demos getting some licks in before getting beaten down post match. This one was more direct with the Demos getting less in at the end but picking up the win.

Watching the two matches together was very interesting to me. They were only a couple of weeks apart and had the same purpose and mostly the same finish, setting up the rematch. The earlier Boston match had a couple more minutes and that meant that it could have a little more interesting structure and they could do more things when pounding on Ax including a more great usage of the double avalanche, but the MLG match had more distinct selling by Bossman and the roll up out of Akeem's dancing which led to the hot tag. I'm curious if you would have seen two matches trying to do the exact same thing between two other teams, if they wouldn't have been even more alike. I tend to be under the impression that they would be.

Untitled Demolition Project Day 13

Demolition© vs British Bulldogs - Milan, Italy - 10/88 - Non-Title

Demolition vs. British Bulldogs Non-Title
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VR: This was from an Italy only ppv or tv special. Demolition attacks the Bulldogs right at the bell with little of the messing around you usually see in tag team matches. Demolition are unusual for WWF heels, because they are not afraid to kick a guys ass right from the start.

The Bulldogs get spurts of offense but Demolition regains control quickly.

Eventually they get Dynamite cornered and work over his back with Boston crabs and bear hugs. Just great tag team wrestling from Demolition. They always feel like they are a real team. Its not just the matching s&m gear. They are always very fluid tagging in and out and using team work. It looks like second nature.

For his part Dynamite is good at playing face in peril. Occasionally getting on offense but not taking the chance to tag. Or getting the chance to tag and Demolition making sure the ref is distracted.

When Davey Boy gets in he takes it to Ax and Smash but its not long til they start pummeling Davey Boy in the corner. Giving Dynamite Kid the chance to hit Ax with a nice looking flying body press for the three. Bulldogs take the belts but Referee Tim White tells them it was non title.

Really enjoyed this match and one of the better Demos/Bulldogs matches.

MD: I would have to double check to see if there are more taped Strike Force/Demolition matches or Bulldogs/Demolition matches, but my gut has me leaning towards the latter. There are a bunch of them, and this is the first one we've done save for the kah-razy Warrior six-man. For me, there's something of a reason for that. For starters, it's sort of painful to watch the Bulldogs in 1988. Dynamite's destroying his body and in a good deal of pain. I read Pure Dynamite years ago. It sucks to have to see it play out. The main reason, however, is that more than any other Demolition opponent, there was a formula to matches with the Bulldogs. The Demos have gone on record saying that they loved wrestling the Bulldogs because Dynamite would sell SO much and make them look so good. Well, that led to formula. So when looking at Bulldogs matches, you look for novelty, whether it's Warrior, or the Italian setting for this match, or the outdoor setting for the Wrestlefest one, or the differences to be found in the 1987 Tag Tournament one. In general though, from what I've seen, if you've seen one Demos/Bulldogs match, you've seen most of them. That's not to say they aren't good. Let's get to it.

So the Italian crowd is weird and the ring is super mic'ed. Vic and I really feel like Ax and Smash were working this match very broadly, very openly, very widely. There was a language and culture barrier so they were working the match big. Big movements. There's also a lot more grunting and noise from Demolition. I think these were conscious decisions to connect with the crowd. I really do. When they take the masks off, there's a big grunt from them and the crowd responds in kind. Ax and Davey start out with Ax immediately clubbering him down and hitting a big slam before eating a Davey comeback with big selling and a stuck out tongue. Smash comes in with two hands over his head to show what he's about to do only to get cut off as Davey takes over. Lots of broad stuff here.

Dynamite comes in shortly thereafter and hits some offense, going for a pin only to get chucked halfway across the ring by Smash's kick out, landing right in Demolition's side of the ring, allowing Ax to get some stomps in from the outside. That's the transition to Demos taking over and it's actually pretty cool in its simplicity. This takes us into Standard Demolition/Bulldogs fare, working over Dynamite's back. Lots of clubbering and double clubbering and contorting and a pretty good looking nerve hold to wear him down. Anytime Dynamite fights back, doubleteams or sneaky tactics(like drawing Davey into the ring to allow for illegal double-beatings) keep him down. Davey was always good in his role in the team. Good for the opening shine stuff. Goadable guy on the apron. Good at hot tag offense. But we'll get to that.

Dynamite finally fights back long enough to pin Ax. This time, Ax tosses him right outside the ring with his kick out. Smash with a nice suplex back in followed up by a Boston Crab, which I've never seen him do on anyone but Dynamite. Davey breaks it up, but that allows a phantom switch for Demos and they start doing nasty bearhugs on Dynamite, including one where Ax whips him right into Smash's arms. You feel bad for Dynamite's back. You just do. Davey breaks it up again and the Demos do a phantom switch again, but this time Dynamite hits a move off the ropes and goes in for the hot tag. The ref is distracted, however, and you swear that the Italian crowd is going to riot. Such a great reaction that I'm curious why they don't do it two or three more times, unless they were, in fact, afraid of things getting out of hand. Still, it means that when Dynamite actually does make the tag a minute later, the crowd is pretty molten.

Davey comes in, hitting a lot of great crisp offense, headbutts and dropkicks and clotheslines. Dynamite comes in. They toss the Demos into each other (which is a spot which never looks all that great, unfortunately), but Ax tosses Dynamite out (which does look great). The finish is a bit like the two 88 Six-Mans we went over, as Dynamite quickly climbs the ropes from the outside and hits Ax with a flying body press after he turns around from where they were double-teaming Davey. That gets the three count. Good little match if a bit formulaic.

UNtitled Demolition Project Day 12

Demolition© vs Brainbusters 2/3 Falls - Worcester, MA - 7/18/89 (Aired SNME #22 - 7/29/89)

Demolition vs Brainbusters SNME 22
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MD: This is a great, great match. I love the first fall so much. This match makes the WWF tag titles as important as I can ever remember them being. Some things to note pre-match. This is obviously a follow up from the SNME #21 match where the Busters cheated so much that Demolition got themselves disqualified. It's 2/3 falls, with the titles able to change hand so long as the final fall is a pinfall or a DQ. No one ever mentions this but Arn and Tully played slightly different characters in the WWF. They remind me of Kurt Angle's initial character a little bit. Very earnest in what they say and very underhanded in what they do. Demolition get the pre-match promo and blame Heenan for the last loss. That'll come into play later.

The pace of the first fall is intense, but not in the same way of the Rockers match. It's obvious that Demolition really wants to get their hands on Arn and Tully but they're a bit wary after the last loss and that Arn and Tully realize after the last match, where they came in overconfident and quickly learned better, that they have to give 110% if they want to defeat Demolition. Tully and Ax to begin with Tully attacking Smash on the apron, escaping to the outside from Ax and then getting tossed back in by Smash, leading to back and forth Demos punches and Tully begging off, which is a lure into his corner so Arn can get his licks in too. This leads to a great visual which sums up the first fall nicely. Arn pulls Ax out and Tully tries to whip him into an Arn clothesline. Ax reverses the whip and and Tully ducks Arn's clothesline only for Smash to appear from out of nowhere and clobber Tully. The Busters try to cheat and Demolition fight it off, again and again with irate fury. At one point Smash just chokes the life out of Arn which is not something you see often out of Face Demolition. When Arn tries to get free and stomp Smash, Smash CATCHES the foot, gets up with it, flips him onto his back, and then yanks him away quickly because he ended up too close to his corner. They're something of an unstoppable force of nature at this point even if they are up against one of the best teams ever.

Eventually, the dirty tactics start to stick a bit and the Busters take over on Smash. They can't keep him down for long, though. He keeps fighting back in that believable Demolition way, where he never forgets to sell the damage and gets cut off every time. Arn hits the Spinebuster (much to Heenan's joy) but he takes just a bit too long to make the cover. The fall ends shortly thereafter in another great visual spot. Arn and Tully are going for a double clothesline on Smash. Smash ducks it. Ax grabs Tully from the apron by the hair and he falls. Smash hits Arn with the hot shot. Ax kicks Tully in the skull, once and only once to keep him from breaking up the pin (and then walks away confidently), and the Demos are up 1-0. By this point you can't really imagine them losing the belts.

The start of the second fall doesn't hurt that opinion. Now that they're on top they start wrestling a very different match, more focused on keeping the pace slow and grinding the Busters down, including using an extended neck vice. This lasts until Arn gets Ax in the throat and the Busters take over. They're fevered now, stomping and kicking and choking and goading Smash and doubleteaming at every turn, with Heenan FINALLY getting in on the act and getting a few cheap shots in. When Ax finally makes it over to tag, Smash is irate and out of control, press-slamming Tully (and he never does that) and running Heenan into the pole. Ax is in by now too and they furiously double-team Arn as the ref counts, finally hitting the Decapitation, but they were in too long and the Busters goaded them into a disqualification making it 1-1. When Heenan goes down, Andre shows up.

The third fall is fairly quick but it's interesting to watch Ax and Smash try to control themselves, working a more reserved style than before, even letting the ref push them around a bit more than usual and making switches without double-teaming. There's an awesome moment where the Busters take over where Tully gives Ax an eye-poke and then slams Ax's head right into an unsuspecting Arn, who was just reaching for the tag, even as Andre looks on confused. Arn comes in a moment later but keeps on selling this, right up until the point where he eats an atomic drop, bounces off the turnbuckle and collides with Ax's head again. Good stuff that leads to the last hot tag of the match and a cluster with all four men in and out of the ring. It ends with Smash catching Arn with an axe handle as Arn came off the top rope and the ref getting distracted with Ax and Heenan. The distraction allows Andre to toss a chair to Tully who just clobbers Smash with it allowing the Busters to pick up the pin and win the third fall and the title.

The post-match celebration is great. You'll never see anyone happier to win a title than the Heenan family. Great match that builds smartly both upon itself and the previous SNME match.

VR: This is the rematch from the previous Saturday Night's Main Event. In that match the Brain Busters were able to get Demolition disqualified allowing the Brain Busters a rematch and to pick a stipulation. The match will be 2 out of 3 falls.

Even walking to the ring Demolition look very anxious, like they really want to hurt the Brain Busters. The Brain Busters are continuing their plan from the previous match which was to infuriate Demolition. Tully tags Smash while he was sleping on the apron. Tries to sneak outside but Smash is one step ahead. The Brain Busters are in over their head here. They are not able to Out team, out wrestle and especially out fight Demolition. What they can do is out cheat Demolition. In the first fall its taking everything they have to contain Smash. After Smash survives the Spinebuster, the Busters get frustrated and pay for it. With Arn taking a stun gun giving Demolition the first fall.

The second fall begins with the BUsters in serious trouble. Arn is the one taking most of the punishment. Arn finally tags out to Tully and the Brain BUsters take control. The Brain Busters manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan takes the chance to slap Ax which causes Smash to go to the floor distracting the ref. This is continuing the plan from the first match. which was to lather Demolition into a rage. When Smash is finally tagged in he goes berzerk beating up the Busters and ramming Heenan into the ring post which looked sick. Ax is back in and they are pounding Tully into pulp. Heenan getting decked brings out Andre the Giant. Demolition hits the Demo Decaptator but its too late since they are disqualified for being in the ring too long.

Its the third fall and Andre is at ringside. Both teams are exhausted but Ax goes on the attack again. I get the feeling the reason the Busters asked for two out of three falls was the belief they had greater endurance. Tully thumbs Ax in the eye and throws him into Arn's skull which looked brutal. Both teams look like they have been in a fight. Ax and Arn are exhausted hitting each other. Smash gets in and it all breaks down. Busters get the win thanks to Andre. I think Jesse said that Bobby had a A, B, C and D plan. Well Heenan had plan E in Andre.

Get back from commercial and the Heenan Family is celebrating. The Family looked like a great bunch of guys always really supportive of one another. You can tell Andre had a lot of fun. This also meant Heenan was in control of the Intercontinental ("Ravishing" Rick Rude) and the tag belts with the Brain Busters.

This was a really good match. Also foreshadowed the Andre/Demolition feud. You were left wondering could Demolition take the giant.

Untitled Demolition Project Day 11

Where is Day 10? We are in contract negotiations. Hopefully they are completed before the day is over.


Demolition/Crush vs Legion of Doom/Ultimate Warrior - MSG - 9/21/90

Ultimate Warrior & Legion of Doom vs Demolition
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MD: And lo, there shall come a Crush. I'm very reluctant for us to cover anything post Ax's departure, but perfectly fine with matches where he's even on the floor playing coach. So this is two years later from the last Demos vs Warrior six man tags, and lots have changed. Warrior is on top of the world. The Demos, despite just having the belt a month before, are in decline with Eadie not in the best physical shape and Bryan Adams there to help carry the load. By this point there's no question of that. In some way's it's interesting though, because it allows them to play a slightly different role than they have before and so long as Ax is still part of the picture, they're quite effective in that role.

This match, more than all but a few Demolition matches, has a real WWF main event feel to it and all of them, even Crush, were able to carry their end of the match in there against WWF Champion Warrior and the Roadies. This was the LOD's first WWF appearance in MSG so the crowd is sufficiently crazy for all of it as you may well imagine. There's not a lot of room coming down to the ring at MSG and Warrior is awesome in his run, literally taking out poor bystanders at ringside. I'm not a huge fan of Adams, but Crush did two things for Demolition immediately. 1) He gave them some power moves that they were lacking. Smash had a great stun gun and they could always kick out a suplex or a bodyslam, but they just didn't do power moves. Crush did. 2) He gave them added size. In general, that wouldn't matter. But when they were facing off against the Road Warriors it's important visually.

There's a lot of back and forth in this match, which is generally what you see in any LOD match that isn't a squash. Smash starts out smashing animal. Animal comes back with an early powerslam and big elbow drop. Tag to Crush and Hawk and lots of locking up and pushing. Crush hits a rib breaker/backbreaker and it's not the most painful looking move ever. He hits a forearm to Hawk's back after Hawk bounces out of the turnbuckle which looks a little better. A double clothesline does nothing to either man, then a dropkick and flying shouldertackle and fistdrop by Hawk. The match is staying very even. Warrior is still manic but it's controlled now, at least. He's focused on getting the crowd behind his partners, not just in being completely and utterly insane. Crush takes some chops right in the face at least. We'll give him that.

An eyerake allows Crush to tag Ax in and Hawk immediately tags Warrior in and AX BEGS OFF. This isn't the first time I've seen Ax beg off but it's very, very rare. He's done it against the Harts and not too many other times. He certainly didn't do it against Warrior back in 88. Range I say. Range. Anyway, Warrior dismantles all 3 Demos, slamming them all before missing the body splash on Ax by a mile and landing on his face, which he sells by rolling back and forth all over the ring until Ax comes in to pound on him. Warrior plays FIP again, getting knocked out of the ring and doubleteamed by the two Demos who were on the apron, fighting back but getting swarmed. This is actually a pretty good segment of Warrior getting double-teamed and outnumbered and fighting back at every chance he gets. He had come a long way in two years. They go for the decapitator but Animal has had enough and breaks it up.

That allows Warrior to get the hot tag and Animal comes on in. Animal thrashes all 3 Demos and goes for the Doomsday Device only to have Crush cut it off. Nice callback to what just happened there. Anyway, Hawk recovers and turns it into a hammer off the top. Animal gets tagged in and Demos take over on him, wearing him down however they can, including a nice high bear hug by Crush, goading illegal doubleteams using the tag rope and a RARE back suplex by Smash which has him end up in the Warriors corner, forcing him to sprawl back quickly and comedically. Animal finally starts to power out but they cut him off. Demolition was always very good at knowing when to let the hot tag finally come and they were able to hold it back even here vs the Warriors. They cut off animal once or twice more and it always looks like he's fighting and just coming up short. Very well done. Eventually, he gets the clothesline out of the corner,and finally makes the molten tag. Warrior comes in. hits five or six clotheslines. LOD come in to cut off the Demos. And Warrior hits the shoulder tackle/splash on Smash and gets the win. It was a bit of an abrupt finish but very much what the crowd wanted and they did a good job building heat in the lead up to it.

VR: This a big match. One of a handfull of matches between Demolition and the Road Warriors. One of the only times Demolition works as a three man team. Road Warriors have recruited the Ultimate Warrior as a third man. Visually this is a cool as hell match.

Early on their is this funny moment where you can see LOD is not impressed with Warrior while you see Ax not caring for LOD.

First part of the match with Crush was rough. He was not clicking with either Roadies or Ultimate Warrior. But Ax is tagged in. Now we are ready to go. Hawk tags in Warrior and Ax starts begging off. Like Matt said Ax did not do this for everybody. I can't remember him doing it to this extent for anybody but Warrior.

Warrior gets Ax in the corner and starts working him over. Whip and a clotheline followed by a slam. Smash tries to help and gets slammed. Crush comes in and gets a box of assorted chocolates, ait its a slam. He tries to finish Ax with the slam but Ax is long gone.

Now Demolition start working over Warrior. The story here is no one person is going to fight all of Demolition alone and win. Outside he grabs Smash and Crush by the hair for the double coconut but Ax grabs him from behind. Now we have classic Demolition double teaming with Warrior in trouble. Crush is doing much better now tagging in and out.

Warrior is a much better wrestler now than he was in 1988. But I can't help but notice the better he became as a wrestler the more charisma he lost. He had this uncontrollable wild animal charisma thats not really present by late 90.

Demos get Warrior propped up for the three man clubber but Hawk runs into save him. Smash knocks him out of the ring and sets up the DEcapitator but now Animal is in to save Warrior. Warrior tags Animal who starts fighting all three Demos. He tries to put AX in the Doomsday Device but Smash saves.

Now Animal is in peril. Some good basic tag work by Demolition cutting off Animal from the tag. Keeping him in the right corner. Animal catches Crush with a clothesline and tags in Warrior. Warrior takes out Smash and Ax. Crush tries to ave but is taken out by LOD. Warrior has Smash in the ring along and bounces off the ropes building momentum for a big shoulder block to get the win.

Really would of enjoyed a Warrior/Demoition feud. They worked really well together.

Untitled Demolition Project Day 9

Demolition + Fuji vs British Bulldogs + Ultimate Warrior MLG 7-24-88 (PTW 8-1-88)

Bulldogs-Warrior vs Demolition-Fuji
Uploaded by rland1987. - Watch feature films and entire TV shows.

MD: Demolition is at the very height of their heel powers. Dynamite Kid has returned from his "back injury" and is pretty much immobile. Ultimate Warrior is about to break out at Summerslam and is batshit insane. Fuji is wildly underrated in this role and in general. Actually, let me stop there for a second. It drives me MAD to see that Fuji won the "worst manager of the year" WON award so many times in this era, an era where Frenchie Martin and Coach John Tolos were running around. Fuji may have been as scummy as they come in real life (or so the stories go) and was playing a downright racist character years after that was totally okay but he was a great manager and REALLY played his character. He could inflict damage. He could take bumps. He was a former champion and played the ultimate evil Mr. Miyagi. He could stooge and do comedy. He could project hatred. You got the idea that he wanted his men to hurt people. And he could come into the ring, do his little headbutt to the groin and piss off the fans.

I know we're talking about Demolition here, but I won't lie. The story of this match is that the Ultimate Warrior is a madman lunatic and it's awesome. Early on the announcers note that he is not built for tag work. He doesn't have the patience, and it shows. Oh man, does it show. The Bulldogs come to the ring with him and he shakes the ropes and Dynamite just points at him, smiling like an idiot, as if he's watching the greatest thing ever. Then comes the pep talk huddle, with Warrior bringing in the Bulldogs close and talking to them and shaking them, paranoidly looking over to Demolition every 3.5 seconds or so. And then, once Dynamite convinces the Warrior to let him start the match off (looking in pain already), the ref has to stop things, because Warrior's randomly gone to the neutral corner and is standing on the ropes beating on his chest.

Ok, this is taking every bit of self-contro lI can muster, but I will try to focus on the match itself. Broken Down Dynamite and Fuji start off and that's a pretty good pairing at this point. Dynamite hits an anemic crossbody and a good slam and Fuji quickly tags out to Ax who slowly walks through the ropes with menace in his gait. He carefully helps Fuji back in before turning to his opponents. But Dynamite quickly slips out of Ax's grasp and makes the tag to Warrior. Dynamite points towards Ax as if trying to contain his insane partner and... it's all for naught. Warrior starts running the ropes as if the match just started and it's as if the world just stops. Finally, they lock up and go for shoulder tackles and Ax bounces off the Warrior, which allows Eadie to walk around the ring looking bemused and a bit confounded. Nice subtle reaction. Just what is he going to do with this lunatic? Well, he's going to smartly rake him in the eyes and start clubbering. Warrior reverses it quickly and Ax ends up on his knees in his corner, frustrated and at his wits end. Great body language throughout as he finally gives a tag to Smash and lets him try to make sense of Warrior.

Smash goes for the eyes again and hammers Warrior only to meet the same out-of-the-corner reversal clothesline that Ax met a minute before. Warrior is befuddling. Thankfully, as we come back from commercial break, Warrior tags to Davey Boy and things calm down. Some good back and forth stuff, including a nice-looking delayed headscissors takedown by Davey Boy and a reversal into a bodyslam. Smash gets him into the corner however and the FIP segment begins. Smash sets up the Bombs Away/Pearl Harbor headbutt for Fuji and Warrior is outside on the ropes acting like a total nut. Deliberate strikes from Fuji, quick tags, power moves, clubbering, nerve holds. Davey finally fights back but Ax does another one of those really great looking sneak tags, this time to Fuji and they cut him off. Fuji goes to the top for some sort of unfortunate seated senton and Smash seems so excited that Master Fuji is going to have his moment of glory. There are about a thousand examples showing that Smash sees him as a father figure and this is just one of them. Suffice to say, he misses and Davey makes the hot tag to Warrior and the world goes mad!

Warrior is all over the place, clotheslining and bodyslamming and ending up on the announce table somehow before climbing to the top rope and hitting Smash with a double axe-handle in the midst of the chaos to get the pin. It's actually something on an inspired finish in the midst of all the bedlam. Anyway, this match has to be watched just to see the Warrior's antics. As it pertains to Demolition, they show of their range even MORE in this match, playing heels who are mystified and daunted by the Warrior. Ax was especially great in that role.

VR: I watched this match as a boy in the year of our lord nineteen hundred and eighty eight. One of those matches that sticks out to me for whatever reason.

I remember being really excited about seeing Warrior tangle with Demolition. They were big and wore facepaint. In a kid world thats a dream match. I was confused by Fuji wrestling. As a 7 year old I did not understand Fuji was not always a manager.

Match starts with Fuji and Dynamite. Fuji gets the best of Dynamite with a chop or two. But Dynamite takes him down with a crossbody block. Dynamite then gives Fuji a nice looking slam. Thats enough for Fuji who tags out to Ax. Ax beats down Dynamite instantly. Dynamite tags out to Warrior. Now here is what I want to see. Warrior starts running laps in the ring. I do not want to say Ax is scared. But he is certainly bewildered. He has no idea what to make of him. Ax runs into him and Warrior no sells. Ax looks surprised. Now he rakes the eye but Warrior reverses a whip into the corner and clotheslines Ax.

He tags in Smash to see if he can fare any better. Smash starts laying in rights to the Warrior followed by chops and knee lifts in the corner. Smash tries the whip and gets mowed down by Warrior. Warrior tags in Davey Boy. Who keeps the advantage briefly. Smash gets him in the Corner and all three men work him over. Fuji is old and broke down but he is experienced enough to bull shit his way thru a six man tag. He slides into the Demolition dynamic seamlessly.

Fuji drops a headbutt on the lower abdomen of Davey Boy. Now Demos are in full clubbering mode. Fuji comes back in and misses the Flying Legdrop on Davey Boy. Warrior is tagged in and he is going nuts. So excited he has no idea who to attack first. He gets Fuji. Smash tosses him out. Now Demos are beating down Dynamite and Warrior comes off the top with a flying ax handle for the win.

Watching this you can tell the WWF has big plans for Warrior because nobody else has gotten anything on Demolition at this point.

Untitled Demolition Project Day 8

Demolition vs Rougeau Brothers Boston 3/5/88
Demolition vs. The Rougeau Brothers
Uploaded by sir-roddick. - More professional, college and classic sports videos.
VR: This is a match I have been wanting to see for a long time. Well actually I wanted to see heel Rougeaus vs Demolition. But you take what you can get.The Rougeau Brothers are one of the most underrated teams ever. They were suppose to get a tag team title run in 1989 but Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson got it instead. Its hard to complain since the Brainbusters/Demolition series was great. But I wish they could of ran a few heel Rougeaus vs face Demolition matches.

This match is two weeks before Demolition wins the tag team titles at Wrestlemania IV. At this point the face tag roster was really stale. You had Strike Force, the Killer Bees The Rougeaus and The Bulldogs. Except for the Bulldogs none of them are very over. By the end of this match the fans are really into it. But its clear the WWF had to shake things up by turning the Hart Foundation and signing the Powers of Pain.

The match starts off with Jacques getting beat up by Smash. Ax joins in and Raymond attempts a save but he gets beaten up too. They get some brief offense with double teams. It does not last as Smash just kicks the poop out of Jacques and tags in Ax who beats him down.

Liked it when Jacques started kicking Ax's knee. The Ragu Sisters work over the leg. One swift kick to the head puts Ax back in control. I really hate how Raymond takes a body slam. He lands on his feet first. On the floor Raymond gets nailed with a cane shot from Fuji.

I really love how the Rougeaus sell in this match. It looks like they are getting mugged by Demolition. When they fight back it has this look of somebody just swinging blind. A great moment when Raymond blocks Ax's attempted suplex, and hits his own. Really comes across as a struggle. It also looks like it wiped out Raymond to do it.

Ray gets the big tag to Jacques, who promptly goes to town on the Demos. He hits that flying back elbow I love. But Ax breaks it up. Ray attacks Ax and it breaks down. Referee Dave Hebner goes to separate the men in the ring illegally. Jacques puts Smash in the Boston crab. Hebner finally gets Ray in the corner allowing Ax to kick Jacques in the head and Demolition wipe him out with a brutal looking double clotheline. You believe it can end a match.

MD: I'm from Boston and by the time I started to go to shows at the Garden a couple of years later, they covered up the parquet floor so it's always neat to see it showcased around ringside like this. Anyway, this is a pretty interesting match. As Vic said, it's right in run up to the Demos title win and it shows. Demolition look pretty unstoppable here. I really wish we had more Rougeaus/Demolition matches to watch but this seems to be the only one of any length that we have readily available, and this is pretty good for what it is. Please note that I will occasionally make like Monsoon with this match and get the two Rougeaus confused. I blame the powder blue tights.

Here's the story of the match in a nutshell. The Rougeaus try everything they can think of. None of it works. The match starts with a double team beating on Ray. When Jacques tries to save, HE gets a double team beating for his effort. The Rogs turn it around quickly with surprise offense and superior speed, but they can't maintain offense. First they try the ol' "contain them with armwork" trick, including a neat little Irish Whip out of an arm-wringer into a double boot in the corner, but it's futile. They try some strikes and kicks too but there's no hope. Smash takes a bit of damage and then powers Jacques into their corner and makes the tag. He's just too strong.

The beating lasts until Jacques heroically gets some shots into Ax's leg. He makes the tag and the Rougeaus try to work on that for a while. One neat thing about this match is that the Demo on the outside is always lurking and peeking his head in as if he's about to strike. Anyway, Ax lures Jacques into getting a painful looking kick to the back of his head and that's the end of the legwork. Ax misses a killer falling headbutt, however, allowing Ray to come in. He immediately tries something new only to learn that you really, truly do not try to monkey flip Ax. It will not end well. The beating commences including the Demos and Fuji making the Rogs look like idiots on the floor using superior positioning to allow a bunch of cheapshots and cane shots. A lot of times they didn't have the managers for these shows so it's nice that they actually use Fuji like this when they have him. We settle in with lots of painful looking neck wrenching and illegal switches and an awesome performance by Smash who miraculously manages to tag Ax in the midst of a sunset flip.

Ray finally manages to somehow hit a suplex and that earns him a hot tag to Jacques, who finally gets some traction being such a fresh man in the match using Hot Tag Face Offense. He hits a big flying back elbow for a phantom pin but Ax has the ref distracted. He puts on the Boston Crab but Ax takes his head off with a boot. Just nasty. Then the Demos hit one of the meaner double clotheslines you'll ever see and that's the match. Good stuff. I wish there was more of it.

Untitled Demolition Project Day 7

Demolition vs Akeem & Big Bossman-WWF Tag Team Titles
Uploaded by TSteck160. - Check out more sports and extreme sports videos.
VR: With this match we get Demolitions first real encounter with a team they cannot bulldoze with ease. In fact they are at a power disadvantage. Some might bring up the Powers of Pain. But Demolition ran thru them in every encounter including Wrestlemania when they had a third man in Fuji.

One thing I really liked was how Akeem was pacing around the ring as Demolition walked to the ring. Then he shoves Bossman to pump him up. Akeem/One Man Gang had this way of making a match seem like a big deal.

Match starts with Smash and Bossman. Bossman gets the best of the first exchange. But gets cocky and Smash fires back. Popping him in the gut. Really liked how Bossman stumbled acros the ropes. Now Demolition starts working over his arm. Not the "What do I do with this guy" arm work some Demolition opponents use. But looking like they really want to take out Bossman's arm.

Bossman pokes Ax in the eye to gain the advantage long enough to tag Akeem in. Akeem initially has the advantage til Ax gets him in the Demos corner with Smash. They pound on Akeem hitting him hard enough to knock him on to the top turnbuckle. Then they start clubbering.. Akeem did this big Fred Sanford sell acros the ring.

Akeem gouges Ax's eye to get the advantage. Towers are finally doing good team work here. Akeem is a great sneaky heel. Outside the ring Akeem chokes out Ax with a rope. But Ax shifts the rope up to his mouth. Ax gets pissed off and starts laying into Akeem. I liked that because it looked like Ax paniced when he was almost choked. Lots of guys just sit passively while they are choked instead of fighting back. He rolls back in and Bossman has the rope and chokes him.

Towers do this Irish Whip double Avalanche on Ax. Akeem does a bad looking 747 but Ax gets a flash roll up when Akeem starts dancing. Ax flew across the ring when Akeem kicked out. Ax hits this nice looking face buster I have never seen him do. Bossman runs across the team and slugs Smash before Ax can tag out.

Akeem goes for the Avalanche and Ax dodges. He then dodges two elbows before tagging in Smash. Smash fires up both Towers. Knocking Bossman out of the ring. Both Demos hit a double clothesline on Akeem knocking him into the ref. Which looks like it could credibly incapacitate a referee. Demolition hit Akeem with a double stun gun. Bossman goes fudge it and brings in the night stick hitting Ax. Smash goes to try to help Ax and the incompetent ref gets in the way. Smash rightly tosses him aside, but.Bossman beats him up with the night stick. Then gives Ax a second taste of it.

Bell rings and its a double DQ. Which really seems like a crock unless he missed the first night stick blow.

MD: At this point, Bossman and Akeem are great foils for Demolition. For one thing, they're unlike anything Ax and Smash have faced, either as heels or faces. Powers of Pain were large but they were sort of like a more-roided mirror image of the Demos. The Twin Towers are something else entirely. They're giant forces of nature. They're rhythm and soul-infused giants, deceptively quick and all deadly. And we're lucky to have three or four matches between them easily available. Here's the first.

The Towers come in supremely confident. I love teams that come into a match with Demolition confident. How insane do they have to be? Really? But the Towers sort of have a point. They are pretty big and hey, they just came off of a feud with the Mega Powers not all that long ago. Akeem is dancing. They're slapping each other on the chest to rev each other up. Bossman is giving a huge thumbs up. The Towers are ready to win them the WWF tag titles. Really, throughout the match the Towers' mannerisms are just great. Larger than life.

Anyway, Bossman starts off with Smash and spends about a minute and a half underestimating him, getting his punches blocked and having his shoulderblocks and back elbows shrugged off, while stumbling around the ring selling like crazy for Smash as the crowd goes wild. Then comes Demolition's arm-work on Bossman. They're not just trying to contain him, even given the size difference. Nothing so jejune. No, they're trying to tear Bossman's arm off. It's just Bossman's arm they have a grudge against, apparently, because when Akeem comes in (after a great reversal of an irish whip where Bossman just uses his size to the utmost) it's all clubbering and smashing. He even gets himself laying up against the turnbuckle on the top roles so they can do the corner double-clubber. Lots of goofy punch-drunk selling from Akeem, but it works.

An eye-rake turns it around and Bossman gets the tag in. I love the idea that despite their size and confidence, the Towers need to go to the dirty tactics just as much as the Busters did. And they do, too. Ax almost immediately outquicks Bossman only to eat an Akeem boot to the back from the outside and the the Towers really take over. Double teams, legal and illegal. Using the ring-rope. Goading the ever-goadable Smash. Power offense and chokes. Akeem hams it up by doing a goofy dance over a prone Ax. That'll come into play later, amazingly enough. Then they nail the double avalanche, then a Bossman running bodyslam, and a sloppy Akeem 747, and you all but believe it's over. Devasting combo.

Smash makes the save and then Akeem does his little dance over Ax again. This time, in a nice callback to the moment earlier in the match. It's just a two count but he follows up with a faceplant. Demos are always willing to do a move outside of their normal arsenal if it makes sense. Anyway, Bossman cuts off the hot tag, but only momentarily as Ax is able to dodge Akeem's elbow drops. It just makes it hotter in the end. Smash comes in. A quick ref bump and then they hit a double hotshot, which is another unique move for them (though they sometimes do other variations of it). Bossman comes in with the nightstick, breaks up the pin as the ref is coming to. The ref gets tossed out of the way by Ax and we end up first with a Double DQ and then with the Demos getting the worse end of the nightstick, setting up matches to come. Really good match with even better ones to follow.

Untitled Demolition Project Day 6

Demolition © vs Strike Force Oakland 6/1/88 (Aired PTW - 7/11/88)


Demolition vs Strike Force
Uploaded by Moonshame. - Basketball, baseball, pro wrestling and more sports videos.

VR: Strike Force to me were visually the perfect arch rivals for Demolition. Wearing white trunks and boots. their peppy little theme song, completely bland and milquetoast. A really stark contrast to the face paint, the black S&M wrestling gear and heavy metal satanic theme song having Demolition. If tag team wrestling was this living being and was split into a good and evil half. Strike Force and Demolition is what you would have. At Wrestlemania IV Demolition won the tag team titles from Strike Force. They had a bunch of rematches in Philly, Boston and MSG. But they could not beat Demolition.

This match from Oakland California is the big tv rematch. This aired on WWF Superstars and was a huge deal for me because you never got star vs star matches on Superstars and sure as fudge did not get tag team title matches. This is the version from Best of the WWF #17.

Strike Force comes to the ring and there is something in the air that someone is getting hurt. This is going to be the last Strike Force/Demolition match one way or another. Match starts with Martel and Ax. Martel manages to get in the first hit on Ax, Catching him with a flurry of punches. But he gets cocky and Ax beats him down. Strike Force get the temporary advantage with some team work. This match is simular to the Brain Busters matches. Strike Force has no idea how to effectively deal with Demolition. So at most they contain them with arm bars trying to work a plan out. Demolition always regains the advantage. Whether its thru brute Force or with Fuji helping at just the right time.

They get Santana down and really work him over. My second favorite part of the match is Tito just barely dodging an elbow. But before he can get to his feet Ax punts him in the ribs. Ax always seems like the baddest man in any match regardless if he is Ax or the Masked Superstar. Tito gets worked over something good. Great thing about Tito in a tag team is he can hit the flying forearm at anytime to get the big tag. Martel clans house like at wrestlemania. He gets Ax in the Boston Crab like at Wrestlemania. But this time Smash knocks him out of the ring with a big clothesline. This brings in Tito who starts fighting both Demos at the same time. Hebner is trying to seperate Ax and Tito. Fuji has Smash clock Martel with a chair. He held it upside down so it looked really painful. Fuji goes and gets in the middle of the fracas, giving Ax the chance to go help Smash. Fuji and Demolition were a great pairing. They moved like a well oiled machine. The inteference comes across well in this with it looking like the referee was really distracted rather than I can't look at the ring now.

They hit Martel with the Demolition Decapitation on the floor. It looks brutal. Ax's elbow hits Martel's throat before he hits the floor. I have no idea how they did that without really injuring him. Its so brutal you believe it could take him out for nearly a year. Demolition return to their corner like clock work while Martel gets counted out. Watching it I don't blame Rick Martel for betraying Tito. This was his fault. If he had kept his firey temper in check, Martel would not of been

A: Hit by the chair that knocked him out.

B:Injured by the Decapitator on the floor.

Martel looks like he is really hurt. They are not moving him. Oddly their appears to be a little girl dancing in joy as the paramedics put him on a gurney.

MD: Vic was spot on when talking about the first part of the match. Strike Force is just trying to contain Demolition. You'll see that now and again with faces going up against them. They grab onto the arms for dear life because they know if Demolition gets the advantage, they're going to get clubbered to no end. It should be noted that Ax does do a great job selling Martel's flurry of punches early on, ending up draped in the ropes right before he starts pounding back. I also like how Strike Force goes to for cross body block twice. The first time Ax catches Martel only to get knocked over by a dropkick by Tito. The second time, it works. Strike Force is literally throwing themselves at Demolition since they know they can't hold back at all if they're going to have a chance.

Santana makes a great face-in-peril and Demolition lay into him and Martel is pretty good at the fiery babyface after the hot tag. I don't think we can go on enough about how great the Flying Forearm is as a lead in to the hot tag. Anyway, the finish is just amazing. It's got to be one of the nastiest WWF chairshots of the decade. It just looks all wrong and backwards and devastating. There's nothing held back. The angle is just a bit off from what you'd normally see and it's almost unsettling to watch it. Good camera work. And of course, it's followed by the Decapitation off of the canvas. Martel does a great little flip sell on it. This is my first time seeing this match. I started watching WWF a couple of years later, actually, and I'm glad, because I know I would have been a Strike Force fan as a kid and this was such an effective match/angle that I would have been completely and utterly traumatized by it. Good stuff.

Untitled Demolition Project Day 5

Demolition vs The Brainbusters-WWF Tag Team Titles
Uploaded by TSteck160. - More professional, college and classic sports videos.
Demolition © vs BrainBusters SNME #21 4/25/89 (aired 5/27/89)
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x21zrr_de...sters-wwf_sport

MD: This is one of my favorite WWF matches of the 80s. It's just about the perfect mix of match and angle. That is, the angle stems from the work in such a cool, organic way. Let me try to explain.

We start off with an interview with the Brainbusters and Heenan. Tully is awesome, acting all earnest about how Bobby told them they could do anything if they believed in themselves. They're confident having gotten a title shot so early into their WWF run and they're going out to the ring thinking that they're going to win the titles. The Demos get interviewed and they're confident they're going to beat the tar out of the "eggbeaters." They just ran through Fuji and the Powers of Pain at Mania so there's little reason for them to think otherwise.

The match starts and it is ALL Demolition. Tully gets overpowered and beaten around the ring. Arn can do nothing. The initial Busters gameplan is a complete and utter failure. There's some great stooging in here with Smash attempting a double clothesline on Arn and Tully only to have Arn duck but then get nailed a second later. Fun stuff.

The Busters start to cheat like crazy and even then, none of it is working at first. Eventually, however, the eyepokes, the ref distractions, the illegal doubleteams, and the Heenan interference takes its toll and the Busters finally get on top. Once on top, they keep on cheating like crazy. There are over ten distinct acts of cheating in the ten minute match, including one of my favorite things in any match ever. Arn holds down Smash's leg and Tully hits the "Double Axe-Handle off the Top on a Prone Opponent." I swear that, for me, this was like seeing heel Flair hit a top rope move for the first time. It was an instant vindication of every time a heel flies off the top rope with a double axe handle only to have the face get his foot up and nail him. The move actually worked once! Amazing.

Anyway, back to the story of the match. Cheating. Lots and lots of cheating. The Busters came in confident. They quickly realized that on this night they simply could NOT beat Demolition. They weren't prepared. They weren't ready. They weren't doing the damage they needed to do. So the gameplan shifted. Instead of trying to beat the champs. They enraged them. Cheating. Aggravating. Cutting off the tag to Ax however possible, including running around the ring and pulling him off the canvas so that he's not there when Smash finally makes it. You can just see Ax getting more and more furious until finally he storms into the ring, tosses the ref out of the way and that's the match. Totally believable.

Brainbusters beat the champs by DQ. They get the winner's share of the purse. They get a rematch on their terms at a time of their choosing and guess what? When that happens, they win the belts. It wasn't their initial gameplan but the audible works great and it's just an awesome example of how smartly put together wrestling can tell a story all by itself.

VR: This is the first meeting of Demolition and Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson. Thinking about it, this would of been the WWF tag champions vs NWA tag champions a year before.

The story here is the Brain Busters can not match Demolition in power or brawling. But problems set in once they realize Demolition are equal in team work too. So you have Arn and Tully trying various methods to wear down Demolition. Tully getting frustrated and trying to trade punches with Ax. Which ends as well as you can expect. At one point Tully gets thrown from the ring on top of Bobby Heenan which looks like it hurt. Henan loses it and tries to fight Demolition with Tully and Arn holding him back.

There are a few no sell spots here. With Smash getting up after an Arn suplex. But what I like about Demolition doing it is it looks like it hurt but they are so tough they are shaking it off.

Eventually the Brain Busters gain control when Smash gets careless. Now the Brain Busters are in control and are working over Smash good. This is basic great tag team wrestling. Smash gets close to a tag a few times but the Brain busters cut him off.

Tully even attacking Ax on the outside before Smash can get past Arn. I actually use to do that on wrestling video games.This makes Ax go nuts and beat up Tully, Arn and the referee causing the DQ. Demolition is not satisfied and beat up the Brain Busters all the way to the back.

Untitled Demolition Project Day 4

Demolition vs. SD Jones-B. Brian Blair
Uploaded by rland1987. - Classic TV and last night's shows, online.Demolition vs S.D. Jones & B. Brian Blair Ontario 6-1-87
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xb4156_de...blai_shortfilms

MD: This is the SD Bees, B. Brian Blair and S.D. Jones (wearing bee pants). Apparently Brunzel is sick with the flu. It's a PTW match that aired the next month. The crowd seems into the fact they get to see a goofy version of the bees, but the announcers smartly point out that there will be no quick-switch shenanigans tonight. Not even the shoddy and corrupt WWF officiating would be fooled tonight. Well... maybe Joey Marella.

Blair starts out quickly. He's been up against the Demos a few times by now and knows he's at a disadvantage without his usual partner. Most of it barely phases Ax and when Smash comes in, he tags to SD and they start doing frequent tags and going after the arm. Even at this point, there's the sense of the inevitable. The faces are keeping control however they can. It's nice to note that whenever they're going for a doubleteam, Smash isn't just standing around waiting for it like a lot of guys do. He's struggling and trying to get out. After a few minutes, Blair makes a mistake, Ax gets in a cheapshot from the outside and the Demos take over.

Quick tags. Lots of clubbering. Keeping Blair in their corner. Eyerakes if he starts to fight back. Demos in control. A choke on the top rope brings SD in only to distract the ref allowing for more double teaming. Heel tactics galore. Blair fights out of a neckvice/chinlock and hits a sunset flip only for Ax to beautifully tag Smash in on the way down. Great timing and execution. The clubbering continues with Blair cut off at every opportunity. Both the crowd and SD are getting hotter and hotter at this point. Like in the May Bees match, Blair hits the Flying Forearm but this time the Demos are ready for it, with Smash slowing him down long enough for Ax to come in and distract the ref so he misses the tag. But Blair will not give up and a few moments later, a mistake by Ax allows him to make the hot tag.

SD comes in and fights off both guys, with Blair recovering enough to join in. Blair and Ax go to the outside while SD gets smash into a sleeper in the ring. Blair's too beaten down at this point, however, and Ax is able to get back into the ring and just crush SD with his killer clothesline from behind. In 1987-88, no one gets up from that and the Demos pick up the win. I wasn't sure what to expect from this match giving the makeshift subbing but it was actually pretty good. SD and Blair worked well together early on and SD played the irate face on the apron role well too. Blair took a real beating and the finish was well executed. Good match.

VR: Special Beeliverly vs Demolition June 87

This match was suppose to be the Killer Bees vs Demolition. But Brunzell was doped up or dieing or something. So we get SD Jones as an honorary Killer Bee for the night.

The match starts with Ax clubbering Blair and this is the Demolition we know and love. Blair fires back so Ax tags in Smash. With Blair tagging in SD. I get the feeling that Blair was really reluctant to tag SD. Both in a shoot and story context.

SD tries running over Smash with a shoulder block but no go. Tries again with similar results. This time he hit a big coco butt and that stuns Smash. SD tags back in B.Brian Blair. Blair trips getting in the ring. The ropes are really loose. Blair and Jones try for some Killer Bee esque double teaming, but they are not really a smooth team.

Demos get the advantage and from here really work over Blair. This is more a Demolition match. Demos working over Blair with clubbering and some chinlocks. More a head wrench really. When Demollition does this it looks like they are trying to twist the guys head off.

Los of good solid tag work here. They cut off the hot tag a few times. One time SD helps by running in to help Blair. Which i think was done to show SD and Blair are not a regular team.

Blair finally gets the hot tag and SD goes after Smash while Blair jumps AX. SD puts Jones in the sleeper while the ref forces Blair to his corner, giving AX the chance to clothesline him in the back of the head for the win.

Im not going to sit here and say this was a great match or even very good. But its a good solid match and would of been really bad against any other team in the world.

Untitled Demolition Project Day 3

Demolition vs Killer Bees - 5/18/87 - MSG


Killer Bees vs. Demolition
Uploaded by Stinger1981. - More professional, college and classic sports videos.


VR: Been putting off watching this. Not the biggest fans of the Bees and 87 Demolition usually feels off. But I decided to watch.

Demolition don't have Fuji with them for this. Killer Bees dominate the first half of the match. Its that supposed bizzaro heel in peril format certain types gripe about. But its good solid tag work from the Bees. First working over Smash's knee before Ax tags in
and his knee gets worked over. Ax does a great job selling his leg being hurt. While B.Brian Blair does a nice looking figure four. Ax can't even walk at this point.

This is very unusual for a Demolition match as they did not put up with this nonsense by the end of the year. They get the advantage when Smash drops the big elbow on Blair while he keeps Ax in the figure four.

Now Demolition are firmly in control. But its still not quite Demolition. Very little clubbering. Just keeping Blair grounded with a head twist and a painful looking Chin lock. By 88 Demos really mixed it up in matches.Ax has a look of sadistic glee once he gets back in the ring.The good thing about the old WWF was they had a great tier system where guys had time to figure out what works and what does not. Before getting the really big push and without getting labeled a jobber.

Really neat spot where Blair leap frogs over Smash and does a backslide. Going with this thing where Blair keeps trying to get the quick win instead of the tag. Great sequence of Demolition working over Blair.

Blair takes a page out of Tito Santana's book with the flying Beerito and tags in Brunzell. Brunzell hits the best dropkick ever. A dropkick like that should be a finisher. He rolls up Smash but gets kicked in the head as the Demos switch places for the win. The Bees are hoisted by their own petard.

Demolition are still a work in progress at this point. Lots of unDemolition stuff here. Not much clubbering and too much faces on offense. Later in the match it bugged me how often Blair was whipped into his side of the ring. Something prime Demolition would ever do.

Still a really solid tag team match.

MD: This is one weird match and I can't say I love it as a whole. There are some specific parts that I think are great though and I want to talk about those. Yes, the Bees are on top for the first half of the match but it doesn't bug me in the least. In this case, it's not just just formula or "warming the crowd up" as people sometimes claim with WWF tags from the 80s. It's actually the story of the match and it's a smart one. The Bees come in with a killer strategy. They're going to work on the legs of Demolition. And when Smash makes it out after they work on his legs for a while, they immediately put Ax in a double spinning toe-hold and it's completely believable when the legwork continues. I do wish that it played a bit more of a role in the second half of the match, though. In general, though, of all the heel Demolition matches I've seen so far, there haven't been many where the faces really went after a bodypart like this. Once again, Demolition works a completely different style of match. I shouldn't be surprised at this point.

They did a great job of wearing down Blair in the second half of the match though there's some stuff like the extended chin lock that you don't usually get out of Demolition matches. The finish is great as the Demos do a switch of their own with Ax keeping his face buried in the mat so the ref can't tell he's not Smash. A taste of the Bees own medicine.

Untilted Demolition Project Day 2

Colossal Connection vs Demolition-WWF Tag Team Titles
Uploaded by TSteck160. - Basketball, baseball, pro wrestling and more sports videos.

MD: So here's another opinion I can't shake. I think that late 80s Andre is just amazing as a worker. He was completely immobile but he had an incredible presence and he worked so, so smart. He couldn't do much so he made sure everything he did do mattered as much as humanly possible within the psychological context of the match. That's worth a million bucks, right there. I don't think there's anyone in the world that thinks more highly of the SNME Warrior/Andre than me. I think that match won the WON Worst Worked Match of the Year in 89 and that's just absurd. It had a great story and was so smartly worked. It's aged great.

BUT we're talking about Demolition here. We're talking about Demolition vs Andre and Haku. I'm sure we'll cover the Colossal Connection Title Win Squash because it's a remarkable and unique Demolition match. This is very shortly thereafter and the Demos want revenge. This is late era Andre and guess what, it's a really smart, really fun match. Of course it is.

The story of the match is simple. The Demos want revenge. The Demos want their titles back. They're the well-oiled machine. The Colossal Connection is something else. They play on the fact that Andre is increasingly immobile, that he's the ultimate weapon to be used at exactly the right time. Haku is to stay in the match until it is absolutely necessary to tag in the force of nature that is Andre. Their teamwork is not smooth. It is not supposed to be smooth. They're still nigh-unbeatable. There's actually a Colossal Connection/Rockers match out there that shows this off beautifully. In that match, the Rockers are doing fine vs Haku and die instantly and dramatically the second Andre gets tagged in. Ax and Smash are NOT the Rockers however.

So Haku tries to fight them off from the get go and he does pretty well with strikes and kicks until the Demos get him into their corner. The thing you have to understand about Demolition doubleteams is that for the most part they're not going to do fancy moves. What they are going to do are lots of quick tags where they come in and beat on their opponent as much as possible. Poor Haku gets this in droves. There's a great moment in here where Smash taunts at Andre and Andre makes this awesome bestial nose in response.

Anyway, Haku hits an awesome kick counter out of an arm-wringer and makes the tag to Andre who promptly misses a big butt drop. He's down and Demos take right back over. Quick tags and clubbering to a prone Andre. Andre in 89 was presented as an absolute force of nature. If he touched you, your internal organs blew up. It was awesome, trust me. It's awesome here. Demos clubber. Andre gets in a kick. Demos fall. Demos come back in to clubber. Andre hits a punch from the ground. Demos fall. And repeat. Eventually, Andre makes it up and tags in Haku allowing the Colossals to take over for a while, until Haku misses an Andre-assisted Splash in the corner on Ax. Andre is just sensational here. He had pinned Ax into the corner with his body and slowly walks away as Haku charges in only to miss. Andre, however, is doing this weird little dance and laughing at Smash, thinking that the move was successful. Every little thing he did at this point was just gold.

The hot tag that follows leads us eventually into a big brawl and finish. Andre hits the headbutt of doom on Smash, knocking him to the outside for the countout. Demos get their heat back by decapitating Haku after the match, keeping the feud building towards Wrestlemania VI. Really fun match and wildly different from yesterday's match. Great presence all around.

VR: I have vivid memories of the match where Andre and Haku won the tag belts. It actually happened only twenty miles away. Andre and Haku destroyed the Demos with little effort and won the tag team titles. I was use to bad guys winning titles. Just that summer Demolition lost the tag titles to Bobby Heenan's Brainbusters. But in those cases the heels always cheated and pulled a fast on. In this case Andre and Haku just beat up Demolition like they were Gary Stambough and Duane Gill. For an 8 year old Demolition fan that was just scary.

This is the rematch from Madison Square Garden. The match is telling a pretty clear story. The Demos are trying to end the match as quickly as possible. The key to this is Haku. So Ax and smash stay on him and stay on him pummeling him so he can't tag Andre. But Haku is a tough guy and he will eventually get the advantage and does when he tags Smash with a side kick and finally tags in the Giant.

Smash is still able to dodge the Andre butt crash. Tags in Ax and Ax starts pummeling Andre. Again there is some desperation here. Demolition knows if Andre gets to his feet they are in trouble. One Andre strike equals ten normal ones.

Eventually Andre tags Ax with a good one and The Connection have the advantage. It seems like a light came on and they know they are going to have to use team work to win.

Haku knocks the wind out of himself on an attempted double team. Smash comes in as a house of fire beating up both Haku and nails Andre once or twice. The referee is trying to get Ax off of Haku which allows Andre to headbutt Smash and knock him to the floor causing a count out.

After the match Demolition attack Andre and Haku. Knocking the Giant to the floor and giving Haku the Demolition Decapitator elbow and counted to three.

Untitled Demolition Project Day 1

Demolition vs Rockers Madison Square Garden


Demolition vs The Rockers-WWF Tag Team Titles
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Victator:When talking about Strike Force vs Demolition I say that visually Strike Force were the perfect rivals for Demolition. The Rockers fit into this mold too. But not for being white bread and plan. Here its more the youthful high energy and speed vs the brawling and power of Demolition. This match is why Pro Wrestling is he best.

The match works really well in the context of Demolition's 1988. From the start of the year they have destroyed teams like the Rougeaus, the Bulldogs and Strike Force with relative ease. In the summer they killed Rick Martel. At Summerslam they even beat the Hart Foundation. So it seems obvious the Rockers are going to be destroyed with Demolition taking them lightly.

At first Ax Lays out Shawn with clubbering. Shawn runs off the ropes with a great looking cross body but Ax catches him. I love the way he slams Shawn. Like he is just throwing him across the ring. Shawn starts firing back on Ax and Ax has this look of shock and anger that the pretty boy would dare fight back. the Rockers keep Demolition off balance with their speed and technique. As Matt said even now its striking how fast paced this match was. They are going 100 miles an hour and Demolition is keeping up. Doing lots of quick tags and arm wringers.

Compared to the Strike Force or Bulldog matches, its shocking to see Demolition selling this much for the Rockers. Smash is bouncing all over the place. Smash is really great at stooging in a way Ax can't. Love this section with ax taking all these dropkicks. Getting up and swinging wild at Marty with him ducking each one then coming back with more.

Later Ax comes in and the Rockers start using the same tactics with him. Before Ax ends the nonsense with a violent looking headbutt. Demolition now have the advantage and are really working Marty over. Marty flies across the ring off of one punch and Smash sells it hurting his hand. They are just whipping him from pillar to post. Marty get a nice looking flying back elbow and gets Shawn in. After a brief flurry of offense, Ax pulls him out of the ring. Again I have to put over how fast Shawn Micheals is. He looks like he was in a car wreck going to the floor.

The Rockers disadvantage here is not matching the Demos power and experience. Smash puts Shawn in the Boston Crab an tags in Ax. I love how Ax calmly walks in and drops a hammer across his back. Now Shawn is in trouble because Demolition are not using just brute force. But are methodically taking him apart.

Shawn finally gets the hot tag. Marty fights both of Demolition alone. Shawn joins him and the Rockers hit a great sequence of double teams concluding with the Rocket Launcher for a very near fall. This crowd is super hot. Going nut for everything. You can believe the Rockers could win the belts.

The finish is great because its clean. Demolition does not cheat they just out team the Rockers and catch Marty with a big clothesline to the back of the head.


Matt D: This is just a really great match. There's not too much to talk about in the way of background. The Rockers started their second stint in the WWF in June of 1988. Demolition was closing in on the face turn at Survivor Series 1988. Fuji is at ringside and he always works really well with the Rockers. Jannetty's said that Fuji was sort of a evil mentor in the ways of backstage pranks for them, and the chemistry shows over the years.

The most remarkable thing about the match is how it seems to start in super fast forward. The Rockers are just moving amazingly fast and Ax is keeping up and selling and stooging perfectly, going just as fast himself. Even twenty plus years later it's downright striking to watch. From there it moves on to the Rockers trying to work over Smash's arm with some really great double-teaming, doing anything they can to equalize the Demolition strength. It's back and forth for a bit until the rope is pulled down and Michaels takes a really nasty bump to the floor. When they get him back in, the story becomes about working over his back, injured in the fall, including a lengthy Smash Boston Crab. Despite how much the speedy beginning stands out, I think my favorite single part of the match is when Smash finishes the hold and tags in Axe. One of the announcers(check who) talks about the damage done to the Lumbar region and Smash, coming out to the apron, hears him and shouts. "It's not a Lumbar. It's HIS BACK!" making for a really funny moment.

Eventually Michaels gets out of a bearhug and makes the hot tag to Jannetty who comes in with punches and the Rockers' quick comeback leading to the finishing segment. The Rockers hit the non-rocket launcher and despite knowing better, I think the match might be over for a moment (and the crowd is SURE of it), until Ax breaks up the pin. The finish comes shortly thereafter when Smash gets Jannetty into a bearhug, bringing him over to the corner where Ax just destroys him with a punch/clothesline. It's a totally believable and nasty finish. Just a knockout blow.

Solid, exciting match all around. The transitions are believable. The work is logical. The crowd's really into it. The finish looks great. This is a totally slept upon match and it's a shame. More of a shame is that the Rockers actually get better over the next couple of years, but by the time Demolition are heels again, Ax is more or less out of the equation and the team is a pale reflection of what it is here.

Untitled Demolition Project

On the internet, you can get into an argument about anything. With the Internet Wrestling community, that's doubly true. No matter what the topic, you'll find someone who takes the opposing viewpoint. There is no consensus, ever. Yet despite this, when we try to argue that Demolition was an excellent, premier tag team, people just pass by our statements as if they were never there. It goes so far away from conventional wisdom that people don't even register the comment as making sense. It's gobbledygook to them. It's madness. Everyone knows that Demolition was just Vince's third rate Road Warriors rip-offs, an embarrassment that shows the ignorance of the Northeastern wrestling fans with whom they were so over. They had cool music, the great Royal Rumble moment, and their best match is obviously a twenty-man Survivor Series elimination match where they were just faces in the crowd. Oh! And wasn't Moondog Rex good? That's all there is to say, right? Wrong, and we intend to prove it.

In this project, we're going to be looking at a number of Demolition matches and breaking them down in an attempt to show just how good the tandem of Bill Eadie and Barry Darsow were. We'll touch upon Brian Adams too at some point, I'm sure, and we'll do so with as open a mind as possible. To me, a good wrestling match is all about having a good story executed well, and you'll find that tenet all over the Demolition matches we're going to look at. There is just a ton of material out there against a ton of different opponents. They had lengthy face and heel runs at the top of the card and we have PPV, SNME, MSG, Toronto and Boston shows to draw from, with squashes and shorter matches the syndicated shows on top of that.

This isn't nostalgia and it's not just a desire to be contrary. Despite being in a key age group for having grown up with Demolition, Vic and I come from different ends of the spectrum. I'm Northern. He's Southern. I only liked little fast wrestlers as a kid. I hated all the big guys (Hogan, Duggan, Bossman and whoever else too) and had a Rockers pin to prove it. Vic followed the WWF's faces much more. He had an emotional attachment to Demolition that I didn't. Given that I also came in a few years later than he did, they were just the guys who needed 3 people in order to face the Hart Foundation to me. Since then, however, I've gone back and watched as much late 80s/early 90s WWF as possible and have learned to watch things in context and with an open mind. If you told me as a kid, or in the height of my snarkyness ten years ago, that I'd be going around touting some of the things I do, I would have called you crazy. It's amazing what you can see with an open mind. Even so, I can't imagine anyone who knows how to appreciate this era and style of wrestling quite like Vic.

It's fully our intention here to toss as much evidence out there to make our point, and hopefully to get people talking and thinking about Demolition's work. Hopefully we'll bring some good, enjoyable matches to everyone's attention in the process and have some fun doing it.

Memphis Wrestling: June 7, 1980

I saw this on youtube this morning and really wanted to share it. Memphis is really the best. Anytime i see a angle on youtube I always want to watch the match that follows.

Big Daddy V Daycare

Would of been a great movie.



Saw this randomly today. This is before Cyber Sunday 2007. These are the three contenders to CM Punk's ECW championship. Its obvious Morrison and Miz can't handle V by themselves so they form an allience until Morrison throws Miz into V. This is just a fun squash. Made more funbecause its M8z and Morrison getting destroyed. V eventually takes himself out on the turnbuckle. Morrison and Miz start fighting eachother. Guess figuring its easier to fight eachother than finish Big Daddy V.

V gets back in and destroys both guys as easily as he was beating jobbers in July finishing Miz off with the big elbow.

In the end Miz got the title shot proving DEMOCRACY DOES NOT WORK.

Great Muta post

One of my all time favorite acts in wrestling is the Great Muta in 1989. When you had him managed by Gary Hart and with Dragonmaster as the bodyguard. Plus his association with Terry Funk. He really seemed like ne of the scariest guys in wrestling. Anytime somebody beat him it seemed like a huge upset. Once he beat Sting for the TV title I thought he could beat the ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan.

This is another post but Terry Funk trying to smother Flair with a plastic bag horrified me when I was 8. I have not watched a lot of this stuff since it aired. So in some ways this is brand nw to me. This stuff still looks unique even today. But thats probably more of how wrestling has changed in 20 years.



Great Muta vs Italian Stallion
When I was a kid Itallian Stallion was one of my favorite job guys because he looked like he might actually win. Every week I always wanted one of these guys to beat the heel. Especially of it was Dino Bravo.

Anyway Tommy Rich was injured by Lex Luger so Stallion is taking his place against Muta. This match has some really good mat wrestling. I had no idea Stallion was good. I mostly know him now as a scum bag who would rip off indy wrestlers and breaking the Hardys into wrestling.

Lots of good reversals here with Muta always being one step ahead. Keeping Stallion on the mat with various holds from the STF to arm bars to leg locks. Nar the end there is a sequence where Stallion bust out a release German suplex that you did no see much in 1989. Stallion has a flurry of offense, befoe Muta gets the Muta Lock on out of nowhere. Stallion manages to hang on for a minute before submitting.

Great Muta vs Doug Gilbert Wrestle War 89


Doug is subbing for Junkyard Dog. JYD vs Muta would of been an interesting match. Anyay Muta is still new so he just squashes Doug and Eddie comes to ringside to support his brother. Is annoying my ondemand was messed up all of last month so I missed most of the Muta matches.

Arn Anderson vs Great Muta

Great Muta vs Arn Anderson-WCW Television Title
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This one of the matches I got to see last month. I remember watching this on a Friday night in Guntersville when I was eight years old. Arn had just returned from the WWF and I thought he was going to get destroyed by Muta.

The story of the match is Arn being initially bewildered by Muta, having never faced anyone like him. Everything he does Muta has some weird counter for. Also Buzz wayer and Dragon Master are at ringside taking the place of Gary Hart. Ross aying "Are there any good looking oriental guys." Knowing full well Muta is a babe.

Over time in the match rn starts figuring out Muta and now its Muta trying to figure out a ay to counter Arn. Arn hits a great spinebuster. Which causes awyer and Dragonmaster to run interference but Arn still survives and gets the win. I think this is the end of Muta as a regular.

ChrIstian in TNA

Been wanting to seek out Christian TNA matches.

First was Sting vs Christian vs Angle

Audio sucks later on.


Angle vs cage vs sting (sacrifice 2007)
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Lots of people seem to hate three way matches. As long as their is a good reason for it I like them. Im wondering where the Sting sucks talking point came from. He has lost a step or two since his prime but he can still go when he feels like it. I thought the German superplex combo was neat and liked the attempted double ankle lock.

I think the finish was hated at the time. I though the simultaneous pin/tap out was cool.

Angle/Christian from 2008


Best part of this was seeing the beta version of the Christian/Swagger series. This was not like a lot of Angle matches. All of the spots were built up. So when Angle hit the belly to belly in the ring it mattered. Then you had Christian getting cut off every time he attempted the frog splash. Til the last attempt when he hit it for a near fall.

Lots of teases of the Angle Slam and the Kill Switch, without actually hitting them til the end resulting in a stale mate.

Christian put Angle in the nastiest looking Texas Cloverleaf I have ever seen. He should be using that as a finisher.

Because its TNA the match had to end with a run in with AJ Styles turning on Christian for whatever reason.

Scott Hall vs Big Sal.E.Graziano

Scott Hall was in ECW for one night in late 2000. One against Justin Credible and one against Big Sal Graziano. Hall looks really motivated to here, more than he did in his last WCW appearances. Hall just a really good job of selling Sal's siza adavantage and works your basic WWF B show main event. Attempting to the body slam few times before hitting it out of nowhere. Starting a holy shit chant. It was really shocking since its the only time Sal ever got off his feet. It was more Sal slamming himself but still a cool visual. Now the run ins start from the FBI with Hall hitting the fall away slam on Guido and would hit the Outsider's Edge on Mamaluke until Sal hits him from behind and hits the Banzai drop for the win.

It was pretty shocking to see Scott Hall job to Sal graziano but I guess it was a way to make sure Hall wanted to play ball in ECW. In any case the company was dead by January.

Sandman vs Konan times 2

Sandman vS Konan House Party 96

I had wanted to see this for years and it did not disappoint. One big thing is the fans really hate Konan. I mean really, really hate him. Creates a great atmosphere when Konan starts playing heel. The match starts with Konan out wrestling Sandman on the mat. Sandman loses it and starts brawling eventually beating Konan to a bloody pulp. This match has the famous image of Sandman caning Konan. Eventually Rey Mysterio tosses Konan a cane of his own, and he canes the piss out of Sandman. They do the Rocky 2 finish. A really good match and it does a good job of building to all the big spots.

Sandman vs Konan House Party 1996
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Sandman vs Konan 10-06-95

Sandman vs Konnan (10695)
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This is from a Best of Fancam 95 comp. This match has more of a traditional face/heel dynamic. Its kind o a beta version of the House Party match. Konan dominating using mat wrestling and Sandman getting the advantage with dirty tricks. Sandman was a top rate heel in 95. But he was so good you had to love him.

Sandman takes a mid match smoke break which gives Konan the chance to attack. He takes Sandman's cigarette and starts smoking. Woman tries to hit Konan with Sandman's cane, but Konan takes it. Konan starts pummeling Sandman. Sandman pokes Konan in the eye. Then Woman tosses him his backup cane. Match is a no contest after both guys hit the ref with canes.