I
Unfortunately, for Demolition they were stuck with some pretty atrocious heel tag teams in the form of Powers of Pain (Barbie is good, but consensus is that this team sucked the meat missile) and Twin Towers (some people actually like this team, but I fuckin' hate Akeem and I don't think I can get past that). So it is easy to chock the first half of their run to shitty opponents. However, when it comes to time to feud with one of the all-time best heel tag teams: The BrainBusters and I still their matches suck then it is time to take some personal responsibility.
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| I liked them better with Fuji |
I will note my opinions on the Demolition/Busters series is not without controversy. I have run into a handful of people that love these matches and hold them as some of the best matches of the era and proof of Eadie's genius. Don't get me wrong, I am willing said Eadie was one of the best ring generals in the tag scene in my first volume of Demolition matches, but I thought his layouts for his babyface matches were selfish. He worked his babyfaces matches just like the heel matches in terms of how he was constantly struggling, which is fine, but it was the extent to which he goes in this context. Heels are always weaker than babyfaces (except monster heels) it is why they treat and why good triumphs over evil. So heel Demolition would eventually succumb to babyface double teams and it led to interesting dynamics. Face Demolition never relented and turned their matches into extended squashes. It felt like Arn & Tully had been replaced by Jose Estrada & SD Jones. The heel team gets some token offense or cheating in, but it is not a credible. Only, the Busters actually win the titles! I feel as if Demolition were insecure about their position in the company. They could not afford to lose heat with the audience by looking vulnerable. At the end of the day, Demolition was a successful box office tag team, but from an aesthetic work perspective as babyfaces they leave a lot to be desired.
There is one giant exception to this (pun fully intended). Demolition was willing to sell for Andre The Giant. Even though, Andre was basically a cripple these were Demolition's best matches as a babyface because for once you believe Demolition had to struggle to beat the Colossal Connection not the other way around. Kudos to Ax for his great layouts to accentuate Andre's and Haku's strengths.
Finally, Demolition rode off into the sunset as heels and pretty quickly I started taking a liking to them again. Ax was slowing down and his swan song at Wrestlemania VI winning the tag titles for a third time. They brought in a young buck, Crush. Crush is nowhere near the mind of Ax, but I will say given the output I think Smash & Crush could have been a successful tag team act for 2 more years instead of splitting them Their Summerslam '90 match with the Hart Foundation is an extended squash, which is funny given what they did when they were on top. However, the Road Warriors matches and the Rockers match illustrated a Demolition that would have been a huge boon on the heel side as an addition to the Nasties. Smash, having been under tutelage of Ax, had a decent grasp on heel psychology and Crush had a couple neat moves. I was very pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed those matches. Moreso, because of Road Warriors had a reputation of being main event act in the AWA and NWA, Demolition was actually given a main event run in the Fall of 1990 with Ultimate Warrior joining the Road Warriors in Six-Man Tag affairs. Unlike the NWA, I think this hurt Warrior's standing more than it helped established the Road Warriors as a main event act. Regardless, the matches are wicked fun popcorn matches to watch even if they did not do good business. It was only at their death that Demolition was finally given a main event run in the company even though they had been tag team aces since Wrestlemania IV. I feel it was too late for them to capitalize to see if Demolition could really draw as a main event act.
All in all, Demolition is a team that looked on more for their kayfabe accomplishments and their run on top, but I think if you look at their work from 1987-1988, you will find it enjoyable and discover a very good tag team. In 1989, they just mowed down the heels ala Hulk Hogan (a successful business model) and they came full circle in 1990 with Smash & Crush as heels putting on good performances with The Road Warriors and the Rockers. Bill Eadie has a great mind for the business and understood that by making a babyface work that both teams would only get more over and garner more heat.
Choice cuts from Demolition's 1989-1990 run:
Rockers vs Demolition - MSG 11/90
The Ultimate Warrior & Legion of Doom vs Demolition - SNME 10/90
Personal Favorites:
WWF Tag Champs Demolition vs Colossal Connection w/ Bobby "The Brain" Heenan - Primetime 12/13/89
Demolition w/ Mr. Fuji vs Legion of Doom - 11/20/90
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WWF Tag Champs Demolition vs Powers of Pain w/Mr. Fuji - 11/88 Boston
One of the first matches of this feud proper as Fuji turned his back on Demolition and joined the Warlord & Barbarian. Demolition clears the ring and they tease getting Fuji, but POP makes the save. Demos doing double-team forearm sledges and crowd seems to be behind Demolition. Smash tries to chinlock Barbarian and Barbarian gives him an uppercut as to say I am not going to be your heel in peril, bitch. Warlord is useless. Ax gets hit with the cane when he gets too close to Fuji. Boring heat segment as not surprisingly these two teams cant put together there. Barbarian could have salvaged it, but he settled for the Vulcan nerve pinch. It breaks loose in Tulsa as Smash comes in and Barbarian does a cartwheel out of the ring to a big pop and best bump of the match. Smash is better than Brunzell at being a hot tag I will give him that. Fuji just sort of wanders in the ring. He looks lost to be honest. Ref just throws the match out and Ax chases them off with the cane.An inauspicious start to Demolition's babyface run, but we could chock that up to Warlord sucking.
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WWF Tag Champs Demolition vs Powers of Pain w/ Mr. Fuji - 12/88 MSG NO DQ
Holy shit! Barbarian speaks! Decent promo by him.This match outright sucks. If it is NO DQ give me a brawl, I know it is late 80s WWF. I dont need blood, just some wild out of control brawl. Instead it is boring, shitty match. At least it was short. Ax was movin and shakin tonight. I have not seen him move so well since watching Demolition and actually took a pretty bump off Fuji's cane. Barbarian did his best with a nice flying shoulderblock, a shoulderbreaker and missing a top rope diving headbutt. He is the best worker of the 4. Ax and Barbarian could have had a decent singles match. Smash has no idea how to be a babyface. He just slaps on restholds. Ax understands he needs to keep things moving. Warlord is a candidate for worst wrestler ever. Finish is a countout victory for the Powers of Pain as Ax/Barbarian brawl on the outside.
Only one more match....O you didn't know watching shitty wrestling for completest sake is what all the cool kids are doing.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------WWF Tag Champs Demolition vs Powers of Pain & Mr. Fuji - Wrestlemania V
It is only up from here.
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WWF Tag Champs Demolition vs Twin Towers 4/88 Boston
Well it is better, but that is not saying much. It is a pretty decent match, but again nothing I'd go out of my way to see. Ax does give a pretty inspired face in peril performance, but Akeem with his stupid fuckin mannerisms keep taking me out of the match. I don't remember the mannerisms being so prominent in the Megapowers vs Twin Towers match, but here they are so aggravating. Akeem is like the love child of Crusher Blackwell and Dusty Rhodes. Sorry for ruining your lunch and sex drive. Was Akeem intended to be a potshot at Dusty. I have to imagine it was.
Demolition wrestle like their babyface opponents used to wrestle against them only Demolition-y. Demos use a lot of frequent tag and spend a lot of time clubbing the Towers down in double team like fashion. It is smart offense, but nothing terribly entertaining. It is establishing that the Towers and Demolition are of equal strength thus double teaming is necessary for either team to get the advantage. Likewise, the Twin Towers garner the advantage by sandwhiching Ax. Thats a whole lotta man between those three dudes. I wonder if Smash felt left out? Ax is doing his best but the Towers aren't really doing much, just usual choking and double teaming. They sandwhich Ax in the corner again. They get cocky and try one more time and miss. Ax tags Smash and Smash is getting better and really lets Bossman and Akeem have it. They do a double hotshot on Akeem, but the ref had been bumped by a collision and there is no one to count. Bossman uses his night stick to hit both members of Demolition. The ref feigns counting to three, but is actually calling the match off as a no contest. Smash chases off the Twin Towers with a wooden chair.
I would be remiss to mention that Tony Schiavone is such a better play by play guy than anybody in WWF. He may just be the best in history of our sport. Nah, Im kidding, Lance Russell is and no once comes close. The match was alright. I wanted more of a clash of titans feel instead I got the normal tag formula feel.
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WWF Tag Champs Demolition vs Twin Towers - Boston 6/3/89
I cant believe I am going to say this, but bring back Warlord and all his awkwardness. Anything beats Akeem grabbing his crotch or doing dance moves to sell Demolition's holds. I don't think there is anyway Akeem could have a good match given his gimmick. I dont mind comedy in a wrestling match, but this is abjectly bad comedy that also does not have a place in this type of match. Even with this gripe, this match is better than the last match because the other three wrestlers put on a better match, but this still is not something I consider a very good match.
Demolition begin in similar fashion use double team clubbering to wear down their opponents. Bossman looks stupids taking as he is putting up no resistance and just taking it. Dont even get me started on Akeem. Bossman does do a cool sell. He is on his knees get punched in the head and does a back bend so the back of his head touches the mat and then comes back up like a drum major. Tony notes "Demolition gets a lot of mileage out of their forearms and fist". Tell me about it.
The transition was not memorable it just felt like the heels sort of took over, which is very odd for an Eadie match. Akeem does a couple butt splashes in the corner, a sort of proto-stinkface. Smash is the face in peril and not nearly as good as Ax. Bossman hits a wicked spinebuster. The Twin Towers are not pressing the advantage. Bossman goes for his rope straddle and misses. This is only false hot tag and Akeem delivers a leg drop, Smash hits a clothesline and here comes Ax. Walking Disaster! Ax is definitely rejuvenated since babyface turn if only he had a better partner. When Bossman collides with Akeem, he gets hit in the face with his nightstick and Ax pins him.
It was an alright match, but once again nothing that was impressive. In fact, Akeem was so irritating that overwhelms the match. Well, onto the Brainbusters, if there is anybody that can save me it is Arn & Tully!
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| Demolition rubbing elbows with the big wigs |
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Babyface Demolition has been pretty wretched. They just gobble up their opponents and it turns most of their matches in extended squashes. It was ok when they were heels because they made the babyfaces work for it, but the babyfaces would eventually get one over on the Demos by using double teams. Also, the whole overwhleming power was a great obstacle for babyfaces to overcome. Now they are babyfaces, we just get the heel in peril stuff, but done even worse with the Demolition just dominating their opponents. Of course when it is time for the heat segment, it is not like Ax or Smash exactly scream "sympathetic" and neither is very good eliciting that reaction. Did Eadie or Darsow ever work babyface at any other point in their career? I know the gimmick was just to go out there have them mow down the heels, but I have not really enjoyed it. I hate to sound so negative about this because I love the positive culture that this board fostered towards all wrestling, but I got to call a spade because when I am not enjoying Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, something has got to be up. Demolition treated the BrainBusters like two jabronis that were lucky to unseat them. I am not screaming from the mountaintop for heels to look good. Heels are supposed to be inferior to babyfaces (unless they are monsters) thats why the cheat and play dirty, but the Busters were just the Demos rag dolls. I look up and see all the praise for the Busters matches and I am just not seeing it. I totally welcome a conversation on this.
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WWF Tag Champs Demolition vs The BrainBusters w/Bobby "The Brain" Heenan - SNME 5/89
This is a pretty effective angle. The Busters come across as effective nuisances and they establish Demolition as almighty, indomitable badasses. You can understand that Busters getting a rematch because they did technically won the match and Demolition wants to get their hands on the Busters.
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WWF Tag Champs Demolition vs The BrainBusters w/Bobby "The Brain" Heenan - 2 Out of 3 Falls SNME 7/89
This is the match made the Busters look like absolute chumps as they were barely on offense in their own title victory. This felt like an extended squash with a swerve finish with the jobbers winning. The first fall is Demolition destroying the Busters at every turn. Any time, the Busters even think they have one over on Demolition they get stymied immediately by Demolition. McMahon does a job putting over the reason that the Busters cant sustain any offense with Demolition because they are trading blows with Demolition. Tully dropkicks Arn onto Smash, hey wait isn't that a babyface spot. :) But they can not capitalize on that because Ax grabs Tully's hair yanking him down allowing Smash to hotshot Arn to pick up the first fall. So clearly, Busters need to regroup and devise a new strategy because Demolition is too much for them.Second fall is pretty piss poor. Demolition capitalize on their advantage, but Double A thumb him in the throat. The Busters actually work over Ax's throat for a bit with Heenan getting a slap in. But God forbid, Demolition look weak, before you know it, Ax gets the hot tag. Smash mows down the Busters. Demolition is out of control and won't stop double teaming. They climax with Demolition Decapitation, but the ref calls the bell for excessive double teaming. Andre is out. That's fucking rich. Demolition lost the fall because they are too damn awesome. I have felt that Demolition has been a pretty selfish team, but that is some serious ego-stroking.
Well since Demolition did not actually take any punishment in that fall, they are again pressing their advantage tossing Tully over the top rope. Tully whips Ax into Arn's head and everyone is woozy. They reinforce this with Arn doing his head collision spot with Ax in the corner. They both tag out. Tully bitches out to Smash. All Hail the Mighty Demolition! Gimme a break. Tully takes his wicked bump over the top turnbuckle. Ax hits Tully from behind allowing Smash to hit Arn. The Brain detains the ref and Andre slides in a chair and Tully wallops Smash to pick up the victory. No heat segment and no sustained offense from the Busters the whole match.
The only heat segment lasted about a minute in the second fall. This was an extended squash that was awful. If you want to claim there was any internal logic, the only logic to claim is that Demolition are the omnipotent, almighty tag team and they can only lose to their own awesomeness or from a chair. That was one of the worst matches, I have ever seen.
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King Duggan & Demolition vs Andre The Giant & Twin Towers - Summerslam '89
Duggan is sporting Old Glory face paint, which is pretty cool. This is just a popcorn match set up by Andre aiding in the Demolition title loss and Demolition having been programmed with Towers in the post-WM V timeframe. Akeem is not that annoying. Demolition clubber and work over the Towers arm. Ax gets trapped in the wrong corner allowing Andre to come in and use his weight to debilitate Ax. Akeem ruins for it for his team by running into the corner, dumbass. Smash slams both Towers, which gets a huge pop. Andre chops Smash sending him reeling. Melee ensues. Duggan hits Akeem with his 2X4 in the chaos giving the Smash the victory. This was a lot of inoffensive fluff, but it was strange that they protected the heels like that.
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WWF Tag Champs BrainBusters vs Demolition - MSG 9/89
Tully elbows Ax in the back while he is chinlocking setting the table for the heat segment. They do some standard double team cheating. Ax catches Tully coming off the apron and sends him into the post. Ax and Arn collide heads in the middle of the ring. Tully grabs Smash off the apron preventing the hot tag. Arn goes to the middle rope, but they kinda blow the spot and Arn just wipes himself as Ax is not really in position to punch him the gut. Smash runs amok hitting everything with a pulse save for the referee, he is the cooler head of Demolition. smile.gif Demolition execute a double hot shot, but the Busters pull out the ref like in the Rockers match.
This is a much better structured match because Demolition was willing to display some vulnerability. I am not asking for the Demos to be the Rock n Rolls, but they got to meet me halfway. They were just swallowing the Busters alive. This is perfectly fine because Demolition look like the superior team, but the Busters looked like they did some damage to the Demos. Demolition should be presented as the superior team that wrongfully got the belts stolen, but the extent they were going in dominating the Busters makes for unentertaining wrestling.
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WWF Tag Champs BrainBusters vs Demolition - Superstars 11/89
The Busters have learned and try to double team early, but are overwhelmed. Tully gets laid out on the top turnbuckle and clubbered. Arn takes a reverse atomic drop into Ax' boot. Tully clips the knee on a Smash suplex attempt and giving the Busters a chance to choke and double team. Ax breaks up Arn's spinebuster, weird that move is protected now. Smash reverses a Tully suplex. Ax demolishes the competition and they finish with Demolition Decapitation.This was a perfect match to end this series. Everything was building to have Demolition run through the Busters. The whole series is that Demolition is in a whole another league than the Busters. They just mow through them and pick the title back up. I am a sucker for babyfaces crushing the heels in 5 minutes to take the titles after a chase. It is a fun ending.
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WWF Tag Champs Demolition vs Colossal Connection w/ Bobby "The Brain" Heenan - Primetime 12/13/89
Ax gets his ass kicked the whole match!!! ELEVENTY BILLION STARS~! I am just kidding. It is short, sweet and effective, but it is not going to change anyone's world. Andre in 1989 is WWF's version of a wrecking ball. Hey, that headbutt maybe not be coming that fast, but it has a lot of mass behind it. In the opening fracas, Andre headbutts Ax, which fucks his shit up the rest of the match. Pretty much Haku takes it from there beating Ax down and throwing him into Andre's head and there is plenty of double-teaming. They have a couple decent hope spots: Haku missing a three point stance and Ax hitting Haku with an atomic drop, but tagged Andre while up in the air. The finish is a crescent kick followed by Andre elbow drop. When Andre hits the mat, you best believe a 3 count is happening. I will say the fact that Demolition never let anyone kick their ass like this actually made the commentary point, "I have never seen Demolition manhandled like this" valid. It definitely builds suspense towards the Wrestlemania rematch, which would Andre's and Ax's swan song. Of course, a nice moment for Andre as he gets to win a title on his way out. -----------------------------------------------------------------
WWF World Tag Team Champions Colossal Connection vs Demolition - MSG 12/28/89
For my money, this is the best babyface Demolition match I have seen. I still would not rate it that highly, but it was decent. If this match was wrestled with 1984 Andre this could have been a great match up. Ax only seems to sell for Andre when wrestling face. Now there have been claims that Andre was a very effective worker at this stage, but how much was it actually his opponents making him look effective. Andre's headbutts and general offense looks like shit, but it is Ax & Smash that make it worthwhile. Andre understood his limitations and had a enough tricks to work around them, but he seriously needed to be carried. One of those tricks was his facial expressions and his charisma. At the beginning of this match, he has the most smug look on his face. "Be me guest, Haku, start the match it makes no difference we are going to smoke them either way", all in one facial expression. Smash starts the match for Demolition and after Ax's pitiful kayfabe performance it is probably for the best. Haku misses an elbow drop early and it's clubbering time, Tony! Haku hits a couple kicks to free himself to tag Andre. Andre misses the ass splash and the best part of the match begins. Demolition is relentless in their efforts to keep Andre at bay in their corner with clobbering. Andre just keeps swatting at them. There is such a great sense of struggle in this portion and how important it is for Demolition to contain Andre. That segment sums up the significance of Andre in the late 80s. Andre eventually beats back Demolition and tags in Haku. Ax gets an atomic drop on Haku, but cant capitalize due to his beating from Andre. Andre is back in with some choking and Haku misses his three-point stance splash in the corner. He eats an reverse elbow and here comes the Smasher. Smash is a pretty lukewarm hot tag. After basic hot tag offense, Ax drags Haku to the outside allowing Andre to headbutt Smash from behind and toss him out for the countout victory. Never turn your back on a giant, shaking my head. Demolition takes exception and they double clothesline Andre and then hit Demolition Decapitation on Haku, a portent of things to come? This match was Demolition's bread and butter: well-laid out, solid match that emphasizes everyone's strengths, but is nothing all that memorable.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WWF Tag Champions Colossal Connection w/Bobby Heenan vs Demolition - WrestleMania VI
Pat Riley made a couple bucks off Vince with all this Three-Peat talk. Andre and Ax were effectively done with the WWF after this match and it is memorable for that more than being a good match. They had a very bare bones match to get the titles back on Demolition and turn Andre face for his final send-off. They do the melee start like at the TV title change, but this time Andre's heabutt is inconsequential. There is a super short babyface shine, before Ax takes heat due to a spike to a throat. Haku gets a two off a backbreaker. Andre chokes Ax out with the tag rope. Haku hits a shoulderbreaker for a 2. Ax gets his boot up in the corner. Smash goes through his usual hot tag offense. They double clothesline Andre. Andre is able to grab a headbutt from behind, but this time Haku crescent kicks Andre. Andre falls and does his trademark tied up in the ropes spot. Demolition hit a double hotshot and a Demolition Decapitation to a massive pop. Heenan gives Andre the bidness so Andre kicks his ass and then Haku's ass. Fools, if you think you are going to hijack Andre's ride back in that little ring. It is a pretty simple match, but it popped the crowd, got the belts back on Demolition and accomplished Andre's farewell so mission accomplished.
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| CRUSH~! |
WWF World Tag Champions Demolition vs Rockers - SNME 7/90
Since this is 1990, this is not going to be anywhere near the 1988 match and it was a backdrop to transition the three-way feud from Rockers/Hart Foundation to Rockers/Demolition to Demolition/Hart Foundation for Summerslam. Crush is really not good when he is asked to sell for the Rockers. It is pretty heel in peril to begin with for the first five minutes or so with none of the Demolition trademark work. Marty even gains controls without double teaming. They go through the usually team moves to clear the ring. There is a really poor rana by Shawn where he just hooks underneath the shoulders and Jannetty dropkicks over him. They work over Crush's arm and we get some Warlord-inspired selling here. Marty slides underneath Smash, but Ax smokes this smarty-pants. Crush is actually halfway decent on offense making him better than Warlord and Akeem in my book. Jannetty sells pretty well and takes the Bret Bump, before hitting a reverse bulldog to tag in Shawn. Double dropkick. Double fistdrop, but Crush saves. Shawn goes for that Bret roll-up off the ropes, but Ax crushes him with a lariat for the win. Hart Foundation & LOD are out to complain, but decision stands.
This is a pretty by the numbers match and illustrates the continued drop in quality of Demolition performances since 1988 and they are starting to lose heat also. The Rockers looked pretty good, but nothing outstanding. The finish does not even build the Hart Foundation/Demolition match all that well.
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WWF Tag Champs Demolition (Smash & Crush) vs Hart Foundation - Summerslam 1990 2 Out of 3 Falls
This ain't Eadie's Demolition as they are treated like any other heel tag team. There is none of that sense of struggle that Demolition usually imposes on its opponents. Instead of the Hart Foundation are having their way with the "Mighty" Demolition even Bret is able to manhandle both members of Demolition at once. It begins with some basic arm work on Smash, which Bret always make look good even when it is perfunctory. Crush catches Bret on a cross body attempt and Bret takes a blind boot to the head when running the ropes and I felt the heat segment coming, but instead he tags out to Anvil. Bret back in and a melee ensues with Bret coming out the better. Anvil gets wiped out on the outside, but Bret is in command with a Russian Legsweep, backbreaker, second rop elbow, but Crush breaks it up. They hit Demolition Decapitation to win the first fall. This first fall even though Demolition picked up victory made them feel like generic also-rans. Hart Foundation was definitely piloting the match and looking good.
Second fall does its job, but it is a bare minimum effort. Weak, weak heat segment on Bret. Bret clotheslines and struggles to tag in Anvil. Anvil running powerslam gets two and then Bret slingshots Anvil into Smash in the corner. Hart Attack, but Crush leaps on the ref to prevent the pinfall only to get DQ. Stupid finish to a lame fall. Ax hurries out in the intermission to hide under the ring.
Third fall was a little better as up until this point it had been a Hart Foundation squash. Crush wipes out Bret before the fall and Bret sells on the outside, but this does not last for long as Bret immediately is back on offense. Anvil shoulderblocks Smash and slams Bret on top for two. Smash and Ax switch. Finally the match picks up as Ax pulverizes Bret with his double ace handles. He gets a two off the Bret Bump and Crush executes a nice tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Crush detains Anvil while they repeatedly double team Bret on the outside and they finally get some heat on this match. Road Warriors come out to a massive pop to break up Demolition Decapitation. Anvil does his slingshot shoulderblock on Crush while Bret tabletops him for the three and their second World Tag Team Championship.
This was a really lackluster affair that felt like more of a squash match for the Hart Foundation than a dramatic title bout. If they wrestled the match like the third fall and really made use of the three man advantage this could have been something a bit more. Instead, it seemed clear that Bret was set to be a big star and Demolition was on job duty for the LOD so the match really reflected their momentum on the pecking order at this time. Summerslam '88 is definitely the match to watch between the two biggest WWF Tag Teams of this era.
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The Ultimate Warrior & Legion of Doom vs Demolition - MSG 9/90
This match was way, way better than it had any right to be. Easily, the best Demolition match since the Rockers '88 match. The only problem was that went too long that Animal FIP killed the momentum of the match. The opening shine sequence was pretty good with Hawk hitting a wicked dropkick and shoulder tackle. As LOD's big debut, it was a good way to put over their offense. Oddly, Warrior plays the FIP in a really well-done segment. Warrior missed a splash and in almost Shield-esque swarm Warrior and just suffocate him with body shots and triple teaming. It definitely felt like some good old-school Demolition. The only reason I found it weird because Warrior was the Champ at the time is all. Animal breaks up Demolition Decapitation and Warrior does a disco roll over to Animal to tag him in. I thought Ax was actually going to take Doomsday Device for a second, but it was broken up. We get a boring Animal FIP where chinlocks abound, which disappoints me because if they just went home after the Warrior FIP I could would say this was a remarkably good match. Warrior gets the hot tag as expected and mows down everyone. The crowd gives him a pretty good pop, but is hardly molten or bananas as Gorilla says. Warrior splash gives the Warriors a victory.
I thought I was going to recommend this match only for Warrior's entrance, but it was surprisingly good and the Warrior FIP comes off great, but the Animal FIP sours the match a bit.
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The Ultimate Warrior & Legion of Doom vs Demolition - SNME 10/90
It is like Vince heard my prayers from 2013 and put on the following match, which was bitchin'
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| I hope there is no nipple showing. ;) |
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Demolition w/ Mr. Fuji vs Legion of Doom - 11/20/90
Demolition with Mr. Fuji just feels right. This match harkens back to the glory days of Demolition with spirited cut-offs and well-worked segments. The home stretch is a bit messed up due to poor positioning by some people, but overall it is a pretty good match. It is weird though as there is zero heat for this match except for the hot tag to Animal. You would not know this DEMOLITION VS THE ROAD WARRIORS from the way the crowd is reacting and it is a good power match. Animal and Crush do a little tit for tat symmetry that establishes the two teams as equals. Hawk runs through a bit of his offense. I am a big fan of his shoulder tackle. There are elements of the old Demolition ethic where Crush interrupts a suplex attempt by Hawk. Demolition made LOD work for it. Fuji hooks Hawk leg and Smash blasts Hawk to the outside from behind. Fuji gets in a cane shot onto Hawk's back and they zero in on his back throughout the heat segment. They hit Demolition Decapitation to zero heat in a weird moment, but Animal saves. Hawk gets a clothesline and Animal gets the hot tag. In a pretty impressive feat of agility, Animal actually flips out of a double belly to back suplex and clotheslines Demolition members. They tease Doomsday Device, but Fuji hits Hawk again. Demolition take it to Animal with a Crush knee drop from the top and Smash hitting a suplex to zero heat. Before, Smash gets himself in position to take a top rope clothesline from Hawk to give LOD the victory. Afterwards they deck Fuji for good measure.The home stretch did not feel urgent enough, but I thought all the stuff leading up to it was really well-worked. The finish was messed up by Smash facing the wrong way on his piledriver attempt. I was pretty much dreading this series and this was the most fun I have had watching Demolition since they were heels in 1988. I will say I remember liking LOD's match against the Hart Foundation. None of this stuff has been earth-shattering, but LOD definitely feels revitalized in the ring and trying their hardest even though the crowds have been lukewarm.
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The Warriors (Ultimate Warrior, Texas Tornado, Legion of Doom) vs The Perfect Team (Mr. Perfect & Demolition) - Survivor Series 1990
This is nothing all that great and I would not watch this again, but it is largely inoffensive save for the Perfect heat segment on Warrior drags. I really liked Animal tackle out of Smash it really felt out of nowhere. Smash plays pinball early before Animal gets in trouble and Hennig looks good with his strikes. Animal hits his powerslam and Perfect pinballs well perfectly for the Warriors. As expected, Ax takes the pinfall from Warrior, it was sad seeing how degraded he can he became as he was totally out of position for Warrior and just looked bad. I actually like the Hawk/Demolition stuff as Hawk was the best offensive worker for all 8 guys and it was nice to see them do his thing. The lamest brawl ever gets LOD/Demolition DDQ leaving Perfect against Von Erich and Warrior. Von Erich had zero offense besides the punch. He actually was moving pretty decent, but I still don't get why they put the IC strap on him. Warrior runs Perfect and Brain's head together. Warrior seemed to really whip the Brain over the barricade, I actually felt bad for him. Perfect beat Von Erich on teh Perfectplex after Kerry's head hit the exposed turnbuckle. Warrior comes in and hits his head on the exposed turnbuckle, but kicks out of the Perfectplex that really should have been the impetus as opposed to the boring 5 minute heat segment that ensued. Perfect has some offense, but they have built to the Warrior's head into exposed turnbuckle into the Perfectplex rather than start with it.The Warriors (Ultimate Warrior, Texas Tornado, Legion of Doom) vs The Perfect Team (Mr. Perfect & Demolition) - Survivor Series 1990
After watching these matches, I have to say it feels like the WWF World Champion is slumming it. In the NWA, the Road Warriors were the equals of the Horsemen. In the WWF, it feels like Warrior is losing heat by being a part of this feud. Not to mention, he is in the curtain-jerking match. At this point, it feels like Martel/Roberts has a way hotter feud than anything Hogan or Warrior is doing. 1990 was not a very good year for WWF, but after Summerslam until Wrestlemania VII must have been brutal. Don't worry about this match, watch the SNME match.
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Rockers vs Demolition - MSG 11/90
Holy shit, this match totally snuck up on me and I thought it was really good. It was not an elite Rockers match, but this was still really good. This is by far the best Smash & Crush match and I am favorite Crush match of all time. This is a good speed vs. power match without huge bumps, but still good work. The opening Jannetty/Crush bit is the best thing I have ever seen out of Crush. It is light-hearted, but still establishes the dynamic of the match really well. People should watch it because there is too much good stuff for me to write down every single thing they do. It is punctuated by Shawn with a dropkick to tabletop Crush. I really dig the tabletop spot. Crush throws Shawn around, but Shawn bites out of the bearhug. Rockers showing a bit of a vicious side. Smash comes in and I love the Smash/Shawn bit too. Smash thinks he outsmarted Michaels by ducking, but Shawn hits Smash with a fist and then Smash does some weeble-wobble selling before crashing down. Rockers do their quick tag arm work and Smash sells discombobulated about as well as you can. In a spot I fuckin love, Marty runs the ropes, but halts before getting hit by Crush so he gets hit from behind by Smash. The heat segment is decent with the highlights being Crush hitting a double axehandle onto Jannety's back and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. We hit the bearhug. Smash hipchecks the turnbuckle. Smash tries desperately to stop the hot tag, but you can't deny Marty Jannetty. Shawn busts out the flying shoulder tackle, which I don't like for his size. Shawn really wants to hit a sunset flip, but Smash is holding onto Crush and Marty leapfrogs over Smash and breaks that up, sunset flip only gets two. The Rockers hit the worst double superkick ever. They do one a little better and Shawn hits a rocket launcher fist drop, but Crush pulls the ref out for the DQ. They are still protecting Demolition!?!?!?!?!?1??!This match is a ton of fun and even though it lacks the big spots of Powers Of Pain match, this one definitely required more finesse from Demolition. In that match, Rockers adapted to Powers of Pain to deliver a great match. In this match, Demolition can contribute to the match. The Marty/Crush and Shawn/Smash segments require better work from both parties. I loved those. The heat segments and home stretch were good, but not at the level of the shine segments.This is another great speed versus power match from the Rockers that continues to bolster their case as an all-time great tag team as it is still different than first Demos & POP match. It was wrestled as a cross of the Rougeaus and Demolition match, which was really interesting layout. So finally, Demolition has reached their 1988 peak again and it's a great match to end their run (well I am not watching their '91 stuff). Demolition work way better as heels to me.
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Nice blog
ReplyDeleteAmazang
Good work
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