shoe Posted July 27, 2012 Report Share Posted July 27, 2012 I don't feel like going through the DVDVR thread to find them, could you please list a top 10 Demolition matches. Since Victator you are speaking in absolutes. I would love to see what you ABSOLUTELY feel are Demolitions top 10 matches. If you feel that Rocker match is in it so be it. The Rockers had better matches with Rose and Somers , Tully and Arn, Hart Foundation, Adonis/Orton, Orient Express before I would rate that Rockers MSG match which I would have in a top 10 matches of Demolition of all time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victator Posted July 27, 2012 Report Share Posted July 27, 2012 Man the Tully and Arn and Hart Foundation matches are nowhere near as good. The Busters/Rockers matches are so frustrating to watch. You keep waiting for the Busters to get in gear and start kicking ass. But every time they get a little bit of offense going, the Rockers get back in control. Compare it to the Rock and Roll Express match from the TBS show and you see it is really lacking. Even if the TBS match had a shitty non finish. I have seen some good Hart Foundation/Rockers matches. But they seem like a preview of a better match. Even the twenty minute draw never seemed to get started. I like the Orient Express match, but I prefer the Express/New Foundation match from the 92 Rumble. And when I speak in absolutes, I am speaking from my own point of view. That should be obvious. Unless you fear I have the power to subvert your own personal will. Which would be a valid fear if every test chimp did not explode and I decided not to test on people. Actually I consider Demos/Rockers to be the best WWF/E tag match ever. If I was trapped somewhere with my portable DVD player and a flashdrive with only ten matches on it, Demos/Rockers would be a lock. VR: Now my top ten Demolition matches. 10.Demolition vs Legion of Doom and the Ultimate Warrior - MSG - 9/21/90 This match had a big time main event vibe. Once it got cooking it was really good, Also its Demolition vs the Road Warriors. 9. Demolition © vs Colossal Connection - Huntsville, AL - 12/13/89 This match tells a really clear story and is very unique in wrestling. The good guys get their asses kicked cleanly. No manager interfering, no weapons. They just get beat fairly in the middle of the ring. 8. Demolition vs Rougeau Brothers - Boston - 3/5/88 One of my favorite heel Demos matches. Its like a mugging. Rougeaus did a great job playing two guys in over their head and swinging blind. 7. Demolition© vs Brainbusters 2/3 Falls - Worcester, MA - 7/18/89 This is the big title change and a really well put together 2 out of 3 falls match. Tully and Arn are great. Nobody could sell as much as they do and look credible. But they manage to do it. They make you think "Demolition is really tough. These guys must be super tough to even stay in the ring with them." 6. Demolition© vs Twin Towers - Boston - 4/22/89 The first Towers match. Picked this over the MLG match because I thought the Towers looked more monstrous here. I wanted to see the rematch more. 5. Colossal Connection © vs Demolition - 12/28/89 - MSG Love this match. Again was a coin flip between this and the Towers 6/3/89 match. This has a great story that does build off the title loss. In that match Demolition lost because they had underestimated the giant. Here they adjust their strategy and its the Connection who are floundering. 4. Demolition© vs Twin Towers - Boston - 6/3/89 Best match of the Towers series. This was a great return match. Not just a random match in the series it feels like a continuation. Akeem is great in this. When AX slams him I cheered. The finish was great with Towers being foisted by their own petard. 3. Demolition vs the Hart Foundation Summerslam 1988 This match feels like the Best vs the Best. Not even so much in actual work just perception. The two top teams of the era facing off. Has my favorite hot tag ever with Neidhart destroying the Demos then watching as everyone in the arena stands up cheering. 2. Brainbusters © vs Demolition - MSG - 9-30-89: I could of flipped a coin between 1 and 2. This is a great match too and I can't stress how great Tully and Arn were. These were too great tag teams allowed to put together a great tag team match. 1. Demolition © vs Rockers - MSG - 10/1988 I watched this back in 2006 and thought it was really good. Rewatching it for this Project and was blown away by how great it was. I think its the best WWF tag team match ever. I would put it up against any match and thinK it would fare well. Just twelve minutes of full throttle kick ass tag team wrestling. Demos were perfect as ass kickers and Rockers were perfect as underdogs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victator Posted July 27, 2012 Report Share Posted July 27, 2012 Actually since then, I would replace the first Towers match with the Bulldogs MSG match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted July 27, 2012 Report Share Posted July 27, 2012 10. Demolition & Fuji vs British Bulldogs & Ultimate Warrior - MLG - 7-24-88 (PTW 8-1-88): This is one of the most enjoyable matches we covered on the blog. About 60% of that is because of Warrior's antics. The camera's on him, unlike the other 88 six man, and he's not nearly as developed as a character as he is in the 90 six man. No, here he's just a crazed bull full of energy and random hand motions. And then Demos have to deal with him which leads to a lot of the fun in the match, that and the Bulldogs having to keep a straight face. There are other interesting things like Fuji matching up well against broken down Dynamite and the rollicking finishing segment. 9. Demolition vs Rougeau Brothers - Boston - 3/5/88: We've said a bunch of times that we really would have wanted to see heel Rogs vs face Demos. This is a really good match to watch for the project, however. The reason why is that it really highlights the Demolition motto: "make them work for it." Actually, the Demolition motto is probably "Carpe Clubber!" but you get the idea. The Rogs try a whole bunch of stuff and none of it works because Ax and Smash don't let up. It's heel Demolition in a nutshell. 8. Demolition© vs Twin Towers - Boston - 4/22/89: The MLG match has more character. This, however, is a little big longer and they make use of the time to give it a better structural build. Honestly, you should watch both of them and compare/contrast. If I saw this in the arena I'd definitely want to see the return match. 7. Demolition© vs Brainbusters 2/3 Falls - Worcester, MA - 7/18/89 (Aired SNME #22 - 7/29/89): The first two falls are great but the last fall just feels a bit too rushed for this to be higher. The first fall really builds off of the last match with the Demos wanting their hands on the Busters, and the Busters knowing not to underestimate the Demos. The second fall ends with a callback to the previous match. It's just such smart, high-end stuff. 6. Colossal Connection © vs Demolition - 12/28/89 - MSG: They do such a good job working around Andre's physical limitations. Demos would tag out after every little hit from him, when he was on the ground. That's how you make an immobile giant (with great timing) look like a million bucks. This is a match that does not look like much on paper, but everything works so well down to the solid story about Haku and Andre not working well as a unit and it still not really mattering since they're such a force. 5. Demolition© vs Twin Towers - Boston - 6/3/89: So many things work well in this match. It feels like a return match. Garvin works great as the ref. Ax is King Ax, god of killer babyfaces with his hot tag. The finish is one of the best finishes I've ever seen in that you have no idea what just happened until you see the replay and then you cheer big for it. There's payoff and emotion and everything else. 4. Demolition © vs BrainBusters - Des Moines, IA - 4/25/89 (Aired SNME #21 5/27/89): This is one of my favorite "match as angles" ever. I put it up there with stuff like the Bruno/Larry Z exhibition. It's just that cool to me. Busters come in confident. Demos counter them at every turn. Busters cheat like maniacs. Demos counter them. Busters cheat even harder. Finally Smash gets furious and the Busters pick up the DQ win and get to make the rematch on their terms. Artists at work. 3. Demolition © vs Rockers - MSG - 10/1988: I'll admit, it's been a while since I've seen this one now, since we started the project off with it, but this match is pure excitement and at such a pace. I read that Shawn didn't think the Demos sold enough for them, but that's crazy. Look at the first couple of minutes and the way they were keeping up with the Rockers and their offense, selling it like the Flash beating up Gorilla Grodd or something. Really exciting finishing sequence too. You really think that the Rockers are going to win for a minute there, even decades later when you know better. 2. Demolition © vs Hart Foundation - MSG - 8/29/88 - Summerslam: I'm usually not someone to care much about "big match feel," but this has it in droves. The Harts are so over and they have this real presence that makes them seem larger than life. This is Godzilla vs King Kong and they're fighting in a jungle in the middle of Tokyo. It's a great mix of the two styles, with the Demos so frustrated by the Harts that they have to capitalize on an injury, but once they do, they never let up. Big spots. Big stakes. Hot crowd. Great stuff. 1. Brainbusters © vs Demolition - MSG - 9-30-89: This is personal preference right here. #2 or #3 could be in this spot just as easy. Arn and Tully wrestle a perfect match. They do everything right and Demolition just fights back at every turn. It's never about no-selling with Demolition. It's always about toughness and fighting back. I think that's something people don't understand without watching a lot of these matches. It's not hulking up and it's not unstoppable no-selling. This match is portrayed as two teams at the very top of their game giving it their all and it's totally believable and it absolutely works. That's my list ( I'd probably switch out the last one for the Demolition © vs British Bulldogs - MSG - 7/25/88 match too) but for the sixty-forth time, to me it's not necessarily about great matches, but about trends over time. You can watch a two minute span of just about any Demolition match (especially when Eadie's in the ring), and track those two minutes and everything they do in it will make sense, build towards something, and be grounded, meaningful and believable, and yeah, get over. I get how people who subscribe to the "great match" mentality will balk at that as being unimportant or about "what might have been." but to me, it's almost exactly the difference between the Shawn Michaels note and this one. With Shawn, it's about finding the great matches, because if you pick apart the work itself, it doesn't hold up under analysis. No, Demolition does not have a ton of great matches. But if you pick apart the work, what they do, what they make their opponents do, it really DOES hold up under analysis. When you add in how many different roles they could play successfully (and smartly and at the right time) while still maintaining their identity and how they switched up structure between matches and didn't follow a formula, they're a great team. That they were able to balk at the heel in peril WWF structure and make the faces earn every bit of offense upon them makes them a great team. To me, but I fully admit that my criteria is very different than a lot of people's. but at least I explain why I like them and at length. You can bounce off Vic and try to meet him on his points (because he does think that they have a shit ton of great matches; I think they have a few) or you can engage me on mine. Or you can find your own. I see wrestling as symbolic. I like structure. I like every move mattering and every bit of offense, every hot tag, every iota of anything being earned. Do they have great matches? Maybe. Do they have great wrestling? Absolutely. In the late 80s WWF environment, those two things do not necessarily go hand in hand. I am arguing some very specific things, but things that I think are important and remarkable and really stand out. It's okay if you don't care about what I care about and don't want to argue with me on those elements, but I don't think I can add much more to what I've already said. 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Kronos Posted July 29, 2012 Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 Great discussion. I don't have a lot to add, though I fully intend to watch some of the matches in question. I will say this (going by memory): Demolition showed up at one of the Chikara King of Trios in the last few years. They were old and fat, truly -- and they worked rings around the Chikara guys. They didn't waste any movements, probably because they didn't want to get gassed. Small praise to say prime WWF-era guys could outwork Chikara, I guess, even if I do enjoy a lot of Chikara's stuff when I am in the mood. But it's something that has not been mentioned in this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstar Sleeze Posted July 29, 2013 Report Share Posted July 29, 2013 It's back! It was only a matter of time that I felt comfortable having watched enough Demolition to at least start commenting in this thread. I will say on an aesthetic point of view when silver is not the most prominent color of their face paint they definitely look the more intimidating. I know someone said the makeup kinda looked like KISS, but I beg to differ they were definitely inspired by everyone's favorite Satanic Heavy Metal Star, King Diamond of Mercyful Fate. Hail Satan! On a more serious note, I want to discuss some of the points made in this thread. I don't think I truly understood what Matt D meant by "trends". I have to come realize it is the inter-match storytelling and how Demolition adjust to their opponents. Now, if I wanted inter-match storytelling I would just watch All Japan, but Demolition does adapt to their opponents better than most WWF tag teams. Structure does not necessarily beget great work. What is a great plan without great execution? I have seen Demolition have matches that I consider. Their most impressive mauling match was against the Islanders because Tama bumped like a maniac for them. They did not just rely on their stomps and bearhugs to tell the story. In my opinion they had the best pure heel in peril tag match against Killer Bees and what I consider the best Killer Bees match I have ever seen. They worked hard to tell the story of the Bees overcoming the power of Demolition with smart work by targeting Ax's knee. However, too often Demolition settles for the bare minimum. They know they have an easy story to tell because they much larger than most their opponents and more often than not they will just phone in performances. I was so high on Strike Force until I saw them wrestle Demolition. Massive kudos to Demolition they were the preeminent tag team in WWF from 1988-90. There is no tag in the post-1984 WWF/E that can claim that reign of dominance. They had a gimmick that fit the time period well, played the characters well and delivered in the ring enough so that fans were willing to buy them as the top team. Yes, they laid their matches out well, but great structure is not great work unto itself. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Demolition vs Killer Bees - 9/87 Houston 2 Out Of 3 Falls Before I rave about this match (just the first two falls), Pete Doherty is the fuckin worst commentator ever. This is the greatest Killer Bees match I have ever seen and I have watched way too many Killer Bees matches. This may be Demolition's best match as well, but it is still to early to tell and I hope they have better matches. On top of all this, I think the first fall is greatest heel in peril tag I have ever seen. I think it is a bit overstated that WWF tag matches were done in a heel-in-peril style. They usually had a normal babyface shine and any babyface limb work was perfunctory and short-lived. It is not the crux of the match and the face in peril is usually as long if not longer than the babyface shine. This match is heel in peril through and through and really well-done. The hook of the match is that Bees have managed to injure Ax's knee finally exposing a weakness to the seemingly indomitable Demolition. As Ax is struggling to tag Smash, you are happy to see Demolition finally writhe pain. The match begins as most Demolition matches do with concept that Bees have no chance on their own against Demolition. They have to manage to get a member of Demolition in their corner so they can do frequent tags and double teams. They are leveraging their speed advantage into double team moves. Demolition use a lot of cheating to parlay that into power moves. There is a real sense of struggle from the beginning. One team is not dominating the other rather they are jockeying for position. Ax keeps grabbing a front facelock and Blair keeps relentlessly pounding away at his knee. Finally Ax's knee gives out and the Bees just go to town on Ax's knee with all sorts of double teams, stretches and holds. Ax is desperately trying to get to Smash, but there is no sympathy to be had for these brutes. Blair goes for coup d'grace: figure-4. Smash sensing the end is nigh makes the save. In the confusion, Blair eats knees on a splash attempt and Demolition go up 1-0 in a great first fall. Ax tries to avoid starting the next fall even though he won the previous fall so Brunzell brings him in the hard way. Ax is able to tag out, but as Smash comes in he performs an atomic drop on Blair, who tags Brunzell while being hoisted up. Blair collides with Ax and Brunzell dropkicks Smash to win the second fall. It is all knotted up. Brunzell goes after Ax's leg again forcing him to tag out. This has really rendered Demolition into a one person team. Smash is able to get his boot up so that Blair wipes out. This sets up the Blair heat segment. This is great illustration of Demolition doing their bare minimum. The heat segment mainly consists of Demolition doing frequent tags to slap on the vulcan nerve pinch. It is not like they are using this hold to contain Blair. They should be pressing the advantage more instead it feels like killing time. Smash takes the Bret Bump into the turnbuckles and Ax misses an elbow. Has Bill Eadie ever hit an elbow? Brunzell is a small campfire as he only gets two with his dropkick. As he is running the ropes, Ax hits Jumpin Jim with Fuji's cane and that's all she wrote. If the match just ended after the first fall it would go down as one of lost classics. The second fall was actually perfect as the Bees deserved to win the first fall and got it all knotted up. The third fall was a bore and just dragged. As Meatloaf says Two Outta Three Aint Bad. Demolition vs Billy Jack Haynes & Ken Patera - 11/87 Boston This is definitely nothing for you to go out of your way to see as the Pride of Oregon & Richard Simmons Clone do battle with Mr. Fuji's Demolition. Patera really should have stuck with the bleach blonde hair. The key difference in this match from other Demos matches is that like the Powers of Pain match where these two strongmen do not need to double up their moves to gain advantage over Demolition. In fact, during Haynes' hot tag you see him dominating both members of Demolition. Part of me thinks this pretty foolish as Patera and Haynes were just mid-carders (Heenan & Patera angle may have been hot I am not too familiar with it.) whereas the Powers of Pain were being pushed as the Demolition's arch rivals. There were two heat segments. The first one on Haynes was nothing much. Patera showed very little in the way of offense. Demolition went after segment. Haynes has some decent power moves, he could be better in a different setting I have watched none of his Portland work. Billy Jack struggles to get on his dreaded full nelson and then all four men end up in the ring. The referee calls it a no contest. Ax goes to town on Patera's arm with cane. Haynes managed to grab the cane and fend off the Demolition sending them packing. Pretty run of the mill, blase match. Demolition just working the midcard teams before their eventual ascension to the No. 1 Tag Team spot at Wrestlemania IV. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ax vs Ken Patera - 2/88 MSG The Pro Wrestling Only Dream Match - 6 years after its expiration date. I was pleasantly surprised by this match. They cut a very good pace and it was well-worked. It was not spectacular, but it definitely was not a snoozefest. I felt Ax bumped better here than he had in most of his Demolition matches. Patera started off hot and really never let up. Patera was pretty good working Ax's arm early. Fuji played "I'm not touching you! I'm not touching you!" with his case eventually this incensed Patera enough for to follow onto the floor. I thought this was going to be the transition spot, but curveball Patera runs Ax into the post and railing. The real one was Patera running into Ax's boot and then Ax going after Patera's cast arm. Fuji helped out with a couple cane shots. Patera locked in the full nelson, but Fuji distracted and Patera decked him. Here comes Smash! Walking Disaster! Ax blindsides Patera for the win. JYD makes the save. It is weird that Patera was feuding with Heenan, but wrestling Demolition. Patera's stock was clearly falling. The wrestling landscape had changed so much and he just could not really adapt. Demolition was on the upswing and about to become the No. 1 Tag Team in the WWF from 1988-1990. It was no brainer for Ax to pick up the duke. This was a solid match from two pros. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstar Sleeze Posted July 30, 2013 Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 Demolition as babyfaces sort of dreading this, but also intrigued. 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. ----------------------------------------------- WWF Tag Champs Demolition vs Powers of Pain w/ Mr. Fuji - 12/88 MSG NO DQ Holy shit! Barbarian speaks! Decent promo by him. Fuji may be the most useless manager save for Albano. 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.... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF Tag Champs Demolition vs Powers of Pain & Mr. Fuji - Wrestlemania V The best match of the series as Barbarian brought some nice moves during the heat segment and it climaxed appropriately with Fuji getting his comeuppance. I dont mind the double clubbering from Demolition it is the chinlocks on the POP that are boring. Warlord is so awkward taking the Demos offense. Barbarian uppercuts and works his usual moves: flying shoulderblock as Fuji gets his licks in. Fuji gets cocky and misses a top rope leg drop. Smash in with some bodyslams and they drop Warlord throat first across the top rope. POP breaks it up. Fuji with salt in Warlord's eyes. Leaving Fuji alone to take Demolition Decapitation. The first time I have actually seen Demolition hit that move. The match has better executed heat segment and Fuji eating Decapitation was a fitting climax. It is only up from here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted July 30, 2013 Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 You ought to be commended for sitting through those Powers of Pain/Demolition matches. Even as a kid I realized those matches were the drizzling shits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted July 30, 2013 Report Share Posted July 30, 2013 I don't even think I saw more than a couple. For my purposes, I got the picture pretty quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstar Sleeze Posted July 31, 2013 Report Share Posted July 31, 2013 Well I thought watching shitty wrestling for completest sake was what the cool kids were doing. 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 Russel 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted July 31, 2013 Report Share Posted July 31, 2013 I probably haven't watched the character in 20+ years, but when I was a kid I thought Akeem was the greatest and funniest I ever saw hit a wrestling ring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted July 31, 2013 Report Share Posted July 31, 2013 I really liked both of those Twin Towers/Demolition matches. At least I think I did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstar Sleeze Posted August 6, 2013 Report Share Posted August 6, 2013 Akeem sucked out loud when I was watching him maybe it was one of those things you had to be there for. WWF Tag Champs Demolition w/Mr. Fuji vs The British Bulldogs - MSG 7/88 If you told me, "Sleeze, there are going to be 3 extended heat segments in this match and you will like it" I would have said "Dont apply to work for Miss Cleo." But shockingly enough I liked this match a good deal. I would say it is one of the better Demolition matches, just falling short of Summerslam '88 match and about even with the Islanders match. This match really encapsulates what is said about Demolition forcing their opponents to work for their offense. There is a real sense of struggle and urgency in this match that you do not find in the Hart Foundation and Bulldogs matches. The beginning of the match really felt like four titans just blasting each other to get the victory. The Bulldogs controlled the more powerful Demolition by using wristlocks but were not afraid to throw some bows at the Demos. The Demos never just lay down and took the offense they made sure to get their shots in to let the Bulldogs know they were still there. Davey Boy ends up going to the outside and then getting run into the steel post. Ax gets a little lazy here with vulcan nerve pinch. Davey Boy was prone to an attack and would have liked to see Demolition press their advantage. When Davey Boy elbows out of a chinlock, Ax gives him some shots for good measure and then Davey Boy punts him on a telegraphed back body drop. It is little things like that convey a sense of struggle. Dynamite in and he and Ax miscommunicate on a clothesline and he hits his snap suplex, but he gets hit in the back of the head by Smash while running the ropes. His back gets ran into the apron and he becomes the Face In Peril. Smash suplexes Dynamite back into the ring. Dynamite with a wicked clothesline and here comes Davey Boy. Davey Boy hits one of his impactful dropkicks, but gets the back body dropped and again becomes the face in peril. The Bulldogs just can not sustain any offense against the powerful machine known as Demolition. Demolition is eating them up, but the Bulldogs are putting up more of a fight and are not just mailing this one in like the rest of 1988. At one point, Davey Boy just starts throwing shivers and actually gets a nearfall on Ax. It feels like a fight. Smash's backbreaker gets two. Smith gets his feet up in the corner. Dynamite in and he gets a wicked clothesline and a wicked flying headbutt. He takes the Bret Bump in the corner. It feels like the Bulldogs are wrestling like individuals and Demolition wrestles like a team and thats why the Bulldogs can not sustain offense. Davey Boy mows down Demolition by himself. He gets his running powerslam and the ref just stops counting at 2 and the crowd goes bonkers thinking the Bulldogs have won the title. The ref goes to break up an Ax/Dynamite fight only to get clobbered off camera. Smith has Fuji by the collar (better than the time Fuji just no sold all of Neidhart's punches) and Rougeaus come in and hit him with the cane allowing Demolition to pick up the victory. The Rougeaus interference set up the Summerslam match, but was there an rhyme or reason to it? This match more so than any other WWF tag matches felt like a fight, but again I wish Demolition would press the advantage in their heat segments. If they did that, I think I would rate them among the best of all time. I loved the sense of struggle the constant little shots each team gave each other. Another interesting thread that was woven through the match was that Demolition really wrestled as a team and the Bulldogs wrestled as individuals. You would often see one Bulldog attempt to overwhelm both members of Demolition because they got the dug into early hole by the heat segment. They could not escape from this vicious cycle. Since most tag matches have maximum 2 heat segments by drawing out to three it really demonstrated how the first heat segment can cause a perpetual cycle of the babyface team having to fight underneath. I may just start coming around to heel Demolition that being said I still have not seen a good babyface Demolition match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfman Posted August 6, 2013 Report Share Posted August 6, 2013 I could never get into them because they were a total Road Warriors rip-off and I knew I was basically watching the Masked Superstar and Krusher Kruschev. They were both good wrestlers but I didn't like their "theme". Btw, Bill Eadie will always be one of my favorite heels as the MS. Great wrestler too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstar Sleeze Posted August 26, 2013 Report Share Posted August 26, 2013 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. -------------------------------------------- WWF Tag Champs Demolition vs The BrainBusters w/Bobby "The Brain" Heenan - SNME 5/89 This story of this match is that Busters are totally outgunned by the awesome might of Demolition unless they cheat. Arn & Tully do a good job putting over that they do not want to be double teamed by Demolition, but in their caution they often pay the hard way. The first moment of cheating sees Tully bury a need in Smash's back, but he pops back up from vertical suplex. Ruh roh, Busters! They do some regroup with The Brain, but to no avail as Ax still catches Tully off the top and plants him in the corner (a favorite spot of the series). After some more clubbering, Double A is able to get a chop block during a Smash double choke. Tully hotshots Smash and Arn follows up with a spinebuster but gets flinged off with authority (another favorite spot of the series). Smash and Arn punch each other at the same time. To prevent the hot tag, Tully pulls Ax off the apron and AA clocks Ax. Melee ensues leading to Demolition getting DQ'd because Ax loses his temper and throws a ref. 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. ------------------------------------------------------------- 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- WWF Tag Champs BrainBusters vs Demolition - MSG 9/89 It is disappointing that Busters only worked Demolition, the Rockers and Bushwhackers in meaningful programs. I would have liked to see them with some more varied opponents. This is definitely the best match out of the bunch. On the Demolition sliding scale, it is one of their best matches. This one has a wild start with the Demolition out for blood as they do not take off their hoods before clearing the ring. Just to make it clear, I think this was a very proper response to them losing their titles to underhanded tactics. I just wish they would show some more vulnerability later on the match. I like the spot a lot where Tully is layed out on the top ropes and gets clubbered. We get some chinlocking with some switching without tagging. Demolition living on the edge! I will say this is the most energetic clubbering I have ever seen out of Demolition if it was always like this, I would like them a lot more. Smash sets too early and Arn gives him an elbow for good measure. Tully follows up with and elbow and Arn with a spinebuster. Sustained offense by the BrainBusters, Whaaaaaaaaaat? Smash hits an atomic drop on Arn sending him into Smash's boot. Ax back in and he is chinlock-happy. 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. 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------- 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Redman Posted August 26, 2013 Report Share Posted August 26, 2013 In the interests of comparison, while I'm not going to be as eloquent as a Matt D on the subject, here are my thoughts on the July SNME match. TL;DR: I couldn't possibly disagree with you more. HOLY MOTHER OF GOD. This might well be the smartest and most well-worked match I have watched in this entire project. Which is saying quite a bit. This was unbelievable pro wrestling. Everything made sense, everything had a purpose, everything worked. Cannot begin to explain how effective this was. Going in they were coming off their first SNME match (which was great in its own right) where the Busters, having realised they were completely outmatched, did so much cheating and f*ckery that they goaded the Demos into getting themselves DQ'd. Setting up this rematch, but this is 2/3 Falls which means they cant pull another fast one on them this time, but the DQ is still in play in case the Demos get out of hand again. (An aside, Mean Gene saying that this would be "the biggest win for the good guys since the invasion of Grenada" is the strangest thing I've ever heard said before a tag title match.) There is SO MUCH COOL SH*T in this match. So much that I need to list them all. The way that they switch up typical double team spots is awesome; early on Tully tries to whip Ax into Arn, Ax reverses but Tully manages to duck Arn's arm, only for Smash to come up and nail him anyway. Little stuff like that makes their matches so fun to watch and there are a million of those kind of things here. Arn going for a stomp and Smash CATCHING THE BOOT. Arn gets caught on a crossbody, Tully throws a dropkick to get him over, but since he dropkicked Arn to do the move, Arn SELLS. Honest to God I dont think I've ever seen anyone actually sell that before. The way that during the first fall Smash casually steps into the ring, boots Tully on the floor once and walks away, completely confident that that will be sufficient to prevent him breaking up the pin. After being destroyed, Tully finally moves Ax into his corner, and at the same time Arn leans in for a tag and Tully smashes Ax's face into the turnbuckle, resulting in a gigantic HEADCLASH, and now Arn has tagged in while he's wobbly-legged and cant see straight. Then Ax Atomic Drops Arn right into the turnbuckle and Arn's head snaps back and hits Ax in the head. Headclash City! The work in this was absolutely ridiculous, it was unique and exciting and if they were getting this level of work done doing flipz instead of tag team spots people would be raving out of their minds and pouring the snowflakes on. The match is great for the big picture too. Demos beat the sh*t out of these guys. They just do. (And by the way, the Busters' WWF stooging style is SO much more effective against the Demos than, say, the Rockers or Harts or any other smaller team.) They dominate the first fall and pin Arn. Soon after there is a FANTASTIC shot of Heenan just miserable, literally facepalming at the situation. There's no way the Demos can lose from a fall up. BUT, just like the first match, the heels start cheating and double teaming and goading, so that finally when they get the hot tag Demos are wild and cant control themselves. They get DQ'd. But even so, they were DQ'd in the process of hitting their finish and knocking Tully out cold. They're still on top. BUT, knocking Heenan off the apron brings out ANDRE THE GIANT to ringside. Heenan Family sticks together. So just when the Demos finally get it done and have the Busters beat, Andre makes his presence felt, Snash gets BRUTALISED by a chair, and game over. Heels win. I'm raving like a lunatic but this was really completely awesome, every single second of this match made sense and was worked to perfection. A genuinely great find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted August 26, 2013 Report Share Posted August 26, 2013 I'll post mine too. I will say that the first SNME match I think is absolutely brilliant. Also, it's a really tricky line. We have someone earlier in this note complaining heavily that Demolition gave way too much in the Twin Towers matches. For the story they were telling in these matches, I think they gave the Busters exactly what they should have. Also, it's been a few years since I've seen these and I've watched a lot of stuff since, so I'm not sure if I'd feel slightly different or not. I know I stand by the first match though. 5/89 This is one of my favorite WWF matches of the 80s. As I said above, 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. 7/89 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. 9/89 Honestly, I'm just glad this match exists. We're so lucky that WWF taped for the MSG Network and NESN and what have you. Imagine if we just had PPVs and CV tapes and PTWs to go off of? Anyway, we're lucky this match exists and it's a good one. This comes after the Busters won the title so the two teams know each other pretty well by now. It starts with the Busters in the ring and Demos walking through the hallways. Yes, even with the masks on, it's easy to tell which one is Smash because of his hyped up body language. Sometimes I wonder if he has ADHD in all the best possible ways. Big brawl from the get go, even before Demos take off the masks. It leads to Arn and Tully tossed into each other with a big sell (and I always wish that heel Demolition sold that spot just a little better). Ends up being Arn and Smash. Arn hits a crisp sunset flip. Smash sinks down and punches him in the side of the throat repeatedly, nastily. Arn comes up and goes to tag Ax in groggily and if that doesn't bring a smile to your face when you see it, then you have no soul. Smash follows up the potatoing with an AWESOME big boot, which he never does in any other match I've seen. Tully's tagged in, trades blows with Smash, only to end up in a bearhug allowing Smash to walk him right into the corner for the Demolition Double-Team Turnbuckle Clubber. Ax tries to choke Tully, but Arn comes around to clobber him from the outside and then tries to get some shots in, but Ax reverses and clotheslines one and then the other in a straight line. Fast, fast pace for this opening segment with lots of neat stuff. All of this stuff continues from the last few matches with the Demos being more than the Busters' match in the early going. The difference here, of course, is that the Busters have the belts now and that changes the dynamic somewhat. Anyway, a neck vice on Arn by Smash leads to a fun moment where Tully, hanging way over the middle of the ropes, makes a tag and the ref doesn't allow it. I swear that the Busters were playing these strangely earnest characters in the WWF. We get a few more minutes of Arn eating offense with Ax being particularly intense. He just has these bursts of real intensity throughout. Arn finally makes a desperate tag and Tully comes right off the top. It's amazing how quick he can be. Busters are all over Smash in their corner, do a double whip since nothing else would contain him, and Arn hits the Spinebuster, but even that's not enough when the Demos are chasing the belts. He tries for a knee drop and Smash catches it and does his stand up into a flip and atomic drop into their corner. It's a cool variation on the last time he did it which was off a stomp and lead to just dropping Arn onto his butt. Smash does the triple fist pump/scream afterwards and the crowd goes nuts. Tully almost takes over with dirty tactics but he runs into Ax's foot from the outside and the Demos are cutting the Busters off at every turn. There's a moment here when Ax has Tully in a nasty chinlock that sums up the match: Tully tries to pull Ax's hair. Ax lets out a yelp of pain, and then he pulls right back on Tully's to maintain control. That's the match. Finally, the Busters cheat to get ahead and it works, with Tully drawing Smash into the ring, the ref taking his life into his hands by grapping Smash's wrist to get him out (But if the Demos get DQed they can't get the belts, so there is that), and tully coming off the top again while Ax has the neck vice on. Busters cheat SO hard to keep ahead. With goading of Smash at every moment. Honestly, no one this side of the Young Stallions had to work so hard to get offense on Demolition but it works so well because the Busters are portrayed as doing everything right despite having such a hard time of it and Demolition as cheating just as much, and of course, they keep winning against Demolition in the end. Spoiler warning: they keep the belts. Anyway, Tully locks a KILLER chinlock on Ax, one of the nastiest I've seen, but Ax stands up and it's portrayed as this awesome struggle. Busters double-team and stay on top, beating down Ax anyway imaginable over the next couple of minutes and Ax just eats the offense awesomely. Some of the best FIP stuff I've seen out of Ax, especially considering it only last a couple of minutes. That's just the pace of this match. Eventually, he fights back long enough to get Tully out of the way so it's one on one and while Arn has the advantage, they end up hitting heads off the ropes. But they delay the hot tag by having Tully RUN around the ring at a key moment. Arn then comes off the top only to eat the awesome clothesline counter (done by Ax instead of Smash as opposed to the 2/3 falls match). Tully comes in at a key moment again but it's too late. Perfectly time hot tag. Smash runs in, a total house of fire. He bullcharges through Tully, and slams Arn, tosses Tully's head into the corner post, crushes Arn's skull on the mat, catches Tully off the top with an inverted atomic drop, signals to the crowd and points at arn, and then clotheslines Tully over the top. This is like the best hot tag offense I've ever seen here. Then Smash lifts up Arn in a bodyslam position and drops him over the top rope with Ax assisting from the outside. It's just a killer finisher and you think there's going to be a title change but Arn pulls the ref out and it's a DQ. Great match. Maybe as good as the Rockers one. Maybe better. Watch this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstar Sleeze Posted August 26, 2013 Report Share Posted August 26, 2013 The match is not without logic. The logic is just Demolition are the mightiest of warriors; indomitable in the ring. I think the big disconnect was I didn't see that much goading and/or cheating. Maybe that is the hyper-compressed style working against it. I recently watched the Hart Foundation vs Rockers match where I thought the work of the match hits a crescendo really well because they took time to build up both sides of the work. Instead here they are so focused on DEMOLITION ARE TAG TEAM GODS! that they neglect the BrainBusters so it feels like an extended squash. It reminds me of 2011 CM Punk shoot-a-mania when he would not let anyone get in a word edge-wise and he pretty much came off as an insufferable baby to me. Demolition never let the Busters sustain offense so it always felt like a "blowout". When Demolition does this as heels, it is cool because it gives the babyfaces a lot to overcome and it is cool. As babyfaces, you don't have change your style to that of RnRs or anything. just meet me half-way displaying some vulnerability like they did in September. Demolition just works better as a heel team in my eyes. That being said, they got saddled with the Powers of Pain & Twin Towers so I was willing to give them a pass. I know that people here liked the Towers stuff, but Akeem was really annoying so I chocked it up to that. If you are going to have good matches, it has to be with the Busters, but still was not feeling the matches because of how one-sided they were. Are you guys right that Demolition is one of the better tag teams of honing in an internal logic? Without a doubt. But a match is not made by structure alone, there needs to be good work. Too often, Demolition comes off as putting in the bare minimum effort to perform these matches. There is like zero energy in most Demolition matches. I think the biggest thing in wrestling for me is a sense of urgency, but even more broadly is a lot of energy. Energy can take a lot of forms in brawls, matwork and championship matches, but Demolition is such a cold team from my viewing. I have been glad I have watched them because they are an interesting tag team just one that I think is missing that big piece that separates a behind the scenes genius from an in-ring genius. EDIT: This was in response to only Redman's post though it was pretty generalized. I will read Matt's post throughout the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted August 26, 2013 Report Share Posted August 26, 2013 To your response to Redman's post: Wrestling is subjective. Totally okay that you feel how you do and it's validating to me that you've seen as much of the good as you have, even if you do think they are missing elements, since there are so many people out there who would not see that, and it's only through seeing multiple matches that it really comes to the forefront. It's one of those things you'd never know if you just looked out for Great Matches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstar Sleeze Posted September 9, 2013 Report Share Posted September 9, 2013 Just rewatched Demolition/Rockers from 1988 because I thought I short-changed it even though I did write a pretty positive review. On rewatch, it was a really incredible match and it really lends further proof to my belief that Demolition was actually a great heel team and just were not a very good babyface tag team. I believe that the monster face is the toughest role to play in wrestling and it just not something Demoltiion could pull off in a way that was entertaining to me even though they were quite over with the live crowd. On the rewatch, I loved, loved the shine Rockers were cutting a tremendous pace and Demolition really made them work for it. The heat segment was excellent Shawn was selling Demo's stuff well and Demos were hyper-focused on the back. Shawn is out to lunch if he thinks Demos did not give him enough because they got plenty way more than the Busters and the finish was great as putting Rocker over only to lose to a Demolition double team. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Team Powers of Pain (Powers of Pain, British Bulldogs, Rockers, Hart Foundation& Young Stallions) vs Team Demolition (Demolition, Brainbusters, Rougeaus, Bolsheviks & Conquistadors) - Survivor Series '88 I am glad there were only two matches done in this style because I have to say I am not a huge fan. I think they are both very good matches given the circumstances, but there is just too much action and not enough story. In the '87 match, I was trying to separate my issues with the style and give a positive review in spite there was a lot of sizzle, but little steak. I will say this match improves on that match as the storylines are much more interesting highlighting Demos/POP & Busters/Rockers as the next big feuds and the Impossible Dream Team of the Conquisatdors. This was the Rockers & Busters first real big chance on a WWF stage and they really shine by differentiating themselves immediately from the WWF wrestlers. Right from the outset, the Rockers are pushing their speed element as how they will over come the stereotypical bigger guys with the Bolsheviks. Then Tully comes in and immediately starts pinballing off the babyfaces. Then when Tully has to face the prospect of Barbarian, he just struts 'n' strolls over to tag Volkoff. Fuckin Demolition aint gonna stooge for you. Who gets the first real face in peril segment: Shawn where he delivered his typically great performance and Marty got to play the hot tag on a Conquistador. You could get a taste as a WWF fan what you were in store for with this new explosive team. After Zuhkov eliminates last year's Cinderella the Stallions, Shawn is able to prove he is the better wrestler pretty much overcoming him with ease, before tagging Marty in for a slingshot sunset flip to eliminate the Bolsheviks. Eventually the Rockers and Brainbusters erupts into a donnybrook that causes both teams to be eliminated as they fight to the back. This set up the hot feud that would take them through the first quarter of next year. The match was showcase for the Rocker's speed and selling and the Busters' bumping and stooging. Before we get into the other two overarching storylines of the match, I just wanted to talk about everyone else. The long-standing rumor is that the Rougeaus (#3 heel team on the depth chart) were eliminated early to avoid Dynamite doing unspeakable things to Jacques. Based on Bret Hart's recent visit on the Steve Austin show, he admitted Dynamite was a prick willing to take liberties in the ring. In this match, he was able to get his hands on the Rougeaus and nothing seemed stiffer than usual. I would say a clothesline he gave Tully was even stiffer. The Bulldogs were one team that gave kind of an uninspired performance. It was just a lot of offense, but none of it had any meaning and it just became a blur. Of course, they were on their way out having wrapped up putting Demolition over and with no future it explains their meandering performance in this match, but because of how long they were in there it just dragged for me. If you are a action-mark, Bulldogs were probably your favorite team in this match, but for me they did not give me any reason to care about them. The Hart Foundation were in a similar boat, but they not as showcased plus Bret is a way better seller thus was willing to give the heels a little bit. One of my favorite random moments from this match was Barbarian was coming out of an FIP and dissed Anvil by not tagging him and tagged Marty. It had me laughing. I liked the finish to Bret's elimination where he German suplexed Tully, but could not hold him and pinned himself. The Bullodgs finish was pretty good as well with Dynamite crashing and burning on a diving head butt attempt. These two teams provided great action, but without a storyline motivation were just kinda there. On the heel side, the Rougeaus did not get to show much due to their early elimination. 'Ol Nik looked great in this match busting a nice spinkick twice. Volkoff is not some great lost worker because he was a really solid hand that had a couple high spots hit them well and knew how to lay in his strikes. I definitely like Volkoff after seeing him a couple times. I do not get the Bolsheviks elimination of the Stallions as that could have a great way to give the Busters a good victory instead of the Bolsheviks who were going nowhere. Though maybe it was to make the Rockers look better. Much like the Stallions & Bees, the Conquistadors played the role of the jabroni team that no one thought would make it. Difference was I got sucked into rooting for the Conquistadors mostly due to Jesse's commentary. It is these two average looking goofs in all gold costumes with generic lucha masks constantly making mistakes but somehow always withstanding all this babyface offense. Jesse & Gorilla were amazed by their resilience. They always were the guys that kept slamming their babyface to close to the wrong corner causing them to take a hot tag, but they never did get pinned. Hell one of them attempted a somersault senton from the second rope, which was the high spot of the match. Now the reason the Conquisatdors stayed in were because after the Powers of Pain heel turn they wanted a team to put the POP over, but I would have lost my shit if they gave the Conquistadors a couple spots before biting dust due to some Fuji interference and a Barbie headbutt. Now the major story arc of this match is Demolition vs Powers of Pain. Demolition was the only heel team early on that got any offense in as they cutting off people, but their partners would lose the advantage. That is a Demolition hallmark. Barb and Smash went toe-to-toe for a bit. Smash tags out to a Conquistador for takes Barbie's big boot. The Ax vs Warlord encounter has a much bigger feel the commentary puts it over, the crowd erupts and the wrestlers are excited. Demolition double teams, but here comes Barb with a huge flying shoulder tackle. Barbarian had this strange penchant to headbutt a heel back into the heel corner letting him tag out. Barb does a little FIP, which is better than Warlord, but still nothing special. Finally we are down to Demolition & Conquistadors vs the Powers of Pain. Warlord posts his shoulder early and Demolition targets it, but Fuji keeps jumping on the apron so as to give a cane shot, but it would be in the plain view of the ref. So Demolition ignores him and the commentators are like that kooky Fuji. Smash goes to run the ropes, but tumbles through the middle rope not because he is a klutz, but because he has been sabotaged by Fuji. Demolition gets counted out, but Ax is hot at Fuji. Fuji has the gall to push Ax away with cane and when Ax turns his back he gives him a wallop. However Smash is back up and tosses him to Ax who bodyslams him and the crowd erupts and babyface turn completed. POP ignores the Impossible Dream Team of the Conquistadors and helps Fuji up and brings him to their corner. Fuji trips a Conquistador and a Barbie falling headbutt gets the win for a big pop. Heel turn in progress. Demolition returns to clear the ring and the crowd pops for them I don't think it will take much to complete POP's heel turn. The angle seemed random mostly likely due to me having not watched the TV. It made sense that Demolition was clearly over ought to be turned face, but it seemed strange that Fuji was just all of sudden hopping up on the ring. If they wanted to do the Fuji/POP in cahoots, why not just have Fuji trip Ax or Smash. I do not think it was the best way to turn POP heel, but the bodyslam was definitely effective in turning Demolition babyface. I will probably never watch this match again as it is wicked fuckin' long, but there is plenty of action and story telling to recommend it to be watched once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted September 9, 2013 Report Share Posted September 9, 2013 Just rewatched Demolition/Rockers from 1988 because I thought I short-changed it even though I did write a pretty positive review. On rewatch, it was a really incredible match and it really lends further proof to my belief that Demolition was actually a great heel team and just were not a very good babyface tag team. I believe that the monster face is the toughest role to play in wrestling and it just not something Demoltiion could pull off in a way that was entertaining to me even though they were quite over with the live crowd. On the rewatch, I loved, loved the shine Rockers were cutting a tremendous pace and Demolition really made them work for it. The heat segment was excellent Shawn was selling Demo's stuff well and Demos were hyper-focused on the back. Shawn is out to lunch if he thinks Demos did not give him enough because they got plenty way more than the Busters and the finish was great as putting Rocker over only to lose to a Demolition double team. You are a scholar and a gentleman. I know you've held off on the Colossal Connection MSG match and are kind of dreading it but I really enjoyed it. I'll post my thoughts for whenever you get to it. 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. I'll also post my Twin Towers write ups later. I know you didn't like the one match you saw of theirs, but I think it's some of the best babyface Demolition stuff in part because they don't eat them alive. SOMEONE earlier in this post thought they gave them way too much actually, because they wanted more of a LOD style match. Actually, forget that I'll just post this. It has MOST of the reviews until the DVDVR archive comes back: http://www.thehistoryofwwe.com/demolitionproject.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstar Sleeze Posted September 24, 2013 Report Share Posted September 24, 2013 Brutha, don't blow the gimmick, I am Superstar SLEEZE The Ultimate Warrior entrance to this match makes this entire project worth. I have not laughed so hard at wrestling in so long. 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. --------------------------------------------------------- It is like Vince heard my prayers from 2013 and put on the following match, which was bitchin' The Ultimate Warrior & Legion of Doom vs Demolition - SNME 10/90 Take all the good parts from the last match and subtract the Animal FIP you have this match and it is awesome. Yes this match is a pretty much verbatim performance from above the MSG, but I was digging that performance so much, but this time they go home after the Warrior FIP and it is a great match. This match is like the opposite of the Hart Foundation vs Rockers, where the SNME match is hurt by seeing the "full-length" MSG match. The difference is the home stretch where Hawk looks friggin great. He does not have to sell and he just bowls people over. He tags in Warrior for a Warrior Splash. I definitely recommend this one over the the MSG show. ----------------------------------------------- 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------- 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. 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstar Sleeze Posted November 17, 2013 Report Share Posted November 17, 2013 I needed some WCW and puroresu to clear my mind and I am ready to watch the last couple matches to finish this. WWF World Tag Team Demolition vs Colossal Connection w/ Bobby "The Brain" Heenan - Primetime Wrestling 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstar Sleeze Posted November 20, 2013 Report Share Posted November 20, 2013 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 World Tag Team Champions Colossal Connection 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. Demolition is done! Final thoughts should be up on Thursday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted November 28, 2013 Report Share Posted November 28, 2013 I like talking about wrestling with you Matt. It's fun. We may have serious disagreements. Often we do. And sometimes we agree. That's great. We watch wrestling all the time and we like to talk about it, right? I think Demolition fucking suck, but I love reading your reasons for why you think they don't. I love reading the back and forths between yourself and Will or Loss or Dylan or OJ or Superstar Sleeze or whoever. It's part of what makes this place great. I wish it was as easy as that with everyone who posts here. One of those people is not like the other. One of those people just does not belong. I am honored but I am a ways away from becoming that level of wrestling analyst. After calling me out a couple times, Matt, about the Colossal Connection matches, they are the best babyface Demolition matches because Eadie respects Andre enough to sell for him like a face in peril. Still no face Demolition matches come close to how good heel Demolition could be against the Rockers, Bulldogs and Hart Foundation. Do you agree that heel Demolition >>> babyface Demolition? To me it is not even close, but I would like to hear your thoughts on that. Probably best if you put it in the Demolition thread. I had a few minutes I didn't expect to have so let me take a whack at this. I think there was a general consistency with Eadie and Darsow (Darsow led by Eadie) in that they gave their opponents exactly how much their opponents should have had most of the time. This, in general, defuses the heel-in-peril dynamic. A Killer Bee's match full of early match control armwork means a hell of a lot more if their opponents are constantly fighting back instead of just laying there. And it varied match by match. As heels they had this great rapid selling keeping up for the Rockers and against the Hart Foundation at Summerslam 88 actually begged off because it made sense given the Harts' placement and the stage they were on. This holds true for the most part as faces. Did they eat up the Brainbusters? Yeah, but that was the story. The first SNME match was all about the 'Busters being overwhelmed but expert cheaters and the Demos getting more and more frustrated until they made a mistake. That mistake led to the second match where ultimately the Brainbusters were positioned to get the upper hand on them, the MSG revenge match, and then finally the squash that ended it all. Would have those first two matches been better if they were more even? Maybe, but that's not the story they were telling, and whoever decided that they should tell that story (and on SNME you can never really tell) wanted it, and I think they delivered, to the point that if they gave the Busters more, then maybe they wouldn't have told it as well. On the other hand, they gave the Twin Towers a ton of offense. I know you didn't like those matches and sort of discounted the Towers and I think that's a shame. They did well at FIP there. A lot of the time they relied on heel miscommunication to win those and easily my favorite thing about face Demolition was Ax being unleashed after the hot tag and how much fire he brought to slamming them and what not. It's all about versatility in the end. I really thought that they played different roles to different matches with different opponents as heels but as faces as well. Let me put it this way. I think they had more interesting matches as faces than you give them credit for. The first SNME Brainbusters match is more of a worked angle than a match. So I think they had objectively better matches as heels, yes, but they had were just as effective in achieving their (still more interesting than you'd think on paper) goals as faces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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