I hate how Demolition wa sjobbed out at Wrestlemania 7

[illiniman88]

Crazy how Wmania 6 they had massive pops but then 1 yera later their jobbing out to a team that wasnt even fully in the wwf. I get that once CRUSH was added Demolition lost its appeal but it wa sstill pathetic to see them get completely jobbed out

I would have liked to see them just put over the road warriors then be done

[Milkman Norm]

Sorry you felt that way. At the time I was 9 and I got through the fact that WWF had taken everything cool away from them that I shoudn't care about them anymore or take them seriously. And it worked. I didn't care at all when they lost.

[Deleted]

I think Crush gets blamed unfairly. The problem with Demolition during the Crush era is that Vince stopped caring about them because he had the Road Warriors. The problem with Crush is that he looked like a third wheel with Ax still on the team and he was added AFTER Vince decided to kill off Demolition.

If Vince had decided to keep Demolition viable, Crush was a perfectly legit replacement for Ax. He was physically superior to Ax, bringing youth, strength and agility to the team, and he had good chemistry with Smash. Actually Smash and Crush were close to the same age, while Ax was 10-15 years older than either of them. Once Ax was finally out of the way, Smash and Crush gelled just fine, if only Vince cared enough to push them.

[Deleted]

I liked Demolition as a kid, but in retrospect they looked like a couple of suburban dads with some weird fetishes.

[claytanic]

I liked the 3 members dynamic but their time had just passed plain and simple.

As a kid I thought Tenryu and Kitao must have been a big deal in Japan to defeat Demolition so quickly even if the team had no appeal to me and I had no idea why they only showed up for one event.

[Aceorton]

Tenryu in the WWF in 1991: Why is he here?
Tenryu in the WWF in 1993: Why is he here?
Tenryu in the WWF in 1994: Why is he here?

Never understood why we were supposed to care about the guy. And the only WWF connection Kitao had after this was a match in Japan with Earthquake where he tried to shoot on him.

I, too, hated that Demolition lost here. They're right up there with King Kong Bundy in "what a difference a year makes."

[Mozenrath]

I am cool with it, but admittedly, I have a major fondness for Tenryu. Sounds like a class act of a guy to work for during the WAR days, even if Wrestling And Romance was sadly not Days of Our Lives meets No Holds Barred.

[petef3]

Mar 19, 2019 22:58:17 GMT -5 Aceorton said:

Tenryu in the WWF in 1994: Why is he here?

   
I mean, this was pretty straightforward: he was a hired gun of Fuji's whose job was to prevent Luger from winning the Rumble, and as a delightful bonus also to prevent Undertaker from winning the title from Yokozuna.

[MolotovMocktail]

If Demolition had lost to LOD, or even the Rockers, it would've been fine. Here you had them put over 2 unknowns in America. Tenryu was arguably the biggest star in Japan at the time, but pre-Internet fans would have no way of knowing. I don't know if they had any plans for Kitao going forward, but apparently he managed to piss off the entire locker room in this one night, leading to the shoot incident with Earthquake during the Japan tour.

I mean, this was pretty straightforward: he was a hired gun of Fuji's whose job was to prevent Luger from winning the Rumble, and as a delightful bonus also to prevent Undertaker from winning the title from Yokozuna.

Ironic, since here Fuji was on the opposite side...and why did Demolition reconcile with him after he betrayed them?

[SmashTV]

This was the final nail in the coffin for me. Seeing a homegrown team get convincingly beaten by two non WWF Japanese wrestlers was an insult to Demolition, especially after getting pushed aside in favour of the LOD.

While Demolition to me will always be Ax and Smash, I agree that Crush is unfairly blamed for their downfall. He was with them during their jobbing days, and as such wouldn’t have been able to showcase what he could do in the team.

[dirtyoldman]

Is crush considered a former tag team champion? Seems a sneaky way to get a title reign.

Also anyone else think Repoman looks so much smaller than Smash that they never twigged on they were the same person?

[The 1Watcher Experience]

Tenryu and other partners would go on to beat Smash and Crush during a tour of Japan with the SWS promotion a week later. I guess this match was a warm up for that tour. I wasn’t a fan of Demolition getting jobbed out here either. I know they were losing on house shows to the LOD before Mania but I thought they should’ve had a match there anyway. Officially pass the torch, so to speak. Instead it looks like they lost to a random team and disappeared. For a team so dominant I think they should’ve had a more meaningful send off.

[illiniman88]

It's just to bad that we missed a possible great tag team division in late 92-93

Could have had Steiners, Demolition, Road Warriors, Money Inc.

[Deleted]

Mar 19, 2019 21:32:59 GMT -5 @akeemresurrection said:

I liked Demolition as a kid, but in retrospect they looked like a couple of suburban dads with some weird fetishes.

Oh, avoid current day pictures of them in that gear.

Yes, that was an accurate statement. There are current day pictures of them in that gear.

[auph10imitated]

Crush is unfairly blamed really and I am not even a big fan. Issues were

1. Ax getting sick
2. The lack of heel turn, they just became heels for literally no reason (even Power & Glory has a segment were they get together and become heels)
3. Vince didnt care as soon as the Road Warriors arrived
4. Putting them back with Fuji
5. The music being changed
6. Ax leaving

I dont think adding Crush was as bad as the above

[Deleted]

Mar 20, 2019 5:22:33 GMT -5 illiniman88 said:

It's just to bad that we missed a possible great tag team division in late 92-93

Could have had Steiners, Demolition, Road Warriors, Money Inc.

I'm salivating at the thought of that.  

Man, Demolition was such a good team.  They had the size and intimidating look, but they could also have great matches and in that respect they were better than the Road Warriors IMO and every bit as good as the Steiners. 

Mar 19, 2019 22:58:17 GMT -5 Aceorton said:

Tenryu in the WWF in 1991: Why is he here?
Tenryu in the WWF in 1993: Why is he here?
Tenryu in the WWF in 1994: Why is he here?

I remember thinking the same... "who is this boring Japanese guy?"  Then years later I got my hands on some All Japan and Tenryu became one of my all time top 5.

[BayleyTiffyCodyCenaJudyHopps]

Mar 19, 2019 23:09:08 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

I am cool with it, but admittedly, I have a major fondness for Tenryu. Sounds like a class act of a guy to work for during the WAR days, even if Wrestling And Romance was sadly not Days of Our Lives meets No Holds Barred.

Tenryu as a Stefano DiMera-type mastermind soap opera villain is a gimmick I never realized I wanted to see.

[wildojinx]

Mar 20, 2019 0:04:40 GMT -5 MolotovMocktail said:

If Demolition had lost to LOD, or even the Rockers, it would've been fine. Here you had them put over 2 unknowns in America. Tenryu was arguably the biggest star in Japan at the time, but pre-Internet fans would have no way of knowing. I don't know if they had any plans for Kitao going forward, but apparently he managed to piss off the entire locker room in this one night, leading to the shoot incident with Earthquake during the Japan tour.

Yeah, in retrospect they should have just had Demolition cost the LOD the tag title shot in the battle royal, therefore at WM7 you could have had LOD vs Demolition and Tenryu and Fred could have just taken on the Orient Express to see who the best "Japanese" team was.

[MrElijah]

Mar 20, 2019 11:00:40 GMT -5 BayleyTiffyCodyCenaJudyHopps said:

Mar 19, 2019 23:09:08 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

I am cool with it, but admittedly, I have a major fondness for Tenryu. Sounds like a class act of a guy to work for during the WAR days, even if Wrestling And Romance was sadly not Days of Our Lives meets No Holds Barred.

Tenryu as a Stefano DiMera-type mastermind soap opera villain is a gimmick I never realized I wanted to see.

Lance Storm is revealed as Tenryu's bastard half-brother from Calgary......Alberta, Canada.

[auph10imitated]

The real reason Tenryu was there was the WWF/SWS relationship was it not?