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Post by Kevin Hamilton on Feb 24, 2022 15:53:46 GMT -5
Thing people talk about seemingly completely unironically?
It's like, yeah they are but Hawk&Animal's entire look and name was stolen from a movie. They were awesome at it, don't get me wrong, but originality was never a factor.
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Post by jason1980s on Feb 24, 2022 16:31:33 GMT -5
I'm a Demolition fan and I'm an Animal fan. Hawk screwed Animal and fans and promoters time after time after time. That right there puts Ax and Smash over Animal and Hawk. Demolition is Law & Order SVU to 1987-1990 WWF. The original *may* be Road Warriors but for a brief period of time Demolition surpassed the two and were like right under Hogan, Warrior and Macho as main eventers in a company that was world wide recognized. Non wrestling fans knew WWF back then.
Hawk and Animal may have had a longer term popularity but Ax and Smash accomplished just as much in a much shorter period of time. They got screwed by Vince at the end of their run pre Crush but at least they didn't get so stale that they got owned by a career jobber and a gimmick jobber (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn) for months on end. Perhaps if Hawk's drug addiction hadn't plagued the team so many times they could have had strong long term runs after 1997 but things didn't play out that way.
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Post by "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik on Feb 24, 2022 16:35:08 GMT -5
I never thought of Demolition as Road Warrior rip offs. They seemed fairly distinct to me. Now the Powers of Pain on the other hand...
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Post by James Fabiano on Feb 24, 2022 16:59:48 GMT -5
I kind of thought so when Apter and others fed that narrative to us. And yes, seeing the spikes and facepaint, it seemed obvious that this was the WWF's version of the Warriors. Every company had one though. JCP had the actual Road Warriors and would make their own wannabes to feud with them.
But...Ax and Smash wrestled differently than Hawk and Animal. They were more like old school brawlers than invincible strongmen.
And I think I like Demolition by Rick Derringer a bit more than even Iron Man.
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Feb 24, 2022 17:09:46 GMT -5
Yeah, they totally are... only they ripped off "Lord Humongous" rather than "Wez"... but... even Hawk and Animal still ripped off a movie first
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Post by "Playboy" Don Douglas on Feb 24, 2022 17:42:21 GMT -5
They totally were, but they were different enough, and more importantly good enough, that it didn't matter.
There's a reason Demolition are the only knockoff team even in the conversation of great tag teams.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2022 17:53:05 GMT -5
Powers of Pain were more Road Warrior ripoffs than these two Dominatrix type guys.
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BorneAgain
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Post by BorneAgain on Feb 24, 2022 18:01:23 GMT -5
Demolition essentially borrowed the core concept of the Road Warriors (tough tag team in facepaint and spikes) but the execution was pretty different. Ax and Smash were more technical at times, generally sold a lot more than Animal/Hawk, and typically didn't require as much protection in terms of booking to stay over.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2022 18:24:16 GMT -5
I never really saw them as similar except for the fact that both wore face paint, and even then, Demolition's was totally different.
The Powers of Pain seemed like the Road Warriors rip-off to me, right down to the same haircuts, very similar face paint designs, and black tights with red lettering on the sides.
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Post by carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army) on Feb 24, 2022 18:34:50 GMT -5
My question is, why did no one seem to notice that the Road Warriors and Demolition were both dressed like they're in the gay bondage scene? Like, not a joke: their outfits were very clearly (indirectly) inspired by actual things people wore in gay bondage clubs, but this never seemed to be part of the gimmick.
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Post by Dr. Bolty, Disaster Enby on Feb 24, 2022 18:39:45 GMT -5
My question is, why did no one seem to notice that the Road Warriors and Demolition were both dressed like they're in the gay bondage scene? Like, not a joke: their outfits were very clearly (indirectly) inspired by actual things people wore in gay bondage clubs, but this never seemed to be part of the gimmick. Presumably because they took the looks directly from Mad Max, and there, it was queer-coded villainy made more subtle by the post-apocalyptic setting.
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Cranjis McBasketball
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Post by Cranjis McBasketball on Feb 24, 2022 18:41:22 GMT -5
My question is, why did no one seem to notice that the Road Warriors and Demolition were both dressed like they're in the gay bondage scene? Like, not a joke: their outfits were very clearly (indirectly) inspired by actual things people wore in gay bondage clubs, but this never seemed to be part of the gimmick. The same reason people were shocked to find out Rob Halford was gay??
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Feb 24, 2022 18:44:23 GMT -5
I never really saw them as similar except for the fact that both wore face paint, and even then, Demolition's was totally different. The Powers of Pain seemed like the Road Warriors rip-off to me, right down to the same haircuts, very similar face paint designs, and black tights with red lettering on the sides. Powers of Pain were more Road Warrior ripoffs than these two Dominatrix type guys. They literally ripped off the same movie... and the only reason they went for that specific movie is because the Road Warriors did it first. Demolition were absolutely intended to be the WWF's Road Warriors and they weren't exactly hiding it either...
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Post by sportatorium on Feb 24, 2022 23:52:22 GMT -5
The most blatant Road Warriors rip off was Rock (Ultimate Warrior) and Sting as The Blade Runners. Down to the dystopian movie title.
I can't blame Vince for creating Demolition as the Road Warriors were the most over act out there for a while. I do think Demolition eventually got over on their own merits, notably when they turned face against Fuji & the PoP.
There was so much face paint out there back then.
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Post by ianriccaboni on Feb 24, 2022 23:55:03 GMT -5
Reminder that Demolition are S&M Doms that Johnny V found in the West Village canonically thus cannot be LOD ripoffs.
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Post by ianriccaboni on Feb 24, 2022 23:57:04 GMT -5
My question is, why did no one seem to notice that the Road Warriors and Demolition were both dressed like they're in the gay bondage scene? Like, not a joke: their outfits were very clearly (indirectly) inspired by actual things people wore in gay bondage clubs, but this never seemed to be part of the gimmick. It was, albeit lightly, in the Johnny V early interviews.
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Post by Some Baritone guy IS REDEEMED! on Feb 25, 2022 0:17:51 GMT -5
My dad is very passionate that Demolition are a rip off of the Road Warriors. Like he despises Demoliton for that reason.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Feb 25, 2022 2:25:50 GMT -5
It's just a bit silly to get hung up on given how derivative acts are a wrestling staple?
It's the same reason Ric Flair being upset with Jeff Jarrett for copying him is silly. Ric Flair, with his totally original "Nature Boy" nickname, or that strut he copied off of Jackie Fargo, same place Jeff got his.
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Feb 25, 2022 3:30:40 GMT -5
There was so much face paint out there back then. It's one thing I kinda miss... "Power and Paint" tag teams as EWR used to call them
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Post by tafkaga on Feb 25, 2022 10:01:39 GMT -5
My dad is very passionate that Demolition are a rip off of the Road Warriors. Like he despises Demoliton for that reason. I know a guy just like that. Big Road Warriors fan. He balks whenever Demolition is mentioned, as if they had no right to exist and should not even be part of the conversation. To the original question, I find it silly that people use this as an argument against Demolition. I don't care if they were ripoffs. In my eyes, Demolition was superior in every way, with an exception for the fact that the Road Warriors had a greater mystique and screen presence. However, I think Demolition's versatility, quality of matches, and overall resiliency as a team makes up for that one lacking.
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