15. Demolition
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They were as blatant a rip-off as you could get without being sued. Ax and Smash, two guys in leather outfits, studded masks and makeup, coming out to crush opponents, the fans laughed when they saw it in 1987, the obvious attempt by WWF to have their own Road Warriors. However, the duo were soon overcome those doubts to become an amazing success. With Mr. Fuji as their manager, they rose much higher than anyone anticipated, showing good conditioning and improving their ring work. In 1988, they won the tag team titles and would hold them for the next 15 months, the longest tag team title reign in history.
They would have two further reigns while fans soon cheered them on, making them massive merchandise sellers and dominating at arguably the greatest period of tag team wrestling WWF ever had. They would add Crush and soon come out the losers in the feud with the Legion of Doom but when you look at their reigns and their opponents, you can make a fair case that the “rip-offs” were actually better in some regards than the originals.
14. The Bruiser and the Crusher
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Separately, they were two of the most beloved stars for the “common man” audience. Short but squat, well-muscled, they were throwing back beers regularly and often carried full barrels of the stuff to and from the ring while smoking cigars. They were rough and tumble, their promos spoken through grizzled mouths and raw throats but in the ring, that same brawling style mixed with solid mat action to carry any opponents to a great battle.
They were the stars of the Indianapolis-based WWA, holding the tag titles there several times and fans going nuts for their appearances, singing along with their music and cheering them on against the vile heels they would easily smash aside. They would hold tag titles six times, uniting for five runs as AWA tag team champions, the Northern-based fans adoring them massively. They would remain close until the Bruiser’s death in 1991 and remain one of the all-time best teams to win over the locals by just being themselves and in that regard Da Bruiser and Da Crusher will never be forgotten in Milwaukee.
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