Andrew Lutzke
Presented by RF Video
This is hot off the presses, as this was taped in the weeks following this year’s Wrestlemania.
This is a 3-way shoot with Animal, Barry Darsow (Smash) and Bill Eadie (Ax). Darsow is fat, bald and looks like a truck driver. Eadie is wearing a tropical flavored shirt and looks like a retiree on the beach. Animal, minus a grey beard, is all tatted up and still looks kind of like a bad ass.
Animal was injured by Smash while training in wrestling camp. Ax injured Animal’s jaw while working together in Georgia Championship Wrestling.
All 3 guys thought the other guys were stiff and hard to work with.
Barry Darsow was impressed and intimidated by the Road Warriors violent hard-hitting style.
Bill Eadie and Stan Hansen worked a match with the young Warriors. Hansen and Bruiser Brody were the only guys who were working a style close to the Roadies.
Ole Anderson pulled all the job guys together and warned them that Hawk and Animal were going to beat them up. He then warned the Warriors to look impressive or prepare to be fired.
Darsow relates how the jobbers hated the Warriors stiff offense.
The Warriors were offered a WWF deal in 1986 but Jim Crockett offered guaranteed money and so the Warriors went to JCP.
Animal doesn’t feel Demolition was a rip-off gimmick of his team. Eadie thinks the fans made a connection between the gimmicks that wasn’t there. Darsow says both teams had different styles.
Moondog Rex created the Demolition gimmick but he had just spent a year jobbing on TV and so he couldn’t be taken seriously under this new powerhouse shtick so Barry Darsow was given his spot.
Eadie liked the tag team idea, as he was getting older and could now rely on Smash to help carry the load.
Nikita Koloff took Darsow’s spot in a tag title match with the Rock and Roll Express, and then JCP low balled him on a pay off and Barry quit.
Mr. Fuji replaced Johnny Valiant as their manager because Valiant wanted to do comedy and it didn’t fit Demolition’s gimmick.
Paul Ellering had to talk for the Warriors early on as they were super green. Ellering also taught them a lot of wrestling psychology.
Animal was happy that Darsow got the Smash gimmick since they had been buddies for years by then.
All 3 men agree Vince dropped the ball in 1990 when the Warriors came to the WWF to battle Demolition.
Vince paid Darsow to sit at home for 3 months and train before Demolition debuted.
Animal and Hawk visited Vince’s mansion. Vince had a 20-foot painting of himself in his living room.
Vince’s dad was very organized and earned his talent’s trust.
All 3 guys agree Linda McMahon was very nice and clearly smart.
The Warriors confirm that they indeed gave Vince a “Doomsday Device” in the middle of a dance club.
Vince and Shane both partied with the wrestlers until the mid-90’s, when they became more “professional”.
Animal always liked HHH. They used to work out together in 1997. Ax knew him when Trips was a rookie.
The Road Warriors left WCW in 1990 because they were worried about burning the fans out if they stayed in one place for too long.
Demolition was excited that the Warriors signed with the WWF, as they saw $$$$.
The WWF was too quick to move into the Demolition/Warriors feud and everything was rushed way too fast.
The guys don’t remember their own angles as they talk about the Warriors beating Demolition for the WWF tag straps.
The bookers saw Demolition as old news once they had a new toy to play with in Hawk and Animal.
Demolition was used to give the Warriors instant credibility instead of dragging the feud for a long time.
Animal jokes that by saying these bad things about the WWF that they won’t be getting booked by WWE anytime soon.
The NWA was far more laid back than the WWF.
The wrestlers just wanted to make money; they didn’t care if you were in a rival organization.
JCP ran 3-4 shows a night at times and needed lots of talented workers.
All 3 guys loved the Powers of Pain. Barbarian was good in the ring.
Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson helped the Warriors immensely. The Horsemen had such heat and in ring skill that they elevated the Warriors. They made other guys work hard to keep up with them.
All 3 guys fail to remember anything about Summerslam 90 when the Warriors involved themselves in Demoltion’s title loss to the Hart Foundation.
Ax hated the mask gimmick that was given to Demolition in the Fall of 1990. He felt it just helped to kill off the Demolition’s heat. Adding Crush hurt more than it helped as well.
MSG was a special place to work. The closest WCW/NWA had to it was the Omni.
Eadie suffered an allergic reaction to shrimp and when he went down from that, the WWF brought in Bryan Adams to act as his replacement.
The Ultimate Warrior knocked Barry Darsow’s teeth out during a match. He tucked his tooth in his tights and finished the match.
Holding Vince up for money wouldn’t work because the roster depth was so great.
Hogan was making 13% of the live gate for any show he worked.
Hawk hung out with Hogan, Animal never knew Hulk very well.
Hulk’s a very nice guy according to Demolition. He had to be careful that people were using him.
They all lament over the Warrior’s sudden death.
All the early wrestler deaths are discussed. Rick Rude and Curt Hennig hurt Animal and Darsow a lot since they were fellow Minnesotans. (Oddly they name guys like Bradley Boone and such and ignore/forget Hawk)
Animal defends his steroid use and claims he never took more than prescribed. Darsow says it was legal when he pumped himself up with them.
Animal has a broken neck he never had fixed.
The WWF drug tested Demolition a lot since they were clean and it made the WWF look good for pushing the drug tests on top guys.
All 3 agree the modern WWE guys have to be on something since they clearly have enhanced bodies.
Daniel Bryan wouldn’t get over in the 80’s since he is so small.
Barry Darsow is confused why he never gets a WWE gig as a legend or anything. Animal points out that Darsow hangs out with Eadie and Animal, who have old heat with Vince.
Eadie and Smash both say they wouldn’t do “Legends House” because they both have real jobs. Animal would if the cash was right.
Ax can’t comment on his lawsuit vs. Vince over the Demolition licensing.
Saving money was hard since they had road expenses, family expenses etc.
Animal no longer has a legends contract, and yet WWE and their partners are still pumping out Road Warriors merchandise. Animal is confused if he’s getting screwed.
All 3 are interested in the WWE Network, and wonder if the old guys will get some kickback.
Demolition denounces the idea of a wrestler union, since unions often can kill companies. Both men have been in the Screen Actors Guild union since 1989 and don’t get much out of it.
Strike Force were great to work with. The Bushwackers were good workers, but the matches were wacky. The Killer Bees could work, but the gimmick stunk. The Rockers were fun to work with.
Demolition just wrestled the Nasty Boyz on an indy show (That had to be ungodly bad).
Ax was ready to beat down guys who roughed up their opponents.
Sid Vicious would stiff jobbers, so Hawk got in his face and tried to straighten out Sid’s attitude.
Animal thinks Bobby Eaton is one of the best workers ever.
All 3 men are reluctant to name who the greatest teams of all time were. They are willing to believe their own teams are in the running for that honor. They name a lot of old timers and decide everybody has their own claim to fame.
Jerry Lawler and Austin Idol teamed against the Warriors in Memphis. Animal was impressed with the pomp and circumstance that Memphis offered. Lawler put Hawk over by allowing him to no sell Lawler’s piledriver.
Animal thinks you can over come bad booking with good in ring work.
Ric Flair was great with everybody behind the scenes.
The pressure was on the top guys to perform well every night since the house depended on them.
They all gush over Dusty Rhodes’ booking and ring work.
Terry and Dory Funk took the measure of the Warriors in a match in Japan.
Ric Flair and Animal were drinking in Japan. Flair convinced Animal to bust down Terry Funk’s hotel room door. They found Funk naked and covered in ice packs.
Pat Patterson would give talent a heads up about possible booking plans before Vince would reveal his intentions. Demolition appreciated the heads up and figured Pat did it because he was a worker himself and would want to be kept abreast on what was happening in his career if he was in their position.
Iron Sheik is a great guy. His craziness is largely a gimmick.
Johnny Ace is Animal’s brother and that may be part of the reason that Animal doesn’t work for the WWE. Nepotism is a concern.
Smash’s kid got a NXT/FCW contract thanks to Ace, so Darsow has nothing bad to say about him.
Animal has no nice words about Eric Bischoff. Darsow says Eric paid him a lot of money to not wrestle for months at a time, so he’s ok in his book.
Haku and The Barbarian are the guy’s picks for what wrestlers would excel in the UFC.
Eadie regrets being away from his family so often during his career.
Darsow tells of hearing about his son’s sports success via the phone and how hard it was to not be home for those moments.
Hawk was always smiling and everyday was a good time. He was generous with his time and his money.
They playfully rip on the lousy food RF Video ordered for them.
Ax is full of good memories. He doesn’t keep the negative thoughts around after all these years.
Animal is grateful for having been able to travel the world and get paid for having fun.
They all thank the fans for their dedication.
Final thoughts:
A somewhat dull two hour shoot, as all 3 guys are long out of the mainstream wrestling business and have no bitterness. Not too many road stories were told and they seemingly can’t even remember their own careers at times. The Road Warriors solo shoot from the early 2000’s is tons better as they tear Vince McMahon a new one – you should watch that one instead: (Here’s the link to my review)
http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/kayfabe-lies-and-alibis-the-road-warriors-shoot-interview/#.U_CCd2P1vSg
