Barry Darsow
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| Barry Darsow | |
|---|---|
| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Demolition Smash Krusher Darsow Krusher Khruschev Repo Man Blacktop Bully Barry "Hole In One" Darsow |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) |
| Billed weight | 292 lb (133 kg) |
| Born | October 6, 1959 Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Trained by | Eddie Sharkey Karl Istaz |
| Debut | 1984 |
Barry Darsow (born October 6, 1959) is a former American professional wrestler perhaps best known as Smash, one half of the legendary tag team Demolition. Throughout his career he worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and several regional promotions in the 1980s and 1990s.
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[edit] Career
Barry Darsow started wrestling in 1983 in Georgia for Georgia Championship wrestling before moving in 1984 to Mid-South Wrestling as Krusher Darsow, a turncoat American who was now a Soviet sympathizer and a tag team partner of Nikolai Volkoff. He changed his name to Krusher Khruschev and won the first ever Mid-South Television Title in a tournament by beating Terry Taylor in the finals on May 2, 1984 but lost it back to Taylor on June 16, 1984. Darsow moved on to Florida Championship Wrestling where he teamed with Jim Neidhart. They won the Florida United States Tag Team Titles on October 11, 1984 from Hector Guerrero and Cocoa Samoa. They held them until December 1984, when they lost them to Mark and Jay Youngblood.
[edit] Jim Crockett Promotions (1985-1987)
Krusher moved on to the National Wrestling Alliance to work for Jim Crockett, Jr. in December 1984. He was awarded a third of the NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship with Ivan Koloff and Nikita Koloff. The Koloff's had already won the NWA World Tag Team Championship and Ivan declared that any two of them could defend the titles. They feuded with The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) and the Road Warriors. On July 9, 1985, he and Ivan lost the NWA Tag Titles to the Rock 'N Roll Express.
At Starrcade 1985, on November 28, Krusher won the vacant NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship by defeating Sam Houston. On January 11, 1986, Krusher severely injured his knee in a match with Houston on TBS. He lost the title to Houston and had to take almost six months off to recover.
When Krusher returned, Nikita was feuding with Magnum T.A. for the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship. On August 17, 1986, Krusher helped Nikita win the title in the final match of a best of 7 series by holding the referee while Nikita used his "Russian" chain on Magnum. After helping Nikita defeat Magnum, Krusher and Ivan targeted the new NWA United States Tag Team Championship, which was to be awarded to the winners of a tournament. They reached the finals, held on September 26, 1986, and defeated the "Kansas Jayhawks" (Dutch Mantel and Bobby Jaggers) with Nikita's help to become the first US Tag Team Champions.
In October 1986, Magnum T.A. had a car accident that ended his career, and after admitting that he respected his one-time rival, Nikita turned on Ivan and Krusher to team with Magnum's good friend, Dusty Rhodes. Krusher and Ivan briefly feuded with Nikita and Rhodes but primarily defended their titles in rematches against Mantel and Jaggers. On December 9, 1986, they lost the US Tag Titles to Ron Garvin and Barry Windham.
Darsow's contract ran out and he left Jim Crockett Promotions.
[edit] World Wrestling Federation (1987-1993)
Darsow next went to World Wrestling Federation, where he replaced Randy Colley as Smash in the tag team Demolition, alongside Ax. At first, they were managed by Johnny Valiant, but he was soon replaced by Mr. Fuji. Their initial feuds involved the team of Ken Patera and Billy Jack Haynes, and Strike Force (Tito Santana and Rick Martel).
On March 27, 1988 at WrestleMania IV, they defeated Strike Force to win their first WWF World tag team title. They later lost Mr. Fuji as he left to manage their newest rivals, the Powers of Pain (The Barbarian and The Warlord). The double turn at Survivor Series 1988 was the solution to the massive popularity being enjoyed by Demolition, who were designed to be the heels in their rivalry with the Powers of Pain.
They lost the WWF Tag Team Titles to Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, known as The Brain Busters, on an episode of Saturday Night's Main Event on July 18, 1989. They regained the titles on October 2, but lost them to The Colossal Connection (Haku and André the Giant) on December 13. They defeated the Connection at WrestleMania VI on April 1, 1990 to become the third full-time team to win three titles in WWF history. (The first team that achieved the three-peat was Professor Tanaka and Mr. Fuji between 1972-1978 and The Wild Samoans being the second team from 1980-1983.) The duo was joined by Crush (Brian Adams) later in 1990, making them a 3-man tag team. Ax began appearing in a managerial role which was to eventually lead to the phasing out of the character. Demolition lost the titles to The Hart Foundation at SummerSlam 1990.
In late 1991, Darsow was repackaged as Repo Man, a ubiquitous, sneaky heel character who delighted in repossessing items such as cars from people when they were late on (or unable to make) their payments. Repo Man wore a black Lone Ranger-like mask and an outfit with tire tracks on them, and had mannerisms similiar to Frank Gorshin's portrayal of The Riddler. He always carried a tow rope that he would sometimes tie up opponents with and then assault them. Shortly after his debut, he helped Ted DiBiase defeat Virgil for the Million Dollar Championship, leading to a series of matches with Virgil.
Repo Man's most notable feud was with The British Bulldog in mid-1992, sparked by Repo Man hanging the Bulldog over the ring ropes with his tow rope on an episode of Wrestling Challenge. The two had a series of house show matches as well as a match on Prime Time Wrestling, all of which saw Davey Boy come out victorious. Repo Man also had a short feud with Randy Savage in January 1993 when he stole Savage's hat on an episode of Monday Night RAW. The two had a match the following week, which Savage won.
[edit] 1993
In 1993, Darsow left for the IAW promotion where he teamed with Paul Roma to win the IAW Tag Team Titles on February 4, 1993. They held them until July 24, when they lost them to the Iron Sheik and Brian Costello.
[edit] World Championship Wrestling (1994-1999)
Darsow went to WCW in 1994 where he was always seen in the front row with a blowhorn making noise and berating the faces while they wrestled. He was soon "arrested" for pushing Dustin Rhodes. Col. Rob Parker bailed him out and he became The Blacktop Bully, with Parker as his manager. He feuded with Runnels but was fired after Uncensored 1995, when he and Runnels both bladed (which was against WCW's 'no-blood' policy) during a "King of the Road" match in the back of a moving flatbed truck.
From there, he went to Pro Wrestling America in Minnesota to feud with Wahoo McDaniel and Tom Zenk. He next appeared in the AWF, Tito Santana's promotion. He had Jimmy Valiant's wife Big Mama as his valet. The AWF folded at the beginning of 1997, and Darsow disappeared until October 1997, when he returned to WCW wrestling under his own name, and then repackaged in October 1998 as "Mr. Hole-in-One" Barry Darsow (originally supposed to be called "Stewart Pain" after golfer Payne Stewart, but dropped at the last second due to Stewart's untimely death that year) and also "Putting" Barry Darsow. Darsow feuded with "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan and Chris Adams during this time, typically on WCW's "C-show" WCW Saturday Night. He often entered the ring in casual wear and a flat cap as if ready to golf and, prior to matches, would offer his opponents a victory if they could make a putt in the ring, often only to sneak attack the opponent. Darsow's golf gimmick was able to keep him in WCW until the end of 1999, when he left the company.
[edit] 2000-2001
He joined the WXO promotion run by Ted DiBiase. He feuded with Mike Enos until it folded shortly after.
Darsow a special WWF appearance at WrestleMania X-Seven in 2001 for the gimmick battle royal as the Repo Man.
[edit] 2001-present
Today, Darsow balances his time between wrestling, his two businesses, his family, and the golf course. Darsow owns Added Value Printing, a printing company that specializes in hard-hats and medical supplies, and also sells real estate. In addition, the Millennium Wrestling Federation helped reunite Darsow with his partner Ax as Demolition and the two appeared at the Wrestling Living Legend's reunion in Windsor, Ontario, Canada in March 2007.
On Raw XV, the 15th-anniversary WWE Raw special on December 10, 2007, Repo Man participated in the 15th Anniversary Battle Royal, and was eliminated by Jim Neidhart.
On March 1st and 2nd 2008 he re-teamed with partner Ax and the One Man Gang to participate in Chikara Pro's King of Trios tournament at the famed ECW Arena.
Darsow has worked with the MWF's efforts with the Special Olympics. On the March 2008 MWF Ultra television program, Demolition Smash and former WCW star Rick Fuller defeated Ox Baker's Army in a tag team casket match. [1]
[edit] In wrestling
- Finishing and signature moves
- As Barry Darsow
- Barely Legal - Innovated
- As Repo Man
- As Smash
- Demolition Decapitation (Backbreaker hold, second rope elbow drop combination) - with Ax or Crush
- Scoop slam
- Clothesline
- Throat first flapjack onto the top rope
- Repeated double axe handle blows to a grounded opponent
[edit] Championships and accomplishments
- Independent Association of Wrestling
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- IAW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Paul Roma
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- Mid-South Television Championship (1 time) (First)
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- WWF Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Ax
1 The Koloffs won the tag team titles and then brought Darsow (as Krusher Khruschev) in and, using the "Freebird Rule", defended the titles in various combinations.
[edit] Miscellaneous
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- Darsow attended high school in Minneapolis with six other future wrestlers: Curt Hennig, Richard Rood (Rick Rude), Brady Boone, Tom Zenk, John Nord, and Scott Simpson (Nikita Koloff).
- Darsow has been a part of two teams whose reigns operated under the Freebird Rule where any two of three or more members could defend the tag team titles.
- He also worked as a bouncer with the Road Warriors, Hawk and Animal.
- Japanese band Aural Vampire produced a song called "The Repoman" and use video footage of Darsow and other wrestlers in live performances.
- Ring of Honor performer Adam Pearce is often heckled by fans who call him "Repo Man" because he looks similar to Darsow. At one match in 2007, at the PPV taping for Driven, against Takeshi Morishima, Pearce pulled a mask similar to the Repo Man's out of his tights and put it on to the delight of the crowd.
[edit] References
- Barry Darsow - Where Are They Now? - From WWE.com - Retrieved 03/30/07
