Demolition Demolition was a professional wrestling tag team most prominent during the late 1980s and early 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation ( WWF ) made up of Ax ( Bill Eadie ) , Smash ( Barry Darsow ) , and later Crush ( Brian Adams ) . In WWF , Demolition were three - time Tag Team Champions , and hold the records for both the single longest tag title reign and the most combined days as reigning champions . Beginning in 2007 , Ax and Smash reunited for several appearances at various independent shows and legends conventions . Career . World Wrestling Federation ( 1987 – 1991 ) . Formation and early push ( 1987 – 1988 ) . Randy Colley and Bill Eadie created the Demolition gimmick and look around the start of 1987 while working for the World Wrestling Federation . After only a few matches , however , Colley was replaced with Barry Darsow for reasons which vary depending on the source . ( Either he was recognizable as the former Moondog Rex or there was a contract dispute with the WWF which led to his leaving the company . ) Demolition domination . After debuting with manager Lucious Johnny V , the team was eventually paired with Mr . Fuji , who began to wear Demolition - style paint around his eyes . He led them to their first WWF Tag Team Title when they defeated Strike Force ( Tito Santana and Rick Martel ) at " WrestleMania IV " on March 27 , 1988 . As champions , they easily defeated a number of the top teams of the WWF , which at the time had a very talent - rich and hotly contested tag division . Demolition held the titles for a record 478 days in their first reign , until The Brain Busters ( Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard ) were able to take the titles in a two - out - of - three - falls match on " Saturday Night ' s Main Event " in July 1989 . Before losing the titles , Ax and Smash had engaged in a lengthy feud with the Powers of Pain ( the Warlord and the Barbarian ) that took an odd turn when the increasingly popular Demolition were backstabbed by Fuji at the 1988 Survivor Series , with Fuji joining up with the Powers of Pain . Ax and Smash also memorably squared off against each other as entrants # 1 and # 2 at the 1989 Royal Rumble before being joined in the ring by André the Giant . Demolition regained the titles from the Brain Busters in October 1989 , then in December lost them to Bobby Heenan ' s new team of Andre the Giant and Haku , known as The Colossal Connection . Ax and Smash reclaimed the titles at WrestleMania VI to become three - time champions . Crush . In 1990 Brian Adams joined the team as Crush . In kayfabe , this was related to their new ( heel ) attitude , but it was actually because Eadie had developed an allergy to shellfish ( which he attributes to his constant trips to Japan ) which hospitalized him , and WWF owner and head booker Vince McMahon wanted to add a third member to the team just in case the illness put Eadie out of action for an extended period of time . Crush soon took a more active role , teaming with Smash while Ax faded into the background , becoming more of a manager . At this time Demolition used the so - called " Freebird rule " to allow any two members to wrestle the matches . Smash and Crush defended the titles at August ' s " SummerSlam " , losing them to The Hart Foundation ( Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart ) , after interference by The Road Warriors , who had signed with the WWF a month earlier . They never recaptured the titles after this loss . Soon after , due to The Road Warriors now being on the WWF roster , Demolition ' s popularity began to decline , despite regaining the managerial services of Mr . Fuji and Ax ' s departure in the fall of 1990 . The team lost a final match to Genichiro Tenryu and Koji Kitao at WrestleMania VII in March 1991 before they broke up and the members went their separate ways . Crush would turn face upon returning to his original promotion , Pacific Northwest Wrestling ( while still using the Demolition gimmick ) , then return to the WWF and begin a run as the popular " Kona Crush " , while Smash would remain a heel , becoming " The Repo Man " . Post WWF . After leaving the WWF , Eadie began using the name Axis the Demolisher on the independent circuit and took in original " Smash " gimmick owner Randy Colley as well as Carmine Azzato under the name of Demolition Blast in an attempt to resurrect the Demolition name and gimmick . They were sent a cease and desist letter by the WWF once they found out . In the mid 1990s , Bill Eadie filed a lawsuit against the WWF for the rights of the " Demolition " name and gimmick but lost . Smash recently inked a deal with Jakks Pacific to make a Demolition Legends action figure . The team was referenced at SummerSlam 2006 when The McMahons performed their finishing move , The Demolition Decapitation , on Shawn Michaels during their tag match against D - Generation X . On April 1 , 2007 , Darsow and Eadie reunited for the first time in 16 years at a " Meet the Legends " event in Windsor , Ontario , Canada . On August 13 , 2007 , Brian Adams was found unconscious in his Tampa , Florida home . Adams ' wife found him not breathing in his bed , and summoned paramedics . The wrestler could not be revived , and was pronounced dead at the scene . Police could not immediately determine a cause of death , but noted no signs of injury . On September 29 , 2007 , Darsow and Eadie reunited as the tag team Demolition for the first time in 16 years in Orlando Florida . They once again became tag team champions in the UXW wrestling federation .