| Smash | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Smash in 2024 | |
| Birth name | Barry Allen Darsow |
| Born | (1959-10-06)October 6, 1959 (age 65)[1] Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.[1] |
| Spouse(s) | Theresa Darsow |
| Children | Dakota Darsow |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Barry Darsow The Blacktop Bully[2] Crusher Darsow[2] Krusher Khruschev[2] Mr. Hole-In-One[2] Repo Man[2] Smash[2] Tsar Mongo Man Mountain Darsow[3] |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)[4] |
| Billed weight | 290 lb (132 kg)[4] |
| Billed from | Parts Unknown (as Smash) The Motor City (as Repo Man) |
| Trained by | Eddie Sharkey[2] Karl Gotch |
| Debut | 1983 |
| Retired | 2017 |
Barry Allen Darsow[2] (born October 6, 1959)[1] is an American retiredprofessional wrestler who performed asSmash, one half of the tag teamDemolition. He also wrestled asKrusher Kruschev,Repo Man,the Blacktop Bully,Man Mountain Darsow and "Mr. Hole in One" Barry Darsow.[5]
Throughout his career, he worked forJim Crockett Promotions, theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF),World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and several regional promotions in the 1980s and 1990s. He is a four-time former world tag team champion, winning threeWWF World Tag Team Championships as part of Demolition and oneNWA World Tag Team Championship as part of a three-man team withIvan andNikita Koloff (although the NWA no longer recognizes any former tag team champions prior to 1992, Darsow's championship is considered part of the WCW World tag team championship lineage), and a one-timeNWA United States Tag Team Champion.
Darsow attended high school inRobbinsdale, Minnesota, with six other future wrestlers:Curt Hennig,Richard Rood (Rick Rude),Brady Boone,Tom Zenk,John Nord (The Berzerker), and Scott Simpson (Nikita Koloff).[6][7] He also worked as abouncer withThe Road Warriors,Hawk andAnimal.
Darsow made his debut inHawaii as Tsar Mongo, before a short stint inNew Zealand.[2] He returned to Hawaii, before he began wrestling in 1983 in Georgia for Georgia Championship Wrestling where he briefly wrestled under the ring name Man Mountain Darsow.[3] He then moved later that year to Mid-South Wrestling as Crusher Darsow, a turncoat American who was now aSoviet sympathizer and a tag team partner ofNikolai Volkoff.[2] He changed his name to Krusher Khruschev and became the first ever Mid-South Television Title champion in a tournament by beatingTerry Taylor in the finals on May 2, 1984, but lost it to Taylor on June 16, 1984. Darsow moved on toFlorida Championship Wrestling where he teamed withJim Neidhart.[2] They won the Florida United States Tag Team Titles on October 11, 1984, fromHector Guerrero andCocoa Samoa.[8] The team held them until December 1984, when they lost them toMark andJay Youngblood.[8]
Khruschev moved on to theNational Wrestling Alliance to work forJim Crockett Jr. in December 1984. He was awarded a third of theNWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship withIvan andNikita Koloff after they fell out with their former partnerDon Kernodle. The Koloffs had already won theNWA World Tag Team Championship and Ivan declared thatany two of them could defend the titles.[2] They feuded withThe Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton andRobert Gibson) andThe Road Warriors. On July 9, 1985, he and Ivan lost the NWA Tag Titles to the Rock 'N Roll Express. The Koloffs subsequently regained and defended the belts without Khruschev's participation. AtStarrcade 1985, on November 28, Khruschev won the vacantNWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship by defeatingSam Houston. Later on that night, he was in the Koloffs' corner as they lost their Tag titles back to the Express in a cage match with Kernodle in the Express's corner.[9][10] On January 11, 1986, Khruschev severely injured his knee in a match with Houston onTBS. He lost the title to Houston and had to take almost six months off to recover.
When Khruschev returned, Nikita was feuding withMagnum T. A. for theNWA United States Heavyweight Championship. On August 17, 1986, Khruschev 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, Khruschev and Ivan targeted the newNWA 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 his back on Ivan and Khruschev to team with Magnum's good friend,Dusty Rhodes. Kruschev 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 toRon Garvin andBarry Windham. Darsow left the NWA after disputing a pay off with Jimmy Crockett.
Darsow next went to theWorld Wrestling Federation. He was brought into the company to be part of the tag teamDemolition, which had originally consisted ofBill Eadie as Ax andRandy Colley, who had been Moondog Rex ofThe Moondogs, as Smash. Darsow was tabbed as the new Smash after Colley, who wore face paint like Eadie did as part of his character, was deemed too recognizable even in disguise due to fans chanting "Moondog" at him whenever Demolition wrestled.[5][11] At first, they were managed byLuscious Johnny V, but he was soon replaced byMr. Fuji. Their initial feuds involved the team ofKen Patera andBilly Jack Haynes, andStrike Force (Tito Santana andRick Martel). On March 27, 1988, atWrestleMania IV, they defeated Strike Force to win their firstWWF World tag team title, which they held for a record 16 months.[6][12] During this reign, they fell out with Mr. Fuji as he turned on them to manage their arch-rivals,The Powers of Pain (The Barbarian andThe Warlord). This doubleturn atSurvivor Series '88 was the solution to the massive popularity being enjoyed by Demolition. Originally, they were the heels in their rivalry with the Powers of Pain; however, as a result of the incident at the Survivor Series, Demolition became full-fledgedbabyfaces. Demolition conclusively won the feud with their ex-manager and his new team when they defeated the Powers and Fuji in a five-man handicap tag match atWrestleMania V.
They lost the WWF Tag Team Title toThe Brain Busters (Arn Anderson andTully Blanchard) on the July 29, 1989Saturday Night's Main Event XXII.[13] They regained the title on October 2, but lost them to The Colossal Connection (Haku andAndré the Giant) on December 13.[14] They defeated the Connection atWrestleMania VI on April 1, 1990, to become the third ever team to win the titles a third time in WWF history.[15][16] The duo was joined byCrush (Brian Adams) later in 1990, making them a 3-man tag team and the second team Darsow had been involved in whose title reign operated under theFreebird Rule. Ax began appearing in a managerial role which was to eventually lead to the phasing out of the character.[6] Demolition lost the titles toThe Hart Foundation atSummerSlam '90.[17] After a feud withLegion of Doom, the team dropped down the card and would disband in the spring of 1991, with Crush leaving the WWF for a year and Smash wrestling as a singles wrestler,[6] primarily in house show undercards, where he was used to elevate other stars, such asKerry Von Erich,Greg Valentine andRicky Steamboat. His only victories during this run came overJim Powers andShane Douglas. He also appeared under a mask as an unnamed man hired byTed DiBiase to wrestleVirgil on the August 18, 1991SummerSlam Spectacular special. His final recorded WWF match as Smash would occur on August 24, 1991, getting pinned byThe British Bulldog.
While still wrestling as Demolition Smash, Darsow made his initial appearance as Repo Man on July 30, 1991, in Portland, Maine, wrestling in a dark match at aWrestling Challenge taping. Four days before his final match as Smash, he made a second appearance in a dark match at another Challenge Taping in Erie, PA and defeatedPhil Apollo on August 20. Following the August 24 house show defeat to Davey Boy Smith, Darsow retired the Demolition gimmick and was off the road for three months. On the November 9 edition ofPrime Time Wrestling a vignette aired that introduced his new Repo Man character.[18] The repackaging was of a character who was a ubiquitous, sneakyheel character who delighted inrepossessing items such as cars from people when they were late on (or unable to make) their payments. As Repo Man, Darsow wore a blackdomino mask (similar toThe Lone Ranger andZorro) and an outfit decorated with tire tracks, and had mannerisms similar toFrank Gorshin's portrayal ofThe Riddler. He always carried a tow rope that he would tie up opponents with after defeating them and then assault them after. The character was actually the idea of Darsow himself, who previously had a job repossessing cars.[19] Shortly after his debut, he was hired byTed DiBiase to help him defeatVirgil for theMillion Dollar Championship,[20] leading to a series of matches with Virgil. At theThis Tuesday in Texas pay-per-view, Repo Man and DiBiase defeated Virgil andTito Santana.[21] Repo Man made a memorable appearance at the1992 Royal Rumble, sneaking to the ring and eliminating Nikolai Volkoff and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine before eventually being eliminated byThe Big Boss Man.[22] He also appeared atWrestleMania VIII, teaming withThe Mountie andThe Nasty Boys to be defeated by The Big Boss Man, Virgil,Hacksaw Jim Duggan andSgt. Slaughter.[23]
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 the May 3, 1992, episode ofWrestling Challenge.[24] The two had a series ofhouse show matches as well as a match onPrime Time Wrestling, all of which saw Bulldog come out victorious. Repo Man lost a match to former partner Crush atSummerSlam,[25] though it was never acknowledged on television that Repo Man was actually Smash. He also worked against Jim Duggan on house shows during this period. Repo Man also had a short feud withRandy Savage in January 1993 when he repossessed Savage's hat on an episode ofMonday Night Raw. The two had a match the following week, which Savage won.[1] Repo Man made his final PPV appearance at the1993 Royal Rumble, where he was eliminated by Savage.[26] Originally, Darsow had planned that after a run as a villain, Repo Man would become a heroic character. However, the turn never happened.[19] His final recorded match in the WWF would be on March 28, 1993, a loss toTyphoon.
In 1993, Darsow joined the IAW promotion where he teamed withPaul Roma to win the IAW Tag Team titles on February 4, 1993 (while he was still on the WWF roster). They held them until July 24, when they lost them toThe Iron Sheik andBrian Costello.
In 1994, Darsow signed with WCW. He first wrestled under his real name in January. By August, he began appearing in the front of events with a blow horn, making noise and berating thefaces while they wrestled, and would sometimes be kicked out of arenas by security. On the November 26 edition ofWCW Saturday Night, he was eventuallykayfabe arrested for pushingDustin Rhodes.Col. Rob Parker bailed Darsow out from jail, after which point Darsow became known asThe Blacktop Bully, with Parker as his manager. He feuded with Rhodes, but both were fired afterUncensored 1995, when he and Rhodes bothbladed (which was against WCW's 'no-blood' policy) during a "King of the Road" match in the back of a moving flatbed truck, which Darsow won.[1][27]
From there, he went toPro Wrestling America in Minnesota to feud withWahoo McDaniel andTom Zenk. He next appeared in theAmerican Wrestling Federation, withJimmy Valiant's wife Big Mama as his valet. The AWF folded at the beginning of 1997.
Darsow returned to WCW under his real name on October 6, 1997, teaming withJohn Nord to defeatMike Enos andWayne Bloom in a dark match prior toWCW Monday Nitro. For the following year, he appeared in the undercard as a heel, mostly on WCW's tertiary and quaternary showsWCW Saturday Night andWCW Worldwide. He also notably lost toGoldberg on the March 9, 1998, edition ofNitro and the April 16, 1998, edition ofWCW Thunder. On the October 17, 1998, edition ofSaturday Night, he was repackaged as "Mr. Hole-In-One", Barry Darsow, a villainous golf player. He often entered the ring in casual wear and aflat cap as if ready to golf and, prior to matches, would offer his opponents a victory if they could make aputt in the ring, often only to sneak attack the opponent.[1][5] Darsow feuded with "Hacksaw"Jim Duggan andChris Adams during this time, typically onSaturday Night.[1] On the April 24, 1999, edition ofWorldwide, Darsow dropped the golfer gimmick, returning to his given name and wearing a black singlet. On August 28, 1999, Darsow teamed withBobby Eaton in a loss toHarlem Heat onSaturday Night. AfterBooker T pinned Darsow, Harlem Heat hit Darsow in the head with theirWCW World Tag Team Championships. Due to the blow to the head, in the following weeks, Darsow took on anamnesiagimmick, wherein he would reprise a different one of his past JCP/WCW gimmicks every week (the Smash and Repo Man gimmicks were WWE trademarks). On the September 18, 1999, edition ofWorldwide, Darsow reprised his Krusher Kruschev gimmick, and then returned to "Mr. Hole-In-One" on the September 18, 1999, edition ofSaturday Night. On October 2, 1999, he returned to his Blacktop Bully gimmick, which he used for the remainder of his time in WCW. His final match was a loss againstSteven Regal on the December 18, 1999, edition ofWorldwide.
Darsow joined the WXO promotion run byTed DiBiase. He feuded withMike Enos until it folded shortly after in 2001.[2] That same year, Darsow made a special WWF appearance atWrestleMania X-Seven for the gimmickbattle royal as Repo Man.[28] After his Wrestlemania appearance Darsow retired from wrestling.
TheMillennium Wrestling Federation (MWF) helped reunite Darsow with his partnerAx as Demolition and the two appeared at the Wrestling Living Legends reunion in Windsor, Ontario, Canada in March 2007. On the March 2008 MWF Ultra television program, Darsow, as Demolition Smash teamed with former WCW wrestlerRick Fuller to defeatOx Baker's Army in a tag teamcasket match.[29] OnRaw XV, on the 15th-anniversaryWWE Raw special on December 10, 2007, Darsow participated in the 15th Anniversary Battle Royal under his Repo Man persona.[30]
Alongside Ax and One Man Gang, he competed in theChikaraKing of the Trios Tournament in 2008, but were eliminated in the second round by "The Fabulous Three" (Larry Sweeney, Mitch Ryder and Shayne Hawke). On October 28, 2009, Smash appeared, with his partner Ax, at theKeystone State Wrestling Alliance. Where they defeated Tag Team Champions Shawn Blanchard and Lou Martin for the KSWA Tag Team Championship, which they would hold for that match only before relinquishing them due to not being able to return for further shows. Darsow still competes on the independent circuit to this day with Ax. They are currently the GLCW and USXW Tag Team Champions. On March 12, 2011, Darsow made his Dynamic Wrestling Alliance debut atDynamic Destiny 2011 teaming with Ax as they took on another former WWF World Tag Team combination,The Dream Team (Greg "The Hammer" Valentine andBrutus "The Barber" Beefcake).[31]
On May 21, 2011, Demolition reunited atFull Impact Pro's debutiPPVIn Full Force. Their match againstTony DeVito and Ralph Mosco went to a no contest when local commentator and manager Larry Dallas came out and said his men wanted revenge. The ring was stormed byManu,Sami Callihan, Blain Rage and Joey Attel. Demolition, Devito and Mosco managed to clear the ring and beat Dallas to end the show.[32] Demolition returned to Chikara on September 16, 2012, taking part in a tag teamgauntlet match, from which they eliminated The Devastation Corporation (Blaster McMassive and Max Smashmaster), before being eliminated themselves by their old WWF rivals, the Powers of Pain.[33]
He retired from wrestling in 2017 after Ax retired.
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.[5] In December 2008, Darsow's son,Dakota, signed a developmental contract with WWE.[34] Darsow has worked with theMillennium Wrestling Federation (MWF)'s efforts with the Special Olympics. Darsow is good friends withArn Anderson,Barry Horowitz,Bill Irwin, andBrad Rheingans.[2] He was also good friends withCurt Hennig,Rick Rude (both of whom he attended high school with),Brady Boone,Dino Bravo, andBrian Adams.[2] Japanese bandAural Vampire produced a song called "The Repoman" and use video footage of Darsow and other wrestlers in live performances. FormerRing of Honor performerAdam Pearce is often heckled by fans who call him "Repo Man" because he looks similar to Darsow. At one match in 2007, at the pay-per-view taping forDriven, againstTakeshi 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.
In July 2016, Darsow was named part of aclass action lawsuit filed against WWE which alleged that wrestlers incurred traumatic brain injuries during their tenure and that the company concealed the risks of injury. The suit is litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in some number of other lawsuits against WWE.[35] The lawsuit was dismissed by US District JudgeVanessa Lynne Bryant in September 2018.[36] In September 2020, an appeal for the lawsuit was dismissed by a federal appeals court.[37]
,Wrestlingdata.com,Internet Wrestling Database