.jpg) Eadie in 2024 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | William Reid Eadie (1947-12-27)December 27, 1947 (age 77) |
| Alma mater | West Virginia University |
Spouse | Sue Eadie |
| Children | 2 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring names |
|
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 291 lb (132 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | Mongolia (as Bolo Mongol) "Parts unknown" (as Ax) |
| Trained by | Boris Malenko Geto Mongol |
| Debut | December 15, 1972 |
| Retired | August 12, 2017 |
William Reid Eadie (born December 27, 1947) is an American retiredprofessional wrestler, best known for performing under thering namesThe Masked Superstar andAx, the latter as part ofDemolition.
Eadie was born inBrownsville, Pennsylvania in 1947. He attendedBrownsville High School, where he competed ingridiron football andtrack. After graduating high school in 1964, he attendedWest Virginia University on a track scholarship. After graduating in 1968, he worked as a high school teacher and coach atCambridge High School inCambridge, Ohio, and atEast Liverpool, Ohio.[2]
While attending a wrestling event in the early-1970s, Eadie met professional wrestlerGeto Mongol, who invited him to train as a wrestler.[2] Eadie's first match was on December 15, 1972, under the name "The Paramedic".[2][3] Throughout 1973, he wrestled under a mask as the tag team "Para-Medics" inthe Sheik's Detroit territory.
Eadie then wrestled in Pittsburgh, Detroit, theWorld Wide Wrestling Federation, and the IWA as "Bolo Mongol", the new partner of Geto Mongol.[4]
In 1976, Eadie entered the Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling territory under the management of Boris Malenko and donned a mask as "the Masked Superstar", given the character at the advice of matchmaker George Scott. It was stated that he was an Olympic champion by various wrestling promoters. He challenged opponents with a $10,000 reward to whoever could break his "cobra clutch", as well as utilizing the "corkscrew neckbreaker".[5] The Masked Superstar was 6' 3", weighed 300 lbs and created many mismatches due to his size, strength and quickness. He had many bouts withMighty Igor,Paul Jones,Blackjack Mulligan,Wahoo McDaniel,Mr. Wrestling II,Stan Hansen,"Wildfire" Tommy Rich, andDick Murdoch.[5] In 1978, he was the first wrestler (along with Blackjack Mulligan) to have one-hour cage matches, then have a series of "12" ninety-minute cage matches, against Mulligan. It is believed that neither feat of hour or hour and a half cage matches has since been performed by any wrestlers.[5] He was one of the first wrestlers to body slamAndré the Giant.[5]
From 1978 to 1980, Eadie wrestled forGeorgia Championship Wrestling. Among other accomplishments, he won fourGeorgia Heavyweight titles and unified that title with theNWA National Heavyweight Championship.[6][7]
Eadie left Georgia in February 1980 and returned to Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling as "Masked Superstar" later that month. Shortly after returning, he began teaming withMasked Superstar 2 as the "Masked Superstars". In March 1980, the Masked Superstars defeatedDino Bravo andRicky Steamboat for theNWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship; in the same month Eadie defeatedBlackjack Mulligan to win the vacantNWA Television Championship. In April 1980, Masked Superstar 2 was unmasked, causing him to leave the territory; the Masked Superstars subsequently vacated the NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship. Eadie continued to defend the NWA Television Championship until vacating it in October 1980.
In September 1980, Eadie began teaming withPaul Jones and Ricky Steamboat to repeatedly challenge for theNWA World Tag Team Championship(Mid-Atlantic version). In November 1980, Eadie and Jones finally defeatedJimmy Snuka andRay Stevens in acage match to win the titles. Their reign lasted until March 1981, when they lost to Stevens andIvan Koloff. They regained the titles from Koloff and Stevens later that month, holding them until May 1981 when they were defeated by theMinnesota Wrecking Crew. Later that month, Eadie repeatedly unsuccessfully challengedRoddy Piper for theNWA United States Heavyweight Championship(Mid Atlantic version). Eadie left Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling once more in June 1981 for a tour of Japan.
Eadie returned to Georgia Championship Wrestling in April 1981. In August 1981, he defeatedSteve O to win theNWA National Heavyweight Championship. The following month, he defeatedNWA Georgia Heavyweight ChampionTommy Rich to unify the titles. Later that month, Rich defeated him in amask versus haircage match to win the NWA National Heavyweight Championship. In November 1981, Eadie regained the title from Rich in aTexas death match. In January 1982, Rich won the title back in a cage match, ending their feud.
In January 1982, Eadie andThe Super Destroyer defeatedBob Armstrong andBrad Armstrong for theNWA National Tag Team Championship. In March 1982, Eadie gave his half of the titles toBig John Studd. In mid-1982, Eadie revived his feud with Tommy Rich. In October 1982, he defeatedPaul Orndorff to win the NWA National Heavyweight Championship for a third time; Orndorff regained the title the following month in ano disqualification match.
Eadie left Georgia Championship Wrestling once more in June 1983, briefly wrestling forMid-South Wrestling andLutte Internationale before returning to theWorld Wrestling Federation in August 1983.
As the Masked Superstar, Eadie also competed in theWorld Wrestling Federation against many top wrestlers in 1983–84. He fought against many top level opponents, including WWF championBob Backlund, WWF championHulk Hogan, future WWF championSgt. Slaughter, andJimmy Snuka.[5]
In 1984, Eadie teamed withKing Kong Bundy (also a hero at the time) to defeatthe Road Warriors for theNWA National Tag Team Championship (which he had previously held withSuper Destroyer in 1982) but was forced to give up the title due to injuries suffered in a mysterious assault (kayfabe).
Under the persona The Masked Superstar, he feuded withDino Bravo andRick Martel while teaming withKing Tonga.
In 1985, he returned as Bolo for two TV appearances.[8]
In 1986, Eadie returned to the World Wrestling Federation and became "Super Machine" withAndré the Giant as "Giant Machine" andBlackjack Mulligan as "Big Machine". Eadie was the primary mouthpiece of the team. The three Machines were introduced as rivals ofBobby Heenan and his massive tag team ofBig John Studd andKing Kong Bundy. (The Machines' masks and gimmick were copied fromNew Japan Pro-Wrestling character "Super Strong Machine", played by Japanese wrestlerJunji Hirata).[5]
Eadie later dropped the Machine gimmick and left the WWF to head toFlorida for a run as the Masked Superstar, upendingLex Luger to win the NWA Southern title.[9] He held the title for two weeks before Luger regained it.
In January 1987, Eadie returned to the WWF and formed the tag teamDemolition withRandy Colley, formerly Moondog Rex, who wrestled as Smash while Eadie wrestled as Ax. Colley was later replaced byBarry Darsow as Smash, after it was discovered that too many people recognised Colley as Moondog Rex, the character he previously portrayed. Though they began asheels, their unique brawling style and charisma made them so popular that they becamefaces in November 1988.[10] They won theWWF Tag Team Championship three times.
In 1989, Eadie played opposite Hulk Hogan as "Jake Bullet" in the movieNo Holds Barred. He and Smash appeared in severalPizza Hut commercials for the "Kids Night Out" promotion widely seen on national television.
In June 1990, Demolition was expanded to astable with the addition ofBrian Adams, who briefly wrestled as "B.A." before adopting the ring name "Crush".[11] The trio concept was precipitated by a mutual decision to phase out the Ax character and for Eadie to take a backstage role in the company.[10] Popular rumor at the time cited heart problems on Eadie's part, which have been discredited in recent years.[citation needed] An allergic reaction to shellfish while in Japan after WrestleMania VI was the real cause of his temporary heart problem; Eadie confirmed this in a shoot interview in 2007.[citation needed] Before Eadie was medically cleared, Crush had been recruited as a temporary replacement.[10] Demolition's third reign as champions ended atSummerSlam 1990. Eadie's new position eventually fell through and his final WWF appearance was atSurvivor Series 1990.[10] This event also marked the last time that he and Smash worked together for sixteen years.
Around 1991, Ax formed a new tag team, using the Demolition name, and pairing up with a 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) Canadian wrestler, dubbed "Canadian Giant" or "Demolition Hux." They toured withNew Japan Pro-Wrestling, facing established stars such asMasa Saito,Riki Choshu andTatsumi Fujinami, at the same time that Smash and Crush were still wrestling under the name for the then WWF and on Japanese tours withSuper World of Sports. Eadie would then go on to form a third Demolition team with partner Blast (Carmine Azzato). They competed on a few independent shows, then went their separate ways.
Eadie also competed on the Southern independent circuit as The Masked Superstar. On August 15, 1997, Eadie was disqualified in a match againstJimmy Snuka at theIWA Night of the Legends show inKannapolis, North Carolina after hitting special guest refereeRicky Steamboat.[12][13] On March 1, 1998, he defeatedVladimir Koloff inFredericksburg, Virginia to win the UCW Heavyweight Championship. On March 14, 1999, Eadie and Ben Steele captured the NAWA United States Tag Team Championship from Kane and Abel Atoms inColumbia, South Carolina.[14]
TheMillennium Wrestling Federation reunited Ax and Smash of Demolition at the Wrestling's Living Legends reunion April 1, 2007, prior toWrestleMania 23 inWindsor, Ontario. They began regularly competing as Ax and Smash for the first time in 16 years. The Masked Superstar defeatedGreg Valentine for the Mid-Atlantic Heritage Championship. The title changed hands at the Carolina Wrestling Classic on Saturday, June 2, 2007, at the L.P. Frans Stadium inHickory, North Carolina. Alongside One Man Gang, Demolition 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 March 28, 2009, Demolition Ax was inducted into theKeystone State Wrestling Alliance (KSWA) Hall of Fame in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Ax was inducted because of his success, and the fact that he is a native of Brownsville, PA, also in Western Pennsylvania.
On October 2, 2010, Ax made his third appearance for the Dynamic Wrestling Alliance based in Middletown, Ohio.[15]
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.[16]
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 (The Barbarian andWarlord).[17] In 2013, Eadie wrestled occasionally for independent promotions and makes signing appearances in "legends" shows across the United States, Canada, and Europe.
On June 3, 2017, Eadie announced his retirement,[18] although he went on to have two more matches. His final singles match took place at KSWA's "Brawl Under the Bridge" event in theHomestead neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA on July 22, 2017. On August 12, 2017, Eadie had his final match, resulting in a victory in a 6-man tag team match for Georgia Premier Wrestling in Canton, Georgia.[19]
Eadie formerly supported the good work of the Inner Harbour Hospital Springs Campus inRockmart, Georgia. For several years, the Masked Superstar made many of his masks and wrestling gear available to wrestling fans through raffles and auctions, the proceeds of which supported the general operating fund of the non-profit Inner Harbour Hospital, which has since closed and all operations moved to The Shoals campus in Douglasville, Georgia due to a lack of funding.[5]
In July 2016, Eadie 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 was litigated by attorney Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against WWE.[20] US District JudgeVanessa Lynne Bryant dismissed the lawsuit in September 2018.[21] In September 2020, an appeal for the lawsuit dismissed by a federal appeals court.[22]
A long time friend of André the Giant outside of wrestling, Eadie revealed in a 2016 interview that André was the godfather to his two daughters.[23]
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