Demolition explains how relationship with WWE changed

Demolition have waited 36 years to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. And if Vince McMahon were still in charge of the company, they might be waiting even longer.

Bill “Ax” Eadie and Barry “Smash” Darsow discussed their upcoming Hall of Fame induction with Dave LaGreca and Bully Ray on the Busted Open Podcast. Without using anyone’s name, Eadie said they might not be welcome in WWE had their not been a regime change at the top of the company.

“I think that, and Barry and I have both talked about it, if it wasn’t for the fans, I really believe the pressure over the years, and a lot of our peers mentioned it, we really never thought we would be inducted,” he said. “And I don’t think we would have been under a different administration. But that’s changed and our relationship with the company has changed drastically.”

That change, according to Darsow, began when they signed a WWE legends contract last year. “We debated, do we want to really get into this or what we’re going to do? So, finally, we decided, well, let’s let’s sign the Legends contract and see what happens.”

The two were then invited to the Hall of Fame ceremonies last year. Darsow said they were treated very well, specifically mentioning CM Punk, Steve Austin, and the Undertaker among those who welcomed them.

Demolition won three World Tag Team Championships in the WWE (then known as the World Wrestling Federation) in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Their first reign lasted 478 days, and they spent 698 total days as champion. Those are both records for those sets of tag team titles, which were retired in 2010.

Their last WWF match as Demolition was at Survivor Series in 1990 (though Darsow continued to use the gimmick, teaming with Bryan “Crush” Adams). Eadie would later sue the promotion over the rights to the Demolition gimmick; that lawsuit was settled out of court in 1997.