Smash (wrestler)
Smash | |
---|---|
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 retired professional wrestler who performed as Smash, one half of the tag team Demolition. He also wrestled as Krusher Kruschev, Repo Man, the Blacktop Bully and "Mr. Hole in One" Barry Darsow.[4]
Throughout his career, he worked for
Early life
Darsow attended high school in
.Professional wrestling career
Early career (1983–1984)
Darsow made his debut in
Jim Crockett Promotions (1984–1987)
Khruschev moved on to the
When Khruschev returned, Nikita was feuding with
World Wrestling Federation (1987 − 1993)
Demolition (1987–1991)
Darsow next went to the
They lost the WWF Tag Team Title to
Repo Man (1991–1993)
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 a
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 of Wrestling Challenge.[23] The two had a series of house show matches as well as a match on Prime Time Wrestling, all of which saw Bulldog come out victorious. Repo Man lost a match to former partner Crush at SummerSlam,[24] 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 with Randy Savage in January 1993 when he repossessed Savage's hat on an episode of Monday Night Raw. The two had a match the following week, which Savage won.[1] Repo Man made his final PPV appearance at the 1993 Royal Rumble, where he was eliminated by Savage.[25] Originally, Darsow had planned that after a run as a villain, Repo Man would become a heroic character. However, the turn never happened.[18] His final recorded match in the WWF would be on March 28, 1993, a loss to Typhoon.
Independent Association of Wrestling (1993)
In 1993, Darsow joined the IAW promotion where he teamed with Paul 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 to The Iron Sheik and Brian Costello.
World Championship Wrestling (1994–1995)
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 the faces while they wrestled, and would sometimes be kicked out of arenas by security. On the November 26 edition of WCW Saturday Night, he was eventually kayfabe arrested for pushing Dustin Rhodes. Col. Rob Parker bailed Darsow out from jail, after which point Darsow became known as The Blacktop Bully, with Parker as his manager. He feuded with Rhodes, but both were fired after Uncensored 1995, when he and Rhodes 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, which Darsow won.[1][26]
Independent circuit (1995–1997)
From there, he went to Pro Wrestling America in Minnesota to feud with Wahoo McDaniel and Tom Zenk. He next appeared in the American Wrestling Federation, with Jimmy Valiant's wife Big Mama as his valet. The AWF folded at the beginning of 1997.
Return to WCW (1997–1999)
Darsow returned to WCW under his real name on October 6, 1997, teaming with
Return to the independent circuit (2000–2001, 2007-2017)
Darsow joined the WXO promotion run by Ted DiBiase. He feuded with Mike Enos until it folded shortly after in 2001.[2] That same year, Darsow made a special WWF appearance at WrestleMania X-Seven for the gimmick battle royal as Repo Man.[27] After his Wrestlemania appearance Darsow retired from wrestling.
The
Alongside Ax and One Man Gang, he competed in the Chikara King 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 the Keystone 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 at Dynamic Destiny 2011 teaming with Ax as they took on another former WWF World Tag Team combination, The Dream Team (Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake).[30]
On May 21, 2011, Demolition reunited at
He retired from wrestling in 2017 after Ax retired.
Outside wrestling and in popular culture
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.[4] In December 2008, Darsow's son, Dakota, signed a developmental contract with WWE.[33] Darsow has worked with the Millennium Wrestling Federation (MWF)'s efforts with the Special Olympics. Darsow is good friends with Arn Anderson, Barry Horowitz, Bill Irwin, and Brad Rheingans.[2] He was also good friends with Curt Hennig, Rick Rude (both of whom he attended high school with), Brady Boone, Dino Bravo, and Brian Adams.[2] Japanese band Aural Vampire produced a song called "The Repoman" and use video footage of Darsow and other wrestlers in live performances. Former 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 pay-per-view 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.
Personal life
In July 2016, Darsow was named part of a class 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.[34] The lawsuit was dismissed by US District Judge Vanessa Lynne Bryant in September 2018.[35] In September 2020, an appeal for the lawsuit was dismissed by a federal appeals court.[36]
Championships and accomplishments
- All Star Pro Wrestling -
- British Empire/Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship(New Zealand Version) (1 time)
- 50th State Big Time Wrestling -
- NWA World Tag Team Championship(Hawaiian Version) (1 time) - with Gor Mongol
- Cauliflower Alley Club
- Tag Team Award (2015) – with Ax
- Tag Team Award (2015) – with
- Championship Wrestling from Florida
- Great Lakes Championship Wrestling
- GLCW Tag Team Championship (1 time, current) – with Ax
- Independent Association of Wrestling
- IAW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Paul Roma
- Jim Crockett Promotions
- NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[9]
- NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship (2 time) – with Ivan and Nikita Koloff
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (1 time) – with Ivan Koloff and Nikita Koloff
- Keystone State Wrestling Alliance
- KSWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ax
- Mid-South Wrestling Association
- 1 time)[37]
- New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame
- Class of 2020 – with Ax
- United States Xtreme Wrestling
- USXW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ax
- World Wrestling Federation
- WWF Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Ax[11][13][15]
2 In Demolition's third reign as WWF Tag Team Champions, Ax and Smash were joined by Crush, forming a three-man team and defending the titles under the Freebird Rule
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Barry Darsow Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on February 17, 2009. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oliver, Greg (April 5, 2001). "Barry Darsow: Happy to be done wrestling; Reflecting on a long list of characters". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
- ^ a b c d Hoffman, Brett (February 28, 2007). "Where Are They Now? - Catching up with Smash". WWE. Archived from the original on February 24, 2009. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
- ^ a b c d Clevett, Jason (April 26, 2007). "Fan fests bring Demolition back together". SLAM! Sports. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ the power plant Robbinsdale High School
- ^ a b c "N.W.A. United States Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles. Archived from the original on February 22, 2009. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
- ^ "NWA Starcade 1985 - "The Gathering"". Online World of Wrestling. November 28, 1985. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
- ^ a b Bourne, Dick. "The Definitive History of the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship". Mid-Atlantic Wrestling. Archived from the original on December 31, 2008. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
- ^ Wrestlecrap.com induction of original Demolition, "featuring Bill Eadie and Pizza Face".
- ^ a b "History of the World Tag Team Championship - Demolition (1)". WWE. Archived from the original on January 18, 2009. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
- ^ "Saturday Night's Main Event Results". WWE. July 18, 1989. Archived from the original on December 26, 2008. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
- ^ a b "History of the World Tag Team Championship - Demolition (2)". WWE. Archived from the original on January 19, 2009. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
- ^ "WrestleMania VI". WWE. Archived from the original on February 22, 2009. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
- ^ a b "History of the World Tag Team Championship - Demolition (3)". WWE. Archived from the original on February 4, 2009. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
- ^ "SummerSlam 1990 Results". WWE. Archived from the original on February 13, 2009. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
- ^ "WWF - 1991". The History of WWE. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
- ^ a b "Chewin' the Turnbuckle with Smash/Repo Man". The Herald News.
- ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
- ^ "WWF This Tuesday in Texas results/info". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
- ^ "WWF Royal Rumble 1992 entrant/elimination info". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
- ^ "2008 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts". Wrestling's Historical Cards: WrestleMania VIII. Kappa Publishing. 2008. p. 120.
- ^ British Bulldog vs Repo Man Wrestling Challenge May 3rd, 1992, retrieved January 5, 2020
- ^ "WWF SummerSlam 1992 results/info". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
- ^ "WWF Royal Rumble 1993 entrant/elimination info". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved December 7, 2011.
- ^ "Uncensored 1995". Online World of Wrestling. March 19, 1995. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
- ^ "WrestleMania X-Seven Results". WWE. Archived from the original on February 4, 2009. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
- ^ "MWF Ultra & MWF Xtra Television Web-Casts". BostonWrestling. Archived from the original on January 20, 2009. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
- ^ Plummer, Dale (December 10, 2007). "Raw: Nostalgia show quite the (beer) blast". SLAM! Sports. Archived from the original on June 30, 2012. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "DWA official site". Dynamic Wrestling Alliance.
- ^ "List of died wrestler". KB. Retrieved May 21, 2011.
- ^ "Past results". Chikara. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
- ^ Hyatt, Missy. "Missy Hyatt on wrestling conventions, women's wrestling, indy scene, more". Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Online. Archived from the original on February 13, 2009. Retrieved January 23, 2009.
- ^ "WWE sued in wrestler class action lawsuit featuring Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka, Paul 'Mr Wonderful' Orndorff". FoxSports.com. Fox Entertainment Group (21st Century Fox). July 18, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
- ^ Robinson, Byron (September 22, 2018). "Piledriver: WWE uses 'Hell in a Cell' as springboard to future shows". Montgomery Advertiser. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
- ^ "Former WWE Wrestlers' Lawsuit Over Brain Damage Is Dismissed". US News. September 9, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
- ^ a b [1] Prowrestlinghistory.com Retrieved July 19, 2019
External links
- Official website
- Where Are They Now? - Darsow
- Smash's Chikara profile
- Smash's profile at Cagematch.net , Wrestlingdata.com , Internet Wrestling Database
- Barry Darsow Interview