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AHHHHHHH, what a rush!! The Road Warriors aka The Legion of Doom are without a doubt one of the most legendary and decorated tag teams in professional wrestling history. Their iconic look, complete with facepaint and spiked shoulder pads, was inspired by the 1981 Mad Max film, The Road Warrior. While many other tag teams would eventually ripoff The Road Warriors gimmick to some degree, one team has the potential claim of being better than the original. That was the popular late 1980s and early 90s WWE tag team, Demolition.
Demolition debuted in WWE as a heel tag team in January 1987, consisting of Ax (Bill Eadie), Smash (Barry Darsow) and their manager, Luscious Johnny Valiant. They wore studded leather outfits and leather masks, reminiscent of the Lord Humungus character in the aforementioned film, The Road Warrior. Demolition dominated the WWE tag team scene during this period, en route to three reigns as WWE World Tag Team Champions. In 1990, Demolition would add a third member in Crush, as Ax had developed a real-life shellfish allergy and could not compete with the same frequency.
The Road Warriors would sign with WWE for the first time in June 1990, finally giving fans the opportunity to see a dream feud between them and Demolition. While a short feud would occur in late 1990, it would unfortunately never really get out of the gate (more on that later). But let's go back and compare each team's successes prior to the Road Warriors WWE arrival.
RELATED: Demolition vs Road Warriors: 5 Ways Each Team Was The Superior Duo
The Road Warriors Achieve Early Popularity In AWA, WCW, And Japan
The Road Warriors debuted in Georgia Championship Wrestling in 1983, and quickly stood out to fans with their unique look and powerhouse style. In no time they would capture the NWA National Tag Team Championship, a title they would hold three times. In 1984, they would make the move to the AWA, along with their manager Paul Ellering, and again, quickly capture the AWA tag titles, which they held for 400 days.
The Road Warriors began touring Japan in 1985, making headlines and legitimizing themselves to the Japanese fans by picking up a number of squash victories over strong Japanese tag teams. They would make their way to WCW in 1986 and have great matches with the likes of The Steiner Brothers, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, and the Samoan Swat Team. They also took part in multiple epic War Games matches.
RELATED: 10 Things Fans Should Know About The Road Warriors
Demolition's WWE Run Was Short, But Dominant
Demolition was only a team for five years in WWE (1987-1991), but they were on top -- in what was quite a talented tag team division -- for the majority of their run. Their first marquee moment came at WrestleMania IV, where they defeated Strike Force to capture their first of three WWE World Tag Team Championships. Their first reign lasted a record-long 478 days (a record that has since been broken by The New Day) with 43 successful title defenses according to Cagematch.net.
RELATED: 8 Things You Didn't Know About WWE Tag Team Demolition
Demolition would eventually turn babyface, and they got over like hot cakes with the fans. They would defeat the likes of the British Bulldogs, Hart Foundation, and Powers of Pain, before losing and winning back their titles against the Brain Busters during the latter half of 1989. They dropped the titles to Bobby Heenan's new Colossal Connection of Andre the Giant and Haku, setting up a rematch at WrestleMania VI, where Demolition got the victory after Andre got tied in the ropes. It was their third title win, and perhaps their biggest babyface triumph as the fans in the Skydome went ballistic. Crush would join the squad later that year, and they dropped the tag titles to the Hart Foundation at a two-out-of-three falls match against the Hart Foundation at SummerSlam 1990.
The Legion Of Doom Defeated Demolition In Every Match
By the time the Legion of Doom arrived in WWE in June 1990, Crush was the primary second member of Demolition. While the two teams would square off in dozens of matches -- mostly at house shows -- this was unfortunately not quite the Demolition of old as Ax was mostly on the sidelines. That showed, as LOD won every single match they had against Demolition. Once Ax got back to wrestling, LOD would often team with the Ultimate Warrior against the trio. At Survivor Series 1990, the Demolition trio would join Mr. Perfect, as they fell to the team of LOD, Ultimate Warrior, and the Texas Tornado. Demolition would fade a bit to the background in 1991, and have their last WWE match as a team on September 18, 1991.
RELATED: 5 Ways The Legion Of Doom Was Best In WWE (& 5 Ways They Were In WCW)
Who Was Better, The Road Warriors Or Demolition?
The Road Warriors/LOD was clearly the superior team given their head-to-head dominance, and their success and popularity in different promotions across the world. However, it cannot be overstated that Demolition was the dominant tag team in a very strong WWE tag team division for a three-year period -- not to mention holding the record for longest reign for nearly 30 years.
It's a shame Ax's health problems prevented him from wrestling much once LOD debuted, or it could've been a different story. The Road Warriors would continue long after Demolition, with successful stints in New Japan Pro Wrestling (1992-96), WCW (1996), and WWE (1997-99).
