Barry Allen Darsow
Throughout his career, he worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, the World 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 three WWF World Tag Team Championships as part of Demolition and one NWA World Tag Team Championship as part of a three-man team with Ivan Koloff and Nikita 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-time NWA United States Tag Team Champion.
Early life
Darsow attended high school in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, with six other future wrestlers:
Curt Hennig,
Rick Rude (Rick Rude),
Brady Boone,
Tom Zenk,
John Nord (The Berzerker), and Scott Simpson (
Nikita Koloff).
[ the power plant Robbinsdale High School] He also worked as a bouncer with The Road Warriors, Hawk and Animal.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (1983–1984)
Darsow made his debut in
Hawaii as Tsar Mongo, before a short stint in
New Zealand.
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.
He then moved later that year to Mid-South Wrestling as Crusher Darsow, a turncoat American who was now a
Soviet Union sympathizer and a tag team partner of
Nikolai Volkoff.
He changed his name to Krusher Khruschev and became the first ever Mid-South Television Title champion in a tournament by beating
Terry Taylor in the finals on May 2, 1984, but lost it to Taylor on June 16, 1984. Darsow moved on to Florida Championship Wrestling where he teamed with
Jim Neidhart.
They won the Florida United States Tag Team Titles on October 11, 1984, from
Hector Guerrero and
Cocoa Samoa.
The team held them until December 1984, when they lost them to
Mark Youngblood and
Steven Romero.
Jim Crockett Promotions (1984–1987)
Khruschev moved on to the National Wrestling Alliance to work for Jim Crockett Jr. in December 1984. He was awarded a third of the NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship with
Ivan Koloff and
Nikita Koloff after they fell out with their former partner
Don Kernodle. The Koloffs had already won the NWA World Tag Team Championship and Ivan declared that any two of them could defend the titles.
They feuded with The Rock 'n' Roll Express (
Ricky Morton and
Reuben Kane) and The 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. At Starrcade 1985, on November 28, Khruschev won the vacant NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship by defeating Sam 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.
On January 11, 1986, Khruschev severely injured his knee in a match with Houston on TBS. He lost the title to Houston and had to take almost six months off to recover.
When Khruschev returned, Nikita was feuding with Magnum T. A. for the NWA 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 new NWA 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 to
Ron Garvin and
Barry Windham. Darsow left the NWA after disputing a pay off with Jimmy Crockett.
World Wrestling Federation (1987−1993)
Demolition (1987–1991)
Darsow next went to the World Wrestling Federation. He was brought into the company to be part of the tag team Demolition, which had originally consisted of
Bill Eadie as Ax and
Randy Colley, who had been Moondog Rex of The 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.
[Wrestlecrap.com induction of original Demolition, "featuring Bill Eadie and Pizza Face".] At first, they were managed by Luscious Johnny V, but he was soon replaced by
Harry Fujiwara. Their initial feuds involved the team of
Ken Patera and Billy Jack Haynes, and Strike Force (
Tito Santana and
Rick Martel). On March 27, 1988, at
WrestleMania IV, they defeated Strike Force to win their first WWF World tag team title, which they held for a record 16 months.
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 and The Warlord). This double turn at Survivor 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-fledged babyfaces. 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 at
WrestleMania V.
They lost the WWF Tag Team Title to The Brain Busters (Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard) on the July 29, 1989 Saturday Night's Main Event XXII.
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 Wrestling 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 defeated
Phil 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 of Prime Time Wrestling a vignette aired that introduced his new Repo Man character.
The repackaging was of a character who was a ubiquitous, sneaky heel character who delighted in
Repossession items such as cars from people when they were late on (or unable to make) their payments. As Repo Man, Darsow wore a black
domino mask (similar to The Lone Ranger and
Zorro) and an outfit decorated with tire tracks, and had mannerisms similar to
Frank Gorshin's portrayal of
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.
Shortly after his debut, he was hired by
Ted DiBiase to help him defeat Virgil for the Million Dollar Championship,
leading to a series of matches with Virgil. At the This Tuesday in Texas pay-per-view, Repo Man and DiBiase defeated Virgil and
Tito Santana.
Repo Man made a memorable appearance at the 1992 Royal Rumble, sneaking to the ring and eliminating Nikolai Volkoff and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine before eventually being eliminated by
Ray Traylor.
He also appeared at WrestleMania VIII, teaming with
Jacques Rougeau and The Nasty Boys to be defeated by The Big Boss Man, Virgil,
Jim Duggan and Sgt. Slaughter.
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.
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.
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
John Nord to defeat
Mike Enos and
Wayne Bloom in a dark match prior to
WCW Monday Nitro. For the following year, he appeared in the undercard as a heel, mostly on WCW's tertiary and quaternary shows
WCW Saturday Night and
WCW Worldwide. He also notably lost to Goldberg on the March 9, 1998, edition of
Nitro and the April 16, 1998, edition of
WCW Thunder. On the October 17, 1998, edition of
Saturday Night, he was repackaged as "Mr. Hole-In-One", Barry Darsow, a villainous golf player. He often entered the ring in casual wear and a
flat cap as if ready to golf and, prior to matches, would offer his opponents a victory if they could make a putt in the ring, often only to sneak attack the opponent.
Darsow feuded with "Hacksaw"
Jim Duggan and Chris Adams during this time, typically on
Saturday Night.
On the April 24, 1999, edition of
Worldwide, Darsow dropped the golfer gimmick, returning to his given name and wearing a black singlet. On August 28, 1999, Darsow teamed with
Bobby Eaton in a loss to
Harlem Heat on
Saturday Night. After Booker T pinned Darsow, Harlem Heat hit Darsow in the head with their WCW World Tag Team Championships. Due to the blow to the head, in the following weeks, Darsow took on an
amnesia gimmick, 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 of
Worldwide, Darsow reprised his Krusher Kruschev gimmick, and then returned to "Mr. Hole-In-One" on the September 18, 1999, edition of
Saturday 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 against
Steven Regal on the December 18, 1999, edition of
Worldwide.
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.
That same year, Darsow made a special WWF appearance at WrestleMania X-Seven for the gimmick battle royal as Repo Man.
After his Wrestlemania appearance Darsow retired from wrestling.
The Millennium Wrestling Federation (MWF) helped reunite Darsow with his partner Bill Eadie 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 wrestler Rick Fuller to defeat Ox Baker's Army in a tag team casket match.
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 Valentine and Brutus Beefcake).
On May 21, 2011, Demolition reunited at Full Impact Pro's debut pay-per-view In Full Force. Their match against Tony 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 by Manu, Sami Callihan, Blain Rage and Joey Attel. Demolition, Devito and Mosco managed to clear the ring and beat Dallas to end the show.
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.
In December 2008, Darsow's son,
Dakota Darsow, signed a developmental contract with WWE.
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.
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.
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
ROH 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.
The lawsuit was dismissed by US District Judge Vanessa Lynne Bryant in September 2018.
In September 2020, an appeal for the lawsuit was dismissed by a federal appeals court.
Championships and accomplishments
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All Star Pro Wrestling -
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British Empire/Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship(New Zealand Version) (1 time)
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50th State Big Time Wrestling -
-
NWA World Tag Team Championship(Hawaiian Version) (1 time) - with Gor Mongol
-
Cauliflower Alley Club
-
Championship Wrestling from Florida
-
NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Florida version) (1 time) – with Jim Neidhart
-
Great Lakes Championship Wrestling
-
GLCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – 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)
-
NWA United States Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ivan Koloff
[[2] Prowrestlinghistory.com Retrieved July 19, 2019]
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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
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Mid-South Television Championship (1 time)
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New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame
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United States Xtreme Wrestling
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USXW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ax
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World Wrestling Federation
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WWF Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Ax
External links
