Barry Darsow, better known as either Demolition Smash or the Repo Man in WWE, has spoken about how Eric Bischoff fired him after a certain WCW match.
The “King of the Road” match from WCW Uncensored 1995 remains one of the most infamous bouts in company history, taking place in the back of a moving truck as Dustin Rhodes faced Barry Darsow, then wrestling as the Blacktop Bully. Despite its reputation as one of WCW’s more bizarre ideas, Darsow says he looks back on both the character and the match with genuine fondness.
Speaking on 83 Weeks, Darsow said he and Rhodes were happy with how the match turned out. However, both men were fired shortly after by WCW management. According to Darsow, the dismissal had nothing to do with performance, but rather because the two had bladed during the match, something the office had specifically prohibited.
Darsow recalled receiving the call from Eric Bischoff the following morning.
“Eric said ‘Barry, I have good news and bad news. The good news is you had one hell of a match last night.’ I asked for the bad news, and he said ‘You’re fired.’”
Darsow said he explained that they were following the instructions of agent Mike Graham, but Bischoff told him he still had to let them go. Bischoff then asked Darsow to leave on good terms, promising to bring him back later. Darsow agreed, saying he had always done whatever the boss asked of him throughout his career.
When Did Barry Darsow Join Demolition?
Barry Darsow formed Demolition with Bill Eadie in 1987, and the pair wrestled as Ax (Eadie) and Smash (Darsow) and quickly became one of WWE’s top tag teams, capturing the World Tag Team Championship on three occasions and holding the record for longest combined reigns with the title of 698 days.
After Eadie partially retired, the group brought in Brian Adams, known as Crush, to the group until they disbanded in 1991, and Darsow would become the Repo Man until he left WWE in 1993.
