Guest: “Hole in One” Barry Darsow
Date: August 10/27/2025
Your Host: James Walsh
Here comes the Smasher!
For the first time in over 19 years, Barry Darsow and the Wrestling Epicenter reconnect for a brand new interview to discuss the release of his brand new book. The book features mentions of his 3 most famous personas of Krusher Kruschev, Demolition Smash, and the Repo Man as it is called Sickles, Studs, and Stolen Cars and it can be yours on Amazon.com in paperback and kindle formats.
In this conversation, we discuss Demolition signing back with WWE this year, a possible Hall of Fame bid, a funny story about Ivan Koloff falling asleep while driving, the importance of the already eluded to “Pain and Destruction” theme song by the late great Rick Derringer, the passing of Hulk Hogan, and beyond.
Get your copy of Barry Darsow’s new book now on Amazon!
Check out www.WrestlingEpicenter.com for more interviews like this. This is episode 900! We have done 900 interviews over the past 23 years!
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/1pmo0sOi6Y8
Click here to check out our 2006 interview with Barry Darsow!
Check out our October 2025 interview with Barry Darsow!
BARRY DARSOW:
On why now was the right time for his book:
“Well, it is tough. I’m out 2 or 3 weekends a month with Ax doing autograph signings and things. So, I don’t really have a lot of time. But, fans kept coming up to me and saying, “When are you going to write a book? When are you going to write a book?” Well, here we are! And, that is kind of how it all got started.”
On if it was difficult writing the book:
“I am the luckiest guy in the world. I’ve got a great family, a great wife, a great kid, great grandkids… I have got so much great stuff to put in there, great stories, I didn’t know what to put in there. So, I decided I would pick a few stories about my friends at home and some about my friends in the wrestling business. When I go back and read the finished book, I think that I could have put so much more into the stories that would have made the stories even better. But, if I did, I would have a thousand pages in the book! You’ve got to stop somewhere. Have you gotten to the Ernie Ladd story yet? Well, that was a story I felt I had to include in the book. He was such a big influence on me and impacted me in such a big way, I had to include that story.”
On his son Dakota wrestling for TNA and getting out so soon:
“Right before he stopped, he was really starting to figure it out. Wrestling is a tough thing to figure out. Of course, you can learn the moves and all. But, the tough part is figuring out what to do and when to do it, you know? He was just starting to figure that all out and then it was the end of his career. He called me, he said, “Dad, what should I do next?” Hulk Hogan had told me he was leaving TNA Wrestling. He said, “If I were you, I’d get out.” Well, Dakota asked me, “Dad, what should I do?” I said, “Dakota, just get out.” He had a son at that time. He had always wanted to be a police officer. Well, he’s 10 years on the job now and he’s incredible!”
On the passing of Hulk Hogan:
“Unbelievable. That was a real curve ball because I never ever thought that would happen at this time. To me, Hulk was always a great guy. It is not like we were the best of friends or anything. But, we were friends. But, he was always a good guy to talk to and really, he would do anything for you if you just asked him. He was the guy who really got wrestling to the where it is at today. All the guys in the business today need to thank him for the level where they are at.”
On burying the hatchet with Demolition tag team partner Ax:
“Well, there really was no problem between us. It was just like a lot of my tag team partners over the years. A lot of times, you just don’t keep in touch. But, we were both booked in Windsor, Canada at the same signing. We sat and we talked and we decided, “You know what? We need to do a lot more of this stuff together. We’ve been friends forever. Lets make it happen!” We’ve been together, Bill (Ax) and I, for 36, 37 years now… That is a long, long time! And now, we’re out probably 3 weekends a month doing stuff together. It is almost like we’re back working again!”
On signing back with WWE as a WWE Legend:
“It is pretty neat, really. We were out doing our own thing. And, we didn’t really know if we even wanted to sign a WWE Legends contract or not. But, with Triple H now in charge of WWE, they asked us and we decided, “Lets make it happen!” So, we signed. They’re going to make some new action figures of us and do some other stuff with us. We were at the Hall of Fame ceremony earlier this year and it was like we were never even gone. You know? You see your friends in wrestling and it is like no time has passed. So, it was fun to go back and see everybody again.”
On if he wants to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame:
“I would love it. But, you never know. There are so many tag teams and singles talents that are out there that they could go with. But, I would love it. I’m hoping that we are on their list.”
On if Demolition were inducted, would it be 2 or 3 goign on:
“All 3! With Crush! Ax, Smash, and Crush, all 3 of us were Demolition. I think Crush deserves it too.”
On the importance of the Rick Derringer “Pain and Destruction” song for Demolition:
“I think it was huge. It really lifted us up several notches. When we first got together, they’d announce us and we would walk to the ring and they had some funky music playing. It just wasn’t working. But when we got that one (Pain and Destruction), which Jimmy Hart was also responsible for as well, he did a great job with that song… Once you got the, “Here comes the Ax, and here comes the Smasher!” as we were walking out, I think with the fans, the people, it gave us more credibility. And, I think it really did help us get over big time.”
On the faces he and Ax would make during promos:
“Well, I never ever thought of Gene Simmons doing it. What we would do is we would put red Kool-Aid on our tongues and that would make our tongues red. And, it kind of matched our face paint a little bit. As we were the bad guys, we thought sticking our tongues out would be like when you’re a kid at school and you’d stick your tongue out at somebody, it meant you didn’t like them. But, the faces were just something to do when you were seeing yourself on the monitor doing the promo. (laughs) You couldn’t just stand there doing nothing. So, we made faces.”
On if he liked being a baby face or a heel:
“I always preferred to be a heel. I think we (Demolition) were such good heels that the fans started cheering us. We never wanted to be baby faces. But, we were getting cheered. And, Vince made the decision to turn us. We went with it.”
On being Andre the Giant’s final opponents at WrestleMania VI:
“That is a pretty big thing. We didn’t know that would be Andre’s last match. We were good friends. We would play cards in the locker room and all that. And, he never ever mentioned that it was going to be his last match. So, I don’t know if he even knew it was going to be his last match. You know, we wrestled Andre and Giant Baba together in Japan too. That was huge! Like I’ve said, I’ve had the greatest life ever. And, I got to wrestle the top guys ever in wrestling. It was quite the honor to be a part of Andre’s last match.”
On learning from Ivan Koloff as Krusher Kruschev:
“You know, I’ve had a lot of partners. And, you learn from all of them. By the time I got to Crockett, I thought I was pretty seasoned. I had about 400, 500 matches at that point. But, it wasn’t until I was with Ivan that I started being able to have hour matches in the ring. He taught me so much. It is like I was saying about you can learn all the moves but you have to learn when to do them and how to put them all together for a match, he helped me out a lot! He hooked me up to a higher level is what Ivan did. He was such a great guy.”
On a funny Ivan Koloff story:
“We had worked 2 or 3 matches and we flew home to Charlotte. We were exhausted. The next show was in Richmond, VA which was maybe 300 miles. I was so tired. So, I asked, “Ivan, how are you?” He said, “I’m great. I feel like a million dollars!” I said, “Great. Can you do a little driving?” I hated having anybody else drive! Well, we get in the car, I am in the passenger seat, and I say, “Ivan, you OK?” he says, “I feel like a million dollars!” So, I tell him I’m going tot ake a nap and he starts driving. I make like I’m asleep but I look over at him with one eye and I see his head bobbing up and down. So, I say, “Ivan, you OK?” He goes, “I’m god, I feel like a million dollars!” I said, “Are you sure? You look a little tired.” He says, “I’m good!” Well, a few minutes later I look and his head is down. He’s out. And, we’ve got the car on cruise control going about 70 miles an hour. So, I reach over and I drive the car from the passenger seat for a half hour. Ivan wakes up after a half hour and I go, “Ivan, how are you doing?” He goes, “I feel like a million dollars!” I say, “I suppose! You just slept for a half hour!” (laughs) He couldn’t believe he feel asleep behind the wheel.”
On the character of the Repo Man:
“I loved it. I was at the point of my career where I didn’t need to be a top guy. But, I knew I was going to be a part of everything and I was going to get to work with the top workers. But, I knew I wasn’t going to be the next Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, or Bret Hart. But, again, I knew I was going to be a part of everything and I knew that if I did it right, I might even be able to turn baby face. I think I fooled a lot of people… I don’t think everybody knew who the heck I was. The way I portrayed that gimmick was really important to me because it worked.”
On his smaller size as Repo Man:
“I was 320 pounds when I was Smash in Demolition. I was 260 pounds when I was The Repo Man. I wanted it to be a different character which it was.”
On if he ever felt WCW was really competition to WWE:
“When the nWo was there and getting hot, then I knew we were competition to the WWE. But, I also didn’t think it was going to last. Vince McMahon was a genius. He had done so much to make WWE what it was. He was going to be around for the long haul. WCW? They were kind of just hotshotting the territory. What was going to be next after the nWo? It could only go down. It wasn’t going to go up. Whereas Vince, he gets it real high and then, it comes down a little bit. But, then he takes it even higher! So, when I was there (WCW) I knew it wasn’t going to last forever.”
On if he still is bugged by the way he was fired for the King of the Road match with Dustin Rhodes at WCW Uncensored 1995:
“It does. Because, it was not necessary. I was always the kind of guy that wanted to work hard, make money, and have a good time. That is what Dustin Rhodes and I were doing that night. We had a blast doing that match. Mike Graham came up with the idea for the match. He got fired that night also. We never thought we were going to get fired for working our asses off.”
On the King of the Road concept having legs:
“I thought that match was going to work with anybody that was in it. I could have worked that with Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, or really anybody. That is what upset me the most. Getting fired really cut me off from getting the opportunity to do that with some of those guys.”
On modern day Warner Bros Discovery allowing attempted drowning in a fish thank on PPV:
“Unbelievable, isn’t it? (laughs) We (King of the Road) had a lot of money put into it. They had helicopters and camera crews. I still don’t know if the reason we all got fired was for the reasons they said it was. But, we will never know.”
On his “Hole in One” persona in later WCW years:
“I knew it was going to just be a WCW Saturday Night thing. But, I did try and get in contact with John Daly. At that time, I was a pretty good golfer. Not pro level or anything but I was pretty good. I knew if John Daly was on board as my manager, I might be able to make it something where it would get media attention and that might bring elevate it to a higher level.”
On Demolition being called “Road Warrior rip offs”:
“It is strange that people say that because, why would they say that? We loved those guys. Bill (Eadie, Ax) and I loved those guys. But, we looked different, we worked different, our promos were different. I suppose you could say that about anybody. If I have a match and I slam somebody and you have a match and then you slam somebody, I suppose I could say you’re a rip off. I mean, that could just go on and on. But, I think it must simply mean that they kind of liked the Road Warriors more than us. That’s fine. But, to say we were “rip offs” of them? I don’t see that. It is kind of hurtful.”
