12 Wrestlers Whose Ring Names Outlasted Their Gimmicks

Brian Adams started out his WWE (then WWF) career as the third man in the already-established tag team of Demolition. Dubbed “Crush” to go along with the destructive theme of the group, he joined Ax and Smash in 1990, defending their tag team titles under the Freebird rule but ultimately fading into irrelevance by the end of 1991.

Crush would return the following year, but this time as the lovable Hawaiian beach bum known as - you guessed it - The Sandman. No, just kidding. He was still Crush, or Kona Crush to his pals. Clad in sunny colors and spouting off new vocabulary like, “brudda” and “shakka bra”, Brian Adams was now far from the “walking disaster” that his old theme music had declared.

Crush would resurface in the WWF again in 1996 after a year and a half hiatus that saw him get arrested and spend one day in a Hawaiian jail. This experience was enough to turn Brian Adams into a hardened criminal with facial tattoos, piercings, and dreadlocks, but the “Crush” name remained.

Crush finished his stint in the WWF as a biker and leader of the Disciples of Apocalypse gang, but still retaining the old Demolition nickname, despite not having “crushed” anything since 1993 (and even then, it was just coconuts).

Brian Adams finally wrestled under his real name in WCW, but only after a brief stint as the KISS Demon.