15 MORE Wrestling Gimmicks That Got Weird Rip-Offs
10. Road Warriors (Demolition)
Wrestling is the medium that's stupid enough to send wrestlers out as imitations of more famous acts, but smart enough to actually monetise them on their own terms. This was categorically the case with Demolition, and never was that more apparent than in the exact moments they finally came face to face with their authentic inspirations.
When a rebadged Road Warriors finally gave Titan a go in 1990, it was curtains for Ax and Smash (and new member Crush) as the dominant duo for the market leader. The Legion Of Doom were the original painted-up monsters, and with spikes and that famous ear-splitting pop, an entire audience that may have been closed off to anything other than WWE suddenly saw who the Demos had been based on all along.
Demolition had three-peated with the Tag Team Championships to a euphoric reaction at WrestleMania VI, but were hurriedly turned heel to make towns with Hawk and Animal, losing the gold to The Hart Foundation along the way. It was inevitable that the pairs had to fight, but there was no way back for the WWE creations now the actual ones were here. It was strange - the treatment might have been befitting of typical wrestling imposters, but Ax and Smash were never that.