Posted on 08/13/2007 12:07:55 PM PDT by CounterCounterCulture
By GREG OLIVER - Producer, SLAM! Wrestling
According to WWE.com, Bryan Adams, who worked as Demolition Crush and was half of the KroniK tag team, has been found dead. He was 43.
WWE.com said no other details were available.
Adams was a boxer in the U.S. Air Force, stationed in Japan, when Antonio Inoki discovered him and talked me into going into professional wrestling. When his time in the service was up, he trained in the New Japan dojo for a year.
In the United States, Adams debuted in the Pacific Northwest in 1986, which was one of the few remaining territories left. He was named The American Ninja under a mask, and teamed with "The Grappler" Len Denton as The Wrecking Crew for a time. The duo held the Pacific Northwest Tag Team titles, feuding with Steve Doll and Rex King. Later in 1990, Adams was Pacific Northwest heavyweight champ. He lost the title to Scott Norton.
In 2006, Norton talked about Adams. "I always had a certain amount of respect for him, because he always thought everything through," Norton said. "He'd make the smallest decision, and he's sitting there, you ask him a question, and give him about two minutes. He'd think about every scenario, how this could go good, how it could go bad, Then he'd answer you. But he'd use his head. A lot of guys don't do that."
In the WWF in 1990, Adams was thrust into the Demolition tag team with Axe (Bill Eadie) and Smash (Barry Darsow). When the team dissolved, Crush returned to Oregon for a stint, then had a run as a "surfer-type" singles babyface in the WWF.
After leaving the WWF in 1997, Adams resurfaced in WCW and joined the New World Order faction. He was never more than a mid-card wrestlers for the promotion, until the tag team KroniK was formed when Adams was paired with Bryan Clark. The duo would hold WCW's tag team titles on two occasions.
The titles were a compliment to their abilities, said Clark in a 2005 interview with New Path Productions. "It meant a lot to us. I wish we'd have gotten the push we deserved instead of being held back so that we could have remained champions."
In an interview with the same website, Adams talked about Clark. "Bryan is a great partner, we're a soul team. We knew what each other's next move was without a word between us. That's a real tag team."
KroniK was brought into the WWF after the purchase of WCW, a part of the Alliance storyline. The team would feud with Undertaker and Kane.
That was the last prominent run for Clark. He bounced around the Japanese and American scene, and injured his back in January 2003. He had been working as a bodyguard to Randy "Macho Man" Savage.
Does anyone with a mullet like that really deserve to live?
If WWE decided to stop today, there would be dozens of others to take its place.
The wrestlers make millions, the industry itself makes billions. There are thousands of guys (and girls) that want to get a start in the big leagues of pro wrestling.
My point is, even though I don’t care for it, the market is there. When someone leaves there will be another right behind him to take his place. There is too much money to be made.
Sooner or later, many families are going to turn off to a show whose entertainers are dying regularly from drug use.
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Lots of folks still listen to rock and rollers, a good number of whom die young. May even add to the appeal.
Not so much for me. I’d be happier if Jerry Garcia was still alive (not as much for his work with the Grateful Dead as for his acoustic work with David Grisman).
Sooner or later, many families are going to turn off to a show whose entertainers are dying regularly from drug use.
I didn't mean that it was 'good' that Adams was dead, I was simply saying that the end of wrestling would be a good thing.
“””Good. The world will be a better place without staged wrestling””””””
I can see the headline on O’Reily Factor tonight;;;;;
“43 year old man dies.....FReeper says ‘Good’ “.
Oh, Thanks. Your not such a bad guy after all :-)
See #24, and Bill O’Reilly can stick it where the sun don’t shine.
At the rate it’s going I tend to agree.
I agree with you...but thats where they get that stuff from.
He’s gonna have to pull his head out of there first.
Canada apologized for Bryan Adams a long time ago.
He opened for Meatloaf a few years back.... and Meatloaf was pretty bad.
How many more wrestlers will die in their 3os and 40s before something is done? Like John Kronus a few weeks ago, the death of Bryan "Crush" Adams won't get much publicity, since it's been years since he was a major star. Unfortunately, it will take the death of another high profile wrestler like Chris Benoit to reignite the media's interest in this problem.
Saw the Flav Roast (gotta note that the former Chyna was there getting her share of rips) and while Kimmel waited for a reaction the audience paused another beat (digesting this) before responding with a definite “Oooooh/Boooo”, loud enough to show that everyone knew what he was referencing. Kimmel’s attempted joke obviously tilted too far into bad taste to be attempted - even in the free-style forum of a celebrity roast. Even that night’s King of Fools looked like he wanted to sink through the floor.
Altogether a shame for a late-night host who has had more “wrestling entertainment” workers on his show than all the others combined. He just bit one of the hands who feeds him.
When will they apologize for Ann Murray. LOL!
I saw him open for the Rolling Stones in 1994.
Well the good news is that Torrie Wilson is still alive.
Yeah, but what about that bitch Anne Murray?
Aaaaargh! You beat me to it!
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