The unofficial Homepage of

FROM MONGOL TO THE MASK

He was, and still is, one of the greatest masked wrestlers ever in the business. He has also been one of wrestling's most underrated superstars. Not much is known about the early beginnings of Bill Eadie. It is known that Eadie, a native of Pittsburgh, attended the University of West Virginia where he played football for four years as a linebacker,and received his masters degree in Education. He started out originally as a history teacher at Cambridge High School in the late 60's, but began working for the late Ed Farhat's (the "Original" Shiek, more commonly known today as "Sabu's uncle") Detroit promotion, competing under a mask as The Medic. Soon thereafter, he worked for Vince McMahon Sr. in the WWWF as Bolo the Mongol, teaming with Geeto (Newton Tattrie) to win the WWWF International Tag Team Titles, upending Dominic Denucci and Bruno Sammartino on June 18th, 1971.

Eadie stayed with the Mongol gimmick for a few years, and along the way, received additional wrestling training at the famed Malenko School Of Wrestling in Tampa, FL. The school's founder, "Professor" Boris Malenko, would ironically enough become Eadie's manager years later, when both would work for Jim Crockett Promotions, based out of the Carolinas.

It was around 1975 that saw The Mongols, then the IWA World Tag Team Champions, leave the IWA for the NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions. The Mongols brought the IWA title belts with them, although Crockett Promotions referred to them simply as International Tag Team champions. Geeto eventually retired from active competition, leaving Bill Eadie as a single competitor.

Don Jardine, competing under a mask at the time as The Super Destroyer, was set to leave the Mid-Atlantic area, prompting booker George Scott to ask Eadie to drop the Mongol gimmick and don a mask. Bolo was written out of the picture by first, assisting Ric Flair to gain a victory over Wahoo McDaniels. This set up a match between Wahoo and Bolo in Greensboro, NC on 9/26/76 with a "hair vs loser-leave town" stipulation added. Wahoo soundly defeated Bolo, and cut off Bolo's topknot for good measure. Two weeks later, manager Boris Malenko brought out his newest protege, a former Olympian from parts unknown,The Masked Superstar. Originally slated to work under the mask for only a few months, Eadie opted to stick with the gimmick, for it gave him the privacy and anonimity outside the ring to spend time with his family in public, as well as the ability to avoid the occassional overzealous wrestling fan.

He found himself traveling extensively around the world, making a huge name for himself overseas in New Japan Pro Wrestling. In the US however, he seemingly found his greatest claim to fame in Georgia and for Jim Crockett Jr.'s Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling. Since the 70's didn't see the influx of insider newsletters or the internet, Superstar's identity was infact a secret which only added to the appeal. The "who-is-this-guy?" factor, coupled with the fact that Superstar combined a technical brilliance to his standard heel style punch-and-kick routine, made The Masked Superstar one of the most well-rounded competitors in the business.

He found himself involved in a couple of Mid-Atlantic Wrestling's more memorable angles, such as a bitter feud with The Mighty Igor, culminating from Superstar smashing manager Boris Makenko's "victory cigar" in Igor's face, blinding the Polish strongman, and earning Superstar and Malenko a short-lived suspension. That angle led to several hot battles between the two that some long-time Mid-Atlantic fans still talk about.
Another feud was an interesting and unique heel vs heel feud involving himself and the huge Texan, Blackjack Mulligan. This feud was furthered when Superstar, with help from Masked Superstar #2 (John Minton aka Big John Studd) held Mulligan's arm down and stomped on it repeatedly, supposedly breaking Mulligan's dreaded "claw hand". Mulligan wore a cast for weeks as he and Superstar traveled the circuit in a series of heated grudge matches.

Other aspects of Superstar's "persona" revolved around his claim that he was a former Olympic athlete. This fact has been disputed for years, although several people within the business say that Eadie did indeed compete in the Pan Am games, in track and field, although he failed to medal. Another claim he would later make is that if he were to unmask, that anyone who followed the NFL would then recognize him. That most likely was simply a claim made to swerve the fans of his true identity, as Eadie hasn't had any known involvement with the NFL.

The Masked Superstar also became known as one of the premiere interviews in the business. This was likely due to his past with Boris Malenko, as Malenko himself was once known as one of the best talkers in the history of Florida wrestling. Whether he worked as a heel or a face, he always spoke very carefully and eloquently and gave as beleivable a promo as possible, making most any angle make sense.

"TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS OF THE WOOORRRLLD...."

His stint in Jim Crockett Promotions saw the formation of one of the Mid-Atlantic's greatest tag teams, The Masked Superstar and "Number One" Paul Jones. This interesting combo came to fruition when Jones, a former heel, returned from a stint in Florida and apologized to the fans for his nefarious past. Superstar, also a heel, had been ambushed on TV earlier by Gene Anderson, "Crippler" Ray Stevens,and "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka.The ambush had taken place over Superstar's being angry over Anderson interupting his interview time.

The two joined forces as Jones, much like Superstar, could work a perfect heel style depsite having a technical arsenal that few could match. The two showed a chemistry in the ring that has only been shown by a small handful of teams since then. The Masked Superstar showed his loyalty to Jones and their quest to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship by vacating his Mid-Atlantic TV Title. He also promised fans that if he and Jones were to win the tag titles, he would unmask in the middle of the ring. Their chemistry resulted in Masked Superstar & Paul Jones gaining the NWA World Tag Team Titles in Greensboro, NC, upending arch-rivals Ray "Crippler" Stevens & Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka on November 27th, 1980. They also captured tag team gold once again on March 22. 1981, again in Greensboro,this time beating Stevens and "The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff. Eadie did infact unmask in Greensboro as promised, and did so also in Richmond, VA as the two teams took their tag team battle around the Mid-Atlantic circuit. It is rumored that he unmasked in other cities as well. Sadly, no footage of his unmasking in Greensboro, or anywhere else, is known to exist.

The Masked Superstar followed up Crockett Promotions with stints in Georgia Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation (now the WWE). Georgia Championship Wrestling gave Superstar several more title wins including National Tag Team Title victories, winning them with Super Destroyer (the late, Scott Irwin) and then with King Kong Bundy, with Superstar and Bundy's title victory coming at the expense of two green muscleheads, and future NWA and WWE mega-stars, The Road Warriors.
Superstar's stint in Georgia also saw him win the National Heavyweight Title on three occassions, including defeating former NWA World Champion, Tommy "Wildfire" Rich to unify the Georgia Title and the National Heavyweight Title. Also, many long-time fans still talk about his feud with fellow masked grappler, Mr. Wrestling II. Their feud, which included a hot mask vs mask angle, helped pop the territory and solidified Geogia as one of the nation's hottest territories.

WELCOME TO THE MACHINE

The Masked Superstar's run in the WWF was highlighted by one major angle in late 1983 involving the late "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert. Gilbert, at the time a young up-and-comer, had injured his neck in a serious auto accident. An angle was worked on TV where Gilbert came out, only to have Masked Superstar assault him in severe fashion, giving him the swinging neckbreaker on the concrete floor. This set Superstar up for a series of title matches with WWF Champion Bob Backlund, who had been acting as Gilbert's "mentor" in the weeks before Gilbert's assault. Superstar and Backlund's feud culminated at a match in Madison Square Garden that aired on the MSG network. The Masked Superstar took it to the champion as announcers Gorilla Monsoon and Pat Patterson teased a title change. Eventually, Superstar hit Backlund with the deadly swinging neckbreaker. Superstar's advisor, The Grand Wizard, had just died weeks earlier, so the gimmick was that Superstar, without the Wizard's guidance, didn't know whether or not to pin Backlund or inflict further damage. Instead of going for the pin, Superstar threw Backlund out of the ring and delivered a swinging neckbreaker on the concrete floor. Backlund ended up being counted out. The two had one other rematch, also at MSG, with Backlund again retaining the title. Singles gold for Eadie wasn't meant to be however, as Backlund would lose his title to The Iron Shiek a month later.

On a side note, Bill Eadie also competed in the WWF years later while under a mask, but not as The Masked Superstar. He, along with Blackjack Mulligan and Andre the Giant, formed a masked trio, The Machines, based on a successful gimmick used in New Japan Pro Wrestling, consisting of Giant Machine (Andre), Big Machine (Mulligan), and Super Machine (Eadie). The Machine's "gimmick" soon became that of a comedy role, with other "Machines" showing up (Hulk Hogan as Hulk Machine, Roddy Piper as Piper Machine, George "The Animal" Steele as Steele Machine, and so on). Soon enough, the whole Machine gimmick was thankfully dropped.

Eadie soon followed up with a short stint in Florida Championship Wrestling. It was there where Superstar captured the Southern Heavyweight Title from a babyface rookie,Lex Luger. The Masked Superstar's stint in Florida lasted only about a year or so before he would once again enter the WWF, but this time, things would be much different than before.

"HERE COMES THE AX, HERE COMES THE SMASHER..."

By this time (1986-87), Vince McMahon Jr. had gained control of the WWF from his father and made no bones about the fact that he wanted to monopolize pro wrestling. This was done by raiding all the other smaller, regional territories around the country of all their talent, leaving the smaller promotions no other options but to shut down. One of the tag teams Vince wanted were then NWA mega-stars The Road Warriors, Animal and Hawk. Animal & Hawk turned down Vince's offer, staying loyal to the NWA. Vince, not getting the Road Warriors, opted to create his own version, and that's where Bill Eadie, The Masked Superstar, comes into the picture.

1987 saw the debut of Demolition, Ax and Smash. Much like the Road Warriors, Demolition wore leather and spikes to the ring and wore outlandish facepaint. The lead man, Ax, was portrayed by Eadie, which would have marked his first time competing without his mask in almost 15 years. Ax's partner, Smash, was brought to life by Randy Culley, who had competed for years before in the WWF as Rex, one half of The Moondogs. As soon as Demolition walked through the curtain, fans were stunned in seeing what looked to be obvious Road Warrior clones. Although no one recognized Eadie, Culley's facial features were very obvious, so much so that it made Demolition look that much more like Road Warrior rip-offs. The whole Demolition gimmick looked to be a dismal failure.

Randy Culley was quickly dropped from the team, and instead of creating a new member, Vince simply got a new wrestler to fill the role. The "new" Smash came in the form of Barry Darsow, who had previously competed in the NWA as Soviet sympathizer Khrusher Khruschev, before leaving the NWA after suffering a severe knee injury by, ironically enough, the Road Warriors. Although there were still several who recognized Darsow (thanks to a huge tatoo on Darsow's bicep that he tried to hide with an elbow pad) , Demolition still had the stigma of being "Vince's Road Warriors". It was a label that Demolition looked to remove, and although it took years to do, Demolition in fact did that, and in the process, became one of the more solid tag teams of that era.

March 27, 1988 saw Demolition win their first WWF World Tag Team Title at WrestleMania IV in Atlantic City, NJ over Strike Force (Tito Santana & Rick Martel). They went on to successfully defend their title for almost a year and a half, breaking the record for longest WWF Tag Team Title reign held by The Valiant Brothers. Their title reign came to an end on 7-18-89 at the hands of The Brainbusters (Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson). However, they regained the titles about two months later. They went on to lose and regain the tag titles from The Colossal Connection, consisting of Haku and Andre the Giant.

AND THEN THERE WERE THREE

By the early 90's, Demolition's star began to fade a bit. Bill Eadie found himself having to deal with some unexpected health problems, and Demolition found themselves lower and lower on the cards. In an effort to re-energize the team, a new, third member of Demolition was created, Crush. The "role" of Crush was filled by Brian Adams, who would later compete in the WWF sans the facepaint, eventually sign with WCW as a member of the nWo, and later form a tag team, Kronik, with another ex-WWF'er, Brian Clark. With a third member added, it gave Demolition the ability to rotate it's members, although over time, Demolition mainly consisted of Smash and Crush, with Ax at ringside, acting as a type of player-coach. Demolition's slump was boosted briefly when the WWF finally signed the Road Warriors. The Road Warriors, billed as the Legion of Doom, were immediately pushed into a feud with Demolition. The feud was possibly highlighted only by a series of interviews by Demolition who claimed that the Legion of Doom were "Demolition wanna-be's" and that L.O.D. had stolen their gimmick. Interesting, considering the whole Demolition concept was based on the fact that the L.O.D. had spurned Vince McMahon's offer years earlier. Although the feud started off hot, the whole "originals vs imitators" angle died quickly. By then, Demolition had become a top-notch tag team, and had forged their own niche in the wrestling world. Demolition's feud with the L.O.D. ended quickly and Demolition again started to stagnate. Shortly thereafter, Demolition disbanded and Bill Eadie once again found himself at another crossroad in his career.

Having left the WWF, Bill Eadie found himself in the enviable posistion of head booker for the fledgling Global Wrestling Federation. The GWF, owned and operated by Joe Pedicino, was based in Dallas, TX, and had a TV deal with ESPN. Eadie started off in strong fashion, using a mix of name talent (Terry Gordy, The Patriot, Stan Lane, "Exotic" Adrian Street, and Eadie himself, competing as Axis the Demolisher), local talent (Terry Simms, Jeff Gaylord, Chaz & Tugboat Taylor, Gen. Scandor Ackbar), as well as future superstars such as The Lightning Kid (X-Pac), Cactus Jack Manson (Mick Foley aka Mankind), The Handsome Stranger (Buff Bagwell), and The Ebony Experience (Harlem Heat, Booker T & Stevie Ray). Eadie was in fact behind the GWF's first "big" angle, that being a "mystery commisioner" running rampant and serving injustice against the GWF's top babyfaces. While the GWF started off strong under Eadie, ESPN's tendency to heavily censor the show's content nor give the show a consistent timeslot, saw the GWF's ratings quickly falter. After less than a year, Eadie ended up giving the booking duties to the late "Hotstuff" Eddie Gilbert. While Gilbert had shown flashes of booking brilliance in the past, including a somewhat memorable run as head booker for Alabama's Continental Championship Wrestling, even he could not overcome ESPN's restrictions. The GWF soon lost their TV deal and eventually faded into obscurity.

BACK UNDER THE MASK

Bill Eadie found his career coming full circle, working shows in high school gyms and armories all across the United States. Eadie also continued a years-long legal battle with Vince McMahon regarding use of the name and likeness of "Ax" and "Demolition". As the legal battles continued, Eadie again donned the mask and resumed The Masked Superstar gimmick. This gave Eadie a major advantage, as he could work shows using either gimmick, or in some cases, both. In the mid 90's, it was rumored that Eadie would sign with WCW and revive the Demolition gimmick, since both of his former partners were in WCW at the time (Smash, competing as Blacktop Bully, and Brian Adams, as a member of the nWo). This idea however, never came to fruition.

Currently, Bill Eadie still competes for several independant promotions throughout the nation. He still works as either Demolition Ax or the Masked Superstar (legal battles nonwithstanding). It is at these local shows where Eadie can be found selling several old Demolition and Masked Superstar souveneirs, be it masks, pictures, tapes, shirts, and many other things. Despite his imposing demeanor in the ring, he is very personable to both fans and to his fellow workers, telling them of wrestling's pitfalls, as well as the fame and fortune that it holds. Whether in the ring or out, in a wrestling mask or with facepaint, Bill Eadie was, is, and always will be a wrestling legend, and in fact, a true superstar.

For any questions or comments about The Masked Superstar/Demolition Ax, this website, or wrestling in general, please send all correspondence to me at CKMBDavis@aol.com

Click on the links below to go to another page.