Bill Eadie (December 27, 1947) is a professional wrestler who has competed under the names of Ax as part of Demolition and The Masked Superstar. He was a high school teacher and coach at Cambridge High School in Cambridge, Ohio, early in his professional wrestling career.
Career[]
NWA and WWWF/WWF (1973-1984)[]
Eadie started wrestling in 1973, making his debut in the Detroit territory of the Sheik (Ed Farhat). He wrestled under a mask as the "Medic". He then wrestled in Pittsburgh, Detroit and the IWA as Bolo Mongol, the new partner of his trainer, Geeto Mongol. He soon entered the Georgia Championship Wrestling territory and donned a mask as The Masked Superstar. He claimed to be an Olympic wrestling champion and challenged opponents to break his Cobra clutch. Had many bouts with Tommy Rich. He is known for being one of the first (if not the first) to body slam André the Giant. Among other accomplishments, he won four Georgia Heavyweight titles and unified that title with the NWA National Heavyweight Championship. He also competed in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) against many top wrestlers in 1983.
World Wrestling Federation: The Second Stint (1985-1990)[]
In 1985, he returned to the World Wrestling Federation and became Super Machine with André the Giant as Giant Machine and Blackjack Mulligan as Big Machine. The three Machines were introduced as rivals of Bobby Heenan and his massive tag team, Big John Studd and King Kong Bundy. (The Machines' masks and gimmick were copied from New Japan Pro Wrestling character "Super Strong Machine," played by Japanese wrestler Junji Hirata.) Eadie later dropped the Machine gimmick and left the WWF to head to Florida for a run as the Masked Superstar, upending Lex Luger to win the NWA Southern title.
In January 1987, Eadie returned to the WWF and competed as Ax, half of the tag team Demolition with Smash. Though they began as heels, their unique brawling style and charisma made them so popular that they became faces in November 1988. They won the WWF Tag Team Championship three times as a team of two, but lost the belts at SummerSlam 1990 after they turned heel by forming a threesome with Crush. The trio concept was precipitated by a mutual decision to phase out the Ax character and for Eadie to take a backstage role in the company. Popular rumor at the time cited heart problems on Eadie's part, which have been discredited in recent years. An allergic reaction to shellfish is thought to be the origin of these rumors. Eadie's new position eventually fell through and his final WWF appearance was at Survivor Series 1990. This event also marked the last time that he and Smash spoke for 17 years.
In the midst of this time period, Eadie also played opposite Hulk Hogan as "Jake Bullet" in the movie "No Holds Barred".
Post-WWF[]
In 1991, Demolition broke up and he went to the independent circuit to wrestle as Axis the Demolisher.
Independent Demolition (1994-1999)[]
In the mid-1990s, Ax formed a new Demolition team with Blast. They competed on several independent shows, then went their separate ways. They competed in American Classic Wrestling shows in Charleston competing against Sweet Stan Lane.
Independent Circuit[]
In February 2006 Demolition Ax and The Barbarian defeated Psycho and Tracy Smothers with his Manager "Mr. Terrific" Tim Lawler in Pickens, South Carolina. On April 29, 2006 Demolition Ax teamed up with The Barbarian (managed by "Mr. Terrific" Tim Lawler) and wrestled against Buff Bagwell and The Patriot in front of over 3,000 fans in Staunton, Virginia for TNT Pro Wrestling's Hog-A-Mania.
On September 9, 2006 at AWA World One South in Valdosta, Georgia, Eadie (as the Masked Superstar) teamed with local independent wrestler Loco Motive in a tag team victory over the team of KI Elite (Mike Stratus & Jame Slater)
The Millennium Wrestling Federation reunited Ax and Smash of Demolition at the Wrestling's Living Legends reunion April 1, 2007, prior to WrestleMania 23 in Windsor, Ontario.
In July, 2007, Ax showed up at a show with Georgia Wrestling Promotions in Waleska, Georgia, beating Iceberg by DQ. They were scheduled to have a return No DQ match on August 19, but the night before the match, Iceberg had to be taken to a hospital to be treated for an infection. Ax faced Phil Shatter instead, winning the match under regular rules by DQ.
In wrestling[]
- Finishing and signature moves
- Teams and stables
- Demolition
- Demolition 2000
- Heenan Family
- Machines
- Masked Superstars
- Mongols
- Manager
- Wrestlers trained
- Ryan Burke
- Scott Prodigy
Championships and accomplishments[]
- IW North American Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Masked Superstar 2
- NWA Television Championship (1 time)
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Paul Jones
- NWA American Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA World Tag Team Championship (Mid-America version) (1 time) - with Masked Superstar 2
- NWA Southeast Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Masked Superstar 2
- WWF Tag Team Championship (3 times) - with Smash