Sickles, Studs & Stolen Cars: The Many Faces of Barry Darsow

by Barry Darsow, Dante Richardson (Editor), Graham Johnson

309 pages, Paperback

Published October 10, 2025

Reviews

[Lance Lumley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Barry Darsow is most famously known as a member of WWF's Demolition, but those in the territory days will remember him as Krusher Khruschev in the Mid South and Crockett NWA (where he was in six men tags with Ivan and Nikita Koloff) where he was a part of the famous Minnesota group of wrestlers like Curt Hennig, Koloff, Rick Rude and John Nord.
The book takes the reader through his career from driving Ric Flair from the airport and getting ghosted by a member of the Hart Family in Hawaii , starting wrestling as Tsar Mongo, to getting known in the Mid South with Bill Watts and the NWA Carolinas before going to the WWF as Demoliton , which was originally considered a knock-off of his friends The Road Warriors, teaming with Bill Eadie after replacing Randy Colley. His stay in the WWF gave him exposure and the team held the tag titles three times before being cast as Repo Man when Eadie was forced to leave the promotion. He then went to WCW as a mid carder and getting released after the King of the Road match with Dustin Rhodes before returning a few years later with "Hole in One" Darsow.
If one only knew about his time as Demolition Smash, the book is an informative read. Those who are more versed won't find anything too new in terms of information that wasn't already told or known before (which is one problem in today's world of podcasts and shoot interviews-when a book comes out some of us want something we didn't know). He doesn't address how Demotion was viewed as a fake Road Warriors' , a team Vince McMahon didn't lure until way later, and when they arrived in the WWF, the Demolition team was done by then. (he does state that once Vince got the Warriors, they were done, but nothing more).
This was an easy read (read in a few days), and for what it was, it was fine.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could 6 star I think I would. I’ve read lots of wrestling autobios over the years and some have been very miss. Bret’s has always been top of the tree but this has officially topped it.

Darsow kind of went under the radar over the years despite my love for wrestling since the early 90s but man he saw it all. Grew up with Perfect, Rude and The Berzerker. Worked early on with The Road Warriors in a bar. Got chummy with Ric Flair quick once entering wrestling. Quickly climbed the ranks to the top. Moving to the next generation (new generation) he got the chance to chip in with a quirky character he could choose himself, then joined the madness of WCW in its prime. I mean, a great life as he points out himself in the closing of the book.

Wonderful read, not too self championing, clearly loves the business, kept the book ‘wrestling heavy’ :), clearly a family man. Perfect.

I’m a new Demolition and Mr Hole in One fan. Where do I get a t shirt from?

[Conrad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stories from a legend of the sport. It could have had the perfect ending, if it came out a few months later. It's 2025 in the epilogue and at the beginning of 2026, he gets inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Also, wild to see Cadillac, Michigan and the promoter there name dropped in the book.

[Bigjoe682 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book! Barry Darsow takes on his wrestling journey from high school and college to the bright lights of the WWF! He shares road stories which are always fun. I highly recommend this book if you’re a professional wrestling fan.

[Craig Simons · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic read. I'm a huge wrestling fan and being able to read a retrospective on an entire career will never not blow my mind. Barry had such a fantastic career

[John Lamb · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Easy read. I’ll never get bored of reading autobiographies of mid-tier wrestlers from my youth.