What a Rush: The Life and Death of The Road Warriors

This is a blog for #TTWM community event and I figured I talk about my all time favorite tag team the Road Warriors. I hope you enjoy as this took quite some time to write.

Early Life

Joe Laurinaitis (Animal) and Mike Hegstrand (Hawk) are childhood friends they both grew up in Chicago, Illinois until they both Minneapolis, Minnesota. They would often workout at The Gym in Plymouth, Minnesota as they would love power lifting. They would various jobs before working various places before becoming bouncers at Grandma B’s bar in the Twin Cities. They along with Richard Rood (Rick Rude), Barry Darsow (Smash), and a few others would get noticed by the bartender and well known wrestling trainer Eddie Sharkey.

Early Career

Hegstrand would start his career as part of the Traveling All-Stars where he wrestled under the name Crusher Von Haig. He would wrestle around various places considered “small time” and Vancouver until he would get tired of the travel and feel homesick. As for Laurinaitis he debuted in November 1982 He’d be the one who initially used the Road Warrior gimmick as he was named The Road Warrior using a biker gimmick.

GCW (1983-1984)

After Laurinaitis partner for the night was having legal trouble the booker, Ole Anderson, would give Hegstrand a call and they’d be partners for the night. Shortly after this they’d officially become a team in which they’d become known as the Road Warriors thanks to Anderson. Thus the team would officially be born and make history without even knowing at the time.

Shortly after they’d be managed by, former wrestlers turned manager, “Precious” Paul Ellering when they were brought in as replacements for Arn Anderson and Matt Barnes team after Borne was fired from the company. This faction was known as The Legion of Doom which was ironically named after the Super Friends cartoon. This faction would also consist of The Spoiler and Jake “The Snake” Roberts but the faction was short lived. Little before joining the group they’d officially change their names to “Animal” and “Hawk” and drop the biker gimmick. They’d shave their heads into Mohawks, wear studded collars and spiked shoulder pads, and start wearing face paint thus creating the iconic Road Warriors we know to this day. They would admit that the Mad Max movies inspired their look and name. This would also cause many many imitators but wouldn’t get anywhere close to the Road Warriors.

With their new look and hard hitting style they’d rise to the top very quickly without traditional “paying their dues”. That was due to how believable they were in their role as powerful monsters. They’d gain a reputation due to their in ring work as they’d be very stiff, no sell, and end matches quickly simply because they could. They’d win the NWA National Tag Team championships four times before leaving to a much bigger territory the American Wrestling Association.

AWA (1984-1986)

The Road Warriors would debut in AWA in 1984 along with their manager Paul Ellering. Adding to their intimidating look they’d use Black Sabbath’s Iron Man as their entrance theme. In August they’d defeat Baron von Raschke and The Crusher for the AWA World Tag Team championships. They were initially brought in to be heels but they soon won over the fans with their squash matches. Soon they’d become AWA’s top draw and continue to be throughout 1984 and 1985.

They would primarily feud with the likes of The Fabulous Freebirds and The Fabulous Ones. They’d soon start splitting their time between AWA and JCP where they’d feud with the NWA World Tag Team champions The Russians. The Road Warriors would eventually lose the AWA World Tag Team championships to Jimmy Garvin and Steve Regal (different Regal). They’d make their final appearance for AWA on April 20, 1986 at WrestleRock defeating the Fabulous Freebirds in a Steel Cage match.

Japan (1985-1990)

The Road Warriors would begin to tour Japan in March 1985. They would mainly work for AJPW where they would make an immediate impact by destroying the monster team of Killer Khan and Animal Hamaguchi in under four minutes. This would lead to Road Warriors getting a lot of attention with the Japanese media as they would be headline and be front page stories for the Japanese wrestling media. This along with their tour with AJPW in 1985 and 1986 would solidify them as legends in Japan leading to them to tour Japan whenever they were in between contracts. During this time they’d win the NWA International Tag Team championships from Jumbo Tsuruta and Genichiro Tenryu and would hold the championships for a year and three months. During this run they’d wrestle their last match in July 1990 in NJPW losing to Masahiro Chono and Keiji Mutoh by disqualification.

JCP/WCW (1986-1990)

After splitting their time between AWA and NWA they’d leave AWA for big money contracts. This move would pay off big as they’d win the inaugural Crockett Cup and lead them to feud with top NWA stars like The Russians and The Four Horsemen. During their run they’d help popularize many matches including their trademark Chicago Street Fight, Scaffolding, and WarGames match. By 1988 the Road Warriors would have a violent feud with the Powers of Pain who were the first team that could closely match Road Warriors power. This feud would be brief as the Powers of Pain would leave NWA after finding out they were booked to lose to the Road Warriors in a series of Scaffolding matches.

Near the end of 1988 the Road Warriors would quietly turn heel and win the NWA World Tag Team championships from the Midnight Express beating them in rather quick fashion. They would hold the championships for a very short time as they’d lose the championships due to shenanigans. Their most notable moments during their heel turn they’d attack Dusty Rhodes by removing a spike from their shoulder pad and gouging it into his eye.

The Road Warriors quickly turned face yet again as they continue to get overwhelming support no matter how brutal or violent they really were. In their last few years they would mainly feud with The Varsity Club, Samoan Swat Team, and the Skyscrapers. They would make their last WCW PPV appearance at Capital Combat. They would leave in June 1990 due to having issues and heat with then WCW head Jim Herd.

WWE (1990-1992)

The Road Warriors would sign to WWE in June 1990 but their manager Paul Ellering wouldn’t join them and the Road Warrior name wouldn’t be used as they’d go by the Legion of Doom. They would immediately feud with their most famous Road Warrior clone, Demolition. This feud didn’t live up to the high hopes of the fans due to the diminishing health of Ax which failed.

This lead to LOD to soon set their sights on the tag team championships which they would win the championships from the Nasty Boys at SummerSlam 1991 in a street fight. They would only hold the championships for eight months as they lost them to Money Inc. which lead them to leave the company very briefly. The Legion of Doom would return shortly this time with their original manager Paul Ellering at WrestleMania VIII. The team would soon incorporate a ventriloquist dummy named Rocco that was supposed to serve as their inspiration which LOD found the gimmick stupid which lead to Hawk walking out of WWE immediately after SummerSlam 1992.

Split/Hell Raisers/Reunion (1992-1996)

After Hawk abruptly left Animal stuck around and finished the teams contractual obligations this would be the first time Animal was on his own for the first time in nine years. Animal would mostly wrestle house shows and teamed with Crush but would leave shortly after due to suffering a legitimate back injury from a botched double suplex leading to Animal taking a lengthy hiatus from wrestling.

As for Hawk he would tour Europe and travel back to Japan and start working for NJPW where he would team up with a young up and coming midcard Kensuke Sasaki who would soon be known as the Power Warrior. He would soon adopt the face paint and spiked shoulder pads and the duo would be known as the Hell Raisers. During this time they would use Hellraiser by Ozzy Osborne as their entrance theme. They would continue to carry on the legacy that the Road Warriors established in Japan. They would go onto win the IWGP Tag Team championships on two separate occasions in 1992 and 1994.

After the Hell Raisers broke up in the middle of 1995 Kensuke Sasaki was elevated in the eyes of the fans. This would lead to Kensuke Sasaki to use the Power Warrior persona on special occasions very similar to Keiji Mutoh’s Great Muta persona. Hawk would also work for ECW in 1993 on a few occasions. Animal would recover and come back from his back injury and join the Hell Raisers in 1996. The three would be collectively known as the Road Warriors.

Return to WCW (1993, 1995-1996)

The Road Warriors would make some sporadic appearances in WCW in 1993. Hawk would wrestle a few matches but a singles run never come to fruition. As for Animal he’d make some sporadic non wrestling appearances. By 1995 as people thought the Road Warriors have ended they’d sign a contract for WCW and officially reunite.

Upon their return they would feud with the likes of the Steiner Brothers and Harlem Heat. They would often chase after the WCW Tag Team championships but would be unsuccessful in capturing the championships. By June of 1996 they would leave WCW, they would soon make their return to WWE in 1997.

Return to WWE (1997-1999)

Feuding with New Age Outlaws

Before making their return to WWE they’d take various independent booking around the United States and Japan. They would make their surprise return on February 24, 1997 on an episode of Monday Night Raw. LOD would feud with the Headbangers, Hart Fountain, and the Godwinns. Soon they would become two time WWE World Tag Team champions defeating the Godwinns. They would then shockingly lose the championship to the New Age Outlaws then continue to feud with them and continue to chase the championships in their most notable feud at the time.

It looked like they had the championships won on the February 23, 1998 episode of Raw Animal looked to have the match won but the referee was distracted by Hawks celebration allowing to the Outlaws to take advantage and win the match. This would lead to the LOD get frustrated with each other and brawl after the match leading to the team being disbanded for good as they weren’t not seen on television soon after.

LOD 2000

They would make a surprise return at WrestleMania XIV as a surprise entrant in the tag team battle royal. They were billed as updated version of the Road Warriors coming out with new shoulder pads, helmets, and a complete new look. They would be known as the Legion of Doom 2000 complete with a new manager in Sunny. They would win the battle royal but didn’t win the championships.

Sunny would soon leave the team and be joined by Droz who would have a alliance with them. Around the same time their former manager Paul Ellering would return but he would turn on the LOD and join the Disciples of Apocalypse. This would lead to a short feud between the LOD and DOA but this would be hard for Animal as he said on the, Road Warriors: Life and Death of the Most Dominant Tag-Team in Wrestling History, that it was hard for them to rip on each other in promos.

By 1998 the Legion of Doom would be involved in a controversial storyline which played of Hawk’s real life drug and alcohol issues. This storyline would tease the team breaking up many times as it would cause tension amongst the team. Hawk would continue to show drunk or unable to perform on television as Hawk proved to be more erratic and unreliable leading to Droz wrestle in his place and become an official LOD member.

Hawk started to show suicidal tendencies and blamed Droz as being the enabler of his problems. This storyline ended with Hawk climbing up the titantron hitting he was going to take a suicidal jump but Droz would try to rescue Hawk only for it to look like Droz pushed him off. It was then revealed that Droz was enabling Hawk’s drug addiction in order to kill him and take his place in the LOD. After the storyline bombed both Hawk and Animal voiced their objections to the storyline and it was shortly dropped. They would make a few more appearances but would leave shortly after.

Indies/WCW/TNA (1999-2003)

Although the Road Warriors never officially broke up Animal started making solo appearance as Hawk continued to struggle with his drug and alcohol addiction. Animal would return to WCW in 2001, he would become the enforcer for the Magnificent Seven where his main goal was to protect WCW World champion Scott Steiner. This run wouldn’t last too long as Vince McMahon would soon purchase WCW and Animal wouldn’t be picked up. Around the same time Hawk was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a heart condition, which caused him to stop wrestling until he overcame its effects and returned to work regularly.

They would make many appearances on the independent scene they would wrestle in places like IWS and i-Generation. Both soon became born again Christians and appeared on Ted DiBiase’s religion and wrestling shows in 2003. They also briefly appeared in TNA where they got the classic “Road Warrior pop”.

Final WWE Run (2003,2005-2006)

Final Television Appearance

The Road Warriors would make their final television appearance as they would surprisingly appeared on May 12, 2003 on a episode of Raw. They would challenge the then WWE World Tag Team champions Rob Van Dam and Kane but they would fail to win the championships. The Road Warriors hoped they would get a full time contract but nothing came of it. They would make a few more independent appearances but sadly Hawk would pass away shortly after.

Hawk’s Death

Hawk would pass away on October 19, 2003 at the age of 46. He passed away early morning in his home in Indian Rocks Beach, Florida. According to his friends he was with his wife and they’ve just recently bought a condo near their current home. They were packing and moving boxes the night before Hawk said he felt tired and went to take a nap. The next morning his wife checked on him and he died of a sudden heart attack. Around the same time the Road Warriors were working on a book together talking about their life and careers.

Carrying on the Legacy/LOD 2005

Animal would return to WWE on a episode of SmackDown on July 14, 2005 he would dedicate his run to Hawk and continue to carry legacy of the Road Warriors. Animal would challenge the WWE Tag Team champions MNM for the championships at The Great American Bash. He would find a new tag team partner in Heidenreich, they would go on to win the championships and Animal would dedicate his victory to Hawk.

Soon after winning the championships Heidenreich would adopt the Road Warriors look by shaving his head into a Mohawk, wearing the spiked shoulder pads, and face paint. Christy Hemme would be their manager for a short period of time during their feud with MNM. They would hold the championships a few months until they lost them on a episode of SmackDown and this tribute run would end shortly after as Heidenreich world be released.

The Road Warrior

On March 3, 2006, on a episode of SmackDown Animal teamed with Matt Hardy to face MNM. After losing the match Animal turned heel and attacked Hardy targeting his injured knee. Animal would explain the reason why he did this was because he realized Heidenreich and Matt Hardy were both screw ups and said Hawk is the only tag team legend and partner for him. Animal would soon be simply known as The Road Warrior dropping many things that made the Road Warriors gimmick special by ditching the shoulder pads. This gimmick would be very similar to the one he started out with prior to teaming up with Hawk. During this time he’d most notably compete in the WrestleMania 22 pre-show battle royal. He made his final appearance on a episode of Velocity and would be released on June 6, 2006.

Hell Warriors (2007-2014)

On September 1, 2007, Animal would return to AJPW and would team with “Power Warrior” Kensuke Sasaki. They would be known as the Hell Warriors as a tribute to the Road Warrior and Hell Raisers name. They would use a megamix of Black Sabbath’s Iron Man and Ozzy Osborne’s Hellraiser as their entrance theme during this time. They would continue to compete in AJPW, travel to Mexico and compete in Toryumon. On February 13, 2014 Kensuke Sasaki would announce his retirement thus ending the Hell Warriors run.

Final Appearances (2006,2007,2011,2012,2016)

On November 18, 2006, Animal appeared in his full gear on ESPN’s pre-game Collage Gameday show. He promoted the Ohio State vs Michigan rivalry game where his son, James Laurinaitis was starting as a linebacker for Ohio State. James has also went on to have a successful career as he’s a former St. Louis Ram and current New Orlean Saint. He would also win multiple awards.

On July 17, 2007, Animal would return to TNA at Slammiversary. He would be a replacement for Scott Steiner who was injured. He would team with Rick Steiner but would end up losing to Team 3D.

On March 28, 2011, WWE would announce on a episode of Raw that the Road Warriors would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Dusty Rhodes would induct the Road Warriors along with Paul Ellering into the WWE Hall of Fame.

On July 20, 2012, on a episode of SmackDown Animal would make a surprise return and challenge Heath Slater and beat him in a squash match. This was to honor and build up to the 1,000 episode of Raw. Animal would then reappear on Raw 1,000 along with many other WWE Legends to help Lita defeat Heath Slater.

On the December 15, 2016 episode of TNA Impact Wrestling Animal would return. He would make a brief cameo during the special “Total Nonstop Deletion” episodes. This would be the final televised wrestling appearance Animal would make.

Accomplishments

- 1x AWA World Tag Team champions (Animal & Hawk)

- 1x FWJPW World Japan Tag Team champions

- 3x i-Generation Tag Team champions (Animal & Hawk)

- 1x IPW Tag Team champions (Animal & Hawk)

- 2x IWGP Tag Team champions (Hawk & Kensuke Sasaki)

- 1x IWS World Tag Team champions (Animal & Hawk)

- 1x NWA International Tag Team champions (Animal & Hawk)

- 4x NWA National Tag Team champions (Animal & Hawk)

- 3x NWA Six-Man Tag Team champions (Animal & Hawk)

- 1x NWA World Tag Team champions (Animal & Hawk)

- 1x UWA World Tag Team champions (Animal & Kensuke Sasaki)

- 1x WWE Tag Team champions (Animal & Heidenreich)

- 2x WWE (World) Tag Team champions (Animal & Hawk)

- NWA National Tag Team Championships Tournament Winners (1984) (Animal & Hawk)

- JCP/WCW Iron Team Tournament Winners (1989) (Animal & Hawk)

- Inaugural Jim Crockett, Sr. Memorial Cup Winners (1986) (Animal & Hawk)

- NWA Hall of Fame (2012) (Animal & Hawk)

- NWA Legends Hall of Heroes (2016) (Animal & Hawk)

- Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (2011) (Animal,Hawk, & Ellering)

- PWI Tag Team of the Year (1983-1985,1988) (Animal & Hawk)

- PWI Feud of the Year (1987) w/ Dusty Rhodes vs The Four Horseman (Animal & Hawk)

- Quebec Wrestling Hall of Fame (2015) (Animal & Hawk)

- SWS One Night Tag Team Tournament (1991) (Animal & Hawk)

- Tokyo Sports Best Foreigner Award (1985) (Animal & Hawk)

- WWE Hall of Fame (2011) (Animal,Hawk, & Ellering)

- WON Rookie of the Year (1983) (Animal & Hawk)

- WON Tag Team of the Year (1984) (Animal & Hawk)

- WON Hall of Fame (1996) (Animal & Hawk)

Final Thoughts

Most people say teams like the Hardy Boyz, Dudley Boyz, Young Bucks or some other team are the greatest tag team of all time but I highly disagree. The Road Warriors would pretty much lay the foundation for most of these teams and wouldn’t probably be around if it wasn’t for them. I personally think no other team can touch what they’ve done especially in terms of accomplishments, draw, or crowd reaction as they even have a term named after them know as the “Road Warrior Pop”. Let’s also not forget that they spawned many copycats which wouldn’t even come close to the success they have. They’ll always be my favorite tag team and honestly the greatest tag team of all time in my opinion nobody will ever reach the heights they have or come close to the success they had.

RIP Michael “Hawk” Hegstrand