[MEDIA] Phoenixville News 10.24.03 Legends in and out of the ring

http://www.phoenixvillenews.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1673&dept_id=17918&newsid=10403531&PAG=461&rfi=9

Write Hard - October 24, 2003  
 
By DENNIS J. WRIGHT, [EMAIL PROTECTED]  10/24/2003 
 
Legends in and out of the ring 

"Heavy boots of lead, fills his victims full of dread

Running as fast as they can, Iron man lives again........"

"Iron Man"

~Black Sabbath~

Back in the early 1980s, every Saturday evening at 6 p.m. was usually
spent watching National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)/World Championship
Wrestling (WCW) professional wrestling on TBS Superstation. This would
go on during my Navy days (when possible) and continue occasionally
until it went off the air in the late 1990s.

What the World Wrestling Federation's Hulk Hogan did during that time
as a solo wrestler has put professional wrestling back into the
mainstream consciousness of most people. His flag-waving,
larger-than-life personality and never-can-lose attitude was
infectious to all who believed in "Hulkamania."

However, where Hogan reigned supreme as a singles wrestler, there were
two other men who put their own devil-may-care, kick-in-the-face stamp
on the tag team ranks.

With the first few chords of "Iron Man" being blasted into the arena,
Michael "Hawk" Hegstrand and Joe "Animal" Laurinaitis would soon hit
the ring. If you are wondering who these two guys are, they are simply
known as one of the greatest tag teams in all of professional
wrestling history. We're talking about The Road Warriors, who changed
the standard of tag team wrestling with their powerhouse style,
colorful face paint, intimidating spiked shoulder pads, and
entertaining interview style.

Led by their manager "Precious" Paul Ellering, Hawk and Animal would
make short work of the majority of their opponents. Their appearance
and image alone was intimidating enough for their competitors across
the ring. In fact, they would usually have their opponents already
defeated while "Iron Man" was still playing. The Road Warriors
captured the American Wrestling Association (AWA) tag titles on June
6, 1983 during their first match together in professional wrestling.
>>From there, the Road Warriors hit the road and never looked back,
winning the NWA and WWF tag titles, the only team to hold all three
world tag team championships. During their career, they also captured
the NWA World Six-Man titles with "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes on
two occasions, and once with Genichiro Tenryu, and the NWA
International tag title.

The Road Warriors originally met when Hawk and Animal, both
Minneapolis natives, began lifting weights at the same gym back in
1980. At the time, the two were both bouncers at a local Minneapolis
bar. They got into wrestling after being approached by pro wrestling
trainer Eddie Sharkey. After a brief experiment in singles wrestling,
they decided to combine their efforts into a tag team. Soon, the
painted faces of Hawk and Animal were on millions of TV screens across
America.

While the Road Warriors weren't as technically sound as the Rock n
Roll Express or as innovative in the ring as the Steiner Brothers,
they remained on top longer and in more promotions than either team.
They were so dominating and charismatic that they were virtually
unstoppable.

A typical Road Warrior interview would begin with Ellering
intellectually bad-mouthing their opponent, then conceding to Animal,
who'd agree with whatever Ellering would say. Then it was time for
Hawk to speak. Heavily punctuated by the word "well," he would move on
to such tag-lines as "you will never get the best of us - only the
worst," "we snack on danger and dine on death" and "what a rush."

Even when they were portrayed as heels (bad guys), you couldn't help
but root for them. They were the stereotypical wrestlers; huge men
with wild haircuts, crazy face paint, and sculpted bodies. The Road
Warriors had an aura about them that just made you believe they would
not only win, but punish their competition. From the plethora of
punches, kicks and clothes-lines they would dish out, culminated by
the devastating finishing maneuver, "The Doomsday Device." Animal
would place a weakened opponent on his shoulders, only to have Hawk
fly off of the top rope with a vicious clothesline to the opponent's
throat to earn the Road Warriors another victory. Match after match,
this maneuver would literally spell doom for other wrestlers and
signify another chapter in tag team wrestling history.

Unfortunately, as time has come to show us, this Hawk will sadly never
fly again.

To the utter shock of the wrestling world, Hawk died in his sleep
early Sunday at his home near Clearwater, Fla. He was 46. His passing
wasn't in true Warrior fighting fashion, but still sad nonetheless.

Apparently, he and his wife were moving from their home over the
weekend when Hawk stated he wasn't feeling well. He apparently went to
bed and told his wife to wake him in a few hours. When she tried to
wake him, she couldn't. The cause of death was not known.

However, the 6-foot-3, 280-pound wrestler had suffered from a heart
ailment in recent years and had other health problems. Several years
ago, Hawk became ill while wrestling in Australia and was diagnosed
with dilated cardiomyopathy, a form of heart disease that attacks the
muscle fibers.

>>From then on, Hawk took his health seriously and began to eat healthy
and was feeling better to the point he resumed wrestling earlier this
year. In fact, the Road Warriors reunited for a match on WWE Raw in
May, losing to Rob Van Dam and Kane. One of their final appearances
was at a tribute to them at a wrestling show in June to celebrate
their 20th anniversary as a tag team.

The Road Warriors looked extremely crisp and pumped up for the event,
which was held in their present hometown of Chicago in front of a
record crowd for an independent show.

Hawk once said in an interview, "We're here to ruin wrestling lives
and we're awfully stinkin' good at it. You don't like it - too bad."
With their track record, The Road Warriors were that stinkin' good, so
rest in peace Hawk, in that great big squared circle in the sky.

***

Dennis J. Wright can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED]