Michael Hegstrand

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Michael James Hegstrand
Data
Ring name Crusher from Hoag
Road Warrior Hawk
height 188 cm
Fighting weight 126 kg
birth January 26, 1957 or 1958
Minneapolis , Minnesota
death October 19, 2003
Indian Rocks Beach , Florida
Announced from Chicago , Illinois
Trained by Eddie Sharkey
debut June 6, 1983

Michael James Hegstrand , better known as Road Warrior Hawk (born January 26, 1957 or 1958 in Minneapolis , Minnesota , † October 19, 2003 in Indian Rocks Beach , Florida ) was an American wrestler . He became known as one half of the very successful tag team The Road Warriors or Legion of Doom .

Life

Beginnings

Hegstrand, a son of German immigrants, grew up in Minneapolis, where he graduated from high school in 1976. He did powerlifting and bodybuilding , and so he got his first job as a bouncer in various clubs. In one of these, Hegstrand was discovered by wrestling coach Eddie Sharkey. But the employees Joseph Laurinaitis , Richard Rood and Barry Darsow , who worked there with him, were supposed to come to wrestling and therefore all four were trained by Sharkey.

The Road Warriors

Wrestler Paul Ellering put together a new heel group called the Legion of Doom in the Georgia Championship Wrestling organization . A tag team was formed from Laurinaitis and Hegstrand and given the ring names Animal and Hawk . They were redesigned along the lines of the film Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior and appeared as merciless warriors.

The team became a great success and they soon competed in several large organizations such as the AWA and the NWA . In 1988 they were involved in a feud with the Powers of Pain , who were the first stylistic imitators of the Road Warriors , as well as Team Demolition , which has since emerged in the WWF .

In 1990 Hegstrand and Laurinaitis came to WWF and from now on called themselves The Legion of Doom . They got caught up in a feud with Demolition - the team that her old training partner, Barry Darsow, was on as Smash . The feud could not quite meet the high expectations, however, as the original Demolition Ax had to be replaced by Crush for health reasons . On August 26, 1991, she received the WWF Tag Team title after a victory against the Nasty Boys and held these until February 7, 1992, when Money Inc. have new champions. After losing the title, they paused briefly and then returned with Paul Ellering as manager. However, he now got the gimmick of having to talk to a wooden hand puppet named "Rocco". This displeased Hegstrand so much that he resigned, leaving Laurinaitis alone for the first time. A subsequent back injury from the latter now threatened the end of the team.

Hegstrand now competed alone in Europe and Japan, but as a single wrestler, despite winning the CWA Heavyweight title , he was less accepted by the fans. He eventually went to New Japan Pro Wrestling and got a new partner in Kensuke Sasaki . The team was called The Hellraisers , won the IWGP Tag Team title and dominated the league's tag team scene.

He then went to WCW as an individual wrestler in 1993 , where he finally returned in 1995 after a break with Laurinaitis as part of the Road Warriors and immediately competed for the tag team title. Due to the storyline about the New World Order, however, the title was no longer won and the two went back to the WWF .

In the WWF, they were first on the side of Steve Austin in his feud against Bret Hart drawn. On October 7, 1997, they won the WWF Tag Team title again , but lost them to the new New Age Outlaws team on November 24 . In order to freshen up their style, the manager Sunny was put at their side and the team was now called LOD 2000 . Sunny soon left the team, however.

The so-called Attitude Era of WWF was known for sometimes exaggerated storylines that crossed the boundaries of taste. So also for the LOD: Hegstrand's real alcohol problem was discussed in front of the camera when he had to pretend to be drunk and was replaced by a substitute wrestler named Puke in the LOD. Puke was played by Darren Drozdov and turned out to be the cause of Hegstrand's alcohol problem at the end of the storyline. However, Hegstrand's real problems actually increased and in 2001 he was diagnosed with an additional heart condition which forced him to take a break.

In 2002 and early 2003, the Road Warriors made some guest appearances on TNA , but only played one real match. Also in 2003, he joined the Church of the Born-again Christians and appeared at some of its events.

On May 12, 2003, the Road Warriors surprisingly returned to RAW and immediately contested a title match against Kane & Rob Van Dam . Although they lost , a comeback seemed possible, but this was prevented by Hegstrand's death.

In 2011 they were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

death

Hegstrand died on the morning of 19 October 2003 in his home in Indian Rocks Beach ( Florida ) of a heart attack.

successes

  • 1 × NWA World Tag Team Champion (with Animal)
  • 3 × NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Champion (2 × with Animal & Dusty Rhodes and 1 × Animal & Genichiro Tenryu)
  • 4 × NWA National Tag Team Champion (with Animal)
  • Won 1986 NWA Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament in 1986 with Animal.
  • Won 1989 NWA Iron Team Tournament at StarrCade '89 with Animal.
  • 2 × IWGP World Tag Team Champion (with Kensuke Sasaki ) as The Hellraisers
  • Other titles
  • 1 × CWA World Heavyweight Champion
  • 1 × MTW Tag Team Champion (with Bobo Brazil, Jr.)
  • 1 × Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Champion (with Doug Gibson)
  • 1 × MEWF Tag Team Champion (with The Comet)
  • 3 × Superstars of Wrestling Tag Team Champion (with Animal)
  • 1 × IPW Tag Team Champion (with Animal)
  • 1 × PCW World Tag Team Champion (with Animal)
  • 2 × i-Generation Tag Team Champion (with Animal)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information at prowrestling.net
  2. ↑ Information at onlineworldofwrestling.com
personal data
SURNAME Hegstrand, Michael
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hegstrand, Michael James (full name); Road Warrior Hawk; Legion of Doom
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American wrestler
DATE OF BIRTH January 26, 1957 or January 26, 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH Minneapolis , Minnesota
DATE OF DEATH October 19, 2003
Place of death Indian Rocks Beach , Florida