Road Warriors

Road Warriors was the name of Wrestling - Tag Teams consisting of Road Warrior Hawk ( Hawk ) and Road Warrior Animal ( Animal ). Under this name, the two competed in most leagues, such as the AWA , the NWA and WCW . In the WWF / WWE , the duo was announced as the Legion of Doom (LoD for short).

The team's trademarks were the shoulder pads known from American football , which were provided with thorns, as well as the face paints that were revolutionary in American wrestling at the time (which were the model for later tag teams such as Demolition or Powers of Pain ) and hairstyles. The team members became known for their deliberate no- selling and very hard execution of their actions, which sometimes gave rise to complaints from other wrestlers. Nevertheless, they were able to become one of the most popular and, as a result, most successful teams of their time with the fans.

development

Laurinaitis, who had been friends with Hegstrand since childhood, made his promotional debut in Georgia Championship Wrestling in November 1982 . Under the ring name The Road Warrior (the name was based on the film Mad Max II - The Executor , in the original: Mad Max II: The Road Warrior ) and using a biker gimmick , he initially completed a few single matches there. At the beginning of 1983 Laurinaitis and Hegstrand denied a joint match on the initiative of the booker Ole Anderson after Laurinaitis' partner was canceled at short notice; eventually they formed an official tag team called the Road Warriors .

A short time later the Heel - Stable Legion of Doom was formed, consisting of the Road Warriors , Jake Roberts , The Spoiler (Don Jardine), Matt Borne (later known as Doink the Clown ), King Kong Bundy , Arn Anderson , The Iron Sheik and The Sheik , as well as the manager Paul Ellering ; the name of the table came from the animated television series Super Friends . At the same time, Laurinaitis and Hegstrand adopted the ring names Animal and Hawk . However, the stable did not last long in this form, and after the other members had gradually migrated, only Laurinaitis and Hegstrand remained with their manager Ellering, so that the Legion of Doom now only relies on the Tag Team of the Road Warriors limited. They were therefore announced with the following words: The Legion of Doom, Hawk and Animal - The Road Warriors .

After Hegstrand died of a heart attack in 2003, Laurinaitis was given a new tag team partner in Jon Heidenreich , with whom he became WWE Tag Team Champion (under the name LOD 2005). The fans rejected this new edition, however, and Heidenreich was fired in 2006, which sealed the separation of the tag team. Rumors about a new edition as LOD 2006 with Matt Hardy did not come true, so that Laurinaitis appeared at the Royal Rumble and a short time after as a single wrestler. He has since been fired from the WWE due to a lack of storylines .

On April 2, 2011, the Road Warriors were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame along with their longtime manager Paul Ellering .