HISTORY
HOW MEN BECAME LEGENDS
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HOW MEN BECAME LEGENDS
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Wrestling promoter and trainer Eddie Sharkey discussed training Mike Hegstrand and Joe Laurinaitis during his interview with VOC Nation’s Wrestling with History podcast from June 10, 2020:
“I had to get a job so I went to work – I was going to be a bartender – in a place called (inaudible) [Gramma B’s]. I had to work as a bouncer for a month or two before there was an opening. That’s where they all were: Rick Rude was there, Animal, Hawk, Barry Darsow…it was the toughest place in Minneapolis, and Minneapolis is a real tough town. They asked me if I’d like to get back into the business training, and I said ‘no, I’m out of it.’…so Hawk came up and handed me five $100 bills, and that was it…I was in it for 20 years after that.” |
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“I realized there was something special, but I never dreamt they’d be the best in the world. We never dreamt of that…I basically taught them how to fall, how to protect themselves, how to not get hurt, and how to not hurt their opponent. The rest they kinda picked up on their own.”
"I still remember my overall excitement about the possibility Eddie’s school offered. When we got there, though, I had more than a few doubts. Eddie’s school wasn’t really a school at all. It was the dank, cold basement of a church in south Minneapolis. Once inside, we saw the omen of things to come: an old, broken-down boxing ring with stuffing coming out of the pads. It was nothing more than four posts with railroad ties lying across a metal framework with a sheet of plywood and canvas covering the top of it." He continues, "The mat was shockingly hard. I’d thought it would feel like a trampoline. To put it mildly, the ring totally sucked and was an absolute death trap with no give whatsoever."
"Taking a bump onto your back in Eddie’s ring had all the charm of falling off a building. The Empire State Building".
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''PRECIOUS'' PAUL MANAGES THE MONSTERSImmediately upon their genesis as a tag team, Hawk & Animal were given a manager by the name of “Precious” Paul Ellering, a former powerlifter and seasoned pro wrestler who had largely retired due to injuries. Despite a brief period in late 1983 when they broke with and attacked Ellering, the threesome remained united both in front of and behind the cameras until The Road Warriors’ departure from WCW in the summer of 1990.
Ellering was not only the team’s manager on-screen, but he also served as their real-life manager, arranging their travel, ensuring they arrived for each event, and teaching them the ropes of the wrestling business, everything from politics with bookers, managing their finances, and negotiating contracts on behalf of both men. Animal said in his autobiography, The Road Warriors: Danger, Death and the Rush of Wrestling: "Paul was more than a manager to us. He was the third Road Warrior." Ellering was as recognizably a part of The Legion of Doom as Hawk and Animal for nearly seven years, and their appearance in the World Wrestling Federation without Ellering in 1990 was jarring for long-time fans of the duo. Thankfully, Ellering would re-join his two proteges in the WWF in 1992 for the remainder of their contracts with the company.
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The ORIGINAL ''LEGION OF DOOM''In 1983, manager “Precious” Paul Ellering introduced a new stable to the Georgia Championship Wrestling territory, calling the group “The Legion of Doom”. Members or candidates at various times included The Road Warriors, Jake Roberts, Matt Borne, Arn Anderson, The Spoiler, King Kong Bundy, Adrian Street, The Iron Sheik, and the original Sheik.
In interviews, Hawk claimed that the “Legion of Doom” nickname was inspired by The Super Friends cartoon, which included a group of super villains working together under that collective name. While the stable did not persist for a full year, the nickname “The Legion of Doom” was strongly associated by fans with The Road Warriors, and it would remain a part of their gimmick throughout the remainder of their careers. When joining the World Wrestling Federation in 1990, they used “The Legion of Doom” as the name for their team, while being referred to individually as “Road Warrior Hawk” and “Road Warrior Animal”. |
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OTHER MANAGERS AND MEMBERSWhile only Animal & Hawk, with manager Paul Ellering, can be considered to have been members of The Road Warriors, others have joined them as part of The Legion of Doom, in various incarnations.
Some stars may have been considered “honorary” members, including longtime tag team partner Dusty Rhodes, Sting, and WrestleMania 13 partner Ahmed Johnson (who donned the spiked shoulder pads for their six-man tag team match against The Nation of Domination). During Hawk & Animal’s various individual exploits in Japan in the 1990s, each man teamed with Kensuke Sasaki (billed as Power Warrior) under very Road Warrior-like gimmicks, and eventually the three men teamed together as an official tandem. When Hawk & Animal returned to the World Wrestling Federation in 1998 at WrestleMania XIV, they revealed a new name, “L.O.D. 2000”, and a new manager in the form of Sunny. The pairing with Sunny did not resonate with fans, and their association was quickly abandoned. Shortly thereafter, a new member of the once-again “Legion of Doom” was introduced in Puke, A.K.A. Droz (Darren Drozdov), a young performer with the ability to vomit on demand. His presence in the team soon caused friction between Hawk and Animal, leading to their eventual split and the end of the Legion of Doom as a team for a while. During the 2005 resurrection of the Legion of Doom with Animal & Heidenreich, Christy Hemme managed the duo. |