Road Warrior Hawk

At 46 years old, Road Warrior Hawk has this physical status:

Michael Hegstrand (January 26, 1957 – October 19, 2003) was an American professional wrestler.

He was best known as Road Warrior Hawk, one half of the WWF's Road Warriors (The Legion of Doom). He was also known as Road Warrior Animal, with Road Warrior Animals.

Hawk was a sporadic contender for world heavyweight championships on pay-per-view from the 1980s to the mid-1990s.

He starred in the 1993 edition of ECW's most popular annual event, November to Remember.

Early life

Hegstrand, who lived in Minneapolis, attended Patrick Henry High School, where he graduated in 1976. He had various odd jobs to make ends meet, such as a butcher, after high school. He was an intimidating figure due to his height and love of power lift. Eddie Sharkey, a well-known wrestling coach, was in the Twin Cities while working as a bouncer at Gramma B's. Hegstrand, alongside Joe Laurinaitis, Rick Rood, and Barry Darsow were thought to make it big in pro wrestling, according to Sharkey.

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Professional wrestling career

Hegstrand began his work as a member of the Traveling All-Stars. In Vancouver, he was branded as "Crusher Von Haig" and wrestled. The road is quickly becoming crowded and homesick. Hegstrand and Rood returned home to his country. When fate brought Laurinaitis' partner for the night into legal trouble later this year, fate struck again. Ole Anderson, a quick replacement, called Hegstrand, who complied, and the booking was confirmed to a team with Laurinaitis. Both men knew at the time that they would make wrestling history that day. When Paul Ellering was trying to put together a team of heels in Georgia's Championship Wrestling called The Legion of Doom, it was decided to pair Laurinaitis with Hegstrand and change their names to "Animal" and "Hawk" respectively, thereby creating The Road Warriors. To make it seem more intimidating, the two shaved their heads into Mohawks and started wearing studded dog collars, leather chaps, and face paint. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior's look and name was taken from Mad Max's Mad Max 2, who painted the two as no-mercy monsters. Their interview style was vehement, yet charismatic, and a little bit amusing. Hawk was known for often starting his advertisements with the yell of "Wellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll "Oooooooooh, what a ruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu The team was a instant hit, with their control moves, no mercy politics, and an innovative face paint that would breed many future wrestlers. The NWA National Tag Team Championship in Georgia was won four times before moving on to bigger competitions, such as the American Wrestling Association in the United States and All Japan Pro Wrestling in Japan, winning tag-team titles wherever they went.

Their hard hitting style, no nonsense attitude, and winning ways made the Road Warriors fan favorite wherever they went; even as heels; even as heels, the fans continued to boo them. They were so popular that they began to split their time between the AWA and the National Wrestling Alliance until finally leaving the AWA for significant money contracts with the NWA and a huge cheer for the formidable pair. The move paid off right as they captured the inaugural Jim Crockett, Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament, and then feuded with the top players of the NWA, including Road Warriors' old training buddy Barry Darsow, before wrestling as Krusher Khrushchev). They were instrumental in the NWA's Mid-Atlantic area, helping popularize the WarGames match and their trademark Chicago Street Fight.

The Road Warriors' 1988 involvement in a brutal rivalry with The Powers of Pain (The Barbarian and The Warlord), the first team to truly fit the Road Warriors in power (and who were one of the first known Road Warrior clones). During a weightlifting competition, the Powers of Pain went so far as to damage Animal's eye (kayfabe). To protect his eye, Animal recovered by wearing a hockey goalie mask. After finding out they were booked against the Road Warriors in a string of Scaffold Matches and they didn't want to get hurt by falling off the scaffold, the angle abruptly ended. The Road Warriors captured the NWA World Tag Team Championship from the Midnight Express, who defeated them in short order to win the championships in New Orleans near the end of 1988. Despite being heels at the time and employing brutal tactics against Stan Lane and "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton, the crowd applauded. The Road Warriors' tenure with the tag-team titles was short-lived after being the "Uncrowned champions" for a long time. To defraude the Road Warriors of their titles, Crooked referee Teddy Long used a quick count. The Warriors feuded mainly with The Varsity Club, The Samoan Swat Team, and The Skyscrapers before leaving the NWA in 1990.

The Road Warriors leapt into battle with Demolition straight away, with former Training partner Barry Darsow returning to the team (who also included former Road Warriors Barry Darsow). Ax was swapped by a new member of Demolition, Crush, due to his health. A popular belief at the time cited a heart disease on Bill Eadie's part, but this has been discredited in recent years. After WrestleMania VI, Eadie's temporary health issue was triggered by an allergic reaction to shellfish while in Japan. He said it in a shoot interview in 2007.) Fans did not respond as enthusiastically to this latest Demolition team because they had to the original configuration, and the conflict was viewed as a disappointment. Legion of Doom was often matched with WWF World Heavyweight Champion The Ultimate Warrior in six-man tag matches against all three Demolition members early in the war. The Legion of Doom won the WWF World Tag Team Championships from The Nasty Boys in 1991 and remained there for about six months after signing with the WWF. They were briefly taken off television by February 1992, only to return with long-time boss Paul Ellering by their side, as well as a wooden dummy called "Rocco." Both Legion members and some of the followers thought the gag was stupid, as did most of the fans, and it culminated in Hawk leaving the WWF for the first time in nine years. Many believed it was the end of the legendary team when Animal suffered a serious back injury a short time later.

Hawk was primarily seen as a singles wrestler in Europe, Australia, and Japan, and although he won nearly every singles match he competed in, he was still considered a tag team wrestler by North American and Japanese audiences. He has always struggled against mid-card opponents or formed teams with more well-known singles celebrities. As the Hell Raisers adopted Kensuke Sasaki, he was immediately paired with him, then simply known as a solid mid-carder. (Sasaki also adopted the face paint and gimmick Power Warrior) he began training in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. The two dominated NJPW's tag team rankings for a while, but no North American promoter would have considered it as a team, considering Sasaki's connection with NJPW. Hawk found success in Europe by winning the CWA World Heavyweight Championship. In 1993, Hawk entered Extreme Championship Wrestling, the precursor to Extreme Championship Wrestling. In 1994, Hawk left ECW for the first time. Hawk competed in Pro Wrestling America, Mid Eastern Wrestling Federation, Smokey Mountain Wrestling Federation, and Midwest Territorial Wrestling.

Hawk made periodic appearances in World Championship Wrestling in August 1993 as a mystery partner of Dustin Rhodes and later as a replacement partner when Davey Boy Smith departed from the service in December 1993, but no permanent successor was ever identified, and Hawks did not return to the company after Starrcade. He appeared in WCW again in May 1995. He was instrumental in a feud against Meng and Kurasawa in July 1995, but a proposed singles feud with Kurasawa broke Hawk's arm (in kayfabe Kurasawa broke Hawk's arm to let Hawk rest). Hawks returned in January 1996, but this time, he brought Animal back with him as his back had recovered sufficiently for him to return to active action. Sting and Lex Luger had won the WCW World Tag Team Championship during this time, but the Warriors were unbeaten. The rise of the New World Order barred any further challenges, and they returned to the WWF.

After leaving WCW, they returned to the Legion of Doom, where they participated in the war between "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and the Hart Foundation, siding with Austin. The Legion of Doom defeated The Godwinns on October 7, 1997, defeating them for second time tag-team champions. The Legion of Doom faced the newly introduced New Age Outlaws in November 1997 (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn), and the team eventually lost the titles to the upstart team. L.O.D., is a television show in the United States. In a Tag Match, the D-Generation X was tagged. The New Age Outlaws charged Los Angeles, D.C., during the match. He shaved one of Hawk's mohawks and threw Animal across the announcers table, and then threw Animal through the announcers table. The L.O.D. had been through many failures before returning to work. Sunny, the team's boss, had been repackaged as "Legion of Doom 2000," although she did not stick with the team for long.

The Legion of Doom was turned into a storyline incorporating Hegstrand's real-life heroin use and alcoholism, despite both Hegstrand and Laurinaitis' wishes during the Attitude Period, when WWF transitioned to a more "adult" product. As Hawk regularly appeared in matches that were evidently inebriated or under the influence of drugs, they began exhibiting suicidal tendencies, and the Legion of Doom started crumbling, according to the story. Puke, a third member of the team, was introduced later today as Droz. This brought the storyline to a conclusion, in which a suicidal Hawk scaled to the top of the TitanTron, the huge television monitor installed during WWF's Raw Is War's Raw Is War's epic to display match highlights to viewers in attendance. Puke, who was supposed to save Hawk, erupted but only to see Hegstrand's body plunging a deadly distance behind the screen; Puke then revealed that he had been encouraging Hawk's drug use in order to kill him and place him in the Legion of Doom. Hegstrand and Laurinaitis were too late, and both men resigned shortly after the "Puke killed Hawk" incident.

Although the Road Warriors never officially broke up, an increasing number of solo appearances since leaving the WWF as Hegstrand struggled with heroin and alcohol use, and generally did not appear at many wrestling shows during this time. Hegstrand was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a heart disorder that barred him from competing for a short period of time, on a tour in Australia in 2000. He was able to recover from his illness and resumed a normal working schedule later this year. Laurinaitis and Hegstrand were born again Christians in 2001 and attended a number of Christian wrestling events run by Ted DiBiase and Nikita Koloff, in the hopes of reigniting their tag team experience. The Headshrinkers were defeated by the International Wrestling Superstars, Animal & Hawk for the World Tag Team Championship on June 22, 2002. With that victory, Team USA was also named champion of the International Tournament in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

They appeared in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in late 2002 and early 2003 as part of a group that fought Vince Russo's faction Sports Entertainment Xtreme, but the group only fought one actual match for the organization. On May 12, 2003, Animal and Hawk made a surprise appearance on Raw as they face Kane and Rob Van Dam for the World Tag Team Championship. Although Hawk and Animal fell short of becoming three-time champions, it was clear that Hawk had defeated the demons who had barred him from competing, and the Road Warriors had aspired to return to WWE. Hawk's appearance with the All World Wrestling League in 2003 was a spin-off of the 'original' Big Time Wrestling, which was owned by The Original Sheik, who died earlier this year; it was operated by the sons of The Sheik, Eddie, and Tom Farhat's. Hawk was booked for an appearance in Holt, Michigan, and it was the second time Hawk wrestled at a tournament. He wrestled his last match with Animal in Oshawa, Ontario, defeating Greg "The Hammer" Valentine and Buff Bagwell two weeks before he died.

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