|
The
Flight Of A Hawk, by Eric "The Big Gooch"
Sperrazza
It was a long day for 45 year old
Mike Hegstrand. He, and his wife Dale spent the
entire day of October 19th moving into a new house
in Pinellas County, Florida. Moving furniture
is not something you would necessarily recommend
to a man who suffered from a heart condition known
as cardiomyopathy, but Mike was not your ordinary
man. Mike was an innovator of extreme, a living
legend amongst millions of wrestling fans, and
an inspiration to everyone he talked to, and NOBODY
told him what or what not to do! Mike Hegstrand
was Hawk of The Road Warriors. But despite that,
in the still of night, with his head on his pillow,
Mike Hegstrand's heart beat its last beat.
By
the age of 45, Hawk had lived a life more full
than one could ever strive to achieve. A life
filled with success, love, and spiritual enlightenment.
Although the road he took was fruitful, it certainly
was not an easy one to travel. But Hawk was not
alone on his journey through life. Hawk had a
life-long best friend and tag team partner in
Joseph Laurinaitis, (Road Warrior Animal) who
stayed by his side through full or flush. From
one promotion to another and all the way through
serious life choices the duo of Hawk & Animal
could never truly be broken.
Unlike
most tag team partners in the wrestling industry,
Hawk & Animal's relationship to each other
was not manufactured to fit a storyline or fill
a spot. The two met when they were only 8 years
old in the outskirts of Chicago, and quickly became
childhood friends. But, before the two could become
the scourge of the local playground, Animal's
parents moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota due to
his father's job. As fate would have it, Hawk's
family followed right behind and a short time
later the two were reunited. Like any two friends,
they grew up sharing everything, including their
mutual desire for body building. Professional
wrestler and trainer, Eddie Sharkey, envisioned
the two sharing something much bigger, though,
while watching them pressing weights in Jesse
Ventura's dank and musty Minnesota Gym, one day
.......he saw them sharing the spotlight.
It
did not take too much coursing by Eddie to build
an interest with the two friends to consider a
career in wrestling, and after extensive training
the two friends were separated, as Hawk was sent
to Vancouver to wrestle for All-Star Wrestling
as Crusher Von Haig, while Animal was sent to
Georgia under the Universal Wrestling Federation.
Animal's character-name and gimmick, however,
was based off the popular Mel Gibson Film, The
Road Warrior. Animal was building momentum, and
soon began working together with Hawk Georgia,
both with the Road Warrior gimmick. The two started
reeking havoc in the ring. Hawk was quoted as
saying in an interview with Mike Parker from WrestlingEye.com,
"It was tough on the guys we were working
with. Because we were so green, Ole (Anderson,
who was booking) told us to just go out there
and beat the hell out of people." Under the
direction of their in-ring manager and out-ring
booking agent, Paul Ellering, the pair grew quite
successful, and was fast heading to a level of
"in demand." From NWA to AWA and back
again, Hawk & Animal racked up the Tag Team
Championship belts and did not stop with just
national fame...The tag team collected a series
of victories in Japan, as well. After rubbing
shoulders with legends like Ric Flair (Hawk &
Animal in Mid South Wrestling;1984) and The Steiners
in the ring, Hawk & Animal got the phone call
in 1990 that would put them on the map. The call
was from Vince McMahon at the World Wrestling
Federation.
With Paul Ellering at their side, The Road Warriors
took part in a stable that would include The Spoiler,
Jake "The Snake" Roberts, and many others
called the Legion Of Doom, but eventually would
only be used by the fans in reference to them,
specifically. Hawk praised Paul Ellering in a
1992 interview with Wade Keller of ProWrestling
Torch Magazine by saying "We were hot from
the beginning. It would have never happened without
the guidance of Paul Ellering." Extremely
popular, the crowd reaction that came from the
arenas they performed in became dubbed as a "Road
Warrior Pop" by the other WWF wrestlers,
backstage. All the fans needed to hear was the
phrase "What A Rush!" from the Titantron
speakers, and the boom of thousands of fans was
enough to shake the ground. Unfortunately, the
(Paul Ellering and The Legion Of Doom) cheers
and the adoration was not enough keep Hawk perched
for too long, as he was constantly fatigued from
the rigorous travel schedule of the WWF and pay
issues he was never afraid to vocalize. In 1992,
Hawk left for WCW. Once again, Animal did not
tread too far behind. Flipping between WCW and
ECW shows, the Road Warriors stayed busy and continued
with the steam they built in WWF, and in March
of 1997 all was forgiven, as they returned back
to Stamford, Connecticut and signed new contracts
with McMahon.
After
a great run of storylines with The Headbangers
and The Nation Of Domination, Hawk & Animal
wrestled their last Pay Per View for WWF at Survivor
Series in November of that same year. The last
10 years had awarded them accolades that no wrestler
could match as Hawk, personally, saw rankings
in PWI from #112 to #3 in the famous "Top
500" list, AND was voted with Animal as Tag
Team of the Year,(7 out of 10 times)Tag Team of
the Decade, and Tag Team of the Century within
PWI publications, as well. And with over 12 Tag
Team Championships in over 8 organizations, the
spots they secured as "The Best" were
well deserved. In the interview with WrestlingEye.com
in 2001, Mike Parker had asked him what the one
thing would be that he would have changed from
his exciting career. Hawk replied with "I
would say, when we were getting pushed, I would
have tried harder for a union. Piper tried too.
The boys are in a bad position. You really have
to make a lot of money to make it worth it. But
there are no benefits. That's a big problem. I
mean it's a billion dollar industry and there
are no benefits. Why? Because it doesn't help
the promoters any. They'd rather stuff their own
pockets with money than do anything good for the
boys. Imagine that, doing something good for the
boys."
This
was not the end of the line for Hawk, though.
His signature spike-ridden shoulder pads might
have been immortalized in a glass case at the
WWF-New York theme restaurant like a relic of
the past, but the ring would soon call the Road
Warriors back with a new purpose. After bumping
into WWF legend and friend Nikita Koloff, Hawk
was given a book Nikita published called "Breaking
The Chains." It was a story on Nikita's life,
his problems he dealt with on the road as a professional
wrestler and how finding God changed his path
for the better. Hawk was quoted in saying "I
knew I had to read it. When I went to put it in
my bag, it stuck to my hand!" Reading the
book set him on a new flight, as it truly moved
him in the direction that Nikita and other wrestlers
like Ted DiBiase and Sting were proudly on, and
that was a path towards spiritual peace. Ted DiBiase,
personally started a Christian wrestling organization
called Power Wrestling Alliance which coincided
with his ministry work and, once again, Animal
stayed by his friend, as they climbed aboard,
and wowed audiences one more time. The "edu-tainment"
that PWA offered was a message of hope with old
school family entertainment-style wrestling. This
time around, The Road Warriors would see a new
kind of gratitude from fans and up-and-coming
wrestlers that they had never experienced before.
It was the appreciation from a lesson of faith
that they took part in. Many in the wrestling
industry followed their lead to PWA with names
like Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, Marcus
"Buff" Bagwell, Hector Guerrero, and
Nikita Koloff, himself. Up-and-comers who shared
the same views and passion (like independent stars
Lash Leroux, Johnny Ova and his manager Bobby
Riedel) got the chance of a lifetime to share
in the message and work with The Road Warriors,
as well as other legends of the squared circle
during PWA shows in a whole new forum from the
normal independent scene that they were used to.
On
May 12th of this year in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
fans got their chance to cheer for the Tag Team
one last time in a WWE ring, as they made a final
appearance against the tag team of Kane and Rob
Van Dam. With a whopping splat from the "Doomsday
Device" signature move they performed, the
crowd at the First Union Center exploded with
chants of "L-O-D!" The "Road Warrior
Pop" was felt from the wrestlers in the back,
once more, and for those in attendance, the one
time spot will be a memory they will never let
go of. Soon after, fans flooded the WWE Website
when it offered up a poll to name the best tag
team ever......The Road Warriors won by the highest
percentage.
The
news of Hawk's passing spread like wildfire, as
the wrestling industry and the fans mourned the
loss of a true legend. The fans that remember
the brute force in the ring that was (definitively)
Hawk, the wrestlers that had the pleasure of knowing
him and the new friends he made in his mission
of faith will all never forget the times they
had and in their own special way have paid tribute
to him whether it be on web-sites or in the ring,
making it clear that they will feel a little bit
more empty without him in their lives. The following
Monday Night, after his passing had been announced,
Bubba Ray Dudley came out on WWE Raw with his
tag team partner, D'Von and proudly displayed
"Hawk" written on his wrist tape to
the fans and cameras. To pay homage to their favorite
tag team, The Dudleys performed the signature
"Doomsday Device." as their finishing
move. After their tribute-style match Bubba Ray
Dudley had this to say about Hawk, "One of
my heroes has died. D-Von and I regret that we
never got to actually get in the ring with them
and have at least one match. I always thought
that somewhere down the line there would be that
possibility. I hope he's in a better place."
Bubba Ray was not the only one to vocalize what
Hawk meant to them in their lives, as fans and
wrestlers came out in droves to shed a little
piece of their history with Hawk. In an interview
for "Smoke & Pyrotechnics" on Rajahwwf.com,
independent wrestling star Johnny Ova, shared
a very emotional thought on his friend, Hawk.
“Some things that happen in
life make you realize how precious life can be.
I haven't known Hawk for a long time (since June
of last year), but in that short time we became
pretty good friends. I will never forget the things
he has said to me, and the time that he spent
with me to teach me about the business. He also
showed me how great God be. His last sentence
in that conversation was, "John you stay
close to God. He can take you and make all your
dreams possible. Plus, if you don't I will find
you and kick your butt!" He had such a great
sense of humor and I am so blessed I got to know
this amazing human being."
Finally,
Hawk's life long friend and tag team champion
partner, Joe "Animal" Laurinaitis, spoke
out about the loss of his friend to Athletes In
Ministry International, an organization that the
both had become active in when embarking on their
spiritual crusade. Animal touched on the continuation
of the Road Warriors by saying, "I never
will be able to replace Mike Hegstrand. I never
will be able to replace Legion of Doom member,
Hawk. I don't think...I know for a fact that I
will never have another tag team partner as Road
Warriors or Legion of Doom. It's just not feasible,
it's not possible." Animal went on to express
his positive thoughts on Hawk in that interview.
"Hawk's looking down on us with Hennig, Pillman,
Bulldog, Stu Hart, Owen Hart and they're laughing
up there, they're all pain free, they're all happy
and they're all having fun. The last couple of
years he taught that with a-lot of good values,
and good heart , good people can survive."
Animal
will move forward without his best friend and
continue Hawk's legacy in ministry. He is scheduled
to address wrestling fans in another Christian
wrestling organization called Freedom Championship
Wrestling (based in Staten Island, NY) on November
15th and will continue to work with Ted DiBiase
and PWA, but above all, will most certainly make
sure that no one ever forgets the name Road Warrior
Hawk. The rest of us can only imagine that, like
heroes such as Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith, Curt
Hennig, Stu Hart, Anthony Durante, (of The Pitbulls)
and Freddie Blassie, the bell has sounded, the
heavens are booming and everyone better make way,
because Hawk is coming out for the Battle Royale
in the sky.
On
behalf of myself and my readers, my condolences
go out to the Hegstrand Family and all of Mike's
friends. He will be missed by us all.
Hawk.....What
a rush it truly has been.
*Article
promoted by Bobby Riedel and Greg Tingle
Links:
Articles
Death
Of Wrestling, by Lee Wilder: October 2003
Rock
N Roll Wrestling: The Way It Was, by Bobby Riedel
What
The Media Has Said About Professional Wrestling
Over The Years
Interviews
Bobby
Riedel - 11th November 2003
|
