The Road Warriors, also known as The Legion of Doom, are one of the greatest and most recognizable tag teams of all time. From the face paint to the spiked shoulder pads to the famous "what a rush" slogan to the iconic red and black color associated with them, there are many ways fans can spot something associated with Road Warrior Hawk and Road Warrior Animal.
For a team that has found success in WWE, WCW, NJPW, NWA, and AWA, they have tons of matches under their belts. These are the matches that the people over at Cagematch.net vote as their best.
10 Road Warriors & Power Warrior vs. The Steiner & Scott Norton- NJPW Battle Formation In Tokyo Dome (6.30)
In 1996, while in New Japan Pro Wrestling, the Road Warriors were a trio with Hawk Warrior, Animal Warrior, and Power Warrior (Kensuke Sasaki.) Sasaki and Hawk had been a team since 1992, known as "The Hell Raiser" and this match took place shortly after Animal came back from a back injury to make the team a trio.
The Road Warriors took on another legendary team with the Steiner Brothers being the opposition with Scott Norton, who was a great wrestler in New Japan. The Tokyo Dome seemed to know they were seeing something special as they were hot and gave the match the respect it deserved.
9 Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard vs. The Road Warriors- NWA Starrcade 1987 (6.48)
The Road Warriors feud with the Four Horsemen was a heated one, involving the first ever WarGames. Coming off the WarGames match, The Road Warriors took on Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson for the NWA Tag Team Championships. The Starrcade crowd in Chicago was in the legendary teams' hands and the fans went unglued when The Road Warriors won the titles from Arn and Tully.
However, the end would be called a disqualification after The Road Warriors had already got the pinned and due to that finish, with the crowd upset at the referee's decision, maybe the match isn't ranked as high as it should be.
8 Bobby Eaton & Dennis Condrey vs. Road Warrior Animal & Road Warrior Hawk- NWA Jim Crockett St. Memorial Cup 1986 Quarter-Final (6.58)
Bobby Eaton and Dennis Condrey, also known as the Midnight Express, were one of the most influential tag teams of all time. The Midnight Express and The Road Warriors revolutionized tag team wrestling in the 1980s, especially in the NWA. The teams took part in the first annual Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup, as many teams took part in a tournament all in one night.
Unfortunately, the entry above is not the only match that ended in a disqualification, resulting in The Road Warriors advancing to the final round. The Road Warriors would go on to defeat Magnum TA and Ron Garvin to win the cup and end a wonderful night of tag team wrestling.
7
The Steiners vs. The Road Warriors- WCW Monday NITRO 3/11/1996 (6.89)
The Steiners vs. The Road Warriors once again appear on this list, this time in WCW. Shortly after The Road Warriors left Japan, they joined WCW to feud with their New Japan rivals, The Steiners. This match was slightly lower rated by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, however, Cagematch found this match slightly better.
This preference might be due to the fact that this match is less chaotic and clunky that comes with a 6 man-tag and is more methodical when there are fewer wrestlers. The Road Warriors won the matchup with Road Warrior Animal taking the spiked forearm pad and hitting Rick Steiner with it while the referee was distracted.
6 WarGames- NWA The Great American Bash 1989 (7.38)
The last WarGames associated with the NWA label was in 1989, where The Road Warriors, who were famous for the NWA WarGames, teamed with The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Steve Lane version) and Steve Williams to take on the team of The Fabulous Freebirds and the Samoan SWAT team.
This was only the third televised WarGames match, and it lived up to the hype of the first two versions of the match. Road Warrior Animal took most of the hits until Road Warrior Hawk came in to save the team and got the victory after forcing Jimmy Garvin to tap.
5
Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane vs. The Road Warriors- NWA Jim Crockett St. Memorial Cup 1987 Quarter Final (7.5)
The year after The Road Warriors defeated The Midnight Express in the first Jim Crockett Memorial Cup, they had a rematch once again in the quarterfinals, but this time Stan Lane replaced Dennis Condrey. The replacement proved to be the answer as The Midnight Express defeated The Road Warriors.
The Midnight Express won by disqualification due to The Road Warriors using a weapon that Eaton and Lane had originally used, but the referee only saw The Road Warriors use it. However, defeating The Road Warriors was not enough, as Eaton and Lane were defeated in the next round by the eventual winners "The Super Power" team of Dusty Rhodes and Nikita Koloff.
4 WarGames 2- The Great American Bash 7/31/1987 (7.5)
This was the second WarGames, as the first one came earlier that month. The teams were The Road Warriors (with Paul Ellering) and Dusty Rhodes and Nikita Koloff facing The Horsemen consisting off Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Lex Luger and The War Machine (more commonly known as Big Boss Man.)
The Road Warriors, Rhodes, Ellering and Koloff won the match after Road Warrior Animal was able to force The War Machine to verbally submit after multiple hits with the spiked forearm from Animal's gear, a tactic he would later use in WCW. The match was seen as an immediate classic, with the Wrestling Observer Newsletter giving the match 5 stars.
3 The Road Warriors vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Hulk Hogan- Wrestlefest 1991 (7.82)
In the main event of Wrestlefest (not the video game), a cross promotion event between WWE and SWS, The Road Warriors took on Hulk Hogan and Genichrio Tenryu in the Tokyo Dome. The match and the event as a whole was promoted a ton, with excitement for so many big name American wrestlers being there at once, but The Road Warriors were able to be familiar faces from their time in Japan previously.
The match gets wild with all the men battling outside the ring at multiple times in the match and The Road Warriors walked out of Japan as the victors, winning the match via count out.
2 WarGames 1- NWA Great American Bash 1987 (7.91)
The first ever WarGames is still regarded as a groundbreaking idea and one of the best versions of the match. The match was crafted by Dusty Rhodes and involved two rings and a steel cage. The match is known to be brutal and bloody.
The match was between The Road Warriors, Dusty Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, Paul Ellering vs. The Horsemen, the same iteration of the second match but JJ Dillon was in there, instead of The War Machine. The Road Warriors, Rhodes, Ellering and Koloff walked away with the win in this classic.
1 The Hart Foundation vs. 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock, Goldust, and The Road Warriors- WWF In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede (8.95)
The biggest feud in WWE at the time was 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart. The match came after WrestleMania 13 and the double turn that made Austin a babyface and Hart a heel. Hart then used the Hart Foundation to give him the advantage over Austin, so the Texas Rattlesnake recruited a team of his own for a classic ten-man tag team match for the main event of this In Your House pay-per-view.
Of course with the bout being in Hart's native Calgary, he and the Hart Foundation won, but it was yet another classic tag match The Road Warriors were in.