The Road Warriors are one of the first duos mentioned in any credible discussion about the greatest tag team of all time. Both powerhouse wrestlers, Animal and Hawk worked perfectly together with their combination moves to make them a unit. Fans loved the presentation of the cool gear, unique face paint, and tremendous entrance theme songs to get them over before the match even began.
Fans witnessed the Road Warriors aka the Legion of Doom thrive in every promotion regardless of their name. Animal and Hawk had quite a few memorable backstage stories much like any other relevant wrestlers of their era.
10 WWE changed their tag name because of Ultimate Warrior
Fans remember the legendary tag team of the Road Warriors under different names if they watched them primarily in WWE. The name change to the Legion of Doom saw them still thriving but it was surprising to the diehard fans.
Vince McMahon was the one to make such a drastic change due to the Warrior name being used by others on the roster. The Ultimate Warrior was one of WWE's biggest stars at the time, and McMahon didn't want the name used by the duo to avoid any confusion.
9 Left WCW due to Eric Bischoff taking back perks
The Road Warriors returned to WCW for a short run in the mid-90s. Hawk and Animal reunited with the hopes of becoming WCW's top tag team again. However, Eric Bischoff upset them enough to spark a change faster than expected.
Both members of the Road Warriors claimed that they Bischoff offered the second-highest contract figure in WCW behind Hulk Hogan along with the ability to perform in Japan. Bischoff stated he did not remember making any promises as such and it caused Hawk and Animal to leave WCW for WWE.
8 WWE tried to replace Hawk with Crush
Hawk grew unhappy with how WWE was using the tag team in the early '90s. The bad blood led to him requesting his release from WWE while Animal was still under contract. WWE hoped to start a new tag team with former Demolition member Crush teaming up with Animal.
The run barely got going with them primarily working on house shows. WWE eventually completely gave up on the concept and utilized them both in singles roles shortly after their last tour together. Animal suffered an injury shortly into his singles run to end the experiment.
7 Hawk tried to replace Animal with Kensuke Sasaki
The aftermath of Hawk leaving WWE saw him working primarily in Japan, forming a new tag team with Kensuke Sasaki. NJPW named them the Hell Raisers with Sasaki performing under the name of Power Warrior and rocking face paint.
The duo found success together and added Animal to the act when he was over his injury. All three wrestlers reunited the Road Warriors name for their time together until Animal and Hawk left to work in the United States again.
6 Animal was rehired due to family connection
WWE rehired Animal in the mid-2000s for one more run in the company. Animal was older in age, but his brother John Laurinaitis helped him get hired due to his role as the vice president of talent relations. The timing came when the company did want more established veterans to work with the younger talents for their roster depth.
Animal struggled to continue finding relevance in this new role. WWE tried to reform the Legion of Doom tag team with unproven project Heidenreich replacing the deceased Hawk as the other half of the duo. The project failed and Animal struggled on his own for the rest of his WWE run.
5 They delivered their finishing move to Vince in a bar
Many of the most memorable stories of the 1980s for WWE came outside of the ring. Vince McMahon was known for still hanging out with the wrestlers at bars after shows to celebrate the success of the company growing.
The Legion of Doom became heroes to the locker room when convincing Vince to take their finishing move after a few drinks. McMahon was willing to endure the Doomsday Device and it provided a great memory for all the wrestlers at the bar that night.
4 They hated WWE using Hawk's addiction in storylines
The Legion of Doom struggled to get acclimated into a new WWE environment of the Attitude Era. One thing that always held them back during this chapter of their careers was Hawk struggling with his personal demons of addiction.
WWE tried to use the real-life struggles in a storyline since it blurred the line between fiction and reality. Hawk and Animal both felt uncomfortable with the idea and eventually told WWE they wanted to drop it. This played a role in their run ending faster than expected.
3 Sunny was supposed to save their WWE run
WWE intentionally placed Hawk and Animal on a break to come back with a repackaged act in the late ‘90s. WrestleMania 14 featured a multi-team battle royal for the tag team division. The Legion of Doom returned under the new name of LOD 2000.
Popular manager Sunny was the biggest change for them in addition to some updates of their gear and face paint. Sunny was among the most over performers in the company at the time, but the fit just didn't work out and LOD 2000 was a huge bust.
2 Animal recently had heat with WWE
Recent comments from Animal on his podcast saw him making an enemy of WWE. Animal was known for making controversial takes that insulted many of the current top stars in WWE along with the company itself.
Becky Lynch was one of the bigger targets of Animal with some sexist commentary painting him in a negative light. Animal doubled down in many of his statements and revealed that he knew he had heat with WWE, but he was fine making his own hot takes with the negative feedback expected.
1 Vince shut down faction idea of them teaming with Hulk Hogan
One of the more interesting stories shared by Animal in recent years featured an idea he and Hawk pitched to Vince McMahon. The hope was that the Legion of Doom would team up with Hulk Hogan in an unofficial 6-man faction in the 1980s.
Animal wanted it to have a house show loop for the trio to experiment with the idea of his super faction. Vince McMahon shut it down since he felt it could have hurt Hogan’s stock to be paired with a tag team rather than on his own.