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There wasn't a more popular tag team in the 1980s than the Road Warriors. Hawk and Animal could sell out arenas with just their appearance, which was rare for a tag team, and they dominated everywhere they worked. As one of the most protected tag teams in the world, the duo was comparable to Andre the Giant when they showed up in a territory. However, when they finally went to WWE, the wheels fell off.
After a disappointing first stint in WWE as the Legion of Doom, the Road Warriors returned to WCW, but they weren't the same. They returned to WWE a few more times, each ending in disappointing circumstances, but the strangest moment came after Hawk passed away and Animal tried to carry on the Road Warriors and LOD linage with new partners. This didn't work and Animal turned heel, but it was a forgotten moment in Road Warriors history, and one of the many times WWE failed the Legion of Doom.
The End Of The Road Warriors In WWE
Believe it or not, the Road Warriors only held the WWE tag team championships two times in their careers, for a grand total of 213 days. Comparatively, Demolition — a team based on the Road Warriors — held the titles three times, for 698 days, three times longer than the Road Warriors. There are many WWE fans who didn't even know them as the Road Warriors, as WWE changed their name to the Legion of Doom, which was originally a faction Paul Ellering led that once included the Road Warriors. The Legion of Doom only wrestled in WWE on brief spurts — from 1990 to 1992, from 1997 to 1999, in 2003, and from 2005 until 2006.
However, that last stint was one that Road Warrior Animal should have passed on. WWE booked a humiliating storyline in 1999 that saw Droz join the Legion of Doom as a third member, and he pushed Hawk into his addictions in the storyline. This caused Hawk to act drunk and even had Hawk attempt to take his life in one of the Legion of Doom's most embarrassing angles. It looked worse after the Legion of Doom left in 1999, and Hawk died four years later. Road Warrior Animal returned by himself in 2005 and restarted the Legion of Doom with a new member in Heidenreich. The team won the tag titles, but it just didn't feel the same. This eventually led to Road Warrior Animal turning heel.
Road Warrior Animal's Heel Turn Made Little Sense
In January 2006, the Legion of Doom broke up when WWE released Heidenreich from his contract after some behind-the-scene issues. This led WWE to make some changes for the former tag team sensation. The storyline had Animal compete in the Royal Rumble in 2006 and then immediately form a new tag team with Matt Hardy. It seemed like a good idea, as both men were tag team specialists with different partners. However, they won two matches over enhancement talents at live events, and then they got their first TV match against MNM, which they lost on Feb. 27, 2006. The match had a weird ending when Animal wanted to hit the Doomsday Device, but Hardy wanted Animal to come off the top buckle. That was always Hawk's spot, but Animal botched it, resulting in Matt Hardy being pinned.
After the match, Animal attacked Hardy and tried to injure his knee. When Animal explained why he turned on Hardy, he said that he made a mistake trying to replace Hawk with Heidenreich and Hardy, and he was better off alone. He changed his name to The Road Warrior, which was what he went by before he teamed with Hawk, and began working as a singles' heel. The problem is that, after beating Hardy on the live event shows, he lost his first TV match against Hardy. The next week, he lost in a battle royal, and the next week, he submitted to Chris Benoit, something that the Road Warriors never did. He then was in the pre-show battle royale at WrestleMania 32 and lost to Matt Hardy at SmackDown two weeks later. Without one televised win, WWE released Road Warrior Animal two months after his heel turn.
The Legacy Of Road Warrior Animal
In an interview with The Hannibal TV, Road Warrior Animal talked about the heel turn and how it wasn't something he enjoyed. "All that stuff after Heidenreich got fired was all just filler stuff," he explained. "I could see the writing on the wall. I wasn't into it. Then they tried to make me The Road Warrior without my face paint on, which I hated. This is my marque ... this is me. They felt it didn't matter if I had face paint on or not ... it is important. It's my trademark." Animal also said that having his brother, John Laurinaitis, fire him was a "dick move" and there was no loyalty in WWE. However, he said he was ready to quit anyway after the heel turn and losing his face paint.
Luckily, Road Warrior Animal had built up enough good grace with the fans that his spot in professional wrestling history was never in doubt. In 2011, WWE inducted the Road Warriors into the Hall of Fame and Road Warrior Animal showed up to accept the honor.