10 Absolute Wrestling FREAKS! ?

6. Hawk

Road Warrior Hawk
WWE

There's a less-than-trivial side to living the freak life, and though Hawk squeezed every single bit out of his time on this spinning rock, the journey ended prematurely. Michael Hegstrand died at just 46 years old - no age at all, and not old enough to make it so far through the other side that he could share with clarity some of the most outlandish tales in wrestling history.

The most wonderfully freakish example of the bouncer-to-wrestler route so many of the jacked-up 1980s guys took, to see Hawk in the ring is to wonder how he wasn’t born that way rather than working Minnesota doors.

The Road Warriors were painted-up perfection as an act, but Hawk's lyrical dexterity in promos collided magnificently with his roughshod approach between the ropes. Couple those traits with his of-the-time musculature and just about every Hawk story you've ever heard a wrestler tell, and what remains is a perfect encapsulation of the pro wrestling freak. Gone, but never ever forgotten.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for 10 years. Alongside the production of daily written, audio and video content covering WWE and AEW, he also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot on the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 10,000 episodes and 70,000,000 total downloads. He also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House!, Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast, and has guested on long-running Sunderland AFC podcast Wise Men Say. With WhatCulture, he has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. He has also been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.