10 Absolute Wrestling FREAKS! ?
6. Hawk
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.