10 Wrestlers Who Should Never Have Signed With WWE
3. The Road Warriors
Vince McMahon was keen enough on the Road Warriors, or at least their drawing power, to create his own ersatz version, Demolition, in 1987.
He booked Ax and Smash as WWF’s most dominant tag team and record breaking tag champs so you’d think when he got his hands on the real thing he’d treat them with a bit of reverence.
First he changed their name to Legion of Doom, in deference to his own Ultimate Warrior. Later, he saddled them with a ventriloquist dummy called Rocco. The puppet’s introduction bombed so hard with the live crowd that a taped segment was never aired but Vince persevered with the gimmick until Hawk left the company in disgust after SummerSlam 1992. Animal followed soon after to rehab an injury.
After a spell in Japan they returned to WWE in ‘97 and were later rebooted as LOD 2000, an unnecessary millennial twist on a classic formula. They were then given a new member, Puke, barely more necessary than Rocco.
The last of a string of indignities, the team were forced to play out Hawk’s real life substance abuse problems as WWE plot line complete with phoney suicide attempt. As ever, they deserved better.