10 Wrestlers With The Most Dangerous Auras Ever

3. The Road Warriors

Road Warriors Jeans
Twitter, @OldWrestlingPics

Unless the example used is PAC - a performer whose crispness looks supernatural - wrestling should never feel too perfect.

Telltale choreography, while aesthetically pleasing when done well, is an emotionless experience not unlike super-technical guitar work. On some level, it's outstanding, and requires incredible skill and application to pull off. On another, the point is missed entirely. The audience is meant to feel something other than being impressed. Ugliness is fundamental to art in some way.

The Road Warriors tested that hypothesis to the extreme throughout the 1980s by recklessly f*cking up their doomed opponents. The pitiful ham-and-eggers weren't dance partners but rather props with which Hawk and Animal got over. They were instruments. The Warriors weren't particularly skilled at the craft of pro wrestling, but performance is meant to elicit feeling above all else, and the feeling they evoked was of sheer, awe-struck terror.

The Doomsday Device was particularly horrifying - but didn't it look all the better for how hit-and-hope it was?

The deep-voiced threats of ripping dudes' faces off, the gut-dwelling drone of 'Iron Man', the aesthetic: modern wrestling is great, but something is missing - and the Road Warriors embody it.

Advertisement
In this post: 
Daniel Bryan
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!