10 Wrestling Careers Ruined By Awful Storylines
7. Road Warrior Hawk
WWE have never been shy about incorporating sensitive subjects into their storylines, and with the company shifting towards a more adult-oriented product in the Attitude Era, they turned Road Warrior Hawk’s real-life drug addiction and alcoholism into an angle. Hawk protested, but his TV character was transformed into a lousy drunkard who’d regularly show up intoxicated, costing the Legion of Doom matches as a result.
The storyline culminated in a tasteless Raw segment in which a suicidal Hawk scaled the TitanTron, threatening to end his life. Puke, the group’s third member, climbed after him, but instead of rescuing Hawk, he pushed him from the top, “killing” him. It was later revealed that Puke had masterminded the whole escapade by enabling Hawk’s addiction with drugs and alcohol. Hawk and Animal quit in protest shortly after.
It was a grossly insensitive storyline, and while Hawk’s personal demons played a bigger role in nuking his career, the angle ended any chance his last major WWE run had of success. The Legion of Doom continued on the independent scene thereafter, and while Animal eventually returned full-time, Hawk made just one more WWE appearance prior to his 2003 passing.