Speaking of crass, there were so such worries about appearing heartless when Road Warrior Hawk was booked to commit suicide on an episode of Raw in 1998. The real-life personal demons of Mike Hegstrand were tied into his onscreen character, something which rarely ends well, just look at how WCW handled Scott Hall in 1999. The Legion Of Doom had been one of the most-beloved tag-teams in wrestling history for the past decade, so it was a sorry sight to see the drug and alcohol woes of Hawk being played out on television. Booked to commentate on matches, Hawk slurred his speech, and whereas he was acting up to a lot of the allegations of personal strife, it still wasn't cool to see. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9geNPA9zQPA Then, it all went too far. Jumping off the Titantron, Hawk apparently ended his life live on air, but there was also the insinuation that another wrestler, Droz pushed him, which is clear to see when watching footage. People watching Raw were shocked, and the WWF were inundated with complaints, ones they surely must have saw coming. Worse yet, Hawk would return (without explanation) years later, showing up for a tag-team match with his partner, Animal in 2003.
Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.
