RIP Hawk

This sucks. When one gets older in life, you expect those you've looked up to in the various fields of entertainment you've watched to pass on. Actors in films you used to watch on television during the school holidays pass on having lived a full and complete life.

But when you hear that a veritable legend of an industry you have followed all of your life dies at the young age of 45, it hits a nerve, a very raw nerve indeed.

Earlier today it was announced that Hawk, one half of the Road Warriors/Legion Of Doom tag-team had died. Details of his death had not been released yet.

To say that Hawk is one of the true legends of tag-team wrestling would be an understatement. Along  with Animal, the Road Warriors were perhaps the most dominant team in history. They were the first "triple crown" champions when winning three world titles in three major promotions actually meant something. Whether it was in the AWA, the NWA, or the WWF, the Warriors/LOD dominated the tag-team divisions.

They may not have been the most technical of wrestlers, but they were certainly the most powerful. Long before the likes of the APA and Demolition used brute force to simply overpower their opponents, Hawk and Animal showed that such tactics could be used to great effect in the tag-team ranks.

The sad thing about this is that most of today's wrestling fans will probably only remember Hawk and Animal for their dire match on Raw against Rob Van Dam and Kane a few months ago. The match did leave a lot to be desired, but the wave of nostalgia that swept across the wrestling world that night was unbelievable. The match may not have been what they deserved, but the reception certainly was.

Since that match, the Road Warriors had been plying their trade in the independent scene. In the autumn of their careers it was obvious that they would never grace and dominate the big stage again. With Hawk's passing, it truly is the end of an era.

As the old song goes, one by one, only the good die young.