The ninth episode of Dark Side of the Ring Season 2 documents the career of the Road Warriors. Arguably the most dominant tag team in pro wrestling history, Mike "Hawk" Hegstrand and Joe "Animal" Laurinaitis were destined for superstardom from the very beginning. Their intimidating size and raw power propelled them to main-event shows in the WWE, competing against legends like Ric Flair, Sting, Dusty Rhodes, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard.
While the episode showed the dominance of the multi-time tag team champions in the ring, it also depicted the dark journey of Hawk, filled with drugs and riotous living. Animal was a featured interview, and stated how his relationship with his Hawk was mostly good throughout their time teaming with each other, but there were certainly some very rough patches.
According to Animal, one of the roughest was when the Legion of Doom were supposed to semi-main event SummerSlam 1992. However, due to Hawk's inebriated conduct, which included an argument with Vince McMahon, they were moved to the beginning of the show. "We went from [a] semi-main event match against the Natural Disasters to wrestling Money Incorporated I think the first or second match," Animal explained on the episode.
The episode portrayed the fallout of the incident resulting in Animal leaving the team following SummerSlam, Narrator Chris Jericho staed, "Irritated by Hawk's recklessness, Animal chooses to go his separate way — alone." However, in exclusive comments to CBR, Animal set the record straight, expressing how the narration didn't match what actually happened.
"It was Hawk that went his [separate way], not me. I would never quit the team," Animal clarified, adding, "He had failed another drug test [when] we were in Wembley Stadium, SummerSlam 92, and we traveled back to America and Hawk never made the trip. He wanted me to take off to Japan with him. I said I wanted to finish the dates for WWF and he bolted [and] never told me and left on his own! Then formed his own deal with Kensuke [Sasaki] which [lasted] one year and he and the Japanese wanted me back. I got injured filling our dates – not my dates our dates – so then I waited till I was good and healthy to be The Animal. Before I came back I made them wait! My first match I walked the Hell Raisers to the ring, the next tour I did a six-man against Steiners and Norton the place went ballistic in the Tokyo Dome. The Hell Raisers gimmick was only a filler, the fans hated it, I hated it, and that’s why they were calling they wanted the Road Warriors back! The money was in The Road Warriors, the rest is history!"
Without Animal making the more level-headed decisions for the team, Hawk's life began to spiral and he fell heavier into drugs. Pro wrestling legend and former friend Nikita Koloff stated that Hawk had been rushed to the emergency room on three occasions due to drug overdoses. Hawk also told Koloff he had a head-on collision with an 18-wheeler, and "rolled the pick-up truck six times with no seat belt on and walked away from it." His drug use also caused him to contract Hepatitis C, and after he was cured of it, he went back to his partying ways.
Hawk and Animal were separated as a team for nearly four years, but reunited in 1996, defeating the Faces of Fear (Meng and The Barbarian) on the Jan. 29 episode of Monday Nitro. Their WCW return only lasted a few months before the team left for Japan. They made their WWE return in 1997, but it was soon coupled with a great deal of controversy.
As shown on the Dark Side of the Ring, Hawk was involved in a very controversial storyline in 1998 in which he would pretend to come out to the ring intoxicated. This eventually led to him being pushed off the titantron by the new LOD member, Droz. Animal stated that he hated this angle since it was close to Hawk's real-life issues.
Hawk eventually settled down, got married and turned his life around. He died in 2003 due to a heart attack at age 46. Just months before his death, Hawk & Animal made a surprise return to WWE after a four-year absence, vying for the World Tag Team Championships against Kane & RVD. In 2011, the Road Warriors were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.