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LAST UPDATED - 9th
November 2003
Those Who Have Fallen
In the past two weeks, professional wrestling has suffered two tragedies, two untimely deaths, that have hit myself, and the rest of the wrestling community rather hard. One undeniable legend, Road Warrior Hawk, and one constantly underrated superstar, Crash Holly, have both passed away within the past two weeks. I won't lie and say I knew the two men personally, or that I ever stepped foot in the ring with them. Nor will I try to speak here, pretending that I was their close personal friends. I can't give you any insight as to how they lived your lifes, but I can share my feelings on the two men, the careers they had, and offer my condoloences to the family, friends, and loved ones that the two men left behind.
Road Warrior Hawk
They were larger than life. They were scary, mean, brutal, and unbelievably powerful. They were the Road Warriors, the Legion Of Doom, they were Hawk and Animal. They were also, hands down, my favorite tag team of all time. My father grew up watching and idolizing Jackie Fargo. He grew to love Jerry "The King" Lawler. But my role models were good ol' Hawk and Animal. The wild haircuts, the scary make-up, the spiked shoulder pads, Black Sabbath cranking out "Iron Man" at fully blast, and here they come to the ring. Accompanied by Paul Ellering, it's two of the biggest men I have EVER seen. Even without the face paint, and the shoulder pads, the two men are more than intimadating anyway. But with that added on, they were menacing. No team stood a chance, and quite honestly, why should've they? I loved the Road Warriors, and as a little boy watching wrestling, I was the third Road Warrior. That was all I wanted to be. I wanted to be Hawk and Animal's partner. I honestly feel that if not for the LOD, I may have never stayed interested in wrestling throughout my childhood, and I seriously doubt that I would have ever stepped into a ring and became a wrestler, if not for those two men.
My brother was the big Hawk fan, and I was the big Animal fan. But it wouldn't have been the same if they were just two guys. Animal would not have been Animal, and Hawk would not have been Hawk, if they weren't together. You know what I mean? Road Warrios were who they were, and they didn't give a damn what anyone else thought. They were going to climb in the ring, run right over you, and get the easy win. Then when they went to the WWF, and became the Legion Of Doom there legacy grew even more. Everyone knows the "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT A RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSH" that opened their entrance music in WWF, and everytime I heard it, I was hooked to the television screen. Road Warrios were often imitated, but never duplicated, because they revolutionized Tag Team wrestling so much. Never again will any single team do so much for tag wrestling. Because anything a team can do, LOD has already done.
As I said, I never knew Hawk personally, and I won't say that I did. But even though I never met the man, I was still saddened and heart broken when I read of his passing. Not only because he was one of my biggest childhood heroes, but also because I felt a closeness to him through wrestling. It's really that way everywhere you go too. Every wrestler everywhere in the world was saddened when they heard of his passing. That's just the way the business works. He was one of "the boys" whether you ever met him or not. I will miss Hawk dearly, but I know I won't be the only one.
Crash Holly
Even though I didn't look up to Crash Holly the same way I did Hawk, reading about his passing hit me a little harder. Maybe it was because he was a younger guy. Maybe it's because, like me, Crash was a small guy. I really can't explain it. All I know is that when I got online the other day, went to 411wrestling.com and saw the headline "Crash Holly Passes Away" the first thing I said, out loud, was "Oh my God, no!" Crash was never the biggest guy, but he always gave it his all. He had a knack for comedy that very few have posessed. Crash used to do this splash off the top rope, that no matter how often he done it, I always got a laugh out of it. Crash would put the guy almost ALL the way across the ring. Then he'd climb up top like he was going to clear the ring and splash him. Then he'd jump out as far as he could, land on his feet, and then jump and splash the guy. Words don't do it justice, so see if you can find a clip of it to download. It's worth the time and the trouble. Crash also made me laugh everytime he'd walk his crazy walk to the ring. Crash was just insane, but he also knew how to get it done in the ring.
I look at Crash Holly the same way I look at guys like Shawn Michaels, X-Pac, and Rey Mysterio Jr. Crash was one of the smallest guys, on the absolute biggest stage. He was just a tad bigger than me, but here he was in the WWE, wrestling the greatest, appearing on WrestleMania. Doing everything that I DREAM of doing. Crash gave us small guy some hope. Sort of like a "Hey, he made it! Maybe that means I can to!" If that makes any sense to you. It was a ray of hope, albeit a small one, it was still a ray of hope.
But it was more than that, that's not the only reason reading of his passing bothered me. Like I said about Hawk, Crash was one of "the boys." Even though I never met the guy personally, there is still a bond that all wrestlers share with one another simply because we're in the same profession. Wrestling has this honor system, this sense of traditionalism that all of us accept, and abide by. Honoring and respecting those that have came before us, and those that have passed on it comes almost second nature to us. Crash, I will miss your comedic persona, and I will miss your incredible ability.
Hawk, Crash, thank you for the memories. And to the families and friends of both men, I offer my condolences and my deepest sympathies to you.
For those of you that took the time to read this, thank you very much. I hope to be updating this part of my website more often now, but hopefully under less grim circumstances next time. Check back for updates.
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