WWE legend John Bradshaw Layfield reveals that the legendary tag team the Legion of Doom were not on good terms outside the ring.
Heat is part of the game. Without it, heels don’t connect with audiences. However, heat quite often makes its way backstage and individuals, even if they work together constantly and draw money, can grow to resent one another.
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Numerous examples date back to the territory’s days, but in more modern times, nobody better exemplifies this than John “Bradshaw” Layfield (aka JBL). In his time, he’s been more than a heat magnet. He has rubbed several people the wrong way in the workplace.
But that’s another story. Layfield has filled almost every role, from wrestler to color commentator to manager. That last run didn’t last long, though, as he couldn’t “polish” Baron Corbin.
At arguably his most popular time, however, Layfield was one half of a very successful tag team with Ron Simmons, The Acolytes – better known as the APA. They worked with practically everybody including some undisputed legends.
One duo they had at least a little history with, although not rather notably, was The Road Warriors, AKA the Legion of Doom. Hawk and Animal wrestled for every company you can name – including brief stints for each man in ECW and TNA.
They’ve also held gold everywhere from the AWA to WCW. But despite how cohesive and thick as thieves the two were between the ropes, Layfield’s experience with them told a different story. The Texan and former WWE Champion says there was a noticeable rift in the pairing.
Did WWE/WCW legends the Road Warriors hate each other outside the ring?
“Very few are like The Road Warriors,” Layfield said on a recent episode of “Something To Wrestle.” “Animal and Hawk did not like each other. They went for years without speaking. That’s unheard of to be such a great tag team [and not get along].”
He contrasted the LOD’s dynamic with other great tag teams, adding, “Most great tag teams were like The Steiners. They were brothers or they were close. The Hardyz, Edge and Christian, The Funks, The Briscoes, Harlem Heat. Most were very close people. Me and Ron were very close. We might as well have been brothers.”
Relations between Joe “Animal” Lauranaitis and Michael “Hawk” Hegstrand were strained frequently during the latter’s life. This was due largely to Hawk’s substance abuse issues that may have shortened his life. In 1998, these problems were satirized on TV in a variety of questionable ways.
It didn’t help matters when Hawk went to Japan without Animal and teamed with “Power Warrior” Kensuke Sasaki as The Hell Raisers in the mid-90s. Things later smoothed over and Animal would join them to form a trio before WCW came calling. Both founding “Warriors” of “The Legion” have passed on. Hawk in 2003 and Animal in 2020.