The Squared Circle: Life, Death, and Professional Wrestling by Shoemaker David

Author:Shoemaker, David [Shoemaker, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2013-10-30T22:00:00+00:00

After another brief hiatus, the L.O.D. was repackaged in WWE as L.O.D. 2000, the Legion for the new millennium, their old medieval armor replaced by shiny silver shoulderpads and metallic hockey helmets. The immutability that had long been the Warriors’ calling card was discarded, and their aura seemed to go along with it. Hawk’s displeasure with the redesign was obvious: He tossed his helmet into the crowd, and it was never seen again. The team soon took on a third member, Darren Drozdov, who was going by the name “Puke,” and the storyline pivoted to focus on Hawk’s alcoholism, an unsubtle reference to Hegstrand’s real-life substance-abuse issues. This sort of after-school-special storytelling was common in those days, but the L.O.D.’s old-school personas stood at extreme odds with the earnestness of the angle. So did Hegstrand’s notorious pride. The story led to a despondent Hawk climbing atop the big-screen “Titantron” above the entrance ramp and “attempting suicide” by jumping off to the floor below. Fans groaned, and Hegstrand felt slighted—legitimately, this time. The L.O.D. quit the WWE soon after.

Post-WWE, Hegstrand reportedly descended further into his self-abusive behaviors. In 1999, however, both he and Laurinaitis became born-again Christians, and Hegstrand cleaned up his life. The duo appeared on some of the Christian wrestling events of Ted DiBiase—the former “Million Dollar Man”—and on TNA Wrestling a couple of times, and then one final time on WWE Raw in May 2003. They were hoping to parlay that appearance into a full-time contract. They didn’t get one.

Five months later, Hegstrand died of a heart attack at his new house in Florida. At the time of his death, he and Laurinaitis were working on a book about their careers.

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