Free The Road Warriors: Danger, Death, and the Rush of Wrestling by Joe Laurinaitis

the late 1800s to being the old stomping grounds of Al Capone. This town had guts. From that point forward, we were announced “from Chicago,” and Paul started referring to us as the Monsters of the Midway during our interviews.
    After making our debut with the NWA National titles in June, Hawk and I picked up some serious steam by reinventing our gimmick. It wasn’t long at all before promoters from different territories took notice and wanted to bring us in for appearances.
    As with Ole and Bill Watts, promoters in those days happily did business with each other and weren’t in direct competition. This interaction was the bread and butter of the industry. Each territory had its own regional outreach and usually their own local television show to promote upcoming live events and perpetuate story lines to keep the people interested.
    When promoters started seeing and hearing about us, it opened up a whole new world and we never looked back. There was an unending parade of opportunities to make good money and increase our exposure. Calls started coming in from all over the United States to come in and do shots.
    Joe Blanchard (Southwest Championship Wrestling in San Antonio), Eddie Graham (FCW in Tampa), Jerry Jarrett (Continental Wrestling Association in Memphis), Don Owen (Pacific Northwest Wrestling in Portland), and Bob Geigel (Central States Wrestling in Missouri) were a handful of the many established wrestling promoters we started frequently appearing for. Not only did we benefit financially, but we also became highly sought after and earned a strong reputation of being a highly dependable commodity.
    We also got to work with a lot of great teams outside of Georgia who helped make us seasoned workers. I remember encountering the team of Magnum T.A. and “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan during our very first appearance for Bill Watts’ Mid-South Wrestling in Shreveport, Louisiana. It was a hot August night in 1983 when we came to town to show everyone who the new badasses were.
    Magnum and Duggan were the Mid-South Tag Team champions and established studs in their own right. Magnum was a handsome rebel type from Virginia Beach who didn’t back down from anyone, and Duggan was a longhaired, bearded wild man who had played for the Atlanta Falcons. The fans were sure to be treated to a brawl they’d never forget.
    As we were being announced in the ring, Duggan grabbed the top rope and started stomping his left foot repeatedly to get the fans to clap. It was one of his trademark mannerisms. I smirked and started to mock him by stomping my foot.
    I guess Duggan didn’t care for my imitation very much as he came running over and started hammering me with stiff forearms and punches. Magnum followed suit on Hawk, and we didn’t even have a chance to take our championship belts off before falling out to the floor. The crowd was on their feet the whole time, going absolutely nuts.
    We quickly recovered and jumped back into the ring to start the match. Hawk started off with Magnum, and you could tell neither was going to give an inch. I remember watching the playback and listening to the play-by-play with Bill Watts and a young, new announcer named Jim Ross. Watts in particular was really putting Hawk and me over, saying, “They’re like the reincarnation of the worst of the Hells Angels and the worst of Charles Manson’s Helter Skelter.” It was high praise—and accurate to boot.
    Though both tag teams put up a big fight, ultimately the referee declared Magnum and Duggan the winners by disqualification. See, there was a certain way business was done. When we were the visitors in another wrestling promotion, we knew we couldn’t very well go into someone else’s backyard and cleanly defeat their top talent. It would kill their credibility.
    At the same time, Hawk and I couldn’t be expected to be brought into another company and cleanly lose. It would destroy our mystique. That’s why you’d see a lot of disqualifications