Greg Valentine - Why The Road Warriors Did Better in NWA
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- Greg Valentine discusses why The Road Warriors didn't work out so great in WWF. Streaming now 📺 TitleMatchNetwo...
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Hall of Fame legend, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine wrestled The Road Warriors back in his NWA days. Hammer was also there when Road Warrior Hawk & Animal signed their WWF contract with Vince McMahon.
Find out why Valentine believes The Road Warriors (aka Legion of Doom in WWF) didn't do as great in the World Wrestling Federation as hoped. Also, hear how Demolition (Ax, Smash) may have played a role in all this. And why timing was off for LOD by the time 1990 came around.
We also hear about how the Road Warriors signing changed the entire tag team landscape. Original booking plans had Rhythm & Blues winning the titles against the Hart Foundation. However, when Animal & Hawk came to WWF the idea was nixed.
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I met Greg at a chance meeting. He was obviously tired, but when he saw my friends and I were fans, he took time to talk to us and give us autographs. Great guy 👍
No you didn’t
The Road Warriors exploded onto the NWA scene like a nuclear bomb. They were one of the greatest tag teams for sure simply for the energy they brought into the ring. Everyone would be waiting for the match to start then boom, right into 5th gear as they charged across the ring and started smashing away before the bell rang. Great stuff.
I grew up watching Greg back in the 80s I hated him for breaking Titos leg but I see his interviews what a genuine guy so many great stories.
It was a pleasure watching him wrestle on tv.
I liked them in the AWA when they would empty the locker rooms just get get Animal and Hawk out of the ring. I was a kid when the Road Warrior first appeared in leather on Georgia Championship. Always liked their style because it was brutal and fast. I also loved to hate the Hammer.... as a kid breaking Wahoo's leg made all of us hate the Hammer LOL! Glad to see Greg Valentine doing well, he was a great force in the sport.
I heard that they even intimidate or bullied Verne Gagne by pulling his pants down.
Joe talked about it many interviews.
@@kenterminateddq5311 AWA was good back in the day when the Road Warriors ruled it.
The Road Warriors Will Always Be The Best. No Other Tag-Team Will Ever Compare To Them Ever.
I like how Greg has good things to say about others.
The NWA was more adult oriented where WWF was more kid oriented. They turned the Road Warriors into cartoon characters to sell merchandise to kids.
Good point. Same thing with the Sheepherders becoming the Bushwhackers, but the kids embraced their over the top silliness. The Sheepherders were one of the most violent, brutal, scary teams ever, but obviously took to the new role
I agree with the both of you.
@@fc872e1 Yep the Sheepherders looked the part of some rough and tumble bad asses and it was believable they could beat the crap out of you.
@@Bellthorian you’re right. Two of the all time teams. Loved both. Glad the Sheepherders got to make some real money at the last stop in their careers, while doing a lot less damage to themselves in much shorter matches. Real good guys, Butch and Luke. RIP Joe and Mike
@@fc872e1 It is funny, I never got to see the Sheepherders live. I always lived in the Northeast and WWF was all we got. I could get a very static reception of a Baltimore TV station that did NWA but it was hard to make anything out. Part of the fun was reading Pro Wresting Illustrated they would have articles covering other territories and promotions. That is how I knew about the Sheepherders, through black and white pictures and articles about them. Wrestling was so much better in the days of territories and different promotions. I remember arguing with my friends over who was better Hulk Hogan or Rick Flair. Those were fun times.
My brother met animal while doing some work for him.Nice guy gave my brother an autographed t shirt.
I gotta say, kudos to Demolition for making that gimmick work. It's hard to be a "knock off" of another popular wrestler or team, but they made it work and people, like myself, loved Demolition.
At first I thought Demolition was cheap copy, but I gave them a chance and I think they are great in their own right.
I never saw Demolition as "ripoffs" they were thier own thing. And by far, the most badass theme music ever. Heels or faces the pop they got when music hit was astonishing.
I love demolition’s theme music
I was a kid at the time, I had no idea who the Road Warriors or the NWA was. Demolition was it for me and other kids that only had access to WWF.
As limited as their moves may have been, they were the most popular team ever.
Ya very limited like Hogan and Warrior but bigger then life because of there look.
The Warriors did more than just suplex a guy for ten minutes, at least.
@@jvac1129 yep… I remember when I saw the road warriors for the first time back before wwf…I had only seen them hyped in magazines before… and that’s exactly what i thought… whaaaa??? Very limited, awkward, and… well more impressive in the still pics!
the Black Sabbath intro was a genius idea. That bent E note ringing out over the PA really got the people in the arena excited
I really do enjoy these videos. I’m 56 years old, grew up in Richmond, so I watched MidAtlantic championship wrestling on tv on Saturday morning or afternoon as I recall. Went to the colosseum or the Arena with my dad to see the matches on about 3 occasions. Was a Wahoo guy back then. Not sure now if I actually saw a live match with Greg. But much respect to you and keep the episodes coming.
The Road Warriors were one of the best ever. Maybe not the best wrestlers for sure. Pure brutes. And the crowd loved them. Always fun to watch. Great video
There is a reason a big pop is called a Road Warrior Pop.👍
Yes they were. Massive mistake coming to WWF but unfortunately most of the famous wrestlers outside of WWF including Rick Flair switched over to WWF. I didn’t even like Rick Flair at WWF.
Hammer never buries anyone .even talking about demolition he was careful to complement them
Class act all the way
Never burn bridges
“Even” - Demolition are some of the nicest guys in wrestling. It was the road warriors who were marks for themselves all the time.
yea hes a good dude
Still my favorite 💪
RIP
Hawk and Animal.
The WWF wasn’t a place for established WCW/NWA stars to crossover. Even Ric Flair couldn’t do it in the WWF.
Guys like Diesel and Steve Austin became huge stars in WWF, but they were nobodies in WCW.
Road Warriors and Cactus Jack might be the most successful crossovers from that era.
These interviews are priceless...a job well done...thank you
The Road Warriors had already been around for awhile. There was a lot of crossover with wrestling fans like myself as a kid I watched both WWF and NWA/WCW so I was already very familiar with the Legion of Doom. Plus, WWF had Demolition which was basically a Road Warriors knock off but they had a cool intro song and were already very popular and had been around WWF awhile by the time the Road Warriors came around.
So it was not any sort of novelty or as thrilling as it should have been when they finally arrived. We had seen their gimmick before. Please Hawk had developed a drug addiction by that point too so they weren't really in their prime anymore performance wise.
i remember how much i liked demolition. but when lod came in, I immediately fell in love with them. my uncle used to watch the nwa and i'd watch flair, road warriors and others. but at my house it was wwf only. when i saw the nwa guys on wwf tv, it blew my 7 year old mind.
Animal outsmarted Vince suggesting legion of doom for a name knowing he already had it trademarked.
Really? I honestly didn't know that!
I think DC Comics has the trademark rights to the "Legion of Doom" going back to the 70's.
Really like Greg valentine. I grew up watching his dad.
I used to be scared of The Hammer growing up. His voice was so deep and he seemed mean for real, but what a wrestler.
When i was 13 in about 1985,i couldnt BELIEVE how cool the Road Warriors looked..how tough they were...just Amazing! Right time,right guys,right look back then. When they said they were gonna kick your ass you believed it!
As a little kid in the nyc area. I only knew demolition at first and loved them,
I remember valentine's first match in Calgary against angelo Mosca . Mosca was rough with valentine , and Ed Whalen, said to Mosca give him one year and he won't be so easy to beat. About 6 months later he was tag team champions with donny Fargo, valentine was Johnny Fargo. They were called the fabulous Fargos . They held the belts on 2 occasions for several months.
I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS WORKING OUT AT THE Golds Gym here in Las Vegas at that time I was bench pressing 515 pounds!
If there's ever a biography of Nick Nolte, Greg Valentine can play the role.
Likewise if there is ever a Greg Valentine biopic, nick nolte will play him
@@davidkos74 - Even better.
Don't think anyone would have anything negative to say about him as a person . Genuinely a decent guy
Crockett unleashed them as Monsters. Vince had em as Cartoons. Plastic spikes and dolls
Thats because Vince hates the wrestlers. They took time away from him and his dad
Truth
Exactly! The first time I heard Animal call the young fans “Little Doomers” I was done. 😡😡😡
Same with the SHEEPHERDERS who were a GREAT HEEL TEAM TURNED true CARTOONERS by VINCE!! BUSHWACKERS. I Loved the SHEEPHERDERS and Hated the BUSHWACKERS!!
I didn't know Road Warrior Animal and Greg were pretty close to where Joe texted Greg 3 days prior to his passing. I agree with Greg, very sad about Animal's death.
As far as The Road Warriors did better in NWA, they also had a better stint in AWA than any of their runs in the WWF.
I remember when the Road Warriors first appeared. Instantly my favorites and who could forget the way the brutalized their opponents with clotheslines and body slams! Especially those guys that Georgia Championship Wrestling was bringing in off the streets!
Really like hearing Greg talk wrestling.
Always be a legend superstar in my books of course i mean The Hammer
Road Warriors were past their prime in my opinion when they got to WWF. Both in their early 30s and didn't look as shredded and mean as they were in their 20's. They were still huge guys that tossed people around, just didn't have that same hunger as their early years where they just squashed everyone and made it look and feel believable.
fax
Vince usually ruined the NWA guys, Luger, Tully, Arn, Windham, Harley Race, shit, he put Dusty Rhodes in Polka Dots for fuckssake!!...Sting was the smartest one for never selling out and going to Connecticut..
They made them sell way too much in WWF in 90-92
True, by the time they went to WWE they didn't look as imposing as they were in NWA, Hawk got smaller every year in the 90's too.
I remember demolition as a 3 man tag team wrestle legion of doom with the ultimate warrior. They beat demolitions ass.
i was never a fan of the valentines but greg has been great on his interviews. he made a good
heel. he never bad mouths any other wrestler but has good comments on his opponents. in my opinion he is a living legend. he has outlived some of the greatest wrestlers. god bless
I think Demolition fans were mad that WWF through them under the bus as well.
“What a Rush” is the wackest catch phrase ever..
The Road Warriors were absolute beasts during AWA/NWA run... By the time they reached WWE, their intensity had diminished by 50%...
Greg Valentine is a living legend and a true gentleman...
Thanks for the great interview guys...
The intensity of LOD was an all time high. They got their money & the titles just like they wanted.
Hey y'all remember when the Road Warriors won the Crockett memorial cup?
Saw Road Warriors vs Ash/Smash at Milwaukee house show. They stole the show BIGTIME, we were surprised how well the 4 worked together, all ACTION all of the time
Greg The Hammer Valentine he's very knowledgeable about old time wrestling
RIP The Road Warriors!
Vince Russo had them doing the "Hawk is out of his mind on drugs angle" which nobody liked. And helped ruin the Road Warriors image. Corny is right about Russo ruining everything.
No one ever ask Valentine about the time he broke Wahoo leg. 1976 or 1977. When Wahoo came back he and Valentine had some of the best matches I have ever seen. They beat the crap out of each other. Indian strap matches. Great .
They were absolute classics. Here is Greg’s take on Wahoo ua-cam.com/video/qoKyt17PoLw/v-deo.html
Great interview
NWA was more hardcore, WWF was more kid & family friendly .
1:14 Huh. It looks like Warrior copied Hawk's face paint design. No wonder Hawk had to change it when he came into WWF.
Down in South Carolina, we referred to Demolition as the fake Road Warriors lol. Man I miss territory wrasslin’
Greg's hands look like a friggin catchers mitt
Always my favorite tag team
I wish the Road Warriors would've fought the British Bulldogs when both teams were at their peaks but McMahon wasn't into cross promotions.
The timing of the road warriors appearance was perfect keep in mind the Mel Gibson movie had just come out as well I believe and that thought of apocalyptic desolation was on the minds of people because of the movie. The road warriors were definitely the pioneers of that gimmick… all those that followed were good but not nearly as sensationally awesome because they were not the original. And the style of wrestling that the road warriors brought into the ring fit perfectly with their image they were brutal they threw people around bash them to the ground didn’t use a lot of wrestling moves because they didn’t need to when they first came out they were an instant success and one of my favorite tag teams.
Because a large part of the WWE audience saw the road warriors as a copy of demolition. Alot of the WWE audience only watched WWE and didn't understand anything else. It was the same problem Ric Flair had went he went there the first time.
Probably a fair point. Because that's how it was for us in Europe as well. We only knew WWF. So to us they were another tag team in the style of demolition and the powers of pain. But besides that, I still think demolition was also just better then them. Better wrestlers and more versatile how they sold a match.
Agree with Valentine by time Road Warriors came to WWF wrestling was going in a different direction with Vince McMahon. It was too late.
Warrior costumes over the top.
The Hammer seems like a really good dude.
I see him at the bar at wrestling conventions all the time, he is very cool dude. Buy him a beer and he will talk your ear off...
#blackdiamondpresscomix🤩2k21 exactly 🔨! Word up.
The Rocco thing killed it. Then when they came back, in the late 90’s Hawk was SO out of shape and unhealthy
The way the WWF/E has seemingly always treated the tag-team division is criminal. No matter how great of a team you were the WWF/E would break them up or gimmick them to the point where the wanted to break on their own.
As Bubba Ray Dudley said, tag team wrestling is gravy for Vince McMahon
Hawk used to do clean ass suplexes
I think Greg was kind telling that story, as he is/was friends with both demolition and the late great road warriors... Everyone in there right mind know who the road warriors were at all times...
They had best finisher in all of wrestling
Always felt strange when the big wheels in the NWA switched to the WWF. They all seemed to be diminished, for example Dusty Rhodes, the brain busters Arn and Tully, Barry Windham, Harley and Flair did okay but maybe not to the same level as their NWA days, more counterpoint to Hogan than anything else.
Same thing with the UWF too, Jim Duggan, Ted DiBiase, Steve Williams, & especially Terry Taylor were also diminished along with The Sheepherders(Bushwackers)
They also took NWA/WCW castoffs and made them into stars, like Stone Cold, Mick Foley, HHH, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash.
Exactly. That's why I hate McMahon.
Id day WWF did ok with Stunning Steve Austin, Terra Ryzing and Mean mark callous..
@@saveus228 and Austin was all pretty much by accident. It's not like he wasn't being wasted as The Ringmaster for a year.
The Road Warriors had been champions around the world before they entered the WWF. Demolition was the knock off like The Barbarian and Warlord in NWA. The Legion of Doom the Road Warriors in the AWA were the best.
Greg was one of my favorites as a kid. I liked his nonsense attitude. But watching him shoot you see a great guy.
Everybody has a right of there favorite westler or westlers I always liked demolition they where.fast strong and tough they where better without crush lod where ok but like I said to each is own rip hawk and animal up the irons!!!maiden manic🤘🎸🤟🤟🇬🇧🇬🇧
Greg is a great guy
I seen Greg Valentine at a gas station in largo ,Florida he was cool .♥️
Always like Greg the hammer especially when he broke Tito santanas leg
Demolition were actually great in ring workers and real life friends with the Road Warriors and in particular Barry Darsow. Bill Eadie as The Masked Superstar was one of the greatest workers and Masked performers in the history of the business.
yep. any pro wrestlers will tell you Ax and Smash were the far superior in ring workers of the teams
@@saveus228 it was pretty obvious… I remember being pretty unimpressed by the road warriors even in nwa… looked like a million bucks… but actually kind of awkward. Demolition I laughed at when they appeared - I was thinking, why didn’t Vince get muscle men… this looks like two balding middle age uncles… but they worked in the ring and the Great music helped! Also, barbarian was better than the everyone else on these teams combined in terms of athleticism!
@@datacipher Barb was very underrated for sure but I'd take Bill Eadie/Ax/Masked Superstar over him in terms athleticism though. Eadie could literally do any style of match with anyone. He was a powerhouse that could also go hour long broadways.
That Hammer was awesome. Loved watching this guy.
DEMOLITION was a CHEAP ROAD-WARRIOR RIPOFF when Vince could not have the ROAD-WARRIORS
"The 2nd coming of more leather" got to love the Hammer!
They were great in nwa cause they were younger and in prime and new. Thats why.
Demolition wasn’t so much a road warrior ripoff, but they could be booked and used exactly like the Road Warriors. They were different, but besides feuding with each other, you really did not need to have both teams. Especially if they were both babyface’s.
LOD!
3:56 When you order the Road Warriors off Wish
3:56 Sure this is Bill Eadle in this photo AKA The Masked Superstar. He already was a WWF veteran.
He was a great talent, most memorable match versus Hulk Hogan was a cliffhanger broadcast on WWF.
Wonder who won?
Hawk's lifestyle was catching up with him a little bit in their WWF run. Damn though, they were awesome still.
I agree and it was sad
Ultimately, the reason that Legion of Doom had a short run in the WWE, was because if Hawk’s substance abuse problems. He was stumbling during the L.O.D. vs Money, Inc. match at SummerSlam ‘92 in Wembley Stadium. Not long after that, both Hawk and Animal were released from the WWE.
Road Warriors had a grittier look in the NWA/WCW/80s, and everything was dark around the ring and a little more claustrophobic, had like an 80s dystopian back alley future vibe, etc., and they painted their faces more interesting more often. Once in the WWF, they got turned into a red plastic gimmick and the face paint was always the same and a little lazy, plus everything was big and bright and the mystique was lost. In fairness tho, I prefer just about every 80s wrestler's 80s gimmick more than what their gimmicks evolved to in the early 90s. Everything from the 80s seemed to turn to loud cheap formulaic absurd "plastic" in the 90s 🤔
Someone screwed up the subtitles...A grade team? Threw them in the car? Grabbed a halt?
Road warriors vs ivan and nikita great times
Shit yeah!!! And vs 4 Horsemen
I saw the Warriors defend the AWA titles against the Koloffs
Demolition was a poor man's road warriors. Animal and hawk are the zenith of wrestling.
Cuz Vince is known for taking hot talent from different promotions getting them to wwf/wwe and burying them. yeah they had wwf tag titles
The NWA allowed them to be bad asses plain and simple. The WWE didn't understand their concept and wanted them to be Kid Friendly and that's just not The Road Warriors.
They were just killer in the AWA so when 15 year old me marked ALL the way out when Crockett brought them on their first Chicago show.
This wasn’t mentioned in the interview but I had heard when Vince started going national in 1984 he had asked Greg to try and recruit the road warriors to come in. I think at that time they were headed to the AWA.
You're right, thank you for adding this. We touched on it briefly in a previous interview with the Hammer ua-cam.com/video/07EqwnF7Ki0/v-deo.html
Great vid Hammer 🔨
I remember when they were in WCW and Sting tagged with them, calling them "brothers in paint." They lost the match and the Road Warriors turned on Sting and destroyed him.
They were better in the AWA, than the WWF
I wonder why Valentine never become a booker or an agent after his career wound down. He sounds like he'd be incredible at it!!!
Yup, such a smart man and a good talker. His wrestling knowledge is second to none man.
Road warriors in N.W.A and W.C.W. were the greatest tag team ever.
IDK about that, they were over without a doubt, but JCP had a lot of good Tag Teams. LoD had some great squash matches but have them go 60 min Broadway and they were gassed
I saw ax and smash. Wrestle at the old meadowlands. In nj. Vince wanted his version of. The road warriors.
The Road Warriors could have been the all time top tag team. They were misused in many places, including the WWF.
Their AWA days gave me a taste of how over they were in those days.
road warriors didnt fit with bright lights and wwe atmosphere.. That back alley feel of wcw was meant for them
3 reasons they didn't do good in wwe. 1.The name sucked Lod was a catch phrase hawk used in promos Road Warriors is who they are 2. That wack %%$ music what a rush. thats sucks that Iron man sent chills up ur spine when they rushed to the ring . 3. No Horsemen to beat up or midnight express. The warriors have to be the BIG team when they fight doom and skyscrapers and warlord and demo. etc etc they dont look as good. .Should have got Nikta to come with them
There were 2 matches that pulled 19-25 year olds back into wrestling and made it cool again….Hogan beats Iron Shiek for championship….Road Warriors intro to AWA as they rage into ring to Black Sabbath and destroy Nacho Herrera and Cesar Pavon in the ultimate squash. Milwaukee started selling out for first time since Hogan departure
Domolition were imposters. The Road Warriors were the real deal.
Doesn't seem bitter at all. A lot of the mid-card guys are always moaning on these shoots about how they never made to the top and who is to blame. Valentine seems like a happy guy these days and speaks objectively.