The precious art of managing

"Precious" Paul Ellering is back
Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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One of the big surprise appears at NXT Takeover: The End of the Beginning was the appearance of WWE Hall of Famer "Precious" Paul Ellering. He of course rose to fame as the manager of the Road Warriors during their runs in the AWA, NWA and WWF. One can only assume Ellering is back to manage the two men who attacked American Alpha after the tag 
team title match.

The Road Warriors & Ellering
Courtesy: WWE

For long time I've wanted more managerial presence in wrestling. Zeb Colter has been released, Ric Flair isn't with Charolette anymore and Paul Heyman only appears occasionally. So bringing in someone the caliber of Ellering is perfect. But WWE shouldn't stop with the Hall of Famer. Let this be the start of a manager revolution. 

WrestleMania IV
Courtesy: WWE

Look back at WrestleMania IV. There were seven different managers on that show (not counting Virgil and Peggy Sue).  I'm not suggesting we need that many, but three or four along with the development of a couple of stables would be great. During our recent Facebook Live chat and previous conversations, Chad and I agreed Roman Reigns could benefit greatly from having someone else doing the talking for him.

WWE doesn't have to bring back former managers to accomplish this, although I'd love to see Jim Cornette back too. The company needs to start developing a new generation of managers and allow them to learn from Heyman and Ellering now.

My one & only managerial experience

The ball was dropped years ago with Armando Estrada. It's time to pick it up and score big. We're off to a great start. I'd love to be in that class. Remember I once managed Velvet Sky at TNA house show. It's always been a dream of mine to be a wrestling manager. 

SummerSlam A to Z: Wembley Stadium

80,355 fans at Wembley Stadium
Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger
@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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Of course WWE or WWF have the word "World" in them so it should come as no surprise that this global company took the show on the road back in 1992.  That was the first time SummerSlam or any WWF pay-per-view had originated overseas.  If my memory is correct, I think it may still be.  At the very least SummerSlam '92 is the only of the Big Four to do so.

Legion of Doom & Rocco
Courtesy: WWE

Wembley Stadium in London played host to the event.  The stadium was huge as you can see in the pictures.  More than 80,000 fans were on hand as the Legion of Doom rode motorcycles to the ring for Hawk and Animal's last match together (at least for a while).  Remember Rocco the Dummy and Paul Ellering were on bikes too?  They beat Money Inc. that night.  Undertaker made his in-ring SummerSlam debut despite being with the company nearly two years at that point when he beat Kamala.

Flair & Perfect interfering
Courtesy: WWE

The WWF championship match was not the main event of the night.  It was a rematch from the previous year's Wrestlemania as Randy Savage defended the belt against the Ultimate Warrior.  By this point, both were good guys. Warrior wore a singlet that looked like something Mr. Goodbody would have been proud.  The match didn't compare to their Wrestlemania VII classic which is my favorite Mania match of all time.  Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect interfered in the match, and Warrior ended up winning via count out.  Savage dropped the belt a few weeks later back to Flair.

Family united
Courtesy: WWE

The main event of the night featured hometown hero The British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith against his brother-in-law Bret Hart for the Intercontinental championship. Again, this was a good guy vs. good guy matchup.  I believe it's the first and only time the IC title match was the closer on the show or any major WWE pay-per-view (not counting the title vs. title match between Hulk Hogan and Warrior at Mania VI).  The company did a great job putting this story together and Hart and Smith did an even better job in the ring.  The celebration afterward with Diana Hart-Smith was very memorable too.  I wish Bulldog could have held the title longer, but I know the company had other plans.  

LOD Goes HOF

Photo courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger

Finally, the Road Warriors are heading into the WWE Hall of Fame.  It's a long overdue honor for one of wrestling's greatest duos.  

The Legion of Doom aka the Road Warriors worked under the direction of "Precious" Paul Ellering, who I'm glad to hear is also being inducted with Hawk and Animal.  As a kid I read all about the Warriors in Pro Wrestling Illustrated and watched their matches in the AWA.  They were the baddest dudes on the block.  They had an intimidating look and kicked ass every time they were in the ring.

They tore through the competition in the AWA and won the tag team titles.  As a preteen, I was shocked when the unlikely team of Steven Regal (not William) and Jimmy Garvin beat the Road Warriors for the belts.  They of course has help from Michael Hayes, but none the less, these two bethemoths were knocked down a peg or two by a couple of well, wussies.

It wasn't long before the Road Warriors and Ellering headed to the NWA and dominated there as well.  They won the tag titles and beat the likes of Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, the Midnight Express, and the Powers of Pain.  Again, I was surprised to see them drop the belts to another unlikely duo, this time Mike Rotunda and Steve Williams.

The Warriors left Atlanta and headed north for the WWF in 1990.  They would go though without Ellering.  I'm not sure why that was.  But they would face the so called LOD ripoffs, Demolition.  Besides not having Ellering in their corner, the Road Warriors also changed their name to just the Legion of Doom. They were no longer referred to as the Road Warriors.  And they exchanged their BA black shoulder spikes for orange ones.  More PG family friendly I suppose.  

Hawk vs. Typhoon

The LOD eventually won the tag titles in the WWF too, making them the first and only team to hold the tag straps in all 3 feds in the 80's and 90's.  A pretty remarkable feat. They lost the belts to another new team, this time Money, Inc.  

Ellering did join them briefly along with a dummy named Rocko.  I never quite understood the path they were led down after that.  Eventually Hawk would leave and Animal teamed briefly with the now Kona Crush formerly Demolition Crush.

The Warriors would reunite and return to both WCW and WWE off and on including an attempt to add Droz to the group.  Hawk would die in 2003, bringing an end to one of the all time greatest tag teams. Animal made a comeback in 2005 trying to reform LOD with John Heidenreich. It was an epic failure.  You just can't imitate great teams of the past.  Animal still wrestles in Japan.

I'm glad I'll be there to see these 3 men get their due and become immortalized in the WWE Hall of Fame.  What a rush!