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http://seanwaltmancom.proboards30.com/index.cgi?action=usersrecentposts&user=masterofwrestling

I was just reading about Hawk on another site & thought that, even
though it has been several weeks since his death, I would share with
everyone here the impression Mike Hegstrand aka Road Warrior Hawk made
on Me.
I didn't grow up in Minneapolis, I came here when I was 17. I was
already in wrestling for 2 years and just about to turn 18 years old.
The thing about the wrestlers from Minnesota were 1) They were really
big & 2) They were all really tough. Rick Rude, Road Warriors, Curt
Hennig, and others were at the top of the game. At the time I was 170
pounds barely, and I looked like a "kid".

I had made a bit of a name for myself from the GWF ESPN stuff, but I
didn't really know any of the big names in wrestling, except for Curt
who was always good to Me when I would see him. Whenever the WWF would
come to Minneapolis I would go down to the Target Center & JAck Lanza
would let Me come hang out in the back because Eddie Sharkey would
referee the local shows. The night that I got to know Hawk for the
first time, My friend Jamie who wrestled as The Hater & was the best
man in My wedding, worked on the undercard & we went to the show
together. Jamie went to school with Hawk & Scott Norton at Henry High
School in North Minneapolis. Jamie also bounced at Gabbys with Rude,
Hawk, later with Norton & is tough as nails as well. Henry High School
were rivals with Robbinsdale High where Curt, Rude, Zenk, Darsow, and
Nord went.

So after the Target Center show Hawk invited the whole crew out to
dinner at Manny's Steak House which is one of the country's best. He
didn't know Me, but Jamie introduced Me & immediately I was his
friend. That night I was in heaven as I sat with the biggest names in
wrestling. I sat next to Owen and we talked alot. Ultimate Warrior,
Bret, and a bunch of others were there. At the end of the night Hawk
refused to let anyone pull out their wallets. He wasn't showing off,
He was happy to be able to buy his colleagues dinner. That night He
treated Sean Waltman like one of his colleagues & made Me feel like
one. The bill was $2,000.00 . Not that it's all that important except
that I doubt anyone else that night would have done the same.

The next time I saw Hawk was after He quit WWF and was forming the
Hell Raisers with Kensuke Sasake in New Japan. They came to Minnesota
and taped a match at the Bar we ran every month & by that time I was
helping promote with Eddie Sharkey. He worked for nothing. That night
Jerry Lynn & I wrestled Brad Rheingans & Masa Saito. Masa Saito was an
awesome wrestler with a clotheline that really was from hell.

I helped promote a show in Minnesota with Dennis Corraluzo that was a
benefit show for a kid with Spina Bifida named Kevin Quinemone,who
captured the hearts of the wonderful japanese wrestling fans(My friend
& a dear friend of Hawk's - Fumi Saito's magazine flew Kevin to Japan
one year). Hawk wrestled Terry Funk that night (the same night I
wrestled Sabu for the 1st time) and afterwards Hawk told Dennis to
donate his pay to Kevin. He did these things without wanting
recognition. I ended up wrestling in a six man tag team against Hawk,
Animal, and Droz on my 1st match back from neck surgery. I wrestled
the Road Warriors in Minneapolis at the Target Center. I am a very
fortunate person indeed. These are The Road Warriors who, like only a
few ever have(Flair,Hogan) , caused Me to get chills and goose bumps
when their music came on & they came throught the curtain, cleared the
ring of their opponents & climbed up on the corners to thunderous
ovations. I saw them wrestle Buzz & Brett Sawyer at the St Petersburg
Bayfront Center when I was 10 & they just came on the scene in Georgia
Championship Wrestling. I idolized these guys. And I can say that I
wrestled the very men I grew up idolizing. Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Ted
Dibiase, all these guys I have been blessed with being in the same
ring as. Wow, sometimes it's easy to lose perspective on things and
take these things for granted. Wow. Sorry, but it is really hitting Me
right now just how I have been missing for the last year while moping
around because I feel like I was wronged by a woman. I have been
wronging myself.

I remember Hawk went through a period after his divorce where he had
no use for women, because he got shafted bigtime by his ex wife. He
was sure he would not go through that again. Well he was right, he
didn't have to go through that again because he found a woman that
changed his outlook on everything. Her name is Dale & He married her &
She made him a very happy man. I don't really know her, but for her to
change his mind about marriage & accept him for all that he brought
with him to the table, she is a great woman.

Mike Hegstrand may have had a short fuse. He may have fought alot of
people in his life, but he was never a bully. He fought for what he
believed were the right reasons. When the WWF decided to do that awful
"Brawl for All" & they asked him to do it. He said yes. He didn't
train a day for it & they matched him up with Droz. Droz was 15 years
younger and a machine. Those two guys went out there and slugged it
out for three rounds & gave it everything. In the end, none of the
judges wanted to declare either guy the loser because it was so close.
They wanted both of them to fight again but Hawk said only if they
paid them again. They didn't want to pay them a second time, So Hawk
said "Give the win to Droz". Over and over again Mike Hegstrand
demonstrated to Me the actions of a man with a pure heart. A huge,
pure heart. When I learned of his death , It hurt Me deeply to lose
yet another friend. But I was comforted by the fact that recently Hawk
& Animal both had been born again. I know that even though the world
lost Road Warrior Hawk & many of us lost a good friend, He found peace
& salvation. He was ready. Not that He didn't want to live any more,
but he was ready to go when He was called. You see, if he wasn't ready
then He wouldn't have gone. If you know anything about the lifestyle
He lived, then you would realize that there wasn't anything that could
kill this man. Good Bye to another friend. I think about the loved
ones of the friends that I have lost going into this first Christmas
without them. I think about Curt's family. I think about Bret Hart,
who lost his father Stu right around the same time & mother Helen
recently. They were wonderful people. As many negative things that are
associated with wrestling, you know that I have never met better, more
loyal, loving and generous people than the one's in the professional
wrestling industry. They outweigh the bad ones any day.

Road Warrior Hawk, another one who lived his life his way. The only
thing I can say about the impression he made on Me is "Whaaat A Rush!"

The Road Warriors were the greatest tag team of all time.

Thanks Mike & Joe

Your friend,
Sean


--- Internet Rex 2.29