The Warlord Rewind

Origins and Path of a late 80s WWE Superstar

In the mid to late 1980s huge muscles ruled professional wrestling.

It was considered necessary to have a super-muscular physique, and have a larger-than-life look, to break in and have a chance for high level success in the world of pro wrestling.

The wrestlers in those days looked huge on television and even freakier huge in person. It’s hard to express it in words just how large they were to anyone that never stood right next to one of these wrestling muscle giants of the ‘80s.

One of the biggest musclemen of them all was The Warlord. His height and muscle mass allowed him to build a national name fast by the standards of any era.

At 6’5” and a thickly muscled 320 lbs., The Warlord had the build and intimidating presence of someone who was destined for a career as a professional wrestler.

Starting in pro wrestling at age 24, he debuted with a national promotion after a relatively brief training period. He then spent nearly his entire full-time wrestling career on television, first with the NWA and then WWE.

I interviewed The Warlord for a wrestling magazine article about his career a few months after he left WWE in April 1992.

Portions of the following narrative are based on that conversation.

-            Russell Franklin

EARLY 1986, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA

For 24-year-old Terry Szopinski, athletics had been the focal interest in his life since a young age. He had done well in several sports, such as track, basketball, soccer and football, and had enjoyed them all.

It was football though that he excelled at the most, and he was good enough to play the sport in college. That had gone well for him, so much so he was now in the midst of training hard for a pro football tryout.

For many athletes, lifting weights in the gym was a necessary part of their regimen but not something they particular enjoyed.

Not Terry.

There was something special about the feeling he got from lifting weights, pushing himself to move the heaviest weights possible up and down for multiple repetitions.

Terry relished the feel of a pair of heavy iron dumbbell in his hands. Just as great was the feeling he got when he loaded a barbell up with forty-five-pound plates, causing the bar to sag in the middle, and then he pumped out repetitions on the bench press.

Many athletes shied away from pushing their bodies during weightlifting sessions to the point of a fiery burning feeling within the worked muscle. Terry specifically sought it out, training each exercise set to complete failure, a point where he could not move the weight another inch.

Terry knew the burn signified muscle growth.

His body responded in turn, and his muscles grew to massive proportions, even more impressive looking because he had the height of a basketball player with the wide shoulders and thick legs of a football linemen.

It was this awe-inspiring combination of height and muscle mass that resulted in people staring at him wherever Terry went. The size of his muscles was so unusually large that even the other bodybuilders and powerlifters stared at him in the gym where he trained.

On this particular day at the gym, Terry was doing bicep curls, and the exercise was causing his already 20 inch plus arms to swell several extra inches with blood.

It was called the “pump” in bodybuilding training lingo and Terry’s biceps were literally becoming larger with each repetition, as he stared at the gym wall mirror to monitor his exercise form.

There were 225 lbs. on the barbell, an abnormally heavy amount by any standard for someone to be able curl.

Terry was using ultra strict form every inch of the way too, no swinging of his lower back for extra momentum, and his elbows were firm pressed against his rib cage.

He grinded out twelve repetitions this way.

Terry finished his set and put the barbell back across the power rack with a loud thud.

He could sense people watching him.

Terry was used to that and didn’t mind.

What happened next though he did not expect.

Joe Laurinaitis, the owner of the gym, had been quietly observing Terry workout for weeks now.

Laurinaitis liked the young man’s work ethic in the gym and was impressed by both his physical size and strength, the latter apparent by some seriously impressive lifts he had observed the young man doing in the gym as of late.

This included 640 lbs. on the bench press. Now here was doing 225 lbs. for twelve repetitions in the barbell curl.

Between sets, Laurinaitis mentioned that he wanted to talk to Terry about something important.

In true hardcore bodybuilding credo, they agreed to speak once Terry had completed his workout.

Laurinaitis was more than just a gym owner.

He was a world-famous pro wrestler named Animal and a member of the top tag team in pro wrestling, The Road Warriors.

Laurinaitis was not used to meeting other men who were significantly physically larger than him. To him, Terry had the look of a pro wrestler superstar.

When they finally spoke, Laurinaitis bluntly told Terry that if he became a pro wrestler that he would become a big star in short order.

 It’s not a question of whether you will or not, explained Laurinaitis to Terry.

“It’ll be main events for you,” predicted Laurinaitis.

In that moment, Terry permanently put aside his interest in becoming a pro football player and he redirected his energy to fulfilling the pro wrestling superstar prophecy that Laurinaitis had bestowed on him.

“I’m interested,” said Terry.

So Laurinaitis sent Terry to Eddie Sharkey, the same person who had trained Animal himself to be a professional wrestler a few years earlier.

WWE wrestling figure of The Warlord. depicting his look in the early ‘90s (from the author’s personal wrestling memorabilia collection).

THE ROOKIE YEAR

A few days later, Terry was in the middle of a wrestling ring for the first to begin his training with Sharkey,

The trainer immediately saw that the young man had tremendous potential. Beyond the obvious of his impressive look, Terry was humble, with no ego, eager to learn, and respectful, and he had a great work ethic.

It was just like Animal had said, thought Sharkey to himself.

Once satisfied with a student’s progress in training, the standard procedure would be for Sharkey to help the wrestler get some initial bookings by introducing him to other promoters.

In addition, Sharkey would book the wrestler for matches in his own promotion, Pro Wrestling America, that was based out of Minneapolis.

Sharkey knew Terry was different though than the standard trainee.

“You’re done training,” said Sharkey, after a few months to Terry.

“What’s next?” asked Terry

“We’re getting 8 x 10 photos of you done and we’re sending them to Dusty Rhodes, the booker for Jim Crockett, Jr. in the NWA,” said Sharkey in response.

JUNE 1986, NWA WORLDWIDE TV SHOW TAPING

It’s a television taping for the NWA’s nationally syndicated TV show, Worldwide Wrestling.

NWA is in the midst of a wrestling war with the WWE and business for both promotions is booming.

The NWA is gearing up for stadium shows in a few weeks with loaded cards that will feature such superstars as Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, The Rock-n-Roll Express, The Road Warriors, Nikita Koloff and Magnum T.A., among others.

The promotion has a strong roster of big-name stars, but head booker Dusty Rhodes is looking to develop some of his own homegrown talent too.

He has high hopes for the young man that is about to wrestle. It’s not just his NWA debut, but his pro wrestling debut period.

Dusty’s calling the promising prospect The Warlord.

The Warlord’s wrestling debut, ring entrance included, is booked to last just two minutes to maximize the impression on the audience.

The Warlord is led out to the ring by one of the top female valets in wrestling, Baby Doll. The crowd stands and stares at awe and the size of the unknown wrestler that is making his way to the ring.

Inside the ring awaits veteran George South as The Warlord’s opponent.

“Awesome,” gushes TV commentator David Crockett to the viewing audience when The Warlord enters the ring. “Take a look at him!”

The Warlord and South lock up, and Warlord within seconds thrusts South all the way across the ring out of the lock-up. South ends up landing in one of the ring corners.

Next, South gets up and runs right towards The Warlord, who shoulders him down hard to the mat.

South winces when he hits the mat and get up slower this time due to the actual force in which he landed.

Then he runs right at The Warlord again, who effortlessly grabs him mid-run and throws him back into the corner again.

The Warlord lifts South up and military presses him, before hurling him down to the mat.

1, 2, 3, and the match is over just like that.

Dusty likes what he sees, but after a few more matches he decides to send The Warlord out to one of the last remaining NWA territories for a brief amount of time to gain some ring experience away from the national spotlight.

The plan is to bring The Warlord back to NWA TV in a few months and give him a storyline and a huge push.

The Warlord spends the next several months in Central States Wrestling, gainly valuable experience in front of smaller crowds working with wrestling veterans from the territory era.

FALL 1987

Dusty Rhodes is pleased with the footage he has seen of The Warlord wrestling in Central States Wrestling, as well as the reports he hears back from the Central States office about the young man’s good attitude and pleasant demeanor backstage.

It’s time to bring The Warlord back to the NWA, decides Rhodes.

When The Warlord makes his return to NWA TV, he is presented as a good guy. He has Baby Doll as is manager again but with the added layer that Dusty Rhodes is his mentor.

It doesn’t last long, as in storyline Baby Doll turns on Dusty Rhodes and aligns with Ric Flair.

With Baby Doll’s turn, The Warlord becomes a heel as well.

The biggest boost for The Warlord’s young career comes shortly after this when he’s given Paul Jones as his manager and teamed him up with another wrestler with a physically imposing frame, The Barbarian. 

The team is dubbed The Powers of Pain and makes an immediate impact in the NWA.

They are compared to The Road Warriors and it’s inevitable that the two teams will be placed in a program feuding with each other.

Paired with veteran Ivan Koloff, The Powers of Pain defeat The Road Warriors and Dusty Rhodes for the NWA six-man title as part of the feud.

FEBRURARY 1988

One of the most memorable highlights from this feud was a bench press challenge between Animal and The Barbarian that took place at Greensboro Colosseum in February 1988 and later aired on NWA TV. This short encounter ignited the feud to a whole other level for the viewing audience.

Bench press contests were all the rage back then. The most common question someone would ask to another person who lifted weights was always, “How much can you bench?”

Playing into the general public’s fascination with the barbell bench press in this era, this angle was a creative way to build the feud.

It was announced that the winner of the bench press challenge would get $50,000. Lift the heaviest weight for a single rep and you win.

After Animal and The Barbarian both has completed successful lifts with upwards of 500 lbs., Paul Ellering, the manager of The Road Warriors, and Paul Jones, the manager of The Powers of Pain, got into an argument about what the next amount of weight should be to lift.

Ellering slapped Jones, and the two teams made a move toward each other as if they were going to brawl.

Things settled down, and Animal laid down on the bench to do the next lift. As Animal prepared to unrack the weight, Ivan Koloff grabbed the container of weightlifting chalk that was sitting on the ring apron and hurled the contents in Hawk’s face.

The Powers of Pain and Ivan pounced on The Road Warriors, who were at a disadvantage from the chalk going in their eyes.

In one of the most iconic moments in ‘80s NWA, The Warlord slammed Animal’s face into the plates that were loaded on one end of the barbell. It was done with such force that the entire apparatus, bench and loaded barbell included, toppled over, causing more chalk dust to float up. It left the ringside area thick with chalk dust in the air, and it was a great visual.

The segment ended with Hawk and Animal laid out on the floor, and it got The Powers of Pain over very strong. It was quite shocking to see The Road Warriors beaten down like this, even if took three wrestlers (including Ivan Koloff) and use of weightlifting chalk as a weapon to do it.

It served to reinforce to the viewer, that along with their physical domineering appearances, that The Warlord and The Barbarian were aggressive and serious threats to The Road Warrior’s supremacy in the NWA tag team division.

The NWA was excellent at executing simple, yet compelling, grudge-based feuds that built to a final match between the feuding parties that had a special stipulation. The “final match” often would be done as a tour of sorts around the house show circuit. The whole way they built up grudge-based feuds made you as a fan want to buy a ticket to see a live event.

This final showdown in a feud was called the “blow off” in ‘80s wrestling lingo.

The next major angle between The Road Warriors and The Powers of Pain aired in May 1988. It was a tag team match booked with the idea that The Road Warriors were looking for revenge, as The Warlord had severely injured Animal’s eye when he had slammed Animal’s face into the barbell plate.

The grudge match started with The Powers of Pain already in the ring. The Road Warriors ran in with Hawk wielding a chair. He went straight after The Barbarian while Animal went after The Warlord. The brawling sent The Powers of Pain scurrying outside the ring.

They settle into a back-and-forth style match, with both sides almost equally on offense or defense. After a bit of this, they start building to a finish to set up the next match, the “blow off”.

It started with Ivan grabbing Animal’s foot as he’s bounced off the rope, causing Animal to trip slightly. The Barbarian then kicked Animal in the face, sending Animal over the top rope. When Animal got back in, The Barbarian whipped him into the rope and powerslamed him on the rebound,

The Warlord is tagged in and gives Animal a belly-to-belly standing slam for a two count. When The Barbarian is tagged back in, Hawk rallies back, cumulating with a flying shoulder block.

Then it’s chaos, NWA style.

Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson run out and pull Animal off the ring apron and shove him headfirst in the ring post, causing the ref to call for a disqualification.

This leaves Hawk alone with The Powers of Pain in the ring. Ivan Koloff enters the ring with a chair and hits Hawk across the back. Then The Barbarian climbs to the top rope and leaps off onto Hawk. This is followed by The Warlord and Ivan holding Hawk down by his hands and legs, spread out to his full length on his back, so The Barbarian can hit Hawk with a chair across the front of his body. Then they roll Hawk over and The Barbarian hits him across the back with the chair.

In the ‘80s NWA wrestling formula, it was now time for the final match of the feud and for the good guys to prevail and get their revenge.

It was announced that the two tag teams would be facing each other in a scaffold match at house shows around the country.

The scaffold matches never happened.

Word spread shortly before the first scaffold match that The Powers of Pain had left the NWA to join the WWE.

The rumored story behind their departure was that The Powers of Pain were unhappy about being booked to do a series of scaffold matches at live events around the country. The leaked booked finish was The Powers of Pain losing each night.

The Scaffold Match was a mid to late ’80s tag team match concept whereby you could only win the match by throwing your opponent off the scaffold. The matches were awkward, usually boring and, most significantly, legitimately dangerous.

They always featured smaller wrestlers who would take the fall, dropping usually from a hanging position off the scaffold and down to the ring. The matches were notorious for causing serious injuries.

As the story went, The Warlord and The Barbarian did not want to drop from a scaffold at their size and risk potentially career-ending injuries. WWE would have heard of the unrest and welcomed the opportunity to bring The Powers of Pain to the WWE.

If the rumor was true, and it was widely considered to be at the time, it was truly a baffling decision by the NWA promoters that forced one of their hottest young attractions to leave for the competitor during a crucial time in the wrestling war between NWA and WWE.

I never asked The Warlord about the actual events that caused him and The Barbarian to leave for WWE, since magazine interviews were conducted “in-character” in those days and “shoot interviews” (that is speaking about it from a behind-the-scenes perspective) were just that done. I heard the story enough times about the scaffold match booking finish making The Powers of Pain leave NWA that I believed it was most likely true.

JUNE 1988

In the WWE, upon their arrival The Powers of Pain were booked as “good guys” in a feud with Demolition (who were widely considered to be WWF’s idea of copying The Road Warriors, but Demolition would create an entire legacy of their own).

The highlight of the feud occurred at the Survivor Series PPV that fall when a double turn occurred in the tag team elimination match.

After a mishap where Mr. Fuji caused Demolition Ax to be counted out, the two got into a heated argument. When Ax turned around, Mr. Fuji used his cane as a weapon, striking Ax.

This caused Ax and Smash to rough up Mr. Fuji, and fans to start cheering Demolition. After they left the ringside area, The Powers of Pain helped Mr. Fuji up and had him be their manager for the remainder of the match and subsequently after.

The two teams feuded for a considerable amount of time after that. The Powers of Pain remained a tag team until early 1990 when the WWE split them up to be singles wrestlers.

The Warlord spent the next two years as singles wrestler in WWE, including a feud with The British Bulldog that cumulated in a match at WrestleMania 7 (The Warlord’s personal favorite match from his time in WWF) and a title match against Hulk Hogan in 1991.

The Warlord considered the WWF the place where he officially became “an international celebrity”, in his words, and for that reason he considered it his favorite promotion to work for.

“Wrestling in the WWF has given me great exposure,” The Warlord told me when asked whether he preferred wrestling in WWF or NWA. “It gave a wide spectrum of people the opportunity to see me and get to know what I was all about as a wrestler.”

The Warlord told me that he was eager to team with The Barbarian again, who at the time we spoke was wrestling for WCW.

“If the opportunity becomes available for me to return to WCW full-time, I would definitely be interested in reforming The Powers of Pain with The Barbarian,” he said.

The Warlord would spend the next few years wrestling all the over the world for different promotions, including stints in Europe and Japan.

WCW RETURN AND FORCED RETIREMENT

The Warlord and The Barbarian were made a tag team again in WCW in October 1995.

Instead of playing on their history, and recognition from their tenure in WWE, WCW called the duo The Super Assassins and had them wear masks.  

In early 1996, The Warlord was forced to retire from wrestling due to severe injuries in a car accident.

He was 33 years old, a relatively young age for a pro wrestler, and would never wrestle for WWE or WCW again.

The Warlord was able to return to wrestling in 2001 and worked on the independent circuit, but he was involved in another vehicular accident that sidelined him again.  

He became a bodyguard after that and worked in that capacity for celebrities and famous athletes before eventually returning to wrestling for one last run on the independent circuit, making appearances throughout the mid to late 2000s and into the early 2010s.

I asked him in the early ‘90s what he enjoyed most about being a pro wrestler?

“I love going out and entertaining people and at the same time getting to beat somebody up,” he said with a laugh.

The Warlord may have looked physically intimidating in person, but away from the ring and TV camera, he was soft-spoken and without a trace of an ego.  

It was a similar impression of him that I heard from all others who encountered him during the height of his wrestling fame.

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