Jerry Lawler Reveals It Was His Idea for Road Warrior Hawk to No-Sell the Piledriver

For decades, fans thought Road Warrior Hawk went rogue when he popped up after taking a piledriver from Jerry Lawler. But now, Lawler is setting the record straight—it was all part of the plan.

During an appearance on Busted Open Radio, Lawler opened up about the infamous moment from his early match with the Road Warriors, specifically Hawk. At the time, the duo was still new to the scene, but their intimidating, larger-than-life presence was undeniable.

Lawler explained how he intentionally booked Hawk to no-sell the piledriver—a move that added to the Road Warriors’ reputation as unstoppable monsters.

“We had the first, one of the first matches with the guys with the big muscles at the time… The Road Warriors. They were just getting started, and I gave one, I gave one of them a piledriver… and I told him, it was the first time it had ever happened, I said, ‘Look, don’t sell it. Just get up before I get up.’ And he said, ‘What?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, just get up before I get up.’ And he said, ‘OK.’ So anyway, did it in the ring… I gave him the big piledriver, and the crowd went crazy, and he got up before I did and didn’t sell it. And everybody went crazy.”

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Lawler’s reveal shocked Busted Open host Dave LaGreca, who admitted he believed the no-sell was unscripted for years.

“I love this show so much because of what I learned and myths that are busted… Up until right now, in this moment, I thought it was Hawk going into business for himself… I had no idea that it was your idea for him to do that… that’s amazing to me, Mr. Lawler.”

The spot has gone down as one of the defining moments in building the Road Warriors’ legacy as untouchable, superhuman wrecking machines—and now, fans know it wasn’t an act of rebellion, but a calculated move from Lawler to help elevate them.

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