Triple H Did Former WWE Star Heidenreich’s Legion of Doom Skull Face Paint: ‘We Had To Go Ask The Undertaker’

Published: 16 minutes ago by Dave Adamson | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago by Dave Adamson

Dave has been a website writer for WrestleTalk since October 2022, having previously written for Den of Geek, among a number of wrestling, movie and television-related sites. Dave has been around the independent wrestling scene for more than a decade, including behind-the-scenes.

Triple H Did Former WWE Star Heidenreich’s Legion of Doom Skull Face Paint: ‘We Had To Go Ask The Undertaker’

Former WWE Tag Team Champion Heidenreich has revealed that Triple H was behind the skull face paint he wore as a member of Legion of Doom.

Teaming with Road Warrior Animal in July 2005, Heidenreich would go on to win the WWE Tag Team Championship with his new partner at that year’s Great American Bash, defeating MNM’s Johnny Nitro & Joey Mercury.

Heidenreich would undergo a metamorphosis as he attempted to get Animal to accept him as a replacement for Road Warrior Hawk, finally teaming as Legion of Doom and receiving his own shoulder spikes.

During a recent appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Heidenreich revealed how the plan for him to join the Legion of Doom came about, saying:

“Well, I remember that they came and told me about it, and then we started that progression of me doing the hair, and then I think the spikes or the face paint, I’m not sure how it went on, but I was progressing with Animal.

“My first paint job was the butterfly effect, which Animal came up with, which I don’t think they like too much. But the skull thing was actually given to me by Triple H. He got me and asked me to come into the back room. So I go into this locker room, and he sits there, it’s bizarre. He’s putting that skull on my face in real time.”

Having revealed that Triple H was the one to do the skull face paint, Heidenreich would then state that they had to seek permission from The Undertaker, stating:

“It was (Triple H’s) idea. He puts it on me, and he tells me to look at it, it’s cool, that skull face. But then we had to go ask the Undertaker, because he had those things on his tights at the time, or his pants, that was a skull-type deal, and he approved it. He said it’s okay, I like it.

“I went with that, which I thought that paint job was way better. I got the spikes. But that was surreal, because in college, we were LOD fans, or marks. I guess it’s okay to say mark, I don’t mean anything bad by it. But I had photos of me and the guy I played college ball with at Mardi Gras, we made up our homemade LOD spikes and painted our faces, and it was Mardi Gras day. We went out dressed up like that, and I had pictures, so I brought one to Animal, this is no bulls**t, man. We were LOD, we wanted to be LOD. But now I’m in LOD, so that was huge.”

Heidenreich’s last WWE match would be at a house show, teaming with Road Warrior Animal, on January 7, 2006, with his release coming ten days later.

Speaking to Van Vliet, Heidenreich attributed his release to some of his own “bad decisions“, reflecting on his behavior in WWE at the time.

A WWE Hall of Famer, Road Warrior Animal passed away at the age of 60 on September 22, 2020.

The New Man Problem

Adding a new name to an existing team is often going to draw comments from fans, particularly if that team was as beloved as Legion of Doom in WWE.

Road Warrior Animal and Road Warrior Hawk has plied their trade on the independent wrestling scene for years before signing with WWE, undergoing a name change to Legion of Doom, likely to distance them creatively from The Ultimate Warrior.

The pair would find success in WWE during two separate runs, although a second return wouldn’t lead to a contract, with Hawk passing away on October 19, 2003, at just 46 years of age.

Animal would return to WWE in 2005, leading to the short-lived team with Heidenreich and, later, Matt Hardy, and then a repackaging as “The Road Warrior” and going his own way, until he was released in June 2006.

There are arguments to be made whether Animal really needed a second tag team partner, but recapturing nostalgia is a powerful force when it comes to the professional wrestling world.

For many, no matter who steps into the shoes of an absent name, it’s an uphill struggle for the replacement to live up to the legacy of the forebearer.