professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...
tag team
Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...
in the
World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
(WWF) from 1990 to 1991. The team consisted of
Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the Gr ...
In early 1990, Paul Roma had come off a breakup of The Young Stallions and was used as an "enhancement talent" for wrestlers getting a push. Roma was paired up with the Mighty Hercules into a regular tag team. At this point they were not given a name, nor did the two faces get much air time as a team, being relegated to a few matches against jobbers.
During the summer of 1990, Paul Roma faced
Dino Bravo
Adolfo Bresciano (; August 6, 1948 – March 10, 1993) was an Italian-Canadian professional wrestler and promoter, better known by the ring name Dino Bravo ().
After training under Gino Brito, he started his career in Montreal in the 1970s, wo ...
on ''
WWF Superstars of Wrestling
''WWF Superstars of Wrestling'' (later shortened to ''WWF Superstars'' and to ''Sunday Morning Superstars ''), also referred to as ''Maple Leaf Wrestling'' in Canada was an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by ...
'', losing after being hit with
Jimmy Hart
James Ray Hart (born January 1, 1944) is an American professional wrestling manager, executive, composer, and musician currently signed with WWE in a Legends deal. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World ...
’s megaphone and then pinned. Due to the blow to the head Roma was still in the ring feeling groggy when
The Rockers
The Rockers were an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty who teamed from 1985 to 1992. The team worked for NWA Central States Wrestling, the American Wrestling Association, Continental Wrestli ...
came out for their scheduled match. Roma got mad at the Rockers over coming out and was soon joined by Hercules as the two sides argued. Moments later, Roma and Hercules turned heel by attacking the Rockers, beating them down before leaving the ring together.
One of the matches the new team had was against the other newly formed team of Roma's former partner,
Jim Powers
James Manley (born January 4, 1958) is an American retired professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Jim Powers. He worked for the World Wrestling Federation from 1984 to 1994, then elsewhere until 2010. He was ...
and Hercules' former rival,
Jim Brunzell
James Brunzell (born August 13, 1949) is an American retired professional wrestler. Best known for his successful tag teams, Brunzell performed for various wrestling promotions during his 21-year career.
Early life
The son of a navy pilot, Br ...
, in which Roma and Hercules were victorious when Roma pinned Brunzell after hitting their finisher on Brunzell for the win. (Roma faced Powers numerous times at houses shows, with Roma in all the bouts coming as the winner)
Shortly after their attack on the Rockers, Roma and Hercules unveiled their new manager Slick (who briefly managed Hercules a few years prior), and a new name to go with their attitude - Power and Glory, along with matching outfits. Power and Glory clashed with the Rockers at SummerSlam 1990 with
Marty Jannetty
Fredrick Martin Jannetty (born February 3, 1960) is an American professional wrestler who has worked for promotions including the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), World Championship Wres ...
being forced to wrestle the match on his own after Power and Glory injured Shawn Michaels' knee before the match (this was a storyline excuse to give Michaels some time off to heal a previously suffered knee injury and he had a noticeable limp on his way to the ring for the SummerSlam match). Once Michaels returned, the feud continued, with the two teams being on opposite sides at
Survivor Series
Survivor Series is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1987 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Held in November generally the week of Thanksgiving, it is the sec ...
, with Power and Glory once again coming out as the victors.
Bobby Heenan
Raymond Louis Heenan (November 1, 1944 – September 17, 2017) was an American professional wrestling manager, color commentator, wrestler, and comedian. He performed with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation ...
while doing commentary would sometimes refer to Paul Roma as "Romeo Roma" while
Gorilla Monsoon
Robert James Marella (June 4, 1937 – October 6, 1999), better known by his ring name of Gorilla Monsoon, was an American professional wrestler, play-by-play commentator, and booker.
Monsoon is famous for his run as a villainous super-heavyw ...
would sometimes refer to Power and Glory as "Herc and Jerk".
The feud culminated on December 28, at
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
where both teams fought to a time limit draw. Despite having a number of shots at the
WWF Tag Team Champions
The World Tag Team Championship was the original professional wrestling world tag team championship in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) promotion, and the promotion's third tag team championship overall. Originally established by the then- ...
,
The Hart Foundation
The Hart Foundation is the name of several derivative tag teams and stables composed primarily of members and close friends of the Hart wrestling family. The name originated in the World Wrestling Federation in 1985 with the original Hart Foundat ...
, Roma and Hercules never won the gold. Their misfortune continued at
WrestleMania VII
WrestleMania VII was the seventh annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on March 24, 1991, at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angele ...
where they lost to the
Legion of Doom
The Legion of Doom is a group of supervillains who originated in ''Challenge of the Super Friends'', an animated series from Hanna-Barbera based on DC Comics' Justice League. The Legion of Doom has since been incorporated into the main DC Univers ...
in 59 seconds.
Soon after, Power and Glory teamed up with Slick’s other charge, The Warlord, for a series of 6-man tag team matches that usually saw the team on the losing side. Their last pay-per-view outing came when they teamed with The Warlord to face
Ricky Steamboat
Richard Henry Blood Sr. (born February 28, 1953), better known by his ring name Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his work with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), Jim Crockett Promot ...
,
Kerry Von Erich
Kerry Gene Adkisson (February 3, 1960 – February 18, 1993), better known by his ring name Kerry Von Erich, was an American professional wrestler. He was part of the Von Erich family of professional wrestlers. He is best known for his time with ...
and
Davey Boy Smith
David Smith (27 November 1962 – 18 May 2002) was an English professional wrestler. Born in Golborne, Lancashire, Smith is best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring names Davey Bo ...
at SummerSlam 1991 in a losing effort. In one of their last recorded matches together as a team, they lost to the Legion of Doom at the
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...
in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Roma left the WWF soon after in October 1991 and later appeared as one of
The Four Horsemen
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are figures in the Christian scriptures, first appearing in the Book of Revelation, a piece of apocalypse literature written by John of Patmos.
Revelation 6 tells of a book or scroll in God's right hand th ...
in
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nation ...
(WCW), while Hercules would remain with the company for a few months before departing as well.
Hercules Hernandez died of
heart disease
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...