Lasting from the early 1980s to the early 1990s — in other words, the span of Hulkamania — the Golden Era boasted not only WWE’s first boom period, but also an awesome tag team division. Alongside memorable acts like The British Bulldogs, The Killer Bees, and Demolition were a whole slew of forgotten duos including Power & Glory, the team of Paul Roma and Hercules (a.k.a. Hercules Hernandez).
Because they only lasted about a year and three months as a tag team, fans likely don’t know much about Power & Glory. Let’s take a look at the Roma and Hercules’ brief WWE run together.
10 Started Off As Babyfaces
When Paul Roma and Hercules first teamed up, it wasn’t exactly a union that showed a lot of promise. Already a noted tag team specialist, Roma had been relegated to jobber status after he split from his partner in The Young Stallions, Jim Powers. Meanwhile, Hercules, who’d been with WWE since 1986, remained consistently a midcard babyface, with one of his biggest bouts being his WrestleMania 3 effort against Billy Jack Haynes over who has a better Full Nelson. As a result, the seemingly random pairing of a disregarded tag team wrestler and a midcarder didn’t seem to hold a lot of promise for many fans.
9 Turned Heel On The Rockers
While they started out as babyfaces, the tag team that will be known as Power & Glory were best known to fans — at least, the ones who actually remember them — as heels. That heel turn came on an episode of WWF Superstars in mid-1990. After Paul Roma suffered a singles loss against Dino Bravo, he and Hercules took out their frustrations on The Rockers, who were out to wrestle a match after Roma, attacking Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty to show their newfound villainy.
8 Feuded With The Rockers After The Heel Turn
Of course, The Rockers weren’t going to let go of a heel turn made at their expense, and so a full-on feud with Paul Roma and Hercules ensued following their attack. For several, Power & Glory clashed with Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty across house shows and even defeated The Rockers at SummerSlam 1990.
On one occasion, the two even fought for the World Tag Team Championship, with Power & Glory challenging The Rockers for the belts during their forgotten, unacknowledged title reign. The bout ended in a disqualification, so Michaels and Jannetty retained the Championship.
7 Managed By Slick
With the heel turn, Hercules and Paul Roma’s act coalesced, as the two seemed like an actual tag team, going as far as adopting the collective moniker Power & Glory. On top of that, Roma and Hercules weren’t alone in their tag team villainy, either. Soon enough, they also gained a manager in the form of Slick, who had previously managed Hercules during a previous heel run. More accurately, however, Slick bought Hercules’ contract from a retiring Classy Freddie Blassie and sold it to Bobby Heenan.
6 Their Finisher Was The Power-Plex
Like The Hart Foundation with the Hart Attack or The Legion of Doom with The Doomsday Device, Power & Glory had their own tandem tag team finisher — and it’s certainly an impressive one. Dubbed The Power-Plex, the maneuvers starts out with Hercules delivering a monstrous superplex to the opponent. Meanwhile, Paul Roma climbs the top rope driving onto the same opponent for a splash as soon as he hits the mat and Hercules gets out of the way. Essentially, The Power-Plex is two huge, high-impact moves that ensure a decisive victory.
5 Did Double Duty At Survivor Series 1990
The 1990 Survivor Series pay-per-view featured a unique gimmick on top of the usual elimination tag team matches — a main event featuring the survivors of all the previous matches of the evening. Power & Glory were on a team with The Warlord and Rick Martel and ended the match with no eliminations, so the entire team made it to the main event, teaming with Ted DiBiase in a five-on-three match against the babyface team of Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, and Tito Santana. The good guys of course won, with Hercules being the last of his team to be eliminated.
4 Had Multiple Shots At The World Tag Team Championship
Power & Glory never got to hold the World Tag Team Championship during their brief run together, but they did end up challenging for it. Their first shot was the aforementioned bout against The Rockers, but they also had a long-running rivalry going on with The Hart Foundation.
For about four months Paul Roma and Hercules challenged Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart for the belts nearly 36 times, but could never get the job done and capture the championship.
3 Clashed With The Legion Of Doom
The Rockers and the Hart Foundation weren’t the only iconic WWE tag teams that Paul Roma and Hercules wrestled against during their time as Power & Glory. In early 1991, the bad guys had their first run-in with The Legion of Doom, who had arrived in WWE over the summer of the previous year. Of their handful of encounters, their most high-profile was their match at WrestleMania 7, which saw Hawk and Animal defeat Roma and Hercules in slightly less than a minute. Months later, the two did have a much more substantial match at the UK show Battle Royal at the Albert Hall.
2 Teamed With The Warlord
When a manager has several clients, it’s not uncommon for said clients to team up in matches. While Power & Glory were aligned with Slick, the manager also handled business for The Warlord, himself a former tag team specialist alongside The Barbarian as The Powers of Pain. In addition to their previously mentioned Survivor Series collaboration in 1990, Paul Roma, Hercules, and The Warlord had another pay-per-view effort together the following year. At SummerSlam 1991, the trio took on British Bulldog, Ricky Steamboat, and Kerry Von Erich in a losing effort.
1 Power & Glory Was Neither Man’s Most Successful Tag Team
Given their lack of tag team gold and their brief run together, one can’t quite say Power & Glory were a successful duo by any means. This becomes even more apparent once fans see how successful both men were in other tag teams. While he never held a belt in WWE, Paul Roma had several tag title runs in WCW in 1993 and 1994, including reigns with Arn Anderson as part of the Four Horsemen and while teaming with Paul Orndorff as Pretty Wonderful. Meanwhile, Hercules had a number of early ‘80s title runs, as well as an IWGP Tag Team Championship reign alongside Scott Norton.