WWE legend Road Warrior Animal died at the age of 60
Mourning the loss of one of the greatest tag team fighters in wrestling history: Road Warrior Animal is dead.
The family of Joe Laurinaitis, as the ring legend was actually called, spread the news via his official Twitter account. Laurinaitis, father of former NFL footballer James Laurinaitis (St. Louis Rams, New Orleans Saints), turned 60.
Animal formed with partner Hawk (Michael Hegstrand) the duo The Road Warriors, known at WWE as The Legion of Doom, one of the most successful, popular and copied teams of all time. Hegstrand died of a heart attack in 2003 after years of drug problems.
As reported by the tabloid portal TMZ, Animal died in a vacation resort in the city of Osage Beach in the recreation area around the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. His wife Julie and he had apparently celebrated their wedding anniversary there, on which he had publicly congratulated her on the day of his death via Twitter.
On Tuesday evening shortly before midnight, Animals' wife would have called the police, but when they arrived, Animals would have been found dead. According to the report, Animal died of natural causes.
Road Warrior Animal and Hawk - an unmistakable duo
Chicago-born Laurinaitis and Hegstrand formed in the early 1980s after both had been trained in Minnesota by trainer Eddie Sharkey, along with the also famous "Ravishing" Rick Rude and Barry Darsow (Demolition Smash, Repo Man).
Laurinaitis made his debut as "The Road Warrior" in front of Hegstrand before manager Paul Ellering put the two together and the two became a blockbuster. Hawk and Animal delighted fans with their power style, charisma and look, which over the years has become a distinguishing feature that has an impact far beyond the scene. Her face paint and shoulder pads made her distinctive.
Hawk and Animal won the tag team titles of all major leagues of their time. Even before their debut in the earlier WWF in 1990, their appearances in regional and national leagues such as the Jim Crockett Promotions (predecessor of WCW) and the AWA made them popular, and they also increased their myth at various promotions in Japan.
A role model for many teams at WWE
At WWE they held tag team gold twice - which did not even come close to their exceptional status, but an indispensable part of their legacy is the catchy theme with the battle cry "Oh what a rush!", Which was written for them there.
The importance of the Road Warriors was made clearer by the multitude of teams that emulated them, some while they were themselves at their peak. Demolition, the long-time record titleholders of WWE, were essentially a ripoff of the Road Warriors before the original went to what was then WWF, much like the Powers of Pain or later The Ascension. The recently dismissed Authors of Pain (AOP) also bridged the gap - among other things by being accompanied to the ring by Paul Ellering on the NXT roster.
LOD had their last major appearances at WWE around the turn of the millennium in the Attitude Era, where they were already above their zenith - which neither a repainting as futuristic "LOD 2000" with the meanwhile deeply fallen manager Sunny, nor the tasteless attempts could hide To incorporate Hawk's drug problems into the storyline - the staging of an implied suicide attempt by falling a meter deep from the "Titan Tron" video screen was the low point. When the two were last seen on WWE in 2003 shortly before Hawk's death, the aura of yore was gone for good.
More worthwhile discoveries to understand the fascination of Road Warriors are the matches against the Steiner Brothers at WCW and in Japan (sometimes with the local hero "Power Warrior" Kensuke Sasaki as the third man), but especially the Crockett classics from the eighties, the encounters with the Midnight Express, the duo Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard and above all the appearances in the "War Games" as part of the cage battles with Ric Flair's Four Horsemen.
By far the best match Animal and Hawk were involved in at WWE was the similarly conceived ten-man match with Stone Cold Steve Austin, Goldust and Ken Shamrock against the tragically remembered Hart Foundation around Bret "The" Hitman "Hard.
New Legion of Doom with Heidenreich little successful
In 2005, Animal had another engagement with the market leader, in which he - despite another tag team title win with little success - formed a new version of LOD with Jon Heidenreich. Most recently he returned to his roots as "The Road Warrior" in a rocker outfit and a feud with Matt Hardy, but ultimately only a footnote to his career. In 2012 he played one last match at WWE against Heath Slater, who was a running gag with numerous ring legends and was defeated again and again.
Joe Laurinaitis' brothers John (Johnny Ace) and Marcus (The Terminator) were also wrestlers, John Laurinaitis has worked behind the scenes at WWE for many years and in the meantime also had a role as an evil authority figure.
Until recently, Animal - who was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame with Hawk in 2011 - was a guest at fan conventions and similar occasions, still wearing a mohawk and a painted face. In addition to the two children he had with Julie, he also had a son from his first marriage.
The wrestling scene has lost one of its legendary members. Joseph "Joe" Laurinaitis aka Road Warrior Animal died at the age of 60. The news was confirmed on Wednesday (September 23) on the athlete's official Twitter account . Hulk Hogan (67), also a former professional wrestler, had previously said goodbye to Road Warrior Animal. He wrote on Twitter: "I love you. I know you and Hawk still have a lot of unfinished business to deal with! God bless your wonderful family."
Laurinaitis and Michael Hegstrand (1957-2003) alias Hawk appeared together as "The Road Warriors" since the 1980s, and the duo was also known as the "Legion of Doom". Hegstrand died of a heart attack in 2003, and the two athletes were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011.
The WWE also pays tribute to the late wrestling star. She speaks of Road Warrior Animal and Hawk as "the most successful, most popular and most feared team of all time". The lines published also read: "With their intimidating face paint, their metal-tipped outfits and an impressive array of power moves, the duo captured titles and crushed their opponents wherever they were."
Details of Road Warrior Animals' death are not yet known. His family wants to make another statement soon, it says on the Twitter account.