Tag Team Hall of Famer Road Warrior Animal was larger than life
By Mike Pankow
September 23, 2020
Joseph Laurinaitis professed that he had a split personality.
Once the man who was half of the legendary Road Warriors tag team applied his trademark face paint, he transformed into Road Warrior Animal, an over-the-top, adrenaline-filled personality much like out of a comic book.
Joe Laurinaitis (Road Warrior Animal) sits during a panel at Wizard World Chicago in 2018. Laurinaitis passed away late Tuesday night at 60. (Photo by Mike Pankow)
“Everybody, I believe, has got split personalities,” Animal told Windy City Slam during an exclusive interview at Wizard World Chicago in August 2018. “You put the face paint on and another person comes out. It just exemplified our feelings, it enhances it. We go out there, we’re indestructible. We clicked together. I put the spider on all the time, I say ‘don’t get caught in my web.’ The web of the Warriors.”
Billed from Chicago, Laurinaitis and Michael Hegstrand (Road Warrior Hawk) were the only team to win the AWA, NWA and WWE Tag Team championships.
Laurinaitis died late Tuesday night after celebrating his wedding anniversary in Osage Beach, Missouri. He was 60.
Hegstrand preceded him in death, tragically passing in Oct. 2003 at 46.
Laurinaitis, who grew up on the South side of Chicago, moved with his family to the Minneapolis area during his high-school years when his father’s job was transferred to the Twin Cities.
Laurinaitis met Hawk, Rick Rude, Barry Darsow (Demolition Smash) and Scott Norton while bouncing at a bar in the area and all of them were trained by Eddie Sharkey. And the rest was history.
The Road Warriors dominated the tag team scene for the better part of two decades across many promotions all around the world. They left a legacy in professional wrestling as they were inducted, along with their longtime manager Paul Ellering, into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011.
PL Myers, a longtime independent wrestling manager in the Chicago area, got to know both Laurinaitis and Hegstrand, and worked with them in PCW (Pro Championship Wrestling) in the early 2000s. He was their manager at PCW Dream Night in Oak Lawn in 2003.
“Growing up, I had the Road Warriors figures, I had the T-shirts,” Myers recalled during an interview with Windy City Slam in the fall of 2019. “I saw them in Chicago win the 6-man belts in a steel cage at the UIC Pavilion against the Horsemen. I was always drawn to Hawk because he had the personality. Animal was always the rough-and-tough guy.”
Former AWA and WWE broadcaster Ken Resnick worked with the Road Warriors during their time in the AWA.
“It was so great having the chance to work with Joe, Mike, and Paul,” Resnick posted on his Facebook page. “It was fun and always an adventure, because you never quite knew the direction it was going to go.”
In recent years, Laurinaitis made special appearances for local independent promotions such as Pro Wrestling Blitz and Berwyn Championship Wrestling in addition to working with GLCW and SSW and conventions like Starrcast, Wizard World Chicago and C2E2, including just this February where he shared space with Tommy Dreamer and Raven.
Road Warrior Animal, right, talks with Busted Open Radio’s Dave LaGreca at Starrcast I in suburban Chicago in the summer of 2018. (Photo by Mike Pankow)
“If there was one person who loved being a professional wrestler, it was Road Warrior Animal,” an emotional Dreamer said during Wednesday morning’s Busted Open Radio show on SIRIUS XM. “He was one of the boys. I have spent so many days with him doing conventions. The biggest thing with him was how much he loved his family. It’s just a really crappy day.”
Hawk was the high-flyer and Animal was the powerhouse and they had that perfect tag-team chemistry.
“Hawk and I just clicked, right place, right time,” Laurinaitis said. “There’s a thing in the wrestling business I call the ‘it factor.’ Hulk Hogan had the ‘it factor,’ The Rock’s got it, Stone Cold (Steve Austin)’s got it, Undertaker’s got it, Bruno Sammartino had it. I think the Road Warriors were the only tag team to have that ‘it factor.’ ”
Laurinaitis is survived by his wife, Kim, and his sons, Joseph and James (a former NFL linebacker), daughter Jessica (who recently got married to Midwest indie wrestler Jaden Roller), his brothers John (former WCW wrestler and longtime backstage worker for WWE) and Marcus (a former wrestler known as The Terminator).
JUST POSTED FOR THE FIRST TIME!
Windy City Slam editor Mike Pankow interviews wrestling legend Road Warrior Animal at Wizard World Chicago 2018 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center i...
Read our story/interview on Animal from the fall of 2018: https://bit.ly/35X9fL4
Catch Windy City Slam editor Mike Pankow talking local and national pro wrestling every week with Chris Lanuti on The Windy City Slam Podcast, broadcasting live on the Podbean at noon every Monday with the podcast available Monday evenings/Tuesday mornings wherever you download podcasts or at https://windycityslam.podbean.com/.
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