To look more intimidating, the two shaved their heads into Mohawks and started wearing studded dog collars, spiked shoulder pads, and face paint. They first started out as biker gimmicks on The Road Warriors DVD, Animal said he felt like one of the Village People. When Paul Ellering was looking to put together a stable of heels in Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW) called "The Legion of Doom", it was decided to put Laurinaitis together with his good friend Mike Hegstrand and change their names to "Animal" and "Hawk" respectively. After only a few matches as a singles competitor, his career and life would change thanks to an idea by Paul Ellering.Īmerican and Japanese territories (1983–1986) Laurinaitis made his debut in November 1982, competing as The Road Warrior using a biker gimmick. Professional wrestling career Early career (1982–1983) Sharkey thought that Laurinaitis and Mike Hegstrand, Richard Rood, and Barry Darsow could make it big in professional wrestling, and trained all four of them. He worked as a bouncer at Grandma B's in the Twin Cities where he caught the eye of Eddie Sharkey, a well-known wrestling trainer. Because of his size and love of power lifting, Laurinaitis was an imposing figure and thus a very effective bouncer. He grew up in Minnesota, having to work for a living from a very early age. Laurinaitis was born in Philadelphia on Septemto Lithuanian parents.
He headlined multiple pay-per-view events for the WWF and WCW, competing for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at 2001's Sin.Īnimal was inducted with Hawk and their manager Paul Ellering into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011. Along with Road Warrior Hawk, he was one half of the tag team The Road Warriors/The Legion of Doom. Joseph Michael Laurinaitis (Septem– September 22, 2020), better known by his ring name Road Warrior Animal (or simply Animal), was an American professional wrestler.
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