Brian Damage
It’s Saturday and today we have ’This Week in Wrestling’, the 39th of 2020. Today Brian remembers Joe Laurinaitis aka Road Warrior Animal and shares all the best wrestling content from this week.
The End of An Era…Remembering Joe ‘Road Warrior Animal’ Laurinaitis
The year 2020 just keeps getting worse and worse as Joseph Laurinaitis aka Animal from the famed Road Warriors tag team passed away this week at the age of 60. He was on a vacation with his wife Kim celebrating a wedding anniversary when he died suddenly.
Laurinaitis was trained by Eddie Sharkey and made his wrestling debut in 1982 as The Road Warrior. It was a biker gimmick in which Laurinaitis wore denim and leather. It was Paul Ellering who came up with the idea to pair Laurinaitis up with Michael Hegstrand and become a duo named The Road Warriors. Initially, Hegstrand adopted Laurinaitis’ biker gimmick…but the team felt they resembled too much like members of the Village People. They then took on the idea of rogue warriors from the Apocalyptic film The Road Warrior (Mad Max 2) and changed their entire look.
They shaved their heads added face paint and spiked shoulder pads and their careers took off from there. The Road Warriors won countless championships and awards including the AWA, WWF and NWA world tag team titles. The only team to achieve that accomplishment. They won the inaugural Crockett Cup tournament and won various tag team of the year awards.
Hawk and Animal are also members of several different wrestling Halls of Fame including the WWE, NWA and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. Animal would also team in other versions of The Road Warrior teams including with Darren Drozdov, Jon Heidenreich and The Power Warrior aka Kensuke Sasaki. Animal would also try his hand at a singles career…but never had the success that he had with Hawk.
Road Warrior Hawk died in 2003 and now sadly…his longtime tag partner Animal joins him in eternal rest. Our deepest condolences goes out to all of Joe Laurinaitis’ friends and family during this difficult time. Loved them or hated them, the Road Warriors have to go down as one of…if not the greatest tag team in the history of pro wrestling. Not only for the success they had in the ring, but also the countless wrestlers they helped inspire.
Picture Gallery
Brian
Old School ‘Unfriending’
A cool look at the various WWWF/WWF/WWE world title designs and who was the first holder of each one.
The current WWE top male champs from each brand. Missing is WALTER from NXT UK.
Cool comic book drawing of Konnan and Vampiro.
That time Bruno Sammartino teamed up with Batman….errr I mean The Battman.
Ole Anderson is looking very happy…especially on his birthday!
This championship belt should be given out each year to the best manager in pro wrestling.
New Japan’s Ace Hiroshi Tanahashi during quarantine and after New Japan resumed operations…
The Champ…Kendra Lust…is…HERE!
Carmella
In case you didn’t know…now you do. former ECW valet Francine has her own Onlyfans account.
WWE interviewer Kayla Braxton
NXT’s Chelsea Green
Cactus Jack’s baby girl…Noelle Foley
NWA women’s champion Thunder Rosa
Zelina Vega
Video Gallery
What is The Lethal Weapon Steve Blackman up to these days? Here’s a commercial for his business…
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Ring the Damn Bell 
R.I.P. Road Warrior Animal, hope you and Hawk do some great tag team wrestling up in the sky.
To me, the winged eagle belt of the late 80s-1998 is the definitive WWE belt. Hate the new WWE belts, they all look the same and they’re so lazy.
The Bobby Heenan belt rules.
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Not even Ole Anderson’s mother loved Ole Anderson.
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