| Animal |
| Road Warrior Animal Height: 6'1" Weight: 285 lbs. Real name: Joe Laurinaitis Hometown: Chicago Ill. Pro debut: November 1982 Finishing move: Doomsday Device Career highlights: WWE Tag Team Champion (w/John Heidenreich), PCW World Tag Team Champion (w/Hawk), IPW Hardcore Tag Team Champion, (Australia) i-Generation Tag Team Champion (2), WWE World Tag Team Champion (2) (w/Hawk), NWA Six-Man Tag Team Champion (3), NWA World Tag Team Champion (w/Hawk), NWA International Tag Team Champion (w/Hawk), AWA World Tag Team Champion (w/Hawk), NWA National Tag Team Champion (3) (w/Hawk) Trained by: Eddie Sharkey WWE.com: With his ominous face paint and trademark spiked shoulder pads, Road Warrior Animal is one of the most intimidating sites in sports entertainment. Now back on SmackDown!, he and Heidenreich made an immediate impact by beating MNM for the WWE Tag Team Championship at The Great American Bash. Heidenreich is the first Superstar to be considered for the infamous Legion of Doom since Droz 10 years ago. The original Road Warriors' journey to dominance actually began before they ever entered a wrestling ring. Hawk (Michael Hegstrand) and Animal (Joe Laurinaitis) grew up on the mean streets of Chicago. They eventually both moved to Minneapolis, where they became bouncers in some of the toughest joints in the area. Since they were already dealing with some of the toughest thugs around, it was a natural transition that Hawk and Animal made their way into the world of sports entertainment. They were discovered by wrestler and trainer Eddie Sharkey in a restaurant of all places, and Sharkey took them under his wing and trained them. Their first stop was Georgia Championship Wrestling. Led by their manager Prescious Paul Ellering, the Road Warriors wasted no time in capturing their first piece of gold in 1983 – the NWA National Tag Team Championship. They won the championship in convincing fashion by winning a tournament. They would go on to hold the championships twice more before heading to the AWA. After conquering Georiga, the Road Warriors did the same in the AWA as they quickly became AWA Tag Team Champions when they defeated Baron von Raschke and The Crusher. The Road Warriors went on to hold the championship for more than a year, defending against the likes of the The Rock N’ Roll Express, Harley Race & Stan Hansen and The Freebirds. With no one left to beat in the AWA, the Road Warriors went on a quest for the NWA Tag Team Championship. They made an immediate impact on the NWA by winning the Crocket Cup in 1986. The Crocket Cup was a tag team tournament that including several legendary tag teams. They defeated Wahoo McDaniel & Mark Youngblood and The Midnight Express before conquering Ronnie Garvin & Magnum T.A. in the finals. The win was just a sign of things to come as they would defeat The Midnight Express once again in 1988, but this time it was for the gold. During this time they also captured the prestigious NWA International Tag Team Championship by defeating Jumbo Tsuruta & Genichiro Tenru in 1987. As the NWA became a part of WCW, the Road Warriors continued their dominance. Hawk and Animal came out on top of several rivalries with some of sports entertainment’s best including The Four Horsemen, The Varsity Club and Doom as well as rekindling their rivalries with the likes of The Freebirds and The Midnight Express. The Road Warriors, just as they always have, moved on to another challenge. Having already captured two of the three major Tag Team Championships (AWA and NWA), Hawk and Animal moved on to WWE to try and complete the trifecta. The Road Warriors, then known as The Legion of Doom, entered WWE in August 1990 and made an immediate impact as they helped the Hart Foundation defeat Demolition for the World Tag Team Championship at SummerSlam. The Road Warriors continued to climb up the championship ladder and even defeated Power & Glory in less than a minute at WrestleMania VII. Before long they found themselves as the No. 1 contenders for the championship. At SummerSlam in 1991, Hawk and Animal disposed of the Nasty Boys to become the champs themselves, thus becoming the only tag team in the history of sports entertainment to hold Tag Team Championships in AWA, NWA and WWE. The Road Warriors went back to WCW in 1996 and had several memorable rivalries with the likes of Sting & Lex Luger, The Steiner Brothers and Harlem Heat. Hawk and Animal couldn’t stay away from WWE, though, and returned in 1997. After again working their way up the ranks, they defeated The Godwinns to win their second World Tag Team Championship. After losing their championship and hitting a brief losing streak, the Road Warriors tried to regain some momentum by undergoing a make-over of sorts. They modernized their look and took on Sunny as their manager and became known as L.O.D. 2000. They debuted their new style at WrestleMania XIV and won a 15-Team Tag Team Battle Royal. In May, the Legion of Doom did something they had never done before. They accepted a new member into their team as Droz became a Road Warrior. It was during this time that Hawk began to let his personal demons get the best of him as the L.O.D. began to lose their dominant edge. While Hawk was in no shape to perform, Animal and Droz carried on with the L.O.D. name. The Legion of Doom left WWE at the end of 1998, but it wasn’t the last that WWE fans would see of the dominant duo. Animal and a fully-recovered Hawk made a surprise appearance on RAW on May 12, 2003 when they took on Kane & Rob Van Dam for the World Tag Team Championship. Although Hawk and Animal came up short in their attempt to become three-time champions, it was clear that Hawk had defeated the demons that had once kept him from competing, and the Road Warriors were complete once again. Wrestling fans everywhere were shocked when Hawk passed away just months later on Oct. 18, 2003. At The Great American Bash on July 24, 2005, Animal dedicated the match to Hawk as he went on to win the WWE Tag Team Championship with new tag-team partner Heidenreich. |
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