“. . . the Road Warriors are the most recognized name in the history of tag team wrestling, and more importantly, Animal and Hawk were great guys—just fantastic people.”
—“NATURE BOY™” RIC FLAIR®
“The Road Warriors revolutionized the way we all looked at characters in our industry.”
—“THE AMERICAN DREAM” DUSTY RHODES
“All I can do is shake my head and smile at the memory of a spiked up Joe saying, ‘Tell ’em, Hawk!’ and Mike with that crazy mad look on his face, his tongue hanging out, barking out, ‘Oh . . . what a rush!’ Both Joe and Mike were first-rate pros who were loved and respected by all who knew them.”
—BRET “THE HITMAN” HART
“Joe and Mike weren’t polluted by politics, maintained the ethics of the business when it needed it most, and their convincing style made people proud to be wrestling fans. No one could’ve done a better job.”
—“ROWDY” RODDY PIPER
“The first time we saw them on TV, my brother (Stevie Ray) and I were like, ‘Whoa!’ Hawk and Animal were way bigger than anyone else we’d seen, and they were just killing everybody. And that’s what people wanted to see. . . .”
—BOOKER T
“The first time I witnessed Animal and Hawk entering the arena to take care of business, I was in awe. From their hardcore music to the welcoming roar of the crowd, I felt the immense energy build as they approached the ring, and I had no doubt that these guys earned massive expectations from their fans. And the Warriors didn’t disappoint. . . . Animal and Hawk earned legendary status with their extensive careers and have influenced wrestlers for many generations to come.”
—ROB VAN DAM
“. . . they’ll be remembered by historians of professional wrestling as one of the all-time great tag teams.”
—JIM ROSS “J.R.”
“Animal and Hawk are unmatched by any other team in wrestling. . . . The Road Warriors were . . . the most dominating force to ever come out.”
—“THE RUSSIAN NIGHTMARE” NIKITA KOLOFF
“. . . the Road Warriors were two tough, take-no-shit guys with the right look and just exploded onto the scene. . . .”
—“THE LIVING LEGEND” LARRY ZBYSZKO
“The Warriors will go down forever as the greatest, most imitated, most influential tag team of all time, and you can’t just say that about anybody. . . . At the end of the day, it’s the people who decide who the best is, and they chose Hawk and Animal.”
—SEAN “X-PAC” WALTMAN
“They came out with those spikes, that look, and that size and completely changed professional wrestling. . . . I think tag team wrestling died when Mike passed. It was the end of not just a great life but a big chapter in the wrestling history book itself as well. . . . They took on a bigger-than-life status and carried it like pros, always making sure the crowd was just as much of the match as they were, and that was the difference.”
—TERRY “WARLORD” SZOPINSKI
Published 2011 by Medallion Press, Inc.
The MEDALLION PRESS LOGO
is a registered trademark of Medallion Press, Inc.
If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment from this “stripped book.”
Copyright © 2011 by Joe Laurinaitis with Andrew William Wright
Cover design by Adam Mock
Edited by Emily Steele
Cover photography by Bob Mulrenin
Photos courtesy of the Laurinaitis family.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.
The wrestling personalities referenced herein have ownership rights in certain stage names and registered trademarks.
World Wrestling Entertainment, the titles and trade names of all World Wrestling Entertainment televised and live programming, talent names, slogans, logos, and trademarks (including “WWE”) are the property of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.
Neither Rick Flair, World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., nor PWI/Kappa Publishing Group, Inc. have authorized or endorsed this publication.
Typeset in Adobe Garamond Pro
Title font set in Misproject
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Laurinaitis, Joe.
The road warriors : danger, death, and the rush of wrestling / by Joe “Animal” Laurinaitis ; with Andrew William Wright.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-1-60542-142-1 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-60542-142-1 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Wrestling--United States--History. 2. Laurinaitis, Joe. 3. Hegstrand, Michael. 4. Wrestlers--United States--Biography. I. Wright, Andrew William. II. Title.
GV1195.L38 2011
796.812092--dc22
[B]
2010050859
DEDICATION
For my wife, Julia, my kids, Joe, James, and Jessica,
and my partner, Hawk. May he rest in peace.
CONTENTS
Foreword: Monsters of the Midway by “Precious” Paul Ellering
Acknowledgments
Prologue
1 Animal’s Abridged Prehistory
2 Bouncing Around and Taking a Chance
3 Education of a Road Warrior
4 Assault on Georgia Championship Wrestling
5 Destroy Everything That Moves
6 Unleashed on the AWA
7 The Boom of Professional Wrestling
8 Face-to-Face with Vince
9 Getting Hitched, Being Cloned, and Spiking Our Image
10 Snacking on Danger and Dining on Death
11 Scaling Dizzying Heights
12 The Golden Age of Jim Crockett Promotions and the NWA
13 And It All Comes Crumbling Down
14 When One Door Closes, Smash Yourself a New One
15 The Legion of Doom Dominates the WWF
16 Hawk Soars Too Close to the Sun
17 The Resurrection of the Road Warriors
18 Our Continuing Journey into the Unknown
19 Spiritual Rebirth and the End of an Era
20 The Laurinaitis Legacy
Afterword: The It Factor by Andrew William Wright
The Monsters of the Midway were ready to smash everywhere we went, even the park! Spring ’84.
Foreword
Monsters of the Midway
With great pleasure, I take this opportunity to tell you about an unbelievable human being and a good friend. Animal, aka Joe, became a world-class athlete by being dedicated and tough. He was the Legion of Doom’s rock and continues to inspire and encourage all who have known him.
In the course of human events, when the fusion of time—past and present—occurs, those talented and lucky enough carry the banner of the new generation and become the face of the new paradigm.
In 1983, Animal, Hawk, and “Precious” Paul had an appointment with destiny. Cable TV was spreading across the landscape of America. Macroeconomic realities became the catalyst for the change to come in wrestling. The Road Warriors were positioned to become a pop culture phenomenon.
Wrestling requires a willing suspension of disbelief, right? Then along came the mavericks, stunning in their boldness, who altered the face of the game. Fans could not believe their own eyes. T
he Road Warriors personified the pursuit of pleasure from misery.
Promoters, being human, naturally balked. They tried to mold us, not understanding that conventional wrestling theory was flawed.
Chemistry bonded Animal, Hawk, and me like the three musketeers. “All for one, one for all.” We went independent and became the greatest attraction in the business. The boys were the train; I was the whistle. I became their last shooting manager as Animal and Hawk went forward with courage and confidence.
Behind the scenes, a complex web of interrelationships characterized life for the three of us in our wrestling family. We lost our brother Mike in 2003, and hardly a day goes by that I don’t think of him. Life for Mike was a circus and the Fourth of July all rolled into one. It’s why everyone liked him. Joe and I learned forgiveness being around Mike.
Thanks for the ride. I enjoyed my years being the punctuation mark at the end of the sentence.
Here’s to the greatest tag team of our time.
The greatest of all time.
—“Precious” Paul Ellering,
mastermind of the Legion of Doom
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First and foremost, I would like to thank the wrestlers who paved the way for Hawk and me to have the opportunity to become wrestlers. Some are still with us, and some have passed but should never be forgotten. Without them there would be no wrestling business. Because of them, there is a Road Warriors story.
I would like to thank my wife, Julia, and my three children, Joey, James, and Jessica, for their patience and understanding with this project. They were my motivation.
I would also give thanks to Bernie J. Gernay of PSI Marketing Group, along with Margaret O’Connor-Chumley of Renaissance Literary & Talent Agency, for believing and realizing the potential for success from the start. Andrew Wright should be a brother in paint, as he researched and delivered an amazing Road Warriors book; his knowledge and impeccable job writing add to its without-a-doubt success. Adam Mock, a true believer whose friendship and understanding of the wrestling business were so instrumental in this process. The Medallion Press staff, great people and a pleasure to work with; I can only hope this is the first of many creative projects to come.
Thank you. God bless!
—Joe Laurinaitis, Road Warrior Animal
I’d like to thank my parents, John and Martha Wright, for their unending love and support; Bernie J. Gernay and Margaret O’Connor-Chumley for helping take the vision of this book to Adam Mock at Medallion Press; and, lastly, Joe Laurinaitis for the opportunity to capture and present the career of the Road Warriors for all time.
—Andrew William Wright
PROLOGUE
August 26, 1991. SummerSlam. New York City. There we were, Hawk and Animal, the mighty Road Warriors, the Legion of Doom, putting our gear on in the dressing room at Madison Square Garden. Then it hit me: we were taking on the Nasty Boys, Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags, for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) Tag Team Championships. I looked at Hawk, who was strapping his boots up tight. “Hey, man, can you believe this?”
“Animal”—Hawk looked up with a smile—“I’m shaking, brother.”
I looked at his hands as he buckled the last strap. They were trembling. I looked at mine. They were shaking, too. It was crazy.
There was a knock at the door, and Captain Lou Albano came barging in. He reeked of booze. “Hey, Animal. Hey, Hawk.” He was huffing and puffing, out of breath. “Holy shit, fellas, did you see the crowd out there?”
We hadn’t.
“Twenty thousand. Sold out,” he said. “They’re hanging from the rafters.” His eyes were wide, and he was nodding. “Kick some ass tonight, boys.” And he bolted out the door.
Hawk and I started laughing.
Then there was another knock. The door barely cracked open when a voice announced, “Five minutes, guys.”
This was it. Hawk and I stood up from the bench and grabbed our trademark spiked shoulder pads. We slipped them on over our heads, snapped the clasps, and walked into the hallway.
As we marched down the corridor to the staging area, everyone saw us coming and pressed their backs against the walls to give us room. We could hear the sound of the fans. The people in MSG sounded like they were having a full-scale riot above us. You could feel the stomping of their feet shaking and swaying the foundations of the building, like 20,000 soldiers marching across a small suspension bridge. It was pandemonium out there.
When we finally came to the Gorilla Position,1 our boss came up to wish us well. “Good luck tonight, boys,” Vince McMahon said in his deep baritone voice. A big smile stretched across his face. “This is your night. Remember this moment.”
The Nasty Boys had already gone down to the ring for their entrance and were getting booed relentlessly, giving us the perfect setup. In a flash, I heard our theme music start with Hawk’s unmistakable growl, “Oooooooohhhhhh, WHAT A RUSH!” When the guitars and drums kicked in, the MSG crowd erupted into a deafening crush of noise. My arms and back exploded into chills.
Hawk yelled, “Are you ready for this?”
I hollered back, “Hell, yeah,” and we burst through the curtain.
Hawk led as we stormed the short distance to the ring, making our way through a sea of reaching arms and open hands. When we climbed through the ropes and looked around at the crowd, it was overwhelming. I remember thinking, It doesn’t get any bigger than this.
And it doesn’t. MSG was the holy Mecca of professional sports, and so many great moments happened there. Ali feuded Frazier for the first time there. WWF legend Bruno Sammartino wrestled “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers there. WrestleMania started there. And now the Road Warriors were there.
After we climbed through the ropes, Hawk and I each went to a corner and climbed the second turnbuckle to pose for the crowd. When we hopped down, I looked over at Knobbs and Sags, who were defiantly staring at us and yelling trash from the other side. I said to Hawk, “Let’s throw ’em out!”
We ran over, grabbed each one of them, and sent them sailing over the ropes to the floor. Boom! The match was on.
I went after Knobbs while Hawk went for Sags with vicious chops and punches. I quickly took Knobbs by the neck and rolled him back into the ring and followed. He was waiting for me and we locked up, with Knobs whipping me into the ropes. I came running back full steam, ducked his clothesline, hit the ropes on the other side, and came back with a big kick to the stomach. Bam! While he was bent over, I shoved his head between my legs and picked him up for a huge powerbomb, then smashed him down. I went for the cover but only got a two count before Sags kicked me in the head.
From that point, the action was all over the place and completely nonstop. This particular match was a Chicago Street Fight, a no-rules contest we specialized in, named after our hometown billing of Chicago. Within seconds, the crowd was chanting “LOD, LOD!” and it was the only thing we could hear. I remember Sags had Hawk in the corner at one point. Knobbs and Sags’ manager, “Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart, threw a can of hair spray up to Sags, who sprayed Hawk all over his face. Blinded, Hawk dropped and rolled out of the ring as if he were on fire.
In one of the most memorable spots of the match, Sags followed Hawk down to the floor, reached for a big cooler of freezing cold ice water and soda, and dumped it all over him. Hawk was writhing in agony, still blinded, and tried to get away by rolling back into the ring. For the next five full minutes, I watched helplessly as the Nasty Boys double-teamed my partner over and over while Hart distracted the ref. Every time I came charging in to help, I’d get sent back to my corner. The crowd was going insane, and so was I.
Finally Hawk was able to make it over to me and fell down as he gave me the hot tag. The people went nuts as I jumped through the ropes and took both Nasty Boys on at the same time. Punches, kicks, and clotheslines were flying everywhere as I cleaned house. I threw Knobbs into the ropes, caught him with a great powerslam, and went for the pin. Only two. I took Sags’ boot to
the head and was now getting double-teamed.
As Hawk was still recovering down on the floor, Jimmy Hart threw a motorcycle helmet up for Sags to hit me with while Knobbs kept me down. Knobbs covered me, and I kicked out at the two count. I pushed Knobbs up so hard he went flying out of the ring. While I was trying to get my bearings back, Hawk was back on his feet and went running after Hart. He threw him to the ground and grabbed the helmet Sags had been using. Hawk launched it into the ring. As soon as I caught it, Hawk smashed Sags in the back of the head. This was it!
As Sags hit the mat, I looked at the capacity crowd and gave them a double thumbs-up high in the air. They knew what was coming: the Doomsday Device. The Doomsday Device was our finishing move: I’d duck down behind an opponent and pick him up on my shoulders. As soon as he was balanced in an upright position, Hawk would come off the top rope with a big clothesline and knock the guy for a backflip. Our victim crashed to the canvas in a spectacle that more than lived up to its name.
With adrenaline pumping through me, I grabbed Sags and lifted him up so quickly he felt like a little kid, and Sags was a 280-pound guy! As I saw Hawk jump up from the floor to the side of the ring, I turned Sags to face the nearest corner. In a flash, Hawk was on the top turnbuckle and leapt into the air, catching Sags with a perfect clothesline. Sags went head over heels in a spectacular flip, landing in a crumpled heap. I pinned him. One, two, three!
Announcer Howard Finkel came over the PA system with an announcement I’ll never forget: “Here are your winners and new WWF tag team champions, the Legion of Doom.”
Pandemonium erupted.
Hawk and I hugged as the people in MSG gave us the most uproarious standing ovation we’d ever received up till that point.
“Never forget this moment, Animal,” Hawk yelled to me.
And I never would.
As we stood in the ring on that fateful summer night making history, I thought of how far we’d come. Hawk and I had been in every major wrestling organization across the world and won every championship dangled in front of us. Winning the WWF titles was the last of the great accomplishments we had yet to achieve. This was the pinnacle, the top of the world.
The Road Warriors: Danger, Death, and the Rush of Wrestling Page 1