Road Warrior Animal whose real name is Joseph Laurinaitis, died on Sept. 22 at the age of 60. The WWE legend was said to have passed away due to natural causes.
The police revealed that Road Warrior Animal expired at Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach, Missouri.
TMZ Sports reported that the pro-wrestler’s wife called the cops around 11:49 p.m. However, when they arrived at the scene, the emergency workers already pronounced him dead.
Based on the story, Laurinaitis and his wife were celebrating their wedding anniversary at the resort when he passed.z
Tributes for Road Warrior Animal poured in
In a recent episode of the AEW Dynamite show, a tag team match was featured, and there were four wrestlers. One of them was Thunder Rosa, who was teamed up with Hikaru Shida.
During the game against Diamante and Ivelisse, Thunder Rosa paid tribute to Road Warrior Animal by wearing face paint. Ringside News reported the special design she used that day resembles what the legendary wrestler usually used.
Hulk Hogan was one of the first people to pay tribute by posting a message on social media.
“RIP Animal, love you my brother, I know you and Hawk have a lot of unfinished business to take care of!” he wrote. “God speed and blessings to your beautiful family, one love4Life.”
In another event, Bronson Reed showed a power slam on Kyle O’Reilly in the ring, and this was how he paid his tribute to Laurinaitis. This action was one of Road Warrior Animal’s signature moves.
Other great professional wrestlers who honored the late wrestling legend include Ric Flair, Triple H, Corey Graves, and Kane.
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Laurinaitis’ background and history in WWE
Road Warrior Animal was one of the best performers in WWE. He was known as the other half of the famous tag team called the Legion of Doom or The Road Warriors.
His teammate was Road Warrior Hawk, who died in 2003. Together they won many tag team championship events and was one of the crowd-favorites.
After headlining several major WWE matches, Road Warrior Animal was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011.
As per The Sun, he left WWE in 1992, he and Road Warrior Hawk worked for New Japan Pro Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling.
In 2003, they made their third comeback in the U.S., then Road Warrior Animal officially retired in February 2014.
Joseph Laurinaitis has two children with his ex-wife. His 34-year-old son James was a superstar linebacker at Ohio State. He was picked in the 2009 NFL Draft by the Rams.
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