Road Warrior Animal

This article is about an American professional wrestler. For other uses, see Road warrior (disambiguation).

Road Warrior Animal
Animal in 2017
Birth nameJoseph Michael Laurinaitis
Born(1960-09-12)September 12, 1960[1]
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedSeptember 22, 2020(2020-09-22) (aged 60)
Osage Beach, Missouri, U.S.
Spouse(s)Julie Laurinaitis (divorced)
Kim Laurinaitis
Children3; including James Laurinaitis
FamilyJohn Laurinaitis (brother)
The Terminator (brother)
Brie Bella (step-niece)
Nikki Bella (step-niece)
Bryan Danielson (step-nephew-in-law)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Animal
Animal Warrior
Road Warrior Animal[2]
The Road Warrior
Billed height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[1]
Billed weight285 lb (129 kg)[1]
Billed fromChicago, Illinois[2]
Trained byEddie Sharkey
DebutNovember 1982
RetiredJuly 23, 2012

Joseph Michael Laurinaitis (September 12, 1960 – September 22, 2020), better known by his ring name Road Warrior Animal (or simply Animal), was an American professional wrestler. Along with Road Warrior Hawk, he was one half of the tag team The Road Warriors/The Legion of Doom.[2] He headlined multiple pay-per-view events for the WWF and WCW, competing for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at 2001's Sin.

Animal was inducted with Hawk and their manager Paul Ellering into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011.

  1. ^ a b c "Animal (Road Warrior) - OWW". Retrieved January 6, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference alumni was invoked but never defined (see the help page).