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RIP ANIMAL / Joseph Laurinaitis


The Reverend

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Animal stayed in the same hotel as us when we went to WM34 in New Orleans. He was up for having a quick chat and photo with everyone and wasn't charging people and for that, he was completely sound in my book.

He was massive (in a 'muscles' way) and he ate ALOT of the free buffet breakfast. He was quality.

 

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10 minutes ago, FelatioLips said:

We went to see Smackdown live in Newcastle back in I think 2005? Road Warrior Animal was there and my mate who was a lapsed casual fan went "is that Road Dog Warrior?" and from that day forward that's what he was known as to us.

I was at that show as well - was April 2006 and he wrestled Tatanka. 

Anyway, the Road Warriors were never impressive to me because me and my brother got into wrestling in 1998/99 so when we'd get tapes it'd be them having shite matches with the Outlaws or the Godwinns. 

Going back and watching them at the height of their powers though... Jesus Christ.

They were incredible and just had such an amazing aura about them. I can absolutely see why they were such a big hit in the 80s and early 90s and they will absolutely go down as one of the best tag teams ever. 

Such a great look too, obviously, and it's no surprise so many tried to imitate them in later years (and still continue today). 

Also, as past-it as they were in the late 90s, they still looked amazing, Animal in his little cycling shorts and with Sunny on their arm in that outfit.

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I remember the last time I saw Animal was him getting a Road Warriors pop on TNA when Scott Steiner announced him as his mystery replacement for a match following Rick Steiner having to pull out through injury. Even though he was supposed to be on the heel team. 

It's a testament to how good he was in the Animal gimmick that he was never overshadowed by promo-man Hawk. 

RIP Animal.

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One of my favourite things since I've had the WWE Network is going back and catching old non-WWE PPVs and really relishing the incredible reactions guys like Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes and the Road Warriors would get back in the day. To so many of us they are presented as 'legends' but we were unable to experience them in the best years of their careers, so it's been an absolute joy to see. I've had a whole new appreciation for them in recent times.

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What a shame. 60 is fuck all but, like someone else said, it’s pretty sad that it’s not a bad innings for a wrestler from that 80s era.

One of my earliest wrestling memories is watching SummerSlam 92 at a mate’s. I was 7 at the time and seeing them coming down the aisle at Wembley on the motorbikes with the gold spikes was the coolest thing ever to me. They’re the one tag team everyone seemed to know or at least heard of. Kind of the Hulk Hogan of tag teams. Hawk was always the more colourful and charismatic of the two but Animal played his part perfectly and was probably the glue that kept the team together a lot of times. He seemed the more level headed of two. And together they just looked incredible. 

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Always enjoyed Animal. Even his 2005 run on smackers. He had that tough guy, hired goon look that I absolutely love in mid card and low card wrestlers more than most other things in wrestling. Even Straightjacket Animal in 2001 led to an inclusion in WCW's last great stable and last great angle:

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As a tag team, I'm not well versed in some of the Road Warrior's older stuff at all but on my last re watch of 97 Raw I appreciated more than before what a little coup they were to have on the shows. Always high energy, always popped the crowd and fitted in to that emerging attitude nicely. 

They/Animal were just really...wrestling. So a crap one to lose! 

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They really were the coolest looking tag-team of the 80/90's, there may have been many pretenders but none came close to the sheer spectacle of the pair. So sad to lose both of them, RIP Animal.

Did anyone else have this shirt as a kid? I remember as clear as day wearing it around primary school.

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One thing I always think about LOD is the mark they left on fans, even short term fans. 

You still see pics of people dressing up as LOD for Halloween and such things. Anytime I talk to people my age or a bit older about wrestling they seem to remember LOD and Warrior most fondly. 

That's how I remember them, genuine Superstars, stand-outs even for their time. When I think about the initial UK buzz with wrestling, first I'd think Bulldog, then maybe LOD. They were that memorable. 

RIP

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Really sad news. As a kid, the Road Warriors were one of my favourite tag teams. I read the Road Warriors book and really enjoyed the Dark Side of the Ring documentary which summed up the Road Warriors story very well for a relatively short programme. Both Hawk and Animal looked proper badass (to use an Americanism) and were both larger than life. The Road Warriors were a big part of what got me hooked on American professional wrestling all those years ago. RIP.

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