ROAD WARRIOR ANIMAL DISCUSSES THE ONE FACT THAT PREVENTS HIM FROM WORKING IN WWE’S OFFICE, WARNING HAWK ABOUT WWF’S RULES, JOHNNY ACE, HIS NEW BOOK, AND MORE
By WorldWrestlingInsanity.com
He’s dined on danger, snacked on death…and joined the Insanity. Now, after four years, “Road Warrior Animal” Joe Laurinaitis returns for an all new 46 minute interview with James Guttman to discuss his brand new book and his legendary career.
Available today at Amazon and wherever else books are sold, Animal’s biography “The Road Warriors: Danger, Death, and The Rush of Wrestling” is a hard hitting and very honest look at his storied career. Joe talks about a ton of topics ranging from personal thoughts on Ultimate Warrior and Vince McMahon to WWE Hall of Fame possibilities to The Rock’s return to Raw. For a full list of topics, head to: http://www.worldwrestlinginsanity.com/am2/publish/newsnotes/ClubWWI_LOD_Animal_2.shtml
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Professional wrestling tag team partners have long been judged by the actions of each other. No one knows this more than Road Warrior Animal. His partner, the late Michael “Hawk” Hegstrand had a long battle with addiction and, in many cases that Animal discussed in his book, those issues affected the team. James Guttman speaks to Joe in depth about many aspects of his relationship with Hawk and some of the shocking stories from their partnership. Laurinaitis speaks from the heart about his frustration, at times, with Hawk and his fond memories as well. He then tells ClubWWI.com members about the LOD’s WWF arrival and the warning he tried to give his partner when they arrived.
“Here’s the thing, I had this conversation with Hawk. I had said, ‘If you worked at Best Buy, Honeywell, 3M – any major corporation – Northwest Airlines or whatever, you have rules and regulations. You just can’t throw the rules and regulations out the window because you’re a professional wrestler. Let’s be professional here and abide by the rules while you’re at work.’ And even more so than that, it’s just like I used to say when we were in Japan sometimes and we’d go out, I’m not representing just Road Warrior Animal. I’m representing Paul Ellering and Hawk, if I got out and make a fool of myself. You know what I mean? I’m representing the Road Warriors. It’s plural. I’m also representing the company that brought me over there. It’s the same thing here. You always hear, ‘Oh, those WWF guys.’ It’s ain’t all those WWF guys. It’s a chosen few that decided to go out there and do things for themselves that hurt it for everyone else.”
Being held accountable for your partner is something that Joe is more than familiar with. In his book, he tells the story of a wrestler who snapped at him for the decision his brother, then WCW-agent Johnny Laurinaitis, made. JG asks about this and whether it’s tough to have to answer for the actions of others. Now Johnny is a WWE Vice President and, while many assume that’s an open ticket for him to work behind the scenes in WWE, it’s actually much more of a liability. As the ClubWWI.com interview continues, he explains:
“Everybody asks me that all the time. ‘Animal, how come you’re not in that office? Your brother is in the office. How can he not get you a job? You started him in the wrestling business.’ I say it’s probably the worst thing I could have done is have a brother in the wrestling business that has made it to be vice president (in WWE) because I’ll never get a job with that fact… I get calls from guys everyday that tell me my brother is brutal in the office. Brutal. But what am I gonna say? He’s my brother. I love him. He’s my brother. What am I gonna say? ‘Well, yeah. OK.’ I’m not there. That’s one thing about me. I don’t talk about things I’m not present for in the wrestling business. When I talk to my brother today, I don’t even talk about wrestling. I’ve given up on trying to get a job behind the scenes in WWE. It ain’t gonna happen. I don’t want it to happen anymore. Do I want to give back to the wrestling business? Absolutely, man. I’m a coach. That’s what I do by nature. I’m a coach. Do I think I could be down in (WWE developmental company) FCW and be one of the best trainers they ever had down there? Absolutely. When I was down there, I was one of the best coaches they had. But you can only beat a dead horse so much, man. Unfortunately, a lot of times in this business, I learned – especially in this company – if it’s not their idea, they’re not having it. Like you said, if you weren’t their original product, things weren’t taken to the extreme they should have been. But I learned. I tried for years to battle it and battle it and battle it and say why, why, why. I’ve given up on it.”
While his interview covers a ton of topics on ClubWWI.com, Animal’s book covers almost them all from his career. It’s a project he’s very excited about and he’s eager for fans to have a chance to read. James and Animal discuss the new biography, available today, and his happiness about releasing it after many years of compiling the stories from the Legion of Doom’s legendary run across the planet.
“I waited a certain amount of time and I’m really happy to say finally here comes what a lot of wrestling fans have been waiting for – a book about the Road Warriors. It’s called “The Road Warriors: Danger, Death, and The Rush of Wrestling” – written by myself Joe Laurinaitis “The Animal” and my ghost writer Andrew William Wright. You got a copy and it came out 100% professional. It is a classy book. It’s definitely a dining table book. You put it right there in front of the sofa on your coffee table and you have a coffee table book to read.”
Pick up Animal’s new book today and then head over to ClubWWI.com for his all new 46 minute interview with James Guttman – as well as his first from 2007 and an interview with the man who wrote his foreword, manager Paul Ellering. All this plus talks with over 250 of wrestling’s other top stars the moment you sign up!