jollystomper
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2012
- Messages
- 6,188
One of my vices for many years was following professional wrestling. I blame, of all people, my dear sweet, kindhearted, generous mom. When I was a child she used to watch pro wrestling on TV, and she loved Bruno Sammartino. I can still see her yelling at the TV “get him Bruno, get him!” and wondering who has my mom transformed into? My dad would just shake his head and smile. But anyway…
Last week, a reminder of one of the sad truths of the pro wrestling business: another wrestler dying way too soon. Joseph Laurentitis, aka “Animal” of the Road Warriors/Legion of Doom wrestling tag team, died suddenly while on vacation. He was 60 years old. In the annals of pro wrestling, the Road Warriors/LOD (Laurentitis and his partner, Mike Hegstrand, aka “Hawk”, who sadly died even younger in 2003 at age 46) are considered perhaps the greatest tag team wrestlers of all time. They were physically muscled, had a unique look, and intimidating ring presence. With their manager Paul Ellering they gave some great promos as they talked about what they would do to their opponents. Many fans bought into their staged invincibility.
My Megacorp job had me traveling a lot from the mid-80s through the early 2000s, and several times a year I found myself at the same gate or in the same plane with some of these wrestlers. The ones I talked to were nothing like their wild ring personas - most were quiet, friendly, and not personally intimidating. Ours conversations usually centered around being away from family, and they seemed to appreciate that type of discussion.
I am not much into modern pro wrestling, As I learned more about the business side of the industry and the more visible and tragic impact of steroids and performance enhancing drugs it lost much of its appeal. But seeing and hearing modern day interviews of “old school” wrestlers recounting some of the behind-the-scenes stories in still interesting.
Animal’s son, James Laurentitis, is an All-American college linebacker and played in the NFL for 8 years for the Rams and Saints before retiring.
So RIP, Animal, and thanks for many years of sports entertainment.
Last week, a reminder of one of the sad truths of the pro wrestling business: another wrestler dying way too soon. Joseph Laurentitis, aka “Animal” of the Road Warriors/Legion of Doom wrestling tag team, died suddenly while on vacation. He was 60 years old. In the annals of pro wrestling, the Road Warriors/LOD (Laurentitis and his partner, Mike Hegstrand, aka “Hawk”, who sadly died even younger in 2003 at age 46) are considered perhaps the greatest tag team wrestlers of all time. They were physically muscled, had a unique look, and intimidating ring presence. With their manager Paul Ellering they gave some great promos as they talked about what they would do to their opponents. Many fans bought into their staged invincibility.
My Megacorp job had me traveling a lot from the mid-80s through the early 2000s, and several times a year I found myself at the same gate or in the same plane with some of these wrestlers. The ones I talked to were nothing like their wild ring personas - most were quiet, friendly, and not personally intimidating. Ours conversations usually centered around being away from family, and they seemed to appreciate that type of discussion.
I am not much into modern pro wrestling, As I learned more about the business side of the industry and the more visible and tragic impact of steroids and performance enhancing drugs it lost much of its appeal. But seeing and hearing modern day interviews of “old school” wrestlers recounting some of the behind-the-scenes stories in still interesting.
Animal’s son, James Laurentitis, is an All-American college linebacker and played in the NFL for 8 years for the Rams and Saints before retiring.
So RIP, Animal, and thanks for many years of sports entertainment.
