Joe "Animal" Laurinaitis w. Andrew William Wright and "Precious" Paul Ellering (Foreward)
Medallion Press, 2011
Hardcover, Paperback, Ebook
Author Joe "Animal" Laurinaitis was one half of the revolutionary pro wrestling tag team The Road Warriors. Along with his late partner, Mike "Hawk" Hegstrand and (more often than not) their manager "Precious" Paul Ellering, The Road Warriors/Legion of Doom dominated the 1980s pro wrestling tag team scene. Their hard as nails personae, along with leather spikes and face paint impressed promoters and fans alike as the team were awarded championships in every major promotion during their career. Laurinaitis' book chronicles the team's life in and out of the ring. The Road Warriors: Danger, Death and The Rush of Wrestling is his first book. It is co-written by Andrew William Wright (Booker T: From Prison to Promise and Booker T: My Rise To Wrestling Royalty.)
Laurinaitis does a good job chronicling the broad stroke peaks and valleys of his life and career. The Legion of Doom / Road Warriors were a high profile team that worked in a number of promotions during their storied career and Laurinaitis does a good job keeping the team's biography interesting to the reader. Due to the wealth of well known wrestlers having also emerged from the Minnesota region, a number of high profile names weave in and out of the story in a manner that allows Laurinaitis to effectively demonstrate both the friendships he had formed and the nomadic nature of the professional wrestling industry. The author also does a good job at putting his career in perspective by providing some good insight into the context of the pro wrestling industry by commenting, albeit briefly, on events that were occurring in the careers of other wrestlers and in other promotions. Laurinaitis comes across as a likeable family man who truly appreciates the bond he formed with his late partner, former manager and many others with whom he crossed paths during his long career. Kudos also go to the book's afterwards that contains a number of great passages about the team from important names in the wrestling industry and/or the careers of Hawk and Animal.
The book suffers from the fact that it is a chronicle of a team that is written by only one member. Hawk had passed away prior to the book's writing and, therefore, the story is completely told from Animal's perspective. Members of even the strongest of partnerships have differing perspectives on and memories of particular events and, while it may be a moot point to many readers, this book contains many thoughts and opinions that may not have been shared among both members of the team. Without a doubt, Laurinaitis was fond of his partner, however, there are a number of sections of the book where Hawk is portrayed in a negative light, namely concerning his backstage behaviour and addictions. While both have been documented by the wrestling media, the book does not provide, in the form of Laurinitis' educated guesses of, Hegstrand's point of view. In a sense, Hawk's story is the more colorful of the two, yet this is the tale of Animal's time as a part of the team and Hawk is a (near equal, but) second billed co-star. It is wise marketing, however, to title the book as the story of The Road Warriors and not simply that of Animal. While fate did not allow the book to be a dual autobiography, readers can't help but feel the book is part of an unfinished puzzle.
There are a number of incidents from the storied career that are either glossed over or omitted. Animal does not address his short run with Crush during the end of the pair's first stint in the WWF. This run came at a time of interpersonal issues between he and Hawk due to the latter's quick departure from the WWF which temporarily severed the team. Whereas he is critical of Hawk's decision to form a Road Warrior clone team with Kensuke Sasaki, it would have been interesting to see how Animal justified choosing to / being forced to do the same with Crush. He speaks very briefly about the infamous "Hawk under the influence" angle, not at all about Paul Ellering's late 90s return where he managed a team (The Harris Twins as Skull and 8-Ball) against the Road Warriors and writes very briefly about Droz's entry into the team as a third member. While all of this was during the low-point of the team's career, the author creates an obvious imbalance between the good and the bad story lines that befell the team.
Across the board this is a good book that gives a good picture of the professional wrestling industry in the 1980s and 90s through the eyes of a member of one of the industry's most successful acts. It is especially recommended for those who were fans of both Jim Crockett Promotions and the WWF of the era and, of course, fans of the Road Warriors.
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