Road Warrior Animal, WWE HOFer, Dies at 60

Road Warrior Animal (Joseph Laurinaitis), one half of the WWE Hall of Fame tag team Road Warriors/The Legion of Doom, has died. He was 60.

Animal’s death was confirmed via his Twitter account in the following brief statement: “At this time, we would like to confirm the passing of Joseph Laurinaitis aka Road Warrior Animal at the age of 60. The family is planning to release a statement later today. At this time we ask for you to keep everyone in your thoughts and prayers. #OhWhatARush”

A cause of death is not currently known.

Forming in 1983 via manager Paul Ellering, Road Warriors Animal and Hawk (Michael Hegstrand, who passed away in 2003 at age 46) remain one of the most iconic tag teams in wrestling history. They won nearly every major tag team title throughout their career and were the first tag team to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship, the WCW World Tage Team Championship and the WWF Tag Team Championship. The Road Warriors, along with manager, Ellering, were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011.

Shortly after news of his passing spread, #RIPAnimal became the number one trend in the United States as wrestlers and fans alike took to Twitter to pay their respects.

WrestleMania: 10 Interesting Facts About ‘The Showcase of the Immortals’

• WrestleMania almost wasn’t WrestleMania

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  Legendary WWE Hall of Fame ring announcer Howard Finkel is credited with coining the name “WrestleMania,” but before landing on that perfect name, Vince McMahon wanted to call his annual showcase “The Colossal Tussle.”

• WrestleMania 35 was the first WrestleMania to be headlined by women.

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  It took over three decades for women to headline “The Showcase of Immortals,” but it finally happened in WrestleMania 35 when Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey faced off in a Winner Takes All Triple Threat match for the WWE Raw Women's Championship and the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship.

• Run-DMC provided a WrestleMania first.

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  The iconic rap group was the first act to ever perform at WrestleMania outside of the singing of the National Anthem and “America the Beautiful” when they performed “WrestleMania Rap” at WrestleMania 5. Many other acts have performed at WrestleMania since including Flo Rida, Diddy and Motorhead.
• WrestleMania 2 is the only WrestleMania to happen on a weekday.

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  Up until WrestleMania 36, which saw the event split into a two-night affair, WrestleMania 2 was the only WrestleMania to not take place on a Sunday. Instead, it took place on Monday, April 7, 1986.

• WrestleMania 28 holds the record for most PPV buys.

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  The WrestleMania that billed the "once in a lifetime" match between The Rock and John Cena saw 1,217,000 PPV buys, which is the most PPV buys for a single WrestleMania ever. Of course, that “once in a lifetime” tag wasn’t exactly true, and The Rock vs. John Cena would headline WrestleMania 29.

• “Macho Man” Randy Savage has the record for most WrestleMania wins in a single night.

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  OH, YEAH! WrestleMania 4 featured a 14-man tournament for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Savage would end up winning the title defeating Butch Reed, Greg Valentine, One Man Gang, and “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase.
• Longest match in WrestleMania history.

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  The legendary iron man match between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XII still holds the record for longest WrestleMania match clocking in at one hour, one minute and 52 seconds.

• Shortest match in WrestleMania history.

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  The shortest WrestleMania match happened in recent history at WrestleMania 32 when The Rock squashed Erick Rowan in just six seconds.

• Most losses at WrestleMania.

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  Triple H may be one of the most prolific wrestlers in WWE history, but he also has the notorious honor of having the most losses at WrestleMania with 13. Yikes!
• Total attendance at WrestleMania.

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  Overall, a combined 1,956,981 fans have attended WrestleManias 1-38.