How Did Road Warrior Animal Die? Rip Road Warrior Animal dies at age 60. <br /><br />JOSEPH LAURINAITIS, one half of legendary WWE tag-team the Legion of Doom, has died aged 60.<br />The Hall of Famer, called Road Warrior Animal, and his partner Hawk were two of the biggest stars during the 1980s and 90s.<br />Now, sadly, his life is over after he passed away due to as yet unspecified reason.<br />Hulk Hogan was first to break the news, tweeting: “RIP Animal,love you my brother, I know you and Hawk have a lot of unfinished business to take care of! God speed and blessings to your beautiful family,one love4Life. HH.”<br />Then Tommy Dreamer, who performed in both WWE and ECW, tweeted a picture of Animal and captioned it with: “My friend @RWAnimal has passed away.”<br />Then the sad news was confirmed on Animal’s own Twitter page, with a statement saying: “At this time, we would like to confirm the passing of Joseph Laurinaitis aka Road Warrior Animal at the age of 60.<br />“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.”<br />Hawk, real name Michael Hegstrand, died aged 46 in 2003 courtesy of a heart attack.<br />The duo were icons to wrestling fans throughout the world before they even joined Vince McMahon’s WWE in 1990 as the Road Warriors competed all over the planet.<br />But it was after signing for the billionaire their star power reached its peak with their spiked ring attire earning supporters from everywhere.<br />After leaving WWE in 1992, they worked for New Japan Pro Wrestling and WCW before returning in 1997.<br />The duo were managed by Sunny for a short before embarking on another four-year hiatus to Japan and other independent promotions from 1999.<br />They made a third comeback in 2003 but their US TV appearance as a team occurred on the May 12, 2003 Raw episode in a tag team match against the WWE tag champs Rob Van Dam and Kane.<br />Hawk would sadly pass away later that year after young star Droz had also been added to the team as a third man.<br />Animal did return briefly in 2006 and teamed with Heidenreich in a feud against MNM and would also perform as a singles competitor, albeit still decked out in his LOD gear.<br />On April 2, 2011, The Road Warriors and ex-manager Paul Ellering were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. <br />Animal and Hawk were two-time WWE champs, while the former also held the belts once with Heidenreich.<br />He officially announced his retirement from the ring in February 2014. <br />Laurinaitis, who became a born-again Christian in 2001, and his ex-wife Julie have two children, 34-year-old son James and daughter Jessica, 31.<br />He also has another son named Joseph, believed to be 40, from a previous marriage.<br />One of his two brothers, John Laurinaitis, aka Johnny Ace, is the former Executive Vice President of Talent Relations for WWE after his wrestling career finished.<br />His other sibling, Marcus Laurinaitis, is also a former wrestler.<br />Laurinaitis was named part of a class action lawsuit filed
