Joe ‘Road Warrior Animal’ Laurinaitis was half of arguably the greatest tag team in wrestling history. Together with Mike ‘Hawk’ Hegstrand, they were the perfect mix of intimidation, artistry and skill. They continue to be legendary and you can search the internet and find countless hours of matches and interviews. But, today we are going to learn about Joe, the man behind the face paint and what life with this icon was like.

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Audio : Ariza Music Productions

Transcription : Vision In Word

Marlana:

Joe Road Warrior Animal Laurinaitis was half of arguably the greatest tag team in wrestling history together with Mike Hawk Hegstrand. They were the perfect mix of intimidation, artistry, and skill. They continued to be legendary and you can search the internet and find countless hours of matches and interviews. But today we're gonna learn about Joe, the man behind the face paint, and what life with this icon was like. Please help me welcome Joe's Other Half the love of his life and my dear friend Kim Laurinaitis.

Kim:

Aw! Thank you. That was so sweet.

Marlana:

. So you know, anybody that saw you and Joe in a later years, would not have guessed that Y'all didn't like each other much at first.

Kim:

No, not at all. , that was the going talk like once we finally reconnected because we did not connect at the beginning at all. A lot of people knew that Hawk and I, Mike and I were much closer friends. He was like a brother to me for many, many years. And I always used to ask him what was wrong with his partner. Like what crawled up his button died basically, because he was always so it came off as rude, but he really wasn't rude. He was more the business guy. He was always taking care of business. You know how it was in the back, you know, when you have things to do, timelines to meet deadlines, that's how he was. Me being 17 , you know, going back there and first getting backstage and around all those guys, you're looking going, God! He's rude because he, compared to Mike, the life of the party, was two totally different people.

And so that's what I was accustomed to, I guess. And then some of the other guys, you got Owen Hart who was the ultimate prankster, you know, and who never had an enemy at all and who was always happy. And you had other people too that were kind of like that. And so, coming across Joe and you know, his exterior, his face, everything kind of come off as very hard when you're like, oh my God, oh, sorry, I walked past you, you know, some days. And one day he asked me, I was outside walking Davies's dog, I think we were in Pensacola or something, . And he was like, what are you doing out here walking the dog? I'm like, because I was told to . Yeah. I was just scared to even answer him. And then I told Mike, I was like, oh my God, can you tell him not to be so mean to me?

He wasn't mean, he just asked me a question, but I took it as being mean. And he has never forgot that. Like he was like, I just thought what mom would let their daughter come and be doing shows and vignettes and stuff like that here by themselves and you're not even 18 and having to get your contract signed, blah, blah, blah. I'm like, oh my God! So that's why you were rude to me, . And so, we talked about it later. He goes, no, I was just worried about you. I was protective of you in a sense, but you just didn't know it. I said, no, I thought you hated me. And he goes, why wasn't a fan ?

Marlana:

So, when did that change? How did he become a fan?

Kim:

When we reconnected, I actually convinced Mike McGuirk, our mutual friend to, she had recently lost her husband a few months prior to us going to WrestleMania or Wrestle Con that event in 2012. And so, I commenced her to go, she needed to get outta the house. We went, and when we went, we went to Miami, Florida that year. Joe was there doing an appearance and I actually ran into him unexpectedly. I knowingly, and like Mike was the one going, oh my God, Kim, look who it is. And I was like, oh, great . And here we go again. He's gonna like ask me, what am I doing now without my mom's permission or something. I'm having flashbacks. And he was like, night and day, I'm telling you. Like, it was a totally different person is all I can tell you. and obviously a lot of things had happened in both of our lives by that time. We had both been, you know, married, he was going through a divorce. I had already been divorced.

I had terminal breast cancer. I had stage four breast cancer. And so, I had already gone through 10 years of being by myself with my daughter. That was my life. I wasn't looking for anybody. I didn't want anybody. I was kinda like that getting back. And I was just there to visit friends, reconnect with people, and then help her through this. And then when we saw him, I mean some of the other ladies we were with, they were like, oh, he's looking good and all this. And I'm like, oh, here's a drink. Are you thirsty ?

And Mike was even like, he looks really good. He's doing really well. After he did his appearance and stuff where Mike was, we ended up being at the same spot. He ran into us afterwards and he was like, Hey, y'all wanna come over here and let's catch up. Okay, well we went to go , we went to go catch up. It's at the Duval Hotel lobby. It's like all open. Everything is all open. I don't get nervous. I don't do any of that cuz those guys are just like anybody else. You know how the fans are and everything. They're like all beside themselves. I look at them, they're just like anybody else. That's just their job. Right? I don't. And also you had had been around these guys since you were literally at Carl's. Little, little, little since.

I used to live in Houston, going to Sam Houston Coliseum like every Friday night with my mom. And so that was from the time I was like 10 years old and growing up. So, none of these guys like it bothered me at all. And so I'm thinking, okay, yeah, we'll go over here for a little bit. But I'm telling her, let's go out, walk to the beach, let's go get you like out. I'm trying to think of her and then what we are gonna do, like afterwards, our dinner plan is kind of arranging that because I know when she and I get together, our plan schedule kind of goes off track. So, we have to keep on track . And having been with both of you Yeah. , you know this personally and so I'm just trying to kind of, okay, so she was worried about seeing Jake Honky tonk man, some of the other ones she had.

She hadn't seen him in many years. And so, they were all excited about seeing her and we went over there. We had our other friend Donna with us. And so she's kind of like our ringleader that keeps everyone in line. . Yeah. She kinda kicks everybody back into play. Yes, she does. She has her whip with her. You know, like get in there . And so we went over there to where this whole open area was and when we went in there, he was there and talking to McGurk and talking to some other people. And then he was like, Hey, how have you been, I haven't seen you like forever. I was like, yeah, I've had a lot going on too. . I was trying to playing it off. Cause I'm thinking he's gonna be a total jerk. So, I'm trying not to like act nice in the least cuz I'm kind of keeping my guard up.

But he's really nice. So, I'm thinking God don't be a . So he's getting beers for other people and then he's handing stuff and as he's doing this, I'm passing stuff down to people cuz we've got a big group. As he does this, I have this beer that he's handing me and I, he tells everybody this. She spilled this whole beer on my brand new Nike shoes. Well, anybody that knows Joe knows he loves his freaking shoes. He's worse than a girl. Like when it comes to his Nikes, any kind of athletic shoes, he loves them. I'm like, oh my God, I just spilled this all over his shoes. And so I'm going, monger, oh my God, I just spill this all over his shoes. And he's like, oh, It's alright. You'll get it up. I'm thinking, oh God, no, he's really gonna, he's really gonna get mad.

And so, I'm like, I’m sorry. Do you need me to buy you a new pair of shoes, ? He's like, no, it's okay. It's good. So, he's like cleaning all this up. We finally went and sat down and I think Diana Hart, and some other people were there that we hadn't seen. And we just all kind of started chit-chatting and catching up. He was very, very kind and open. I don't think, think I've ever seen the man smile until that day . And I was like, who is this person? Well then, we started talking about something like dinner. I told you we were supposed to have dinner plans. He was like all about it. Well, why don't we all go, why don't we all go into this big group? I'm looking at Mike going, what the heck is going on? So, we made plans to go down the street to this restaurant.

He organized it. He took control of everything. I was like, okay, so we all go down here to this restaurant as we're sitting around this huge table. I mean there's probably at least, I don't know, 10, 12 of us around this table. Now granted, McGurk has been drinking wine during the day. So, have I. So, we're like, we're very happy. And for, and around this table, he's sitting clear across the table for me. He's not sitting beside me. McGurk is sitting beside me. I don't even know who's sitting on the other side of me. And then I know Diana hard is one over because we're chatting and we have this great dinner and everything. But as we're sitting at this table, my phone goes off and I'm thinking, who is calling? Nobody's calling me. I'm here in Miami. Everybody that I'm here with is right here at this table.

So I'm looking around kind of looking, I'm looking at my phone, I have this message on my phone and I have no idea who this number is. It says, “I love you.” And I'm going, McGuirk , he's little drunk. Where's your phone? Quit texting me from unknown numbers. And she's laughing hysterically and she's like, I do love you. And she's going along with it. So the whole time I'm thinking it's her and she's come up with some kind of way to text me from an unknown number and I'm like, stop texting me from unknown numbers. That's stupid. You know? And I'm just going back and forth. He's watching the whole time and it's him that sent that message. No idea how he got my phone number. I didn't give it to him. He never asked me for it. And I'm thinking, okay, w this is just awkward.

So, I'm helping her up. We go back and we go back like to the beach front by the Duval Hotel. We were supposed to be going to an event . She did not wanna go to. We kind of got in trouble by our ringleader that night because we were supposed to be going to WrestleMania. She didn't wanna go. She just wanted to sit out on the beach, watch the water, watch the stars and everything, just talk about everything. Joe stepped in and Joe was like, I got these girls. You go to the event, I'm gonna stay here with them. They're gonna be safe, they'll be fine. Don't worry about it. Well, in the meantime, while they're having a conversation, , McGuirk and I are having our own reality show out on the beach. . I mean like we're, I don't know, doing sand Angels. We're running and jumping and then Mike takes a nose dive into the sand a couple times.

We got her up and I mean it was just the first time I had seen her happy in the least, you know, being herself. And we were just talking about the old days, like how things were when you were there, when Mike was there, everything. And it was just like a happy feeling, being able to reconnect. And he came in and he sat down and he started sharing some stuff that he had been through, what he was going through. And then when he found out that I had been sick, he was like, wait, what? You? And I was like, yeah, just don't even, I had been through a terrible divorce, you know, like eight years prior to, and he was like, I had no idea. I said, it's okay. I don't want sympathy. And he goes, oh, what are you turning into me now?

Like this instant, it was like the roles head reverse. And so we started talking, well Mike falls asleep out here. Like, she's like taking us sitting out here. He and I ended up talking for hours and that's where it all started. Like we just reconnected from that night on. And after that, like he got us a ride back to our hotel cuz we were actually staying over where his brother was staying. and he had said, if you don't wanna go back over there, we don't have to stop.

But it was like, he gave us the option, you know, like if you don't wanna go back over there, you don't have to. But I was like, no, we need to. And so, he sent us back. He had us, a driver and everything. He called to make sure we got back there. Okay. Ever since that night he called me every single day for the rest of his life. There was not one day that he did not call. And then he asked me, I think it was like two or three days later, he goes, I don't know what you did to me, but this is not me. I don't normally do this. I don't act like this.

Do you put something in my drink? I was like, no. I was the one that was more standoffish cuz I was like, I don't really want somebody like calling me every day. This is like too much for me. I was very guarded because of my past. And I told him that and I said, you, I know how wrestlers are anyways. I don't want, you know, me, I didn't want to be with a wrestler. I didn't wanna marry a wrestler. That was my whole thing. And he even brought that up, he said, yeah, he used to always say, I'll never marry a wrestler, blah. I said, I won't. And we laughed about it and then later on he was like, I don't know what has happened, but I enjoyed talking to you. I just wanna keep talking to you. Is that okay?

He was very respectful and ever since then, like I said, he continued to call every day. We talked every day for hours. And then he was like, he had another business in Africa, so he was getting ready to go to Africa. And then he said, before I go to Africa, can I fly you to St to St. Louis just to see me before I go, I'd just like to take you out to dinner or whatever. Or I'll fly to Texas, whichever one. And he flew me to St. Louis. And then that's when I met his daughter, my daughter and his grandson. And I was just like, I instantly connected with the baby, like Jacob is my life there too. So, it was so easy. It was just like one of those things that I had never had before, ever. there was no pressure, there was no like, oh, I'm going on a date or anything like that. It was just relaxed.

Marlana:

Well, I know as somebody who knew you both before you were together and then also watching you together, what I used to love is I could watch him go from this big bur tough guy to where he would look at you and melt . And it was that that I used to love to watch.

Kim:

Yes. There were so many people that used to say that, can you go look at him? And I'd be like, what are you talking about? But we had a look that would go and he used to tell me all the time, he said, because we shared a lot of stuff over the period of years, which I do all of his past and everything, everybody has a past. But I learned so much about him and his upbringing and I fell in love with his dad. Oh my gosh, I love his dad. I was like, if I was younger, I'm sorry I would trade you in for your dad because your dad is just m my heart. Like I loved him so much. But you see, you learn a lot of people just see what's on the face value, like what they do. Once you get to know the person, Joe lived a lot like his character in some ways that was very hard.

That was very tough. And you hear some of the stories and things that they did and you're going, oh my god, I don't know, like that's not me that I'm a little country girl. go over here. I never dealt with me going that. But he goes, you used to go and take care of Hawk you and McGuirk would go and save him like wherever he was and get him to the airport. What do you mean? And I'd be like, oh, well that was back when I was stupid and young. Now I hold her and have a daughter , I learned from my mistakes. He was like, okay. But you'd see his toughness, like kind of, it had changed a lot. He had softened up a lot. but that's what he used to always say is like, you're peeling my layers. It's like an onion.

He would say those layers are just like peeling off, but I don't wanna be, I'm not soft. I said, no one ever said you're soft. And he said, but you're the same way. But I never realized that I had built up such these guarded walls. And he said, I don't feel like I can ever get to you because you've got this hard exterior that I can't ever get to that heart that like I knew you used to have because you're like so guarded. You're like one of the guys . I was like, oh my God!

Marlana:

Well, I have to say this, both of you were like Tootsie pops, you had this hard exterior shell, but this little soft middle, and it's just a matter of getting to it.

Kim:

Exactly!

Marlana:

So, what do you think was the biggest misconception about Joe?

Kim:

That he was just this hu like this burly mean guy. Like he was the most softhearted, selfless, caring person I have ever known in my life. Ever. I can like I don't think I've ever seen a man so caring and so giving as anybody as Joe, like ever. Some people would never believe that he cried. I have seen that man cry more times than anybody in my family, that showed me that he had heart. That doesn't mean that he is soft. That doesn't mean that he doesn't care. he had never missed an appearance at all until I got sick and was in the hospital and I was hospitalized for 70 days and he left that appearance and he came right back and I was like, oh my God, he didn't have to leave. You know, cuz I know how important that is to them. No, he always put family first, whether it's his kids, his grandkids, anybody like that. That always came first, and he lived by what he believed. He's not one of those that always just said certain things and just said it like for face value. No, he did exactly what he said.

Marlana:

What's your favorite memory of Joe?

Kim:

Oh gosh! .

Marlana:

And I know there's...