Sean Waltman

Sean Waltman Instagram – One of the coolest things about my life is becoming friends with so many of my childhood heroes. Joe Laurinaitis aka: Road Warrior Animal was one of those people. In my lifetime, I’m not sure if anyone comes close to having the impact & influence Joe & Mike had on our industry. Just about every pro wrestler that painted their face was copying the Road Warriors. There were a few exceptions, such as Adrian Street, but I cant think of any others right now. I could go on listing all the great things about those guys & Joe in particular, but it’s all stuff everyone had heard or read before. So I’ll just share a cherished memory of mine that Joe was a huge part of. In ’94, after I’d already started with WWE & was about to get married to the mother of my children, some of the guys that made up that legendary MN pro wrestling crew of the 80s decided to throw me a bachelor party. It was Brad Rheingans, Curt Hennig, Barry Darsow, Wayne Bloom & Mike Enos, The Road Warriors & a few other friends. We had the party in Brad’s dojo where he trained his students. It was perfect. No strip clubs, where there was 50% chance someone would end up in jail. Just me & a bunch of people I grew up idolizing & ended up becoming friends with…no big deal!😊 I remember laying on my stomach on Brad’s Olympic wrestling mat, trying to roll a joint & out of nowhere Hawk dropped a stiff elbow on me, which ended my futile attempt at joint rolling. My next memory of that night was Joe breaking out a bag of magic mushrooms & it wasnt long until we were laughing harder than Joe or I had laughed before or since. He told me that when he was on my show, so I’m not telling stories out of school here. Anytime you were around Curt Hennig, you were having the time of your life & laughing your ass off. Now imagine adding shrooms to the mix. That night is in the top 3 list of the greatest times I’ve ever had in my life & Joe was a huge part of that. Later I was honored to stand across the ring from those 2 legends. You always hear stories about what a great guy Hawk was. I’m here to tell you, same goes for Joe. All this to say, I’m heartbroken by his passing. Goodbye Joe🙏😔 #RIPAnimal #WWE #prowrestling | Posted on 25/Sep/2020 03:20:45