Road Warrior Animal

I found out that wrestling star, Road Warrior Animal, passed away when I came across a tweet by Hulk Hogan saying 'RIP Animal, love you brother'.

This death hit me a bit more than I would have thought it would

There could be a reason why.

Animal was part of one of the most popular tag teams in professional wrestling. His partner in the Road Warriors - or Legion of Doom, as they were known in the then WWF - Hawk passed away in 2003.

The Legion of Doom immediately became my favourite tag team back when they entered the WWF in 1990. For the next two years, I would religiously follow their battles on TV.

As my passion for professional wrestling grew, I sought out tapes of Hawk and Animal from earlier in the career whether it was from US promotions or Japan. 

They had such an incredible look. They wore spiked shoulder pads to the ring, mohawks, their faces painted. To put it more accurately - they resembled something straight of a Mad Max movie. 

And I loved it.

The reason I think Animal's passing hit me more than I could have ever guessed is possibly because - now that both men have gone - the team has also gone even though it died with Hawk seventeen years ago.