WWE legend Road Warrior Animal passes away

Joe Laurinaitis, best known in the professional wrestling world as Road Warrior Animal, has passed away at the age of 60.

His death was confirmed Wednesday morning in a message posted on his Twitter account. It said his family will release a statement later in the day.

Animal was a member of the legendary tag team, The Road Warriors. Along with his partner, Hawk, the duo spent decades performing in many professional wrestling promotions across the globe.

The wrestling community holds The Road Warriors as one of the greatest tag teams in the history of the industry.

The decorated partners held titles in nine promotions and have been immortalized in several halls of fame, including the World Wrestling Entertainment’s in 2011.

As if their iconic, elongated “What a rush” catchphrase wasn’t intimidating enough, Hawk and Animal made their way to the ring wearing war paint and spiked shoulder pads.

And when it came to in-ring action, the hefty wrestlers performed a set full of power moves, which made them extremely popular throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

Hawk (Michael Hegstrand) passed away in 2003 due to a heart attack. 

Laurinaitis is survived by his three adult children — James , Jessica and Joseph — and his brothers John and Marcus, who also had wrestling careers.

This story was reported from Atlanta.