Joseph Aaron "Joe" Laurinaitis (born January 26, 1960) is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 professional wrestler

Professional wrestling

Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...

, better known by his ring name

Ring name

A ring name is a stage name used by a professional wrestler, martial artist, or boxer. While some ring names may have a fictitious first name and surname, others may simply be a nickname, such as The Undertaker.-Wrestling:...

s, Road Warrior Animal and Road Warrior. Along with Road Warrior Hawk

Road Warrior Hawk

Michael James Hegstrand was an American professional wrestler. He is best remembered as Road Warrior Hawk, one half of the tag team known as the Road Warriors or The Legion of Doom , with Road Warrior Animal.-Early life:While living in Chicago, Hegstrand met Joe Lauranaitis, who would be later...

, Laurinaitis was one-half of the tag team

Tag team

Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...

 known as the Road Warriors

Road Warriors

The Road Warriors were a professional wrestling tag team composed of Michael "Hawk" Hegstrand and Joseph "Animal" Laurinaitis. They performed under the name "Road Warriors" in the American Wrestling Association, the National Wrestling Alliance, and World Championship Wrestling, and the name Legion...

.
While living in Chicago, Laurinatis met Michael Hegstrand, later known as Road Warrior Hawk, and the two became close friends. When Laurinaitis was around eight years old, he and Hegstrand both moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...

  Joe Laurinaitis grew up in Minnesota, having to work for a living from a very early age.