The new Biography: WWE Legends episode on the Road Warriors revisits the deaths of both Joe “Animal” Laurinaitis and Mike “Hawk” Hegstrand, and highlights that Hawk was clean and sober in the final years of his life after a long battle with addiction. The episode is the fourth of the documentary series’ fifth season and is available to watch on A&E, the A&E app, and aetv.com.
Hegstrand, who performed as Road Warrior Hawk, struggled with drug and alcohol addiction for much of his career, a battle the documentary covers in detail through archival interviews and accounts from family, peers, and his longtime tag team partner. According to the episode, Hawk got clean and sober in the last years of his life, a turn those close to him described as a dramatic and welcome change. He died in October 2003 at the age of 46. The documentary attributes his death to a heart attack, with contributors noting that the strain of his earlier lifestyle had caught up with him even after he had gotten clean.
In archival footage featured in the episode, Animal recounted his final phone call with Hawk, which came the day before Hawk died. “He goes, ‘Joe, I love you. He goes, ‘You know that, don’t you?'” Animal recalled. “I said, ‘Yeah, man, I know that. I said, ‘Brother, I love you too, Mike. I said, ‘I’ll talk to you tonight.'” Animal, who died in 2020, also reflected on their bond in the archival interviews used throughout the documentary. “There’s not a day that goes by that I do not think about that man,” he said. “It was one mind, one team, one body, and I will forever miss him.”
The episode also covers the death of Laurinaitis, who performed as Animal. As told in the documentary, Laurinaitis was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and later focused heavily on his health, motivated by his family and his grandchildren. He died in September 2020 at the age of 60. As reported at the time, his death was attributed to natural causes.
It should be noted that the documentary’s account of Laurinaitis’ death has been publicly disputed. His widow, Kim Turman-Laurinaitis, who has said she was with him the night he died, stated on social media that she was not contacted to participate in the episode and pushed back on how the production portrayed the circumstances of his passing.
Beyond the two deaths, the two-hour documentary traces the full arc of the Road Warriors’ story. It covers their beginnings in Minneapolis, where Laurinaitis and Hegstrand met at a gym and worked as bouncers at Grandma B’s before being discovered for Georgia Championship Wrestling, the development of their iconic face paint, mohawks, and look under manager Paul Ellering, and their rise into one of the most dominant and influential tag teams in wrestling history across the NWA, AWA, WCW, and WWE. The episode also examines their guaranteed contracts, their merchandising success with the Zubaz clothing brand, the periods when the partnership fractured, and their reconciliations.
The Road Warriors episode is part of the fifth season of Biography: WWE Legends. Fans can watch it on A&E, through the A&E app, or by visiting aetv.com, where past episodes of the series are also available.
This article discusses addiction and recovery. If you or someone you know is struggling, support and resources are available.
