Road Warrior Animal’s widow blasts ‘disgusting’ A&E documentary
To put it lightly, Road Warrior Animal’s widow Kim Turman Laurinaitis wasn’t a fan of A&E’s documentary on her late husband.
A new episode of “Biography: WWE Legends” premiered on Sunday night chronicling the story of The Road Warriors, Animal (Joe Laurinaitis) & Hawk (Mike Hegstrand). Kim, who was married to Laurinaitis at the time of his death, took to Facebook shortly after the documentary began airing to state that she was not asked to be involved with the project. She called it “disgusting” and took aim at unnamed “phony” people who were interviewed:
- For all of you, reaching out to me right now, asking if I’m part of the A&E biography….NO HIS ACTUAL WIFE (the one that was with him the [night] he died & years before) WAS NOT CONTACTED TO FILM BELIEVE IT OR NOT.. THE ONE THAT PAYS FOR THE TRADEMARKS AND IS WORKS TO CONTINUE HIS WISHES & LEGACY WITH THE LOD EXPERIENCE AND MANY OTHER THINGS BUT THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT RESPECT FOR JOE AND THE LOD/ ROAD WARRIOR RIGHT??? Yeah ok believe what you want…
- I can guarantee you my husband is NOT happy in heaven BUT his story, the REAL story and TRUTH OF ALL OF IT will come out. This is disgusting literally disgusting at his expense and I will not be quiet anymore.Shame on all involved …THE TRUTH WILL ALWAYS COME OUT!! They only did it this way because he was not here, but I still am and will fight for HIS wishes!
- Do they give out Oscar’s for acting performances in this?? WOW Some of the people on here never kept in touch, wouldn’t even walk over to speak to him, & talked so much [sh*t]! Phony asses getting their irrelevant ‘moment’
Laurinaitis’ first two wives, Nancy and Julia, were among those interviewed for the documentary. When covering Laurinaitis’ death, his daughter Jessica is the one to tell the story of what happened. Kim especially had a problem with this portion of the documentary and felt like her husband’s death was inaccurately portrayed:
- WHAT IN THE F**K AM I WATCHING?!!! OMG I AM SO DONE. THIS IS NOT HOW MY HUSBAND DIED & FYI HE DIED 9/22 AT OUR HOTEL NOT A HOSPTIAL,THEY NEVER TOOK HIM TO A F***ING HOSPITAL, HAD TO TRY TO SAVE HIM IN OUR HOTEL ROOM!! I WAS THE ONLY 1 THERE W/PARAMEDICS… ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW? I HELD HIM FOR OVER AN HR TRYING TO WAIT FOR JESSICA AND LINDSEY BOTH DAUGHTERS TO GET THERE BEFORE THEY TRANSPORTED HIM TO A FUNERAL HOME!!! WHAT THE FCK IS HAPPENING!!??? I AM ABOUT TO LOSE MY GD MIND RIGHT NOW. I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO MAD….
- Can anyone tell the truth anymore???? What fake ass phony people…. People pretending to be friends people pretending to tell the truth at my husband’s expense God Almighty help you all that have you used him for the last freaking time!!!!! wow wow wow wow no words all of you know y’all just put on a fantastic performance standing ovation for that bullsh*t show!!! why didn’t we talk about how disrespected my husband was during his memorial planning, let’s talk about the struggles and how much he went through and cried over the past 10 years about how he had been treated by the people he loved so much… y’all wanna talk about sh*t that’s not true. Let’s talk about the truth!!!!!! and what was really important to Joe!!!! Shady ass produced show NOT endorced by his wife the one who pays for the trademarks, bills, taxes, etc!!!
Laurinaitis, who suffered from congestive heart failure, died of a heart attack in Osage Beach, Missouri while he and Kim were celebrating their wedding anniversary in September 2020.
The Road Warriors episode (directed by Matt Laffey) was part of season five of “Biography: WWE Legends.” The season also included a two-part documentary on The Von Erichs and an episode on The Four Horsemen. A&E producers the show in partnership with WWE.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.