Having a pro wrestler as a dad is cool, but Laurinaitis would rather play football for OSU
Friday, July 08, 2005
Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
For a 12-year-old, it doesn’t get much cooler than this:
At the arena hours before a professional wrestling match, you and your buddies are climbing into the ring and playing around, imitating your favorite character’s moves.
Suddenly, the music blasts across the empty space, and who walks down ringside but Steve Austin, aka "Stone Cold."
Austin proceeds to throw you and your friends around (safely, of course) for a while, making you an instant hero to your pals.
That was life for James Laurinaitis, an incoming Ohio State freshman linebacker from Wayzata, Minn. His father, Joe, has spent 20 years as a superstar wrestler known as "Animal."
Animal and his partner Hawk (Michael Hegstrand) formed a tag-team act known most often as Legion of Doom or Road Warriors. In the 1980s and ’90s, they were huge, and James benefited from it.
"It was fun, definitely," James said. "Growing up, all my friends would come over to watch my dad on TV. We would have wrestling parties, order about four pizzas, have about eight or 10 people over and all have a good time wrestling around.
"It was fun, a cool experience."
Joe laughs at that story.
"There were perks that go along with being the kid of a celebrity," he said. "I think it was kind of like a roller coaster, with ups and downs. The kids, they saw me as Dad, but Dad’s friends were fun."
Joe was a wannabe football player as a teen, too. He said he had to give up a scholarship to Brigham Young because of the birth of his first child, Joseph.
He played at a community college and had a tryout offer from the New Jersey Generals of the defunct United States Football League. But he and Hegstrand had begun playing around with wrestling, and those careers were about to take off.
Wrestling experts credit Animal and Hawk for revolutionizing wrestling in the ’80s. Some call them the most influential tag-team in history.
Animal wore a Mohawk haircut, face paint and spiked shoulder pads, a nod to the Mel Gibson Road Warrior movies.
Their motto: "We snack on danger and dine on death."
Joseph, James and younger sister Jessica rubbed elbows with all sorts of celebrities. Dad would bring wrestlers to the house for barbecues, along with many current and former Vikings, Twins and other local sports figures.
But life retained some normalcy.
"I kept my kids stable and living in one spot," Joe said. "And I give credit to my wife (Julia). She made sure when I wasn’t home that dinner was at a certain time and bedtime was a certain time."
About six years ago, Joe was approached by members of a Christian "Power Wrestling Team" and invited to one of their shows.
Joe took the family. At the end of the evening, fans were asked whether they wanted to come forward and dedicate their lives to Christ.
"And I’m sitting there wondering, ‘Who’s watching me, how is this going to look?’ — feeling corny," Joe said. "And James, who’s about 12, grabbed my arm and said, ‘Daddy, let’s go.’
"All five of us gave our hearts up that night."
Joe, 44, now wrestles for a similar Christian group, the Power Wrestling Alliance. They visited Columbus in April.
Hegstrand, his old tag-team partner, died of apparent heart problems in 2003.
Joe once thought James might follow him into the sport, but James had other plans. He was a star linebacker and hockey defenseman at Wayzata High School, and had football and hockey scholarship offers from around the nation.
"When I was younger, I wanted to (wrestle), but right now I want to be a football player, and that’s why I picked Ohio State," James said. "They’re the No. 1 program in terms of putting people into the NFL."
OSU coach Jim Tressel said recruiting James, and meeting Joe, was a unique experience.
"Obviously, (Joe) is very knowledgeable about the competitive world, and he had a lot more experiences coast to coast than other parents you meet," Tressel said. "A lot of times you talk with someone about their accounting firm. He’s really an intriguing guy."
And it turns out, Tressel knows a thing or two about pro wrestling. One of his college friends was the son of a wrestler, and he met some old-time pros that way.
In addition, when Tressel was coaching Youngstown State, the pro circuit came through town a few times, and some of Tressel’s players would help with arena setup or security.
"I have to admit I’ve been around pro wrestling more than pro golf," he said.
James said the choice to move away from Minnesota was made easier by Joe’s pledge to get an apartment in Columbus so that family and friends could come see James play.
"I’ll still see them every weekend," James said. "That’s comforting." And it means someone around town might soon have some very interesting neighbors.
