10 Things You Didn't Know About Road Warrior Animal
10. He Almost Quit Wrestling Early On
VICE's excellent 'Dark Side Of The Ring' series shone the spotlight on Hawk's demise and how Animal plodded on without his old partner, but it also gave some much-needed insight into the latter's earliest years in the wrestling biz by revealing that he once wrestled nine times in one week for a total of $150.
That lowly sum almost made Animal chuck it.
He told VICE that he came very close to calling it a career just months into his run. Animal's girlfriend was pregnant, and he realised he couldn't afford to p*ss around playing wrestler if Ole Anderson was only going to pay him around $16 per show. So, he decided he should move back into bouncing at nightclubs.
Shortly after that, he met Hawk and everything changed. The pair united as the iconic Road Warriors, and payoffs picked up big time from then on - Ole turned the Warriors into one of his top acts, and they helped revolutionise tag-team wrestling.