I guess I’ll use my column this week to talk about the death of the Ultimate Warrior. A few days later it’s still bizarre that I’m typing that. He’d been a focal part of the Hall of Fame and participated at Wrestlemania and Raw just days prior to his death. It was clear that he was limping and at times during the weekend he did seem blown up, but that might just be hindsight talking. When official confirmation concerning his death was received, I turned to the TV where I was watching WWE Network. At that moment, a commercial for the Ultimate Warrior DVD aired. I mean, he had JUST buried the hatchet for the WWE, had all of this great stuff happen to him over the weekend, then just all of a sudden he’s gone now.
Just so friggin bizarre, man.
I first started watching professional wrestling in 1999, a year after Warrior left the business. I’d heard about him, but it wasn’t until the DVD came out that I actually got a good look at what he did. To me, it looked like he personified the eighties to the tee- neon colored tights. the frenetic energy, the teased hair. It wasn’t surprising that he got over the way he did. Of course, lets not forget that the DVD was nothing more than a hit piece because Warrior didn’t want to work with the WWE, so it was a marred project in hindsight.
He was not a terrific worker, to say the least. With great guys, he can have good matches. You put him in a ring with guys like Hercules and yes, they’re going to suck. Warrior wasn’t a workhorse in the least bit. The DVD made sure to inform us of that. But he didn’t need to be. As long as he was the Warrior and got his stuff in like shaking the ropes and doing his military press into a splash, it was all good. People dug into his character and for the short while that he was a top guy he was fine.
You can say his promos didn’t make a lick of sense. And that’s kind of true. His verbiage was very interesting, to say the least, and it took you a while to decipher what he was saying at times. But hey, it was one of his quirks, and in short bursts (ie not talking for 20 minutes straight on Nitro) he was at least interesting in that regard. Besides, what promo isn’t quoted more than the one on Hulk Hogan about the rocket fuel and the airplane. Everyone remembers that.
And everyone remembers that match. I watched it when they replayed Wrestlemania VI on the network. It was not a fantastic match, but it was good, and better than most of the matches on that card. What’s kind of bizarre about it is that you can point to that as the point where Warrior’s popularity started to fall- people liked him, but they liked Hogan more. People were more into Hogan losing the title than Warrior winning it, and that caused him to only have one run with the championship. I don’t know if Warrior could have been at Hogan’s level. Probably not, considering what I just described above. Hogan and Warrior both had that charisma that made them somebody. But Hulk Hogan can be Hogan both on and off the ring. Warrior’s known for that bizarre charisma in the ring but outside of it he’d probably just come across as a novelty.
Outside of the ring I didn’t pay too much attention to Warrior. He didn’t say a lot of nice things most of the time. But he was blunt and direct, so he probably wasn’t going to hold back his thoughts anyway. There’s tons of reasons not to like Warrior. But it’s really sad that he passed away just a day after he seemingly buried the hatchet with most in the professional wrestling industry, and then just out of nowhere he collapses, never to get up again- just like that. And worst of all, he left behind a family that has experienced both highs and devastating lows in the last week.
I’ll just remember him for his wacky promos, music, and overall intriguing personality. His match at Wrestlemania VI is one that many people hold to their heart to this day. Same for his match a year later with Randy Savage- one of the premier moments in Warrior’s career. He wasn’t Ricky Steamboat in the ring, but he wasn’t designed to be. He was the larger than life superstar that managed to eclipse many people in both charisma and appearance and propelled himself into mainstream society. He inspired a generation of fans and wrestlers alike and for that he will be missed the most. Many people within the industry would label Warrior as a flash in the pan, someone who never got it and whose ego drove him to be less successful than he could of been in the industry. However, if you sit and look upon his career, then look at the outpouring of respect and love that tons of people in professional wrestling gave him, well…then it’s pretty easy to see that he was anything but a flash in pan.
That will do it for this week. See you next time!
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