There are people that make the ride all the more thrilling before they leave us. They carve out their own day in wrestling history, and take us alone for the ride. They seem to have perfect timing to maximize their time here and make the biggest impression. All of that and more is what today is about, as this day in wrestling history, we remember the Ultimate Warrior who passed away on April 8, 2014.
His legacy
There’s been a lot said about him being stiff to work with, and many have lambasted his wrestling skill as a whole, but there’s no denying the impact the Ultimate Warrior had on professional wrestling and fans in general.
His energy was contagious. Nothing compared to him running to the ring at full speed, shaking the ropes, and then having a match. He brought us out of our seats and we rode the wave all the way through his unseating of Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 6 for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship.
While he didn’t last at the top, he was a big enough draw that he was brought back in both WWE and WCW, and was handled badly both times.
Vince McMahon even went so far as to put a shoot video out, Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior, to discredit Warrior (He did much the same with Steve Austin on Raw by claiming he quit the company for unknown reasons when Austin left because he refused to lose to Brock Lesnar without some kind of build up. Like Hogan did in the Warrior documentary, Jim Ross backed McMahon up with Austin) by claiming Warrior was fired in ‘02 for demanding more money. Curiously enough, Bret Hart has said it was because he was fired for being caught with steroids, as was Davey Boy Smith who was reportedly with him. Hart said he knew because McMahon called him about Davey Boy Smith and the two were fired together.
Hall of Fame and final appearance
For many, the Ultimate Warrior doesn’t belong in the WWE Hall of Fame. The reasons include but aren’t limited to what was mentioned about concerning the dvd that was made solely to rip him. Many had stated they disliked working with him and didn’t like him in general. Several have backed up Vince McMahon’s claims that the Warrior held him up for more money. He’s been involved with several legal battles over the Ultimate Warrior name and properties (nothing new in current day WWE).
But despite all of that, the WWE and Vince McMahon mended the fence with Warrior enough that he agreed to join the Hall of Fame (he chose not to join in 2010).
As reported on the Inquirer.com, McMahon said, “The Ultimate Warrior was the most intense, colorful, competitive and outspoken superstar in sports-entertainment history, and his contributions to WWE were extraordinary. We are thrilled to induct the Ultimate Warrior into the WWE Hall of Fame.”
Three days after his induction ceremony, he appeared on Raw a final time, then passed away in his sleep later that night.
What he left behind from a wrestling stand point is a legacy that’s full of the good and the bad, and it feels right to let him close out this segment of This Day in Wrestling History.
(Special thanks to @awrestinghistorian for the quote
“The legacy thing is up to other people…The Ultimate Warrior was jacked. That word gets thrown around a lot today, a lot of different athletes and everybody else. The Ultimate Warrior was jacked, man.
“He and that character inspired a whole generation… double generation…still inspires people today. Athletes and people who go out and kick ass in their life out in the world, whether it be sports or something else in their life.
“It’s that intensity. There’s an obstacle in your way to getting something done, a wall there. You’re not going to go around it, you’re not going to go over it, you’re going to go fucking through it. Ultimate Warrior was a character like that and made people feel like that.” – The Ultimate Warrior Digital Spy.com interview November 27, 2013
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