July 8, 1996 was an interesting moment in This Day in Wrestling History as the WWE had given the Ultimate Warrior a second chance and fired him on this date for missing house shows.
It’s no secret that the Ultimate Warrior had his share of problems when it came to working with others. He’s been labeled every thing from stiff to a waste, depending on who you talk to.
But he was still one of the most electrifying performers ever and my personal favorite alone with Steve Austin.
Legitimate reason
While missing house shows is a legitimate reason for termination, there have been numerous reports that Warrior missed them in response to losing out on the revenue and other issues over several months.
One of those had to do with his Ultimate Warrior comic book, and that story fits in with a lot of what we’ve heard about various business practices.
Special thanks to @awrestlinghistorian for the transcript.
“They got behind the comic book. That was part of the deal. ‘Always Believe’ being the catchphrase that was used to delineate between the wrestling that they could capitalize off of ‘Feel The Power’ and what I was to use through their own merchandising and marketing network.
“The licensing show came up in New York. Big, huge annual thing. You go there. You sell your product. Your intellectual properties for people to put them on stuff. They (WWF) didn’t want me to come. They said ‘Don’t come. You don’t need to come.’ The talent always goes to the licensing shows to make an appearance.
“Something told me to come so me and my fianceé, Dana, got on a plane. We came to New York. Walked into the Javits Center. Walked around the corner and the whole theme of the booth was ‘Always Believe’ and there wasn’t one picture of Ultimate Warrior. I was sick.
“I almost fell to my knees and just started throwing up right there.
“This one phrase that separated in our contract what they were to use and what they weren’t supposed to use.
“I went back to hotel and called Linda McMahon. And up until that time if she wasn’t there, her secretary would tell me when she was going to call me back without fail and that night she didn’t call me.
“The next morning about 11:45, she calls me and says she didn’t know and then Vince gets on the phone and says ‘Shit happens.’
“I said, ‘Vince, your people have been lying to me for 4 months.’ He said, “People lie to me every day.” – The Ultimate Warrior Shoot Interview DVD 2005.
As with everything, there are two sides to the story that make up This Day in Wrestling History. What do you think about Warrior’s claim? Let us know in the comments below.
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