And so, on April 1st, 1990, he did the unthinkable and beat Hogan in the Toronto Skydome to become the (then) WWF champion. Hailing from Parts Unknown, he hid his face under a painted mask and spoke in cryptic puzzles, but the considerable impact he had on WWE is still talked about today. The intense individual named Jim Hellwig (known simply as Warrior) had always been the one and only Ultimate Warrior. Following a brief interlude being born in Oklahoma, Reid quickly moved to and was raised in the Central Texas area. Due to the drastic change in his appearance (shorter, blonder hair and a smaller physique), rumors began circulating that a new wrestler was playing the role. Slaughter, Colonel Mustafa, and General Adnan. [58] During the bout, Hogan attempted to "blind" The Warrior using flash paper, but was unable to light it properly, and as a result The Warrior was forced to briefly sell the move despite the flames clearly not touching him in any way. An early precursor to the Ultimate Warrior was named Blade Runner Rock, who tagged with Blade Runner Blaze in a tag team known, obviously, as The Killer Bees. After researching everything, we made the interview and tried to get to the bottom of everything. His first contest took place in Florida, where he placed 5th. And thus, a legend was born. Lex Luger seemed destined for great things in the WWF. Warrior returned to the WWF at WrestleMania XII, but lasted four months, as he began no-showing events. [65] The next day, Warrior appeared at WrestleMania XXX, and the following night delivered a promo on Raw, his first appearance on the show since his final televised WWF match in 1996. [44] Warrior left the company on November 21, 1992 with his last match being a victory over Kamala on November 8 in Orlando, Florida. WWF owner Vince McMahon claimed that Warrior had not seen his father in ten years and did not care much for him; therefore, he did not take Warrior's excuse for missing house shows at face value. The wild Superstar's matches were often as quick as his entrances. [61] Warrior won the match and the Nu-Wrestling Evolution World Heavyweight Championship, but immediately vacated the title. He has confirmed that there has been only one Ultimate Warrior. At SummerSlam, he retained the title over Rick Rude in a steel cage match. The Warrior won the match by count-out, but not the title. Numerous played Doink the Clown during that period of time, until the character was circumstantially retired. How many Ultimate Warriors were there? [81] In January 2006, Warrior filed another lawsuit against WWE in an Arizona court over the depiction of his wrestling career in The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior DVD. I cant come up with any other reason. oh, but wait a second! On the preceding three nights in New Orleans, he had been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, appeared at WrestleMania XXX and made his final public appearance on Monday Night Raw, returning to the promotion after an acrimonious separation in 1996. PACER.GOV. Instead of Bret Hart winning in the main event like most thought he would, Yokozuna walked away with the title. The Ultimate Warrior only appeared sporadically through the late 1990s and 2000s, most notably in WCW as The Renegade, a role portrayed by Bob Holly. Watch every Premium Live Event and get unlimited access to WWE's premium content - available to you anywhere, anytime, on any device. [77], Warrior and the WWF engaged in a series of lawsuits and legal actions in 1996 and 1998,[78] where both parties sought a declaration that they owned the characters, Warrior and Ultimate Warrior, under both contract and copyright law. Ultimate Creations Inc. vs. WWE Inc. The Ultimate Warrior earned the most prestigious championship in professional wrestling when he defeated Hulk Hogan in what pundits agree was the greatest technical masterpiece of all time. RIP Warrior. The real story was not as fun: Warrior was smaller due to having to get off steroids, as the wrestling industry was caught in the midst of a PR nightmare scandal involving steroids that would nearly destroy it. Her interference eventually led to a Savage sneak attack, where he struck Warrior over the head with a metal scepter and allowed Slaughter to pin Warrior to win the title. One, the artist formerly known as Jim Hellwig. The team played babyfaces at first, but fans were actually slow to take to the hulking duo in a territory that had featured sympathetic "good guy tag teams" like the Rock 'n' Roll Express and The Fabulous Ones. My Spidey sense was certainly up, but you cant know the unknown.. Sign up for Peacock to watch. The thought of such a feat is impossible to fathom any normal human being even attempting, but the first-ever WWE Hall of Famer was anything but a normal human being. Luger even disputed the fact that he was at a bar, and said that he was at a friend's house over two hours away from the arena. The feud was sparked at the 1989 Royal Rumble, where the two met in a "super posedown". In 1996, the Monday Night War had begun and WWE and WCW battled for sports-entertainment and television ratings supremacy. Ultimate Warrior's biggest victory, however, occurred at WrestleMania VI in Toronto's SkyDome. Wrestlecrap: The Very Worst of Pro Wrestling. Theres a small group of fans that have overanalyzed what transpired in Montreal a bit too much and have come up with a relatively insane urban legend and conspiracy theory. He ended his letter with "Whatever your decision, I can and will live with it. His hair was much shorter and he truly looked contradictory from when he left the WWE months earlier. Perfect. Warrior occasionally referenced his respect for the Founding Fathers of the United States, and also enjoyed books like Homer's Odyssey and James Allen's As a Man Thinketh. Later, while he was attending Life University in Marietta, Georgia, he won the Junior Atlanta contest and placed 5th at the 1981 AAU Collegiate Mr. America. Nevertheless, the Superstar who rescued Hulk Hogan from Papa Shango and Sid Justice was the very same one that defeated The Hulkster for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania VI. This time, Vince McMahon raided the roster of WCW (then-NWA) to recruit an exact lookalike, who took over the role with practically no fans noticing the switch; Ron Simmons. The only logical explanation is that he must have died, and the WWF never told us and decided to re-cast him with someone that otherwise looks exactly like him, and wrestles just as terrible as he ever did! \rWas there a second, or possibly a third?\rIf it IS true, why wouldn't Vince McMahon or anyone else admit to it?\r\r\rThe rumors of there being more than one Ultimate Warrior have circulated for years, and until now, I simply dismissed them as rumors and fairy tales. We just had a great talk & buried a senseless hatchet. only love We talked, both forgave each other, we hugged, we shook hands as we told each other I love you, I am so sad, God bless his beautiful family". Was it all an elaborate scheme to build up the organization and ultimately destroy it? Any attempt to distract from the mission of these initiatives and take the spotlight away from the honorees is unfortunately misguided. This sort of nonsense is best left to inciting radio hosts like Alex Jones. Then he asked King to take over, and he's had the job ever since. He went from a relative unknown to becoming the second most celebrated wrestler in the WWE, second only to Hulk Hogan. Business declined sharply during Warriors reign as champion and by the following year he was stagnant, forced to step aside for a humbled, non-Oscar-winning Hogan to return to right the ship. Dragon Gate Special - plus all the usual WWE/TNA ramblings and reports from UK, US, Germany and Mexico. [73] WWE announcer Tom Phillips claims that the rumors likely originated from Gene Okerlund's WCW Hotline as well as the WCW debut of Warrior doppelgnger The Renegade. It looked like someone had socked him in the eye! But this is rumor false: Jim Hellwig never portrayed the Ultimate Warrior. Warrior died on April 8, 2014, at the age of 54 in Scottsdale, Arizona. His hair was shorter and a different color. -Sable once tried to sue the company for $110 million! [8] Hellwig started training with weights when he was 11 years old and described himself as "the small, insecure kid who wasn't into any sports". [34] For the third test, the Warrior entered a room full of snakes,[34] to find "the answer" in a chest in the middle of the room. Among other things, McMahon said, "You threatened to stay at home thereby not even appearing at Titan's major summer pay-per-view event SummerSlam. His appearance was so popular that a second print run of tickets had to be ordered. [72] WWE claims that the theory that a different man returned to play The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VIII remains "perhaps the longest standing urban legend in WWE history". A longstanding myth among wrestling fans is that The Ultimate Warrior was portrayed by a man named Jim Hellwig, a scholar known for his important research on queering. But once Warrior was under the commission of the Vince McMahon media machine, he blew up. Document 185 P.January 10, 2006. My Turn: The demise of a . [119], In 2015, WWE introduced the Warrior Award for those who have "exhibited unwavering strength and perseverance, and who lives life with the courage and compassion that embodies the indomitable spirit of the Ultimate Warrior. WWE has been criticized for using Warrior as the inspirational "emblem" of the campaign. [50], Warrior returned to the WWF on March 31, 1996, defeating Hunter Hearst Helmsley at WrestleMania XII. WWE Hall of Famer Howard Finkel chimed in on the long-standing urban legend and offered a definitive answer on the unique competitor: "Often imitated, often duplicated, there was only one Ultimate Warrior.". [21] Warrior made his final appearance with WCCW in June 1987. [1] A rematch with Intercontinental Champion Goldust, on the May 27 episode of the show, ended in a double countout, thus eliminating both men from the tournament and eventually giving Vader a bye into the semi-finals. Perfect and Demolition). 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