Who Was Ultimate Warrior?
Ultimate Warrior was a professional wrestler and WWE Hall of Famer who wowed audiences with his incredible power and high-octane stage antics.
Who Was the Ultimate Warrior, and how did he get so?
Ultimate Warrior began his professional wrestling career as a bodybuilder before making the switch to wrestling in general. After joining the WWE in 1987, he quickly rose to prominence, and his meteoric rise was capped with a victory against the company’s champion, Hulk Hogan, at WrestleMania VI in April 1990. Warrior’s wrestling career came to an end as a result of several bans, however he ultimately made amends with the WWE and was inducted into its Hall of Fame only months before his death in 2014.
Ultimate Warrior’s early years and bodybuilding career Ultimate Warrior was born on June 16, 1959, in Crawfordsville, Indiana, and reared there. Warrior, the eldest of five children, had financial and mental challenges when his father abandoned the family. To fill the vacuum, Warrior resorted to football and weightlifting at Fountain Central High School.
Warrior gained a lot of muscle quickly and moved to Georgia to pursue a bodybuilding career, where he won a number of competitions, including the 1984 Mr. Georgia title. He subsequently relocated across the nation to train at the prestigious Gold’s Gym in Venice Beach, California, where he became a member of a fledgling wrestling team that included future WWE superstar Steve Borden, aka Sting, and other future WWE stars.
Early Wrestling Career in the Pro Wrestling Industry
Warrior and Borden made their professional wrestling debuts in late 1985, as part of the Championship Wrestling company based in Memphis, Tennessee. Initially known as the Freedom Fighters, the young, fresh-faced couple quickly developed a bad-guy persona and outclassed their opponents, earning them the nickname the Blade Runners.
Warrior finally went it alone and signed with the Texas-based World Class Championship Wrestling organization, where he gained a significant following under the ring name of the Dingo Warrior.
WWE Superstar and two-time WWE Champion
With his first appearance on the World Wrestling Entertainment’s main stage in 1987, Warrior finished his transformation into the tasseled and face-painted Ultimate Warrior and quickly became a fan favorite thanks to his cartoonishly chiseled physique, high-energy performances, and intense, cryptic interviews.
Warrior’s breakthrough as a superstar occurred at the first-ever WWE SummerSlam in 1988, when he defeated The Honky Tonk Man in less than 30 seconds to win the intercontinental title. His subsequent championship defense against Andre the Giant solidified his position as one of the sport’s premier draws, lifting and body-slamming his 520-pound opponent.
During WrestleMania VI in April 1990, Warrior defeated heavyweight champion Hulk Hogan in “The Ultimate Challenge,” capping off his meteoric rise to stardom. Using his signature “Warrior Splash,” the upstart cruised to a clean victory. The passing of the torch was commemorated by Hogan presenting him with his title belt and the two of them hugging in the center of the ring, a fitting conclusion.
Suspensions and Transfer to WCW Ultimate Warrior’s reign as World Heavyweight Champion was cut short when he was defeated by “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Sgt. Slaughter at the January 1991 Royal Rumble. A contract conflict with WWE president Vince McMahon resulted in his suspension from the business in summer 1991, despite the fact that he was able to get vengeance on Savage a few months later at WrestleMania VII.
Who Was Ultimate Warrior?
When Hulk Hogan was being beaten by Sid Justice at WrestleMania VII in April 1992, Warrior made a triumphant comeback to the limelight. He saved Hogan’s life by rescuing him from the attack. However, at the time, WWE was under federal investigation for the widespread use of steroids in the sport, and the wrestler was banned for a second time in November after reportedly failing several drug tests.
Following completing another brilliant comeback with a win over Triple H at 1996’s WrestleMania XII, Warrior once again came into conflict with Vince McMahon when he started skipping events, culminating in his dismissal from the WWE and subsequent expulsion from the company. In 1998, he returned to the professional wrestling scene with World Championship Wrestling, albeit his short tenure with the promotion came to an end with a defeat to Hulk Hogan at that year’s Halloween Havoc event.
Change of Surname and Post-Wrestling Profession
The Warrior brand was established in the early 1990s when he officially changed his name to “Warrior.” He attempted to profit on the brand via the publication of a comic book and the establishment of a gym and wrestling school in Scottsdale, Arizona.
In the years following his retirement from wrestling, he established himself as a conservative blogger and speaker, though he was criticized for a 2005 appearance at the University of Connecticut that devolved into a shouting match with several students, an incident that served as the basis for the WWE-produced documentary The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior.
Despite this, Warrior continued to make motivational films and, subsequently, discovered another positive outlet for his interests in painting.
Observations on My Own Personal Life
After divorcing his first wife, Shari, Warrior met Dana, his second wife, in his Arizona gym, where they later married. It was through them that they had two daughters: Indiana and Mattigan.
Death and the WWE Hall of Fame
With his old employers having been estranged for almost two decades, Warrior consented to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and to serve as an ambassador for the business beginning in 2014.
Warrior recognized his confrontations with Vince McMahon and his colleagues, as well as the hard road that lead him back into the WWE family, as he took the stage with his daughters at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony on April 5, 2014. He was in attendance at WrestleMania XXX the next night and then made an appearance on Monday Night Raw on April 7, when he delivered another impassioned statement, this time about his father, the former WWE champion.
Warrior died of a deadly heart attack on April 8, only minutes after his family arrived in Scottsdale. He was 54 years old and had been a WWE icon for more than two decades.
