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WWE: The Latest Reality and Ridiculousness of the Ultimate Warrior

Posted: Sep 26th 2012 By: mikeiles

Ultimate Warrior acts like one of the biggest heels in wrestling. Ironically, he doesn't even try to profit off of that gimmick.

It's ironic because when you watch his rants on YouTube and hear the countless stories of being difficult to work with, I can truly picture him being the kinda guy that if he could sell the toilet paper he used, he would.

The other day, I was in the Pittsburgh Steelers' practice locker room and several players were talking about wrestling. They were all talking about how much they loved The Ultimate Warrior. Everyone, whether you care about wrestling anymore or not, remembers or knows of The Ultimate Warrior from the '80s or early '90s.

He stood out, which is good for him. Nobody can ever take away the fact that he's The Ultimate Warrior, and I understand keeping the character alive. There have been lesser-known guys who, 20 years later, still live the gimmick.

Thing is, those other guys recognize who they were and what they are now. They act accordingly.

Warrior hasn't been on a national wrestling program since 1998, and it was one of the worst matches in the history of wrestling with Hulk Hogan at WCW's Halloween Havoc.

If you listen to him and read his actions, you would think he is one day removed from WrestleMania 6 with Hogan.

Recently, a press release came out stating he wouldn't sign any copies of the WWE produced DVD.

Former WWE Champion Ultimate Warrior has been announced to appear at the Frank and Sons Collectible Show located at 19649 San Jose Ave., City of Industry, California 91748 on Saturday, November 10, 2012 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. He will participating in photo-ops and signing all Warrior items with the exception of one?WWE's 2005 DVD release The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior.

Really?
The DVD, The Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior, highlights both his powerful legacy as well as the downfalls of his career. Those downfalls feature many tales of holding up Vince McMahon for more money minutes before a pay-per-view match, no-showing events, being unsafe to work with and disrespectful to others.

Everybody has agendas and issues with someone in wrestling, which can make you question the validity of their stories. For me, when you hear the amount of the same stories that are out there about Warrior who do you believe?

Do you believe the long list of veteran names who all can verify the same stories, or the guy who legally changed his name to Warrior?

So not signing the DVD. Again, really?

You don't have to like what's said in a DVD, but these are still people who even care to pay money to hear about you, good or bad. They then pay more money to come see you and ask for you to sign their copy of the DVD.

To me, it sounds like a guy who doesn't like that his peers will speak the truth on him. It's like he feels since his name is Warrior, if he doesn't acknowledge it, it can't be true when it comes to The Ultimate Warrior.

If I'm a bald Warrior who is 20 years removed from relevance, and fans still care to watch a DVD about me, I sign it. If WWE cares to invest money to make a DVD about you, embrace that.

This is when people who want to defend Warrior will say, ?He is a bigger person; he doesn't need to acknowledge WWE, appear on programming or go into the Hall of Fame.?

Yeah, he's such a big, grounded person. That's why 20 years later his legal name is still Warrior and not Jim.

He is a big mark for himself. That's fine, just acknowledge it.

Be thankful you're remembered and even acknowledged by WWE. Look at the big picture of The Ultimate Warrior.

A guy with a muscle-filled physique. Nice, but he was a top guy in an era with reported heavy steroid use. Wrestling was filled with big bodies.

He wore colorful costumes and face paint. Fun, but again, an era where that was a normal occurrence.

He couldn't talk, so he made it his gimmick to be speak as if he was insane. Macho Man spoke insane but made a point; Warrior filled his 90 seconds with weird noises and stories that didn't make sense.

So what else is memorable about him? He ran to the ring real fast. He wasn't gonna use much energy in the ring because he couldn't sell or work?might as well work up a sweat running to the ring.

Live the gimmick until the day you die. Be the Warrior. Make appearances. Make money. Just remember how lucky you are to have the chance to still make money, Jim.