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Will the Real Ultimate Warrior Please Stand Up?

Posted: Nov 8th 2007 By: CMBurnham

Passing as The Ultimate Warrior isn?t easy. But rumors that more than one person has played the character, and that the original died, have persisted for years.

The man who embodied the character, Jim Hellwig, has been adamant about being the only Ultimate Warrior.

Dave Meltzer, editor of the Wrestling Observer newsletter and one of the foremost authorities on pro wrestling, said the idea that anyone else played the character in World Wrestling Federation (today World Wrestling Entertainment) matches is ??ridiculous.??

Meltzer said the rumor started when Hellwig left the WWF in 1991 because of one of the many disputes he had with management, then returned in 1992 with a different look.

But Hellwig was unique. He came about as close to being a comic book character come to life as any wrestler ever had.

Hellwig, a power lifter, rose to stardom as The Ultimate Warrior in the late 1980s. At one point, he fought the WWF in court to retain the trademark to his name, and he brought the name - sans ??Ultimate?? - to WWF rival World Championship Wrestling for a short stint 1998.

Today, Hellwig spends time on the lecture circuit, espousing a conservative political philosophy.

A recent speech he gave at the University of Connecticut, a video of which has been viewed more than 100,000 times on the Internet site YouTube, prompted heckling when he touched on topics like homosexuality and liberalism.

??I do NOT tolerate political correctness and moral relativity when I discuss ideas that actually have to do with making life work,?? Hellwig writes on his Web site, www.ultimatewarrior.com. ??In my opinion, these are the two gravest dangers mankind faces today.??

Tags: WWF, Ultimate Warrior