10 Wrestlers WWE Protected In The WORST Way Possible

10. The Ultimate Warrior’s Archaic Style Is Exposed

Only around 4 years had passed between The Ultimate Warrior being fired in 1992 and his early-1996 return, but it felt like a lifetime. Vince McMahon, who was starting to feel the competitive heat from WCW post-Nitro launch (which would only worsen when the nWo landed), was desperate for big stars and attractions. So, he turned the other cheek on Warrior's glaring deficiencies.

Ultimate returned in time for WrestleMania XII and squashed a young Hunter Hearst Helmsley like he was nothing. Fair enough, Triple H wasn't what he'd become in '96, but there were bigger problems with Warrior than that. He was a one-note act when fans had grown accustomed to seeing more than that on top of cards.

People popped for Warrior and enjoyed the Hunter squash at 'Mania, but it didn't take long for them to grow bored of the same old, same old. Since Warrior's 1992 exit and the end of the Hulkamania boom he benefitted from generally, the WWF fanbase had been reconditioned to enjoy stellar, workrate-heavy matches in the main event slot by the likes of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels.

Anyone who didn't fit neatly into that category, like Diesel or The Undertaker, proved talented/smart enough to adapt. The Ultimate Warrior was just never going to do that. He neither wanted to nor saw the need to do so. By protecting Warrior and effectively letting him relive the late-80s/early-90s, the federation shot themselves in the foot and woefully exposed how limited he was compared to others.

The returning "saviour" was never going to thrive in a 'New Generation' that required more than muscles and rope-shaking.