10 Big-Time Wrestling Debuts That Were Totally Wasted

4. The Ultimate Warrior (WCW)

Will Ospreay AEW
WCW

When: 17 August 1998 (Nitro).

Why It Was A Waste: Rambling, borderline-incoherent promos were kinda Jim Hellwig's thing. During his pomp as The Ultimate Warrior in the WWF, the dude droned on and on about celestial beings, mystical journeys and spouted all manner of nonsense.

It was engaging...in 1990.

Wrestling had moved on by 1998, so it was laughable that WCW thought sticking a live mic in Warrior's hands for a repeat of his WrestleMania VI build opposite Hulk Hogan was the way to go. WCW fans sat on their hands as Warrior rambled on and on (and on and on) about the same old guff.

Then, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke (through a trapdoor in the ring) and everybody acted shocked. Meanwhile, thousands in Hartford, Connecticut just wanted to go home. Also, whomever came up with the idea of Warrior mimicking a 1960s Batman bit by encouraging fans to tune into "the same Warrior channel" deserved a slap.

Warrior was at his best when he was straight to the point physically. This rant made Triple H's 20-minute 2002 Raw promos look stellar.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.