10 Bizarre Times WWE Stars Experimented With Their Gimmick
8. Ultimate Warrior - Mid-1990s Wrestler
The Ultimate Warrior’s 1996 return was never going to work, but nor would a 1998 return and Vince McMahon was trying to snap him up just weeks after the Montreal Screwjob.
It goes underreported that McMahon was constantly trying to lure his former 1980s class back throughout the 1990s, despite the entire New Generation philosophy being based on them all being ancient fossils. He worked under the assumption that sooner or later the Savages, Hogans and Warriors would always be available again, even if never got a second chance with the Macho Man and the other two tanked business during their sophomore tenures.
In 2002, ‘The Hulkster’ attempted to adjust to the nostalgic context within which he was framed, but not Warrior after his WrestleMania return in 1996. He might have said he was going to “kick your ass” before Stone Cold Steve Austin that year, but that was the problem - he did it dressed in the trappings of a role the company had actively phased down and out years prior.
Neither performer nor promoter could have their cake and eat it too, and a fraught professional relationship hit the skids by the summer.