10 Greatest Ultimate Opportunists In WWE History
5. The Ultimate Warrior
The Honky Tonk Man was such an insufferable p***k of a champion that fans would pack arenas across the country during WWE's B-level house shows in the hopes of seeing the loudmouthed Elvis impersonator get his comeuppance and lose the coveted Intercontinental Championship.
Tito Santana, Koko B. Ware, George Steele, Hillbilly Jim, and Jake Roberts are just a few of the names that lined up to get a chance at the title, only to win via disqualification or count-out, the villain preserving his title status even in defeat.
At SummerSlam 1988, injury took Brutus Beefcake out of his scheduled championship bout and opened the opportunity for another superstar to step up and try his luck. Honky Tonk Man ran his mouth, issued an open challenge, and Ultimate Warrior accepted, rushing to the ring, destroying the living cartoon character and leaving with the championship.
The win catapulted Warrior to heights he had never previously reached. A wildly popular persona, he would ride the wave of momentum over the next year-and-a-half to WrestleMania VI in 1990 and a clean win over Hulk Hogan for the WWE Championship.