The Ultimate Warrior was never the most popular guy in the locker room even before he hit big. The former James Hellwig (he legally changed his name to Warrior several years after he quit wrestling) was never a mark for the business (just for himself), entering into it after beginning a career as a bodybuilder because, simply put, there was more money in professional wrestling if you managed to hit the big time. Given the impressive, but shortsighted gimmick of the unstoppable force (his undefeated streak may have comprised mostly of jobbers, but it also lasted for around six months), Warrior was always earmarked for success, his high voltage ring entrance causing excitement wherever he went. It didnt really matter that he could barely work: in the same way as Hogan, the act was over, and thats all that mattered. And thats all that mattered to Warrior, too. He very quickly developed a reputation for arrogance, becoming very difficult to work with. Often, it would appear as though he was aware that his sloppiness in the ring could hurt people, and simply didnt care. He also had no real love for the business of professional wrestling the Ultimate Warrior was the real ultimate opportunist in wrestling, long before real life nice guy Edge made that a part of his worked persona. Warrior famously held Vince McMahon to ransom with the main event of Summerslam 1991, sending the boss a virtually incomprehensible letter which amounted to a list of demands, bolstered by emotional blackmail and injured pride. Although McMahon would pretend to capitulate in order to secure his main event, he would suspend the Warrior immediately after the pay-per-view, and their relationship would never be the same again, culminating in a DVD release in 2005 entitled The Self-Destruction Of The Ultimate Warrior which continued the bad blood. Warrior would bury the hatchet with WWE and McMahon in the years to come, and became less bitter and arrogant with age and after starting a family.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
