10 Precise Moments Wrestling Bookers Lost Their Minds
7. Vince McMahon (1)
Fads end.
That's the long and short of it, and the WWF was a fad. The Ultimate Warrior was a fad unto himself, and when Vince put two fads together, business shoved that control into a nosedive after taking the two pilots that had already made the sacrifice or whatever incoherent bullsh*t that Warrior said when promoting the Ultimate Challenge.
It was actually a memorable promo delivered in a unique, bone-chilling way, but it wasn't exactly heroic in vibe nor content. It was great for how weird it was, but weird wasn't why the kids watched. They like Warrior - just look at that picture, listen to those crowd reactions - but kids like all sorts of stupid sh*t for a short amount of time.
The Ultimate Challenge itself was a cracking over-delivery for that era; however, at a time during PPV was entering more and more homes, WrestleMania VI (560,000) drew an eye-watering 207,000 fewer buys than WrestleMania V (767,000). The Royal Rumble, at which the Hogan Vs. Warrior match was teased, was actually up on the prior year.
Was the unusual all-babyface dynamic just not as hot as a classic goodie versus baddie showdown? Was wrestling on the downturn regardless?
Or was the general public more interested in wrestlers who didn't throw weak clotheslines with their f*cking armpits?
In any event, this was the first occasion on which Vince's ingrained impulses - push muscled f*ckheads irrespective of their ability! - found him out.