10 Secret Times Wrestling TV Mirrored Real Life

7. Ultimate Warrior's 1996 Exit

Corey Graves Carmella Big Cass
WWE

The Ultimate Warrior and Vince McMahon's tumultuous relationship had skewed towards the broken end of f*cked going back to several 1991 disagreements outlined in tremendous detail by the A&E documentary on his strange life.

That - five years and several more spats later - the pair expected things to be different was probably on them.

Warrior felt like a man out of time in 1996's New Generation, but initially that was the point. WWE had felt short on the bankable commodities of the eighties and early-nineties, and the former headliner was precisely that. Unfortunately for Warrior, the company had changed in the image of Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels and the few remaining fans had been trained to expect much more than his smoke and mirrors act.

Creative and financial disagreements cursed the deal from the off, and McMahon wasn't best pleased when Warrior started missing dates. The company took the odd step of having kayfabe President Gorilla Monsoon explain a real life punishment on-air, noting that Warrior would have to post appearance bonds to protect the company from future no-shows. This lined up with an injury write-off at the hands of Camp Cornette, and the two sides parted ways for good.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett