Okay, hands up everybody who expected the Ultimate Warrior to return to WWE in 2014? Nobody? Okay then. There were few more shocking news stories than Warrior's WWE comeback last year. He and Vince McMahon had been at odds with one another for years and there was so much bad blood there. Where to begin? The first major incident was Warrior demanding Vince McMahon pay him $550,000 for performing at WrestleMania VII and a higher percentage of merchandise royalties in a 1991 letter to the WWF owner. Warrior performed at SummerSlam and was then suspended. Warrior went home. He came back at WrestleMania VIII to fill the void that was to be left by the soon-departing Hulk Hogan. Warrior was suspended a few months later when he was found to be experimenting with growth hormone. Vince, under pressure from the federal government to eradicate steroid use, had no choice. Warrior took offence, skipped dates and was fired. Warrior was released in 1996, his last run with the WWF, after skipping dates. Warrior sued the WWF in 1996 and 1998 over the rights to the Warrior name and likeness. Warrior won and, in 2005, WWE released a character assassination DVD called The Self-Destruction Of The Ultimate Warrior. Warrior sued them again. Yes, Warrior and Vince McMahon have a troubled relationship which involves a lot of litigation. Many people assumed that the stubbornness of both men, coupled with the way the WWE had portrayed Warrior on the Self-Destruction DVD, would prevent them from working with each other again. It was to the shock of almost everyone that The Ultimate Warrior was inducted into the 2014 Hall of Fame as the star inductee. Over WrestleMania weekend, Warrior mended fences with Hogan, Vince and a host of others. He died the day after the post-WrestleMania Raw, aged 54. Warrior's WWE return is proof positive that anything can happen in the wrestling business and that you should never say 'never'.
