10 Wrestlers Who Defeated The WWE Machine
5. The Ultimate Warrior
The Self-Destruction Of The Ultimate Warrior DVD was possibly the most bold-faced propaganda WWE ever produced. The title alone was deeply ironic; the man was destroyed by many sides for no reason other than to blacklist him from the company and tarnish his legend in the minds of the fandom.
Jim Ross claimed that Warrior found the Universal Wrestling Federation too physically intense. He was soft. Steve Lombardi confirmed that he "literally got knocked out two or three times" when wrestling the Warrior. He was dangerous. Every talking head invariably waffled on about his physique, damning him with faint praise, as if the steroids he was nudge-nudge definitely injecting also infused his blood with charisma and presence. He was a total fraud.
WWE backed themselves into a corner in the years following its 2005 release. His name was a stark omission from the Hall of Fame, first balloters for which were (and are) in increasingly short supply. When WWE initiated a reconciliation, Warrior was reluctant. The bad blood from the DVD spilled over into litigation territory. He waited, biding his time until the circumstances benefitted him - and his family. Warrior was inducted into the Hall in 2014 on his own terms. His wife now acts as an ambassador for the company. Warrior was a terrible wrestler but a sublime worker - something he proved years after the bell rang on his in-ring career.
That DVD has now been retconned out of existence.