10 Wrestling Nightmares That Almost Came True
9. The Warrior Nearly Didn't Make The Ultimate Challenge
Look, the Ultimate Warrior was a rotten pro wrestler so uncoordinated that he used his armpit as an offensive weapon, and his WWF Title run was a disaster that brought the "Golden Era" to a close, but the main event of WrestleMania VI was outstanding and he was really fun to watch as a six year-old.
The first match with Hogan is one of, like, four things of his at best that hold up as something actually worth watching as an adult. Expertly laid out by Pat Patterson, if you squint, many babyface versus babyface back-and-forth matches in the modern era hold some of its "mirror match" DNA.
It was reportedly Vince McMahon's second choice.
The "we make movies" mogul was purportedly so convinced that his "debut feature" No Holds Barred would be a mega hit that he pencilled in Hulk Hogan Vs. Tiny 'Zeus' Lister for the Toronto SkyDome. It was actually a modest success, measured against its not particularly ambitious budget, but it was also a heap of sh*t and ultimately not worth wasting WrestleMania over. They got everything they needed out of it at SummerSlam, in a sort of WrestleMania V Backlash x Marketing Synergy way, and that was that.
They're too embarrassed to upload the thing to the Network these days.