10 WWE Main Eventers Fans Rejected
2. The Ultimate Warrior
One of the most controversial figures in wrestling history he may be, but The Ultimate Warrior was absurdly popular at one point. His initial success was so strong that he was eventually groomed as Hulk Hogan’s long-term replacement as WWE’s franchise player, and WrestleMania VI was his grand coronation.
‘The Ultimate Challenge’ put Warrior’s Intercontinental Title against Hogan’s WWE Championship, and Warrior was victorious. He left the building as a double champion, which should have been the making of him as “the guy,” but instead transformed into the beginning of the end of Warrior’s ascent, with a swift decline soon to follow.
WWE were ready to move on from Hogan, but the fans weren’t. Warrior just couldn’t escape ‘The Hulkster’s’ shadow as WWE Champion, and it didn’t help that he’d already crushed most of his potential challengers on his road to the top. Warrior’s crowd reactions plummeted as a result, and attendances soon followed suit, as more and more of the fanbase rejected him as the company’s centrepiece.
WWE were eventually forced to hand the belt back to Hogan after a transitional Sgt. Slaughter reign just to stop the rot, sending them back to square one, and marking Warrior’s push as the ultimate failure.