10 WWE Superstars Who Recovered From Disgrace

3. Ultimate Warrior

Vince McMahon Hulk Hogan
WWE.com

The lionisation of The Ultimate Warrior by WWE for charitable causes has been grim to spectate, not least due to the awkward placement of his widow Dana in every single segment. The most recent recipient of the 'Warrior' treatment was the company's annual link-up with divisive (!) cancer charity Susan G Koman, in which survivors were encouraged to embrace their inner warriors and flog some t-shirts. This, despite the late Warrior himself making some hideous remarks about beloved cancer-stricken figure Bobby Heenan during 'The Brain's struggles with multiple bouts of the condition.

Those weren't his only problematic parables. He infamously took aim at the victims of Hurricane Katrina as they watched their lives float away in the devastation, repeatedly fired homophobic shots at Heath Ledger and drew audible gasps from the students of the University of Connecticut after defending his hardline views on homosexuality by suggesting that "queering don't make the world work", and later instructing an Iranian student to "get a towel".

During his time extradited from the WWE family, comments and outbursts such as these were looked upon with judgment by the organisation. Years later (and in the grim profiteering from his death), they were simply overlooked in a failed act of erasure.

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Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 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. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, 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