7 Times Wrestling Promotions Were Held To Ransom

5. The Ultimate Warrior

Vince McMahon
WWE

Vince McMahon looked more like the meme'd orgasmic version of himself in WWE's 'Self-Destruction Of The Ultimate Warrior' hatchet job DVD when he described how it felt to sack the former star shortly he after he'd finished his SummerSlam 1991.

Like much on that production, the story was dissected and dispelled soon after, with the company themselves softening their stance as part of Warrior's posthumous lionisation. McMahon was more at fault than he was willing to admit - Warrior was owed cash and had a legitimate gripe with the Chairman for the shrunken size of some previously promised payoffs. His handling of it was unprofessional in the traditional sense, but not unjustified in the face of what he felt were a collection of lies and mistruths from his once-thriving boss.

As it turned out, Warrior needn't have bothered kicking up such a fuss. The booking of his tag team match alongside Hulk Hogan against token jobber heels The Triangle Of Terror was framed around 'The Hulkster's burgeoning friendship with latest chiselled musclehead Sid Justice. McMahon saw so many dollars in that as a WrestleMania match that the left a few zeroes off Warrior's payslip. His heart and head had long been turned before his 'Ultimate' creation raced out of the promotion altogether.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 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 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, 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