One MIND-BLOWING Secret From EVERY WWE WrestleMania
36. WrestleMania 6 | The Main Event Almost Didn’t Happen
When WWE released the Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior DVD in 2005, it was something of a self-own. Yes, Warrior was notorious for his recklessness, lack of passion, and generally entitled and abrasive attitude - but the idea of making a documentary out of all that nine years after his last appearance was clearly agenda-driven. The DVD didn’t go down well; Warrior was always far more over than the character assassination wanted you to believe. Turns out WWE weren’t wrong, they were just an asshole.
The Warrior was never happy in the WWF even before he sensed that he wasn’t on Hulk Hogan’s level and payscale, leading to the infamous SummerSlam 1991 dispute. In Warrior’s defence, even though he didn’t do much in the ring, he had to do it a lot. The late ‘80s ‘Killer Kalendar’ spared no man’s sanity. Warrior, who was often too…alert to sleep, was a frazzled, exhausted mess all of the time. He was really close with Owen Hart, of all people, and when Owen quit after WrestleMania 5, feeling that he was being treated like a joke, the Warrior wanted to join him in Japan. If that actually happened, there would have been no WrestleMania 6 main event. No Ultimate Challenge. No Hulk Hogan selling the loss like God had decided to punish him.
Owen was a notorious ribber. Some of his jokes were very mean-spirited. He must have really liked Warrior, because he didn’t encourage him to go there and fail spectacularly. And Warrior would have failed in Japan: they would have laughed at him.
Owen gently told Warrior that Japan isn’t for everyone - which, translated, means “You’re lucky enough that they take you seriously here”.