That Time The Ultimate Warrior Nearly Ruined WWE's Attitude Era

Vince Russo, irritatingly, takes a disproportionate amount of credit for the Attitude Era’s success, as if his writing, and not Steve Austin’s megastar appeal, made the difference. But there was an holistic brilliance to it. Russo has a point. The likes of Kaientai and Steve Blackman didn’t move the needle on their own merits, but they were a quietly crucial ingredient to a genuine, top-to-bottom movement.

History paints a picture of the Attitude Era fandom as devout, loud and receptive to virtually everything. They were also very, very ruthless: X-Pac did not devolve as a worker, but for failing to evolve as a character, he generated an apathy that became iconic. If Warrior stalked the land, in 1998, maybe that crowd turns on whomever he crushes in a useless squash.

Who does the Warrior wrestle at SummerSlam, if he even lasts that long? The Warrior is a major star. You don’t put major stars in minor matches. Does Vince book Warrior Vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin for SummerSlam ’98? Does the WWF divide the audience between past and future, and force Austin to slow his own progress to match Warrior’s slow, lumbering style?

Any Warrior return would not have lasted—they never did—but the potential damage was far-ranging in scope.

This may read as cynical. Perhaps Warrior could have worked something deeply silly but entertaining with the Undertaker, who did dafter things in 1999. Perhaps Warrior’s dated schtick would have brought into focus just how fresh everything around him was.

Or perhaps, like Eric Bischoff, you didn’t see the Warrior appear in a mirror in one of the cheesiest wrestling segments ever penned.

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