11. Ultimate Warrior
Formerly known as Jim Hellwig, the man who portrayed the Ultimate Warrior had risen to become WWE's flagship performer by mid 1990. Becoming the first man to ever defeat Hulk Hogan cleanly on television since the rise of the WWF, Warrior negotiated a new contract with Vince McMahon in the summer of the following year. While McMahon initially agreed to the new terms, which included perks and payoffs that rivaled Hulk Hogan's, the boss would later renege on the deal claiming he had agreed under duress since the Warrior threatened to no-show the heavily advertised SummerSlam PPV. Vince fired Warrior immediately following the event. The years that followed saw multiple returns to WWE for Warrior, but also multiple departures when the two sides had their differences in what their contracted agreements included. Their feud peaked when WWE released a borderline-slandering DVD entitled "The Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior" and lead to a lawsuit filed by Warrior. Though the case was ultimately dropped, the two sides held animosity for years until finally settling their differences in 2013. The following year Warrior returned to WWE and was inducted into the Hall Of Fame over the weekend of WrestleMania XXX. Tragically passing away hours after his final television appearance on Monday Night RAW, Warrior's death shocked the world and left a bittersweet feeling that he was able to mend fences with the man who played such an important role in the earlier parts of Warrior's life.
Matt Davis
Contributor
A former stuntman for Paramount Pictures, Matt enjoys sports, water skiing, driving fast, the beach, professional wrestling,
technology, and scotch. At the same time, whenever possible.
Having attended many famous (and infamous) shows including WrestleMania XV, In Your House: Mind Games, and the 1995 King of the Ring, Matt has been a lifelong professional sports and wrestling fan. Matt's been mentioned in numerous wrestling podcasts including the Steve Austin Show: Unleashed, Talk Is Jericho, and Something To Wrestle With Bruce Prichard.
As a former countywide performer, Matt has been referred to as Mr. 300 for his amazing accomplishments in the world of amateur bowling. He is also the only man on record to have pitched back-to-back no hitters in the Veterans Stadium Wiffle Ball League of 2003.
See more from
Matt