Who REALLY Carried WWE Every Year (1985-2026)
37. 1990 (The Ultimate Warrior)
Poor old Ultimate Warrior catches strays even when he isn't the focal point. VICE's 'Dark Side Of The Ring' episode on The Renegade even had talking heads reminiscing about Warrior's dire WCW run in 1998. Y'know the one. WrestleMania VI rematch vs. Hulk Hogan at Halloween Havoc and that botched fireball spot?
Yeah, it wasn't exactly great. 'Not exactly great' would summarise Warrior's time on top of the tree as WWF Champ in 1990 too, but it wasn't outright terrible either. Besides, he was the one Vince McMahon relied on to carry business whilst Hogan took more time off than ever and the promotion rejigged things away from full blown Hulkamania fever.
Time to go to bat for Jim Hellwig.
His performance opposite Hulk at 'Mania VI was outstanding. Warrior did exactly what he needed to do and ended the night looking like a guy who could carry the fed through the dawning decade of the 90s. Sure, he ultimately (ahem) bombed as champion, but 1990 belonged to him, not Hulk or anyone else. To suggest otherwise would be wide of the mark and pretty biased/anti-Warrior for the sake of it.
Hulk even handed the main event spot at SummerSlam '90 to Warrior's steel cage match vs. Rick Rude. Meanwhile, he fought Earthquake in the semi main slot. Business slid, but Warrior tried his best to supplant the biggest star in wrestling, and he did about as good a job of that as anyone could reasonably be expected to.
However, Warrior didn't quite rule the 90s as predicted. He was largely one and done.