It is often the case, when someone passes away, that we tend to canonize them. At the height of our grief, it feels better to remember the deceased at his or her very best. It serves to justify how very badly we feel about missing that person, and plays into the drama that can accompany funeral proceedings. When I first read of The Ultimate Warriors death, my first instinct was to shine a most fond and glowing light upon his memory. I immediately took to writing my own eulogy for the pro wrestler that provided so many crazy and fun memories for me as a kid. I was devastated, and it felt good to write an emotional piece. It felt even better to read everyone elses thoughts, be it on twitter, facebook, or other web pages. This generation of wrestling fans is able to grieve together, even if weve never met our fellow mourners in person. Amongst the bittersweet reminiscing was some cold, hard truth as well. Warrior was no saint, as are none of us. He was known for making some pretty crass judgements, and for being self-righteous to a fault. And so I write this piece on the grounds that he was an imperfect person whose (sometimes ugly) imperfections were made public. My goal is to focus on the most positive of his life lessons that he wanted to share with his fans, drawn from his One Warrior Nation website http://www.own.ultimatewarrior.com/.
Follow me @kickyhick :) I hold a degree in English Rhetoric & Professional Writing from the University of Waterloo in Canada. I've done technical writing, executive presentations, and recruiting materials for BlackBerry, and I write for non-profit organizations. My favourite project so far has been combining my passion for writing with being a die-hard wrestling fan. It's a pleasure to write here for WhatCulture, and also for TJRwrestling.com.
