I’m writing this only about an hour after hearing that The Ultimate Warrior has passed away. I’m still in shock. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame only 4 days ago and appeared on Monday Night Raw, speaking on the microphone in the ring, only 2 days ago. Such a shame that he is now gone just as he had begun to turn things around and become an ambassador for the WWE brand again. I believe he had plans to do some more exciting promotion work and it’s a shame we won’t see more of him. At least he did get to have his moment in the limelight this weekend and be inducted into the Hall of Fame in front of his two daughters, his wife and his mum.
The Ultimate Warrior was always my favourite. He was just cool. The face paint, the big, rock hair, the physique, the shaking of the ropes, the gorilla press and one of the best music intros. I liked most of the 80s WWF characters but some of them you knew were just someone playing a character or dressing up in a funky outfit to please the crowd. The Warrior, however, just seemed different somehow. You could almost believe that he actually was some kind of maniac from another dimension. He did some almost unintelligible promos to camera on his own or with Mean Gene Okerlund and some totally bat-shit crazy interviews with the likes of Arsenio Hall. Some people said that he didn’t know when to switch the character off and he sometimes crossed the line. In his Hall of Fame speech this weekend he said that this was just because of his passion for the character and the strong, hard-working messages that he promoted. There’s no question that at the height of his power he was a true force to be reckoned with. He was the first person to beat Hulk Hogan at a Wrestlemania back at Wrestlemania VI which just highlights how big he was at that time. I haven’t read too much about the man behind the persona to be honest. He seemed to be a complicated character in many ways. There are some interesting interviews on YouTube that I have browsed through but there are so many stories of the backstage antics and politics of wrestling anyway that I tend to just focus on the entertainment that people brought to the ring. The character of The Ultimate Warrior truly is a legend of the WWE and one of the first wrestlers you think of when you think of 80s wrestling.
I feel the need to play some WWF Superstars or WWF Wrestlefest tonight. These two classic games are great and for me really capture the excitement and energy of the wrestling of that era. I always play as The Ultimate Warrior whenever I play them. Tonight will certainly be no different.
Thanks for the memories, Warrior. Rest in peace.
