Everything about Ultimate Warrior totally explained
Warrior (born
Brian James "Jim" Hellwig on
June 16,
1959) is an
American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the
World Wrestling Federation and
World Championship Wrestling throughout the late 1980s and 1990s as the
Ultimate Warrior, during which time he won the
WWF World Heavyweight Championship and pinned
Hulk Hogan in the main event of
WrestleMania VI.
Warrior retired from professional wrestling in 1999 and became a
motivational speaker. However, in
May 2008 he announced that he'd be returning to wrestling, facing
Orlando Jordan on
June 25,
2008 in
Barcelona,
Spain in a match booked by the
Italian Nu-Wrestling Evolution promotion.
Early life
Warrior was born in rural
Indiana. He was the eldest of five children, and was raised by his mother (along with, later, his stepfather) after his father left his family when Warrior was 12. Warrior spent a year at
Indiana State, during which time he became interested in
bodybuilding.
Bodybuilding career
Prior to his career in professional wrestling, Warrior, as James Hellwig, was an amateur bodybuilder. Hellwig competed in a number of
NPC contests, and won the 1984 NPC Mr. Georgia contest. Hellwig started training with weights when he was 11 years old and has described himself as "the small, insecure kid who wasn't into any sports." He moved to California where, after seeing bodybuilder
Robby Robinson, decided to take up the sport. His first contest took place in Florida where he placed 5th. Later, while he was attending
Life University in
Marietta, Georgia, he won the Junior Atlanta contest, and placed 5th at the 1981
AAU Collegiate
Mr. America. In 1983, he won the AAU Mr. Coastal USA, before taking the Mr. Georgia title the following year. His last bodybuilding contest was 1985's Junior USA's, which was won by future IFBB Pro, Ron Love. Hellwig finished 5th.
In 1985, after spending six weeks in
California training for a bodybuilding contest, Warrior was invited to join a group of bodybuilders - Garland Donoho, Mark Miller and
Steve "Flash" Borden - who were transitioning to professional wrestlers. Warrior accepted the invitation, and abandoned his bodybuilding career and his plans to become a
chiropractor.
Warrior formed a tag team with
Lance Von Erich, and the duo began competing for the
WCWA World Tag Team Championship. On
November 17,
1986, Warrior and Von Erich defeated
Master Gee (substituting for champion
Buzz Sawyer) and
Matt Borne to win the titles. They held the Championship until
December 1 of that year, when they lost to Al Madril and
Brian Adias.
In 1987, Warrior began competing for the
WCWA Texas Heavyweight Championship, losing to Bob Bradley in a tournment final on
January 12. He won the title from Bradley on
February 2 of that year. The title was held up in April 1987 after Warrior left the WCCW. He was reinstated as champion upon returning, but vacated it once more upon resigning from WCCW to join the
World Wrestling Federation, where he adopted the ring name
Ultimate Warrior
World Wrestling Federation: The first stint (1987-1991)
As a
World Wrestling Federation (WWF) Superstar from the mid-
'80s to the early
1990s, the Ultimate Warrior was known for his high-energy ring entrances, which featured him racing into the arena at full speed, bursting into the ring, and violently shaking the ropes up and down. He was also known for his distinctive pattern of face paint.
Warrior enjoyed two stints as
Intercontinental Champion, defeating
The Honky Tonk Man (in 31 seconds at the first ever
SummerSlam in
1988) and
Rick Rude at
SummerSlam 1989. The Warrior was heralded as the wrestler to carry the torch after the pending retirement of
Hulk Hogan in
1990. Following a few confrontations with Hogan, most notably at the 1990
Royal Rumble, the Warrior was written in as Hogan's opponent for
WrestleMania VI. Ultimate Warrior defeated Hogan on
April 1,
1990, at the
SkyDome in
Toronto,
Ontario, in the main event (which was billed "The Ultimate Challenge", as both Hogan's WWF World Title and Warrior's Intercontinental Championship were on the line) of
WrestleMania VI. The Warrior held the title until the
Royal Rumble in
January 1991, dropping the belt to
Sgt. Slaughter (thanks to interference by
Randy "Macho King" Savage).
Warrior gained revenge on Savage at
WrestleMania VII, pinning him in a "retirement match." Thereafter, he became embroiled in a brutal feud with
The Undertaker after Undertaker and his manager,
Paul Bearer, locked Warrior in a coffin on the set of Bearer's
Funeral Parlor (one of the WWF's biggest "evil" incidents to that time; the Warrior's life was portrayed as being in danger as Bearer sealed the casket shut, and Vince McMahon frantically reminded the audience that he'd a limited air supply as WWF officials worked feverishly to break the casket open. When they finally managed to open the coffin, the TV cameras showed the Warriors lifeless body, and the fabric on the inside of the coffin being all torn up. Indicating the Warrior was scratching at the coffin from inside frantically to get out. Providing even greater evil effect. Eventually,
Jake "The Snake" Roberts offered to help Warrior in his feud, but wound up turning against him. In spite of this, Roberts' impending feud with Warrior was quickly scuttled.
In
August 1991, Warrior was involved in an alleged pay dispute with WWF/E owner
Vince McMahon. WWE alleges Warrior had put a figurative gun to Vince McMahon's head and threatened to
no-show for the main event for
SummerSlam teaming him with Hulk Hogan against
Sgt. Slaughter,
Colonel Mustafa, and
General Adnan unless he was paid a certain amount of money. Warrior responded on his website to these allegations by stating he was owed money stemming from work performed at
WrestleMania VII. Vince McMahon reportedly fired Warrior after the incident; Warrior states he left the company.
During his time away from the WWF, Warrior opened the short-lived "Warrior University", a
professional wrestling school based in
Scottsdale, Arizona. According to Vince McMahon in
The Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior, no one actually graduated from the school.
World Wrestling Federation: The second stint (1992)
Upon returning at
WrestleMania VIII (to rescue Hulk Hogan from a beat-down at the hands of
Sid Justice and
Papa Shango), he received a degree of creative control over his
bookings. Many fans may remember the Papa Shango
angle, in which the "
witch doctor" cast a spell over Warrior, causing him to convulse and
vomit in very odd colors, though Warrior says he hated that story and had no control over it.
Rumors and
urban legends began around this time (and still persist to this day in some fan circles) that the original Ultimate Warrior and Dingo Warrior were not the same as the one who returned to wrestling in
1992,
1996, and
1998, and it was believed that the original Warrior had died. When the Ultimate Warrior returned to the WWF in 1992, it was rumored that
Kerry Von Erich was playing the part, since Warrior's hair was much shorter than before; however, this has been shown time and time again not to be the case. The character had always been played by the same individual. The reasons for this confusion include the storyline which featured Warrior being "locked in an air-tight coffin" by
The Undertaker (whom he was
feuding with at the time) and his musculature's drastic changes, provoked by the presumed reduction (or cease) of anabolic steroid use occasioned by
Titan Sports' legal troubles over the alleged distribution of
performance enhancing drugs. It was around this time (mid-late 1992) that Warrior sported a "Muscle Outfit," a flesh colored spandex
singlet with muscles printed upon it.
Late in 1992, Warrior was scheduled to be the tag team partner of
Randy Savage at
Survivor Series. Weeks before the event, however, Warrior and WWF found themselves at odds again, arguing over who had creative rights to the Ultimate Warrior name and over creative differences as to how the Warrior's character should be used. Though popular belief was that the Warrior was actually supposed to start a feud with
Nailz, the WWF states that his reason for leaving was a "violation" found in his system during a random drug test. This occurred at the height of Warrior's ongoing marketing/financial differences with Vince McMahon. Titan Sports—and specifically, the WWF—was under intense scrutiny of its drug policies including "performance-enhancing" drugs, the most prominent being
steroids. Warrior has claimed to have had test results that show he wasn't using steroids during this period. Warrior has stated that he and fellow wrestler,
Davey Boy Smith, were used as
scapegoats during Vince McMahon's steroid litigations. According to
Bret Hart during an interview with the
Below the Belt show, the WWF was actually preparing to have a Hart/Warrior match at
Royal Rumble 1993. After he left, Warrior was replaced by
Razor Ramon.
World Wrestling Federation: The third stint (1996)
After several years spent mostly outside of the wrestling limelight, Warrior returned to the WWF in 1996, squashing future superstar
Hunter Hearst Helmsley (now known as Triple H) at
WrestleMania XII. Triple H refers to this match as "not my best event," and has referred to Warrior as "the most unprofessional guy I've ever worked with." Following
WrestleMania, Warrior participated in brief feuds with
Goldust and
Jerry Lawler.
The WWF terminated Warrior's contract when he took time off allegedly to grieve the death of his father. WWF owner Vince McMahon claimed that Warrior hadn't seen his father in ten years and didn't care much for him; therefore, he didn't take Warrior's excuse for missing bookings at face value. Warrior disputes Vince's explanation, claiming that the real reason why he no-showed those events was a breach of contract by McMahon.
In
1995,
World Championship Wrestling (WCW) introduced
The Renegade as Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage's "secret weapon," using ring attire and mannerisms that closely resembled Warrior's. The man who portrayed Renegade, Rick Williams, was later used as Warrior's
stunt double when Warrior himself performed in WCW for a brief time in
1998.
World Championship Wrestling (1998-1999)
WCW signed Warrior in
1998, and gave him a degree of creative control over his matches, considered by some to be a foolish move. His debut drew huge audiences and ratings, but the benefits didn't last. He created a storyline where he formed a
stable opposing Hulk Hogan's
New World Order: the "One Warrior Nation." The acronym OWN (One Warrior Nation) was a play on the name nWo. Highlights of the unpopular storyline included Warrior
kidnapping and "converting"
The Disciple and frequent instances of "magic smoke" knocking out all of the nWo members except for Hogan (and covering Warrior's movement through a trapdoor in the ring).
Davey Boy Smith suffered a near career-ending injury when he landed on Warrior's trapdoor at
Fall Brawl '98;
Perry Saturn was also injured by the trapdoor, though not as severely.
Warrior only participated in three matches in WCW. The first was the
War Games main event (along with seven other wrestlers) at
Fall Brawl.
Diamond Dallas Page would win that match. On
WCW Monday Nitro, he teamed with Sting to defeat Hogan and
Bret Hart by disqualification, a match in which he'd virtually no participation besides singlehandedly chasing several nWo members down the entry way, whipping them with Hogan's belt. The third was his loss to Hogan at
Halloween Havoc, in what is widely considered to be one of the worst pay-per-view wrestling matches ever.
In the build-up to their match at
Halloween Havoc, Warrior played mind games with Hogan by projecting backstage "apparitions" of himself in a mirror that only Hogan could see. The WCW storyline portrayed Hogan as "cracking up" in seeing these apparitions. However, the announcers could also see them, as well as the television audience.
In the
Halloween Havoc match, the timing of the maneuvers and hits was very poor; an arm injury that Warrior received at War Games further slowed the action. An attempt to "blind" Warrior with a fireball backfired when Hogan faced complications igniting a piece of flash paper, causing the fire to go up in Hogan's face instead. The match finally came to an end when
Horace Hogan hit Warrior in the back with a chair while
Eric Bischoff had referee
Nick Patrick distracted. Hogan then scored the pinfall, ending the match.
WCW claimed that attempts were made to save the storyline and re-sign Warrior, but he was said to have asked for too much money, and WCW ended negotiations. In a
DVD shoot interview available through online sources, Warrior claims that they simply decided not to call him any more, despite his having phoned WCW general manager Eric Bischoff 16 times after the
Havoc debacle. He has further indicated in interviews and convention appearances that the only reason he was brought back was so Hogan could get a win over Warrior in return for Hogan's
WrestleMania job. Warrior has further described Hogan as "insecure," and has indicated that a weekend stay at Hogan's
Tampa home prior to the
October 1998 PPV was "an eye opening experience." Warrior's last appearance in WCW was the
Nitro after
Halloween Havoc, when he chased nWo Hollywood out of the ring in a "shmaz" (multiple participant no-finish). He announced his retirement the following year. According to the book
The Death of WCW, Warrior supposedly insisted upon a new contract picking up where the previous one left off in exchange for the
Halloween Havoc job, though this claim is largely unsupported.
The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior documentary
On
September 27,
2005, WWE released a DVD documentary focusing on Warrior's retrospective wrestling career, entitled
The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior. The DVD featured clips of his more notable feuds and matches along with commentary from WWE stars past and present (many of which are unflattering). The DVD has provoked some controversy due to Warrior's own allegations of libel by WWE against him. Originally, Warrior was asked to help with the production of the DVD, but as he refused to work with WWE (citing he didn't want to be associated with their
promotion), there has been some resulting animosity between Warrior and WWE over the content with Warrior claiming bias on the part of WWE.
Nu-Wrestling Evolution (2008-)
During an
April 19,
2008 Nu-Wrestling Evolution event in
Madrid,
Spain, Warrior was presented with an award celebrating his professional wrestling career in front of over 15,000 attendees. During the presentation, NWE Champion
Orlando Jordan mocked a fan of Warrior's, resulting in a heated argument between Warrior and Jordan. As a result of the exchange, a match between Warrior and Jordan was scheduled for
June 25,
2008 in the
Palau Municipal d'Esports de Badalona in
Barcelona, marking Warrior's first professional wrestling match since October 1998. Warrior's agent, Bernie Gernay, released a statement saying:
"For over 10 years this is what the entire wrestling world has been waiting for, the return of the Warrior. We are excited to bring back the greatest character and energy to ever get into the ring. Ultimate Warrior is an incredible marketing machine and has kept a tremendous value to his name which is why the NWE has stepped up with a substantial deal that worked very well for both sides. There is no disputing that Warrior left a mark on professional wrestling that no other talent did and the reason why still today he's often imitated, but never duplicated. Over the next few days the NWE will inform fans of the preparations for one of the biggest and most important wrestling events ever to be held in Europe. As the news progresses it's sure to be the headlines of wrestling news and forums throughout the Internet and will most certainly have all in the wrestling industry and fans alike in great anticipation to see what the Warrior will deliver on June 25th, and perhaps beyond."
While promoting his appearance on a radio show on
KISW in
Seattle, Washington, Warrior floated the idea of facing WWE Chairman
Vince McMahon at the
April 5,
2009 WrestleMania XXV pay-per-view.
Motivational speaking career
Warrior formally retired from wrestling in 1999, and has found a new career as a
conservative speaker and commentator, denouncing
left-wing politics. In one instance, he mentioned that
"queering doesn't make the world work"
(44:20-46:50 of the video) during a speech at the
University of Connecticut. Warrior has explained those comments on his website as meaning that the human race would die out if everyone were a
homosexual.
Personal life
Trademark and libel ligitation
In 1993, Jim Hellwig legally changed his name to
Warrior in order to retain the legal rights to use the name outside of the WWF. The one-word name appears on all legal documents pertaining to Warrior, and his children carry the Warrior name as their legal surname. The
ultimatewarrior.com domain is registered to "Mister Warrior".
Warrior and the WWF engaged in a series of lawsuits and legal actions in 1996 and 1998, where both parties sought a declaration that they owned the characters, Warrior and Ultimate Warrior,
under both contract and copyright law. The court ruled that Warrior was legally entitled to use the gimmick, costuming, face paint designs, and mannerisms of the "Warrior" character.
Comic book
Beginning in
May 1996, Warrior began writing with Jim Callahan and The Sharp Brothers illustrating a
comic book entitled
WARRIOR, featuring himself as the main character. The comics sold well in the first two months of their distribution, before sales slowed and the comic was taken out of circulation in early
1997.
According to Warrior, six issues of the
WARRIOR comic book were created, as well as a "Warrior Graphic Novel that revealed the story behind the creation of Warrior’s Comic Book Universe". However, only the first four issues of the comic were actually produced.
Blog
Warrior maintains a
blog on his personal website entitled "Warrior's Machete", where he discusses his personal life, his personal views on
politics,
sexuality,
patriotism, and his legacy as a wrestler, amongst other topics. There have been numerous instances where Warrior has used the blog to address his viewpoint on members of his wrestling past (
Vince McMahon,
Hulk Hogan,
Lex Luger
); historical figures (
Martin Luther King,
George Washington,
Jesus
); and celebrities who were newsworthy at the time of the blog (
Heath Ledger,
Paris Hilton ). He's even used the blog to post replies to letters from fans - both positive and negative.
In wrestling
- Finishing and signature moves
Entrance music
Championships and accomplishments
World Class Wrestling Association
World Wrestling Federation
Further Information
Get more info on 'Ultimate Warrior'.
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