The Super Network

I am 25 years old, I was too young to be able to enjoy The Ultimate Warrior in his heyday. But by the time I got into wrestling in 1997, even then I knew the importance of absorbing everything you can about a new passion. Now back in those days Blockbuster Video was still in full swing, and these were the days they still offered VHS tapes of PPV events long passed. One of those PPV’s I picked up happened to be WrestleMania VI. I have to admit, I picked up the tape for Hogan, who I was now familiar with through WCW but was opened up to a whole new world that was The Ultimate Warrior. It was billed as the ‘Ultimate Challenge’, Hulk’s Heavyweight Title belt was on the line as was Warrior’s Intercontinental Title. I was marveled at Warrior’s energy on the way down the ring and during the match, the power he displayed was like seeing a superhero jump out of a comic book panel. It was amazing. The match ended with Warrior winning the Heavyweight Title, and seeing the sportsmanship after the match was special, especially knowing Hulkamania as only Hollywood Hulk Hogan, the pitfalls of a young fan. Warrior went on to have an impressive run and became a champion and icon to remember through the ages.

Warrior was born James Brian Hellwig on June 16, 1959 in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Before entering the world of professional wrestling Hellwig was involved in the world of professional bodybuilding, winning numerous contests between 1981 and 1984. In 1985 Hellwig met a group of fellow bodybuilders who planned to transition into the world of professional wrestling, one of the men in that group was Steve Borden, who went on to become the icon known as Sting. Hellwig made his first splash in the world of professional wrestling by pairing with Borden to form the Blade Runners, managed by Dutch Mantel (known today as Zeb Coulter). They portrayed this team in both the Continental Wrestling Association and later Mid-South wrestling. In 1986 Hellwig left the United Wrestling Federation to jump into the world of World Class Championship Wrestling.

Hellwig transitioned into the Dallas, Texas territory with the ring name “Dingo Warrior”. Shortly after arriving Warrior formed a tag team with Lance Von Erich and won the titles on November 17, 1986 defeating Master Gee and Matt Borne. Fast forward to 1987 Warrior captured the WCWA Texas Heavyweight Championship. He vacated said title to jump ship to the greener pastures of the World Wrestling Federation, where he donned the persona that has made him the legend he is today..The Ultimate Warrior.

Warrior started his WWE career competing in house shows defeating stars such as Steve Lombardi, Barry Horowitz, and Iron Mike Sharpe. His first television appearance on October 25, 1987 saw him defeat Terry Gibbs. During this time Warrior adopted the style that he made all his own, the energy, the sprinting to the ring, shaking of the ring ropes. He was pushed very fast, winning the Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam in in 1988 defeating the legendary Honky Tonk Man. After the aforementioned WrestleMania VI victory against Hulk Hogan, Warrior successfully defended the title numerous times against several superstars including Haku, Mr. Perfect, Ted DiBiase, and Rick Rude. He lost the title to Sgt. Slaughter, due to an interference by the late ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage thus starting an awesome feud.

Between 1991 and 1996 Warrior’s career was sporadic, taking a hiatus from WWE in 91 to return the following year. Between 92 and 96 Warrior entered what was considered a semi-retirement performing in various organizations, even starting the Warrior University wrestling school in Scottsdale, Arizona. Warrior’s final months in WWE were rocky, that led to strained relationship with WWE owner Vince McMahon. This led to a Ultimate Warrior WCW run in 1998. Warrior only wrestled four matches in WCW, one being a War Games match, one against Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, he once again teamed with former tag team partner Sting against Hollywood Hogan and Bret Hart, and a final match with Hogan at Halloween Havoc. Warrior then disappeared from the professional wrestling spotlight. Until.

Fast forward to July 15, 2013, it is revealed that Warrior is featured in the new WWE 2K14 video game and would be added to the roster of the game. Most recently, it was revealed he would be a part of the 2014 class of the WWE Hall of Fame which was a shameless markout moment for yours truly. I was anticipating his speech like you wouldn’t believe and I wasn’t disappointed. Warrior touched on a lot of subjects, including that he was genuinely hurt by how he was portrayed in the Self-Destruction of Ultimate Warrior DVD, and I shared his pain. My favorite part of his speech, and it really speaks to the mans character, was his desire to see a section of the WWE Hall of Fame that was dedicated to honoring those behind the scenes of the business that he believes is the heart and soul of what keeps the machine running. I agree with the man. I am near crying as I type this thinking of how excited he seemed to be an “official ambassador” for the company going forward.

His last three days on earth were well documented. We got to see a side of the man a lot of us have never seen before, he was ushered to his Hall of Fame speech by his two daughters, and his love for his family was evident. He made his last appearance on this weeks version of RAW giving an impassioned speech to the masses, cementing the Warrior legacy living on forever in the minds of the “Ultimate Warrior fans”. Seeing him in that coat again, seeing him shaking those ropes, seeing him in that mask, seeing him happy…brought back that memory of seeing that WrestleMania match with Hogan for the first time as an eight year old child. His last speech couldn’t have happened in front of a better crowd, it warmed my heart to see Warrior get the reception he deserved from a live audience. Warrior passed away the day following RAW in Scottsdale, Arizona. He will forever mean a lot to the fans who loved him, and more so by his loving family. Our hearts go out to his wife and two daughters. The spirit of the Ultimate Warrior will indeed live on FOREVER!!!

Tribute written by Paul Huffman