In the 1980's and early-90's there were two wrestlers on my list of favourites. The first was Hulk Hogan and in runner-up position was The Ultimate Warrior.
The Warrior was like a cartoon superhero. He would run down the ring, shake the ropes beat the holy hell out of his opponent and win the match. This more or less took three minutes to do.
In the Summer of 1991 - my Father, Uncle and myself sat and watched the SummerSlam event. The main event pitted my two heroes against Sergeant Slaughter, Colonel Mustafa and General Adnan in a handicap match. This was around the time the Persian conflict was still in the news and the three heels were Saddam Hussein sympathisers. Wrestling didn't have any class back then, either!
At the end of the match, The Ultimate Warrior chased the baddies away while Hulk Hogan and the special guest referee, Sid Justice posed for the fans while Hogan's theme music played to the Madison Square Garden crowd.
When we were speaking about it the following morning, my Uncle wondered why The Ultimate Warrior hadn't returned to the ring.
The real story is The Warrior had held the WWF to ransom and had threatened to no-show the event unless he was paid a certain amount of money before he went to the ring. Once he got to the back after his match, Vince McMahon fired him on the spot.
The Warrior returned eight months later. This comeback didn't last that long either. He was fired after seven months because McMahon was suspicious that he was using HGH (Human Growth Hormone) during a time when the company was under a microscope following a steroid scandal that was about to turn even nastier.
In 1996, three and a half years after his last tenure with the company, Jim Hellwig reprised his role as The Ultimate Warrior. But he wasn't Jim Hellwig anymore. He had actually changed his name legally to 'Warrior.' This run was one of the most noteworthy as it ended within three months. He then ended up taking legal action with them over the use of the name Ultimate Warrior. His claim was that he owned the right to use the name.
He made his debut for WCW two years after that. He had signed a massive short-term contract but his wild demands got the better of him. Eric Bischoff - the man in charge of World Championship Wrestling - claimed in an interview that it was easier to pay the Warrior and have him sit at home rather than pay him and use him on TV.
Ouch.
The Internet age was kind to Warrior. He managed to get his ridiculous beliefs and ideologies onto his website. I have sat here for hours on end reading the stuff he writes and I'd say that, ninety-five percent of the time, I don't even know what the hell he is on about!
He has even gone on controversial lectures around Universities in the USA. One of the most notable was when he went on a rant about homosexuality and how 'queering don't make the world work.'
It looked like he had finished with wrestling. His online commentaries would bring up the sport occasionally. He even showed up on American news shows to discuss the Benoit tragedy but other than that he was retired for good. He looked a lot different, too. Age and a short haircut meant his days of being Ultimate Warrior the wrestler looked over.
Until a few months ago.
Warrior was accepting an award in Spain during an event being run by the Italian-based Nu-Wrestling Evolution group. During the short ceremony he was ambushed by a few wrestlers and he did his usual power moves on them and sent the crowd home happy.
Within days of his appearance, it was announced that the Ultimate Warrior would return for a match against the leader of the gang who had attacked him, Orlando Jordan. Ironically, Jordan is a bisexual behind the scenes so I think queering can go round in Warrior's world if he can make a quick buck from it.
This easy payday may not be coming so fast, though.
The event is being held in Barcelona tonight. The show is also being aired over the Internet via the Ultimate Warrior's website for the price of $29.99. A bit too much for a one match show - if you ask me.
The organisers of the event seem to be desperate for the attention as well. This makes me wonder whether they are looking at making a loss from tonight's show. In their bid for more interest they have now claimed that there is a renegade group of fans ready to protest outside of the arena because they do not like the Warrior.
And it was the Warrior website that mentioned these protestors in the first place.
There has also been threats made on MySpace from the 'angry fans' threatening to 'jump the barricade'. Jump the barricade, huh? Let's be a little realistic here - If I were an angry fan of wrestling hell-bent on ruining the Warrior's return would I go all the way to Spain (bearing in mind these fans are based in the USA) and then buy a ticket to see the show and then attempt to get into the ringside area to threaten the wrestler?
It's all a work and a feeble one at that. Tonight's promoter might end up losing a lot more than they are currently expecting. Remember what he did to Vince at SummerSlam 1991?
If he can hold a proverbial gun to the number one promoter in wrestling, he can do it to anyone.
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