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THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR
The face painted muscleman
who ran to the the ring and spoke to his hands
and the heavens about things we mortals can't
understand will never be forgotten by those who
saw him. His power and intensity made him the
most popular wrestler in the world at one time.
The start:
Jim Hellwig (now legally known as Warrior) was
born in 1957. He was one of a group of 4
bodybuilders known as Powerteam USA trained by
Rick Bassman. Both Jim & Steve Borden caught the
eyes of promoters in Tennessee, where they went
as the Bladerunners Rock & Flash. Flash later
became known as Sting.
Tennessee, Oklahoma, &
Dallas:
As Bladerunner Rock, he fought in the
Tennessee & Oklahoma territories. In 1986, he
entered the Texas territory (televised on ESPN)
and was renamed The Dingo Warrior. He was part
of Gary Hart's stable and quickly found success
by winning both the tag team titles and the
Texas title. It was here where he painted his
face in the pattern we are all used to.
The WWF calls - from
newcomer to #1:
In 1997, he entered the WWF & was renamed
The Ultimate Warrior. Within a few months, he
became I-C champ by beating The Honky Tonk Man
and held that for 8 months before losing it to
Rick Rude. He regained the belt a few months
later & went on to fight for the World Title.
The World Champ:
At WrestleMania 6, he beat Hulk Hogan to
become Champ. He held the belt for 9 months
until losing to Sgt. Slaughter due to the
interference of Randy Savage. He got his revenge
against Savage by beating him in a match where
the loser must retire. At this point, the story
of the Warrior becomes very strange. He was
locked in a coffin, buried up to his neck, &
bitten by a cobra by Jake Roberts & The
Undertaker. Then he was gone.
He's back, he's gone,
he's back again, he's gone again:
At the end of WrestleMania 8 the Warrior
returned to everone's surprise. He then had a
voodoo spell cast on him that forced him to
vomit and have an ooze come down his face. After
winning this feud, he was supposed to main event
Survivor Series but was gone again. He came back
almost 4 years later, had a feud with Jerry
Lawler and was gone again.
WCW:
During the Monday Night War, WCW tried to
sign every former WWF superstar and was able to
sign him and use the name Warrior after a legal
battle with the WWF that gave Warrior the rights
to his name. In his 1 match in WCW, he and Hulk
Hogan stunk up the arena in a match featuring
Hogan not able to light up a piece of flash
paper.
Post Wrestling Career:
Warrior is a right wing conservative with a
successful speaking career. He has appeared on
C-Span spreading the conservative message and
also does college speaking tours. In addition,
he has created his own philosophy on life with
words he created like destrucity and foke.
Notable matches of his
career:
WrestleMania IV 3/27/1988 - Beat Hercules
Hernandez
SummerSlam 1988 8/29/1988 - Won the I-C title
from The Honky Tonk Man
SNME # 19 1/7/1989 - I-C Title: Pinned The Honky
Tonk Man
SNME # 25 1/27/1989 - WWF Champ Hulk Hogan & I-C
Champ The Ultimate Warrior beat Curt Henning &
Lanny Poffo
WrestleMania V 4/2/1989 - Lost I-C Title to Rick
Rude
SummerSlam 1989 8/2/1989 - Pinned Rick Rude to
regain the title
The Main Event 3 2/23/1990 - Beat Earthquake
WrestleMania VI 4/1/1990 - Beat Hulk Hogan to
win the WWF championship
SNME # 26 4/28/1990 - Beat Haku
SNME # 27 7/28/1990 - Beat Rick Rude by DQ
Sources include: Pro
Wrestling Illustrated Almanac & Obsessed with
Wrestling.
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