MR. TITO: Was it the Right Decision to Make the Ultimate Warrior Become WWE Champion at Wrestlemania 6?

I’m usually against writing retro columns about pro wrestling, as I see greater value in talking about current event topics. However, I’m seeing a repetitive and potentially incorrect narrative pushed about WWE during 1990 that needs addressed. Specifically, the decision to make the Ultimate Warrior as WWE World Champion at Wrestlemania 6. Hindsight is 20/20 and looking back, it’s still a bit fuzzy in my opinion.

Through Wrestlemania 6, nobody could deny that Ultimate Warrior was clearly #2 and trending upward. Also, Hulk Hogan didn’t exactly have a great post-Wrestlemania 5 time after having the ridiculous follow-up feud with Zeus who became a character-turned-wrestler from the awful WWE produced film No Holds Barred. Rather than milking Hogan vs. Savage a little longer, WWE shifted the focus on making an actor somehow figure out pro wrestling quickly on the fly.

During 1989, the WWE did really well financially because they had two separate houseshow circuits that were killing it throughout the country. On one hand, you had the A-Show that featured Hulk Hogan as the headliner and defending the WWE Title. Meanwhile, the B-Show was still killing it with the Ultimate Warrior headlining that show. WWE packed houses across the country with both Hogan and Ultimate Warrior on top, while the merchandise involving either Hogan or Warrior sold extremely well.

In terms of drawing power and merchandise sales, nobody came close to Hogan or Warrior through the beginning of 1990. Thus, it seemed reasonable that the Ultimate Warrior could take the top spot from Hogan and run with it. Especially now with Hogan getting older and maybe peaking through Wrestlemania 5.

And I’m right about Hulk Hogan. He did, in fact, peak through 1989… While Hogan did make a comeback to the main event through 1991 and became WWE Champion again at Wrestlemania 7, business continued to decline throughout 1991 with Hogan as champion. Then, came Royal Rumble 1992 where Hogan was booed after he helped eliminate Sid Justice insomuch that the WWE actually edited those boos and the commentary on the home video version of the show.

Hulk Hogan did well as the returning hero in 1991 because of the old Jim Cornette philosophy of “how do we know how much you’re loved if you don’t go away”. Having Hogan lose during 1990 and then return as the “knight in shining armor” during 1991 helped boost interest in Hogan for his return to the main event. However, it was short lived and by Rumble 1992, wrestling fans were beginning to boo him heavily.

Proves to me, too, that WWE could have turned Hogan HEEL during 1992 and could have made money years before WCW got to benefit from turning Hogan heel during 1996.

Let’s get back to the Ultimate Warrior. He was VERY OVER through Wrestlemania 6 and fans were split in that PACKED Toronto Skydome. However, what nobody could fully predict is that Warrior would go a bit off the deep end after this event. His marriage began to fall apart as he began to pick up bad habits on the road. As he was now asked to do more fan events as WWE Champion, he wasn’t always cheerful to fans during those. Warrior also wasn’t “one of the boys” like Hogan was, as Hogan built relationships with wrestlers and developed long-term friendships with everyone. Jim Hellwig, however, was a complete loner and very introverted. These things were overlooked on Warrior’s rise to the top, but then placed under the microscope once he was on top.

However, WWE did him no favors AFTER Wrestlemania 6. Warrior’s opponents? Curt Hennig, Ted Dibiase, and Rick Rude. Warrior already disposed of Rude over the Intercontinental Title during 1989, yet that’s who Warrior had to feud with for the big spot on SummerSlam 1990. Ted Dibiase was deep in the midcard during 1989 and 1990 after almost becoming WWE Champion during 1988. Curt Hennig was also a midcarder, as he’d become Intercontinental Champion several times during 1990. Warrior was also repeatedly tagging up with the Legion of Doom (Hawk & Animal) to take on all 3 members of Demolition repeatedly.

The “Warrior failed as champion” narrative falls apart when you see who he was wrestling during 1990. All midcarders. Why are you doing that with your World Champion?

What WWE should have done after Wrestlemania 6 was to immediately feud with Macho Man Randy Savage. Instead, the WWE let Warrior wrestle midcarders and waste 8 months as WWE Champion before he lost to Sgt. Slaughter at Royal Rumble 1991 when Macho Man, whom I just mentioned, interfered to begin the Warrior vs. Macho Man feud at Wrestlemania 7. By the way, the Savage vs. Warrior match at WM 7 was amazing and shows the missed opportunity of having Savage immediately challenge Warrior for the WWE Title during 1990. Savage, of course, was getting jobbed repeatedly to Dusty Rhodes during the first half of 1990.

I also thought that ”Rowdy” Roddy Piper could have been an opponent for Ultimate Warrior after Wrestlemania 6, too. Piper wrestled “Bad News” Brown at Wrestlemania 6 and that as a bit controversial with Piper painting half of his body black.

Either Savage or Piper would have been adequate feuds for Warrior and if needed, either man could have become WWE Champion to potentially set-up a big drawing Wrestlemania 7 with Hogan and Savage doing it again or Piper vs. Hogan, finally, with a one-on-one at Wrestlemania.

But instead, Warrior wrestled Hennig/Dibiase/Rude, who are each fine wrestlers but were midcarders then, and then lost the title to the COMPLETE JOKE Sgt. Slaughter character who became an Iraqi Sympathizer.

You can call Warrior a “failure” as WWE Champion all you want, but he was given no favors by WWE creative during 1990 after Wrestlemania 6. Then, he was given Randy Savage during 1991 and those guys blew the doors off of everything at Wrestlemania 7 with their Retirement Match which received 5-star ratings by many publications while the rest of the show, including Hogan vs. Slaughter, did not. However, after Wrestlemania 7, Hogan was the #1 pushed guy again.

Let me stress a few points…

If Ultimate Warrior was “such a failure”, then why did Vince McMahon bring him back at Wrestlemania 8?

If Ultimate Warrior was “such a failure”, then why did Vince McMahon bring him back at Wrestlemania 12?

If Ultimate Warrior was “such a failure”, then why did Vince McMahon want to bring him back during late 1997 as documented contract negotiations show?

The FACT is that the Ultimate Warrior was fed midcard opponents throughout the rest of 1990, while Vince McMahon had crazy ideas of presenting the Desert Storm events of the real world during 1990-1991 into the WWE. Vince convinced Sgt. Slaughter to turn heel and Hulk Hogan was just the more ideal “American Hero” to pit against Slaughter versus Hogan. Thus, pushing Hogan back to the top was more ideal than the Warrior.

WWE wasting Roddy Piper (who may have had movie or television commitments) or Randy Savage during 1990 just irks me. Missed opportunities there.

BUT, the fact remains that Ultimate Warrior drew houses and sold merchandise, with his numbers being the closest to Hogan versus any other wrestler. The problem is that Warrior may have peaked with the chase for the title, but he was given no help from creative back then to ever truly know.

The Ultimate Warrior last wrestled for the WWE during 1996, which was when the WWE was hitting the valley of their decline since that 1989 peak. Yet, 30 years later, Warrior’s merchandise still sells well to this day and anyone who grew up as a kid when Warrior was peaking still speaks highly of him. Further, yes, Warrior was a troubled guy, but he redeemed himself by being a happily married man and father. His WWE return during 2014 was emotional with his Hall of Fame speech, returning to Wrestlemania, and then returning to RAW to make his final promo ever.

Many have tried to duplicate Warrior, including WCW to openly lied to fans and presented them with Rick “the Renegade” Wilson instead of bringing in the Ultimate Warrior. Many, many independent promotion knock-offs. Yet, nobody can capture that lightning-in-a-bottle that Jim Hellwig brought with this amazing character. Best in-ring wrestler ever? Nope, but among the top larger than life characters ever.

Warrior 100% deserved to win the WWE Title and was worth the roll of the dice to defeat a potentially declining Hulk Hogan after 1989’s peak. The issues with the WWE were more internal, as WWE had some sharks in the water to deal with back then and possibly creative issues happening after Wrestlemania 5 (Zeus push and Iraqi War storyline, while wasting Randy Savage and Roddy Piper for over a year).

So for all of these YouTube accounts constantly bashing the crowning of the Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania 6. Most of you weren’t there or were in diapers during the peak Warrior years. He was OVER bigtime back then and moved so much merchandise. So it didn’t work out after Wrestlemania 6? Not much worked between 1990 and 1997. Did you watch Wrestlemania 9?

In my opinion, WWE wasted the talents of Roddy Piper and Randy Savage during the early 1990s, and they entirely botched the acquisition of Sid Justice as well. Sid could have been “the man”, but WWE’s usual desire to keep Hogan strong as a babyface got in the way. Brother. I also thought that the WWE blew the effectiveness of the Undertaker during those early years as some of those feuds became quite goofy with the “monster of the month” feuds. Why the WWE let Yokozuna get severely overweight is beyond me. Razor Ramon should have been pushed as a main eventer.

Point being, WWE’s creative was terrible during the early 1990s if your name wasn’t “Hulk Hogan”.

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