PS on The Ultimate Warrior
AS YOU WILL KNOW by now, The Ultimate Warrior collapsed and died yesterday in Arizona at the age of 54.
No cause of death has been confirmed, but most speculate that he passed away of a heart attack.
Much has already been written about the timing of his death, three days after his long-awaited induction into the WWE Hall Of Fame, and one day after his first appearance on Raw in nearly 18 years. On television, Warrior talked about death, in an in-character Warrior interview: "Every man's heart beats its final beat, his lungs breathe their final breath," he said.
Warrior was one of the biggest stars in the WWF from 1989-1991 and remained so when he returned to the company in 1992. As noted on the Power Slam Twitter, he was as famous inside wrestling for his fallings-out with Vince McMahon and lawsuits against the company as he was for his painted face, massive muscles, rope-shaking and sprints to the ring.
Unlike many other wrestlers, Warrior wasn't a mark for the WWF/WWE or wrestling; for him, the business was business. That is, a means to earn money and set himself up for life after wrestling.
He was determined to be paid what he felt he was worth when he became a headliner. Some disliked him for that: "He never loved the business," they sniped. More likely, these people felt threatened by his independent thought process, his willingness to oppose authority, stand up for what he believed in and even walk away and tackle the WWF/WWE in court, rather than continue to tolerate injustice. He took WWE on again after the release of WWE's The Self-Destruction Of The Ultimate Warrior DVD in 2005, which he found "hurtful". It was the content of this DVD which caused him to reject WWE's first (half-hearted) attempt to induct him into the Hall Of Fame in 2010.
Warrior didn't need pro wrestling to validate his existence on planet earth. Some wrestlers fail to grasp that concept: they cannot imagine a life without wrestling. For Warrior, there was much more to life than wrestling.
This was conveyed during his appearance at the Hall Of Fame ceremony on Saturday night. It was clear that his wife and two young daughters (aged 11 and 13) meant the world to him. We can only imagine the grief they must be feeling. They must be inconsolable. Warrior's death on Tuesday was totally unexpected, from what we understand. He had been in good health before he died suddenly.
In this social media age, Warrior's death has been covered by many mainstream news outlets. Power Slam editor Fin Martin was interviewed by the BBC World Service earlier today about the death of The Ultimate Warrior.
The segment on the Warrior begins at the 19:20 mark.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p01wp49h/Outside_Source_09_04_2014/
We will have a tribute to The Ultimate Warrior in Issue 235.