A – Excellent
B – Good
C – Mediocre
D – Avoid
Release Date:
April 7th 2014
Available From: www.wwedvd.co.uk
Price:
DVD £ 19.99
Blu-ray £ 22.99
(Prices from www.wwedvd.co.uk: high street prices will vary)
Format Reviewed:
DVD (3 Discs)
(Also Available on Blu-ray (2
Discs)
What It’s About:
For
years, The Ultimate Warrior has been one of the blacklisted legends of WWE
thanks to his more than shaky relationship with Vince McMahon. Following the
character assassination that was ‘Self Destruction of The Ultimate Warrior’,
‘The Ultimate Warrior: The Ultimate Collection’ aims to put right the number
WWE did on Jim Hellwig’s uber successful alter ego with over a dozen matches
ranging from his debut in the wrestling industry to his very final appearance
in WCW in 1998 complete with a sit down interview conduced with Hellwig /
Warrior which is the first with the man himself for many years.
Strengths:
Before
the release kicks into the sit down interview with Warrior, we get a nice and
somewhat personal introduction from the former WWE Champion. Talking direct to
camera in order to speak to us personally, Hellwig seems genuinely touched that
there are still people out there who support him and more than any wrestler
I’ve seen so far, seems to take his fans to heart as this one to one shows.
Amongst other things Hellwig informs us of, the heartfelt moment here comes
when he comments that the moments in time we’re about to witness are as much
ours as his. For someone painted as selfish by WWE in their previous hack job,
Warrior is approachable and friendly. It’s good to see that he’s doing so well
post-wrestling and even though the release never touches upon his name change
to ‘Warrior’ in the 90’s / 00’s it’s almost impossible not to stand up and
applaud when he says that he’ll never forget our support over the years and
credits us with creating a legend. Touching upon the previous release, Warrior
is passionate about making sure we are provided with the right story indirectly
stating that WWE tried to damage his legacy and erase his legend. It’s one of
the best personal introductions on any WWE release ever. Bravo.
Beginning
with Hellwig’s early life pre-wrestling, Warrior covers his journey to the ring
which takes in bodybuilding and is accompanied by pictures from Warrior’s early
life. It’s a nice touch to add to a man who we know almost nothing about and
considering he’s been a wrestling legend since the later eighties it’s
impressive how well his personal life has been shielded from public knowledge. Dropping
in names such as Red Bastine is another great little touch to prove he hasn’t
forgotten who helped him reach the heights he touched and the release goes from
strength to strength, even though it has only just begun, when it delves into Warrior’s
first ever monikers of Jim Justice and his inclusion into The Blade Runners
with Steve ‘Sting’ Borden. Yes, his time as a member of Badd Company is all but
skipped over to reach a destination in time but at least Warrior bothers to
mention Borden and his early wrestling career which was all but mediocre at
best. Other wrestlers would have tried to sugar coat it or leave it out
altogether. Before the end of this segment, you realise that putting all those
indistinguishable promos he cut over the aside, when he’s stripped of the face
paint and character, Hellwig is one of the best storytellers you’ll find, up
there with Bret Hart and Triple H.
Though
many wrestlers have stated they were poor when they entered the wrestling
industry, most leave it there without embellishing on their predicament too
much. Warrior isn’t shy about going further and telling us just how much he
didn’t have in the eighties and his stay in wrestling being a mistake.
Originally determined to go back to school, which never happened because of
financial restraints, Warrior was almost forced to stay on as a wrestler just
to keep his head above water. His origins as a singles star are covered well
beginning with his Dingo Warrior gimmick was we finally get some background on
when we’re informed that it came from a dog in the dressing one night. To my
knowledge, this has never been told before. The section which is put to early
clips of a green Warrior in the ring is short but informative.
The
Ultimate Warrior vs Steve Lombardi (Superstars of Wrestling, November 14th
1987) may be as short as the rest that go before it on this release but it’s
the first time here that Warrior shows weakness for an opponent instead of
simply tearing through them to add weight to his character’s image. It’s not
much of a match and I won’t pretend it is, Lombardi is awful and Warrior isn’t
much better but once you’ve sat through three or four inconsequential squashes
this will be a breath of fresh air, just. Also, this is the match which proves
Steve Lombardi’s claims on ‘Self Destruction’ that Warrior knocked him out
total and utter bullshit.
The
Ultimate Warrior’s rise in the WWE is explored but thankfully and in a somewhat
wise decision, the dire feud with Hercules is skipped. It was rotten from
beginning to end. On the subject of his rise, we get a nice little story from
Warrior about a little known injury in a match with Harley Race where Warrior
took a bump on the outside of the ring and something in his leg gave way,
causing his lower limb to swell with puss. His admission that he didn’t want to
tell anyone about it as to not lose his place on the card and would rather find
a dark corner where he could squeeze the puss from it himself, highlights how
competitive WWE was for places back then. After so many poor matches at the
beginning, a story like this is just what the release needed.
The
Ultimate Warrior vs ‘King’ Harley Race (Boston Garden, March 5th 1988) may be
short but is superior to every outing on the release up to this point. A
wonderful ring technician, Race helps Warrior very well with the technicalities
needed to pull this off and whilst not a match which will set the world on
fire, it’s still a welcome step up in quality. Saying that, Warrior’s
clotheslines look pitiful but it’s made up for by the well timed ending. Had
the pair been allocated ten more minutes this could have been excellent.
Moving
onto the gimmick matches Warrior had with the genius that was Bobby ‘The Brain’
Heenan, Warrior has nothing but praise for arguably the greatest manager in
wrestling history which is a stark contrast from the stories and judgment
Heenan had for Warrior on ‘Self Destruction’. Referring to the matches as if
they were a vital part of his career, Warrior humbly and rightfully praises
Heenan which goes to show he’s not a vindictive man when he could easily have
fought fire with fire and buried ‘The Brain’ with put downs. There is nothing
spiteful here from Warrior and maybe it’s an admission that what Heenan said
about him was true. That he doesn’t even try to counteract Heenan, though it
may have been more entertaining, could be seen as a statement of guilt from
Warrior’s camp.
The
Ultimate Warrior vs Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan (Los Angeles Sports Arena, July
15th 1988) is Bobby Heenan at his best and through his comedy, Heenan
inadvertently makes Warrior’s job easier. A comedy offering which comes as a
nice break from all the serious material on show, both men accomplish their
separate tasks with aplomb. Exiting the ring citing the Warrior’s unstable
nature, Heenan has some brilliant banter with referee Joey Marella who he quips
‘You Get in the Ring With Him Then!’ when the official tries to assure Heenan
he has Warrior under control. A stated there isn’t much action on show but that
was never the idea here. Heenan searching tentatively for Warrior around the
ring is a chuckle but nothing tops Heenan in his Weasel suit and his reaction
to it at the end of the bout.
Broaching
his Intercontinental Championship reign, Warrior shows more savvy for the
wrestling industry than anyone gave him credit for when he states that Honky
Tonk Man was the ideal person for The Ultimate Warrior to begin his ascension
against. At the time, Honky had been champion for so long that people were
beginning to get tired of seeing him. Limited in skill, there was literally
nowhere else the Elvis impersonator could have gone with the gold around his
waist and thus it was time to take the belt off of him and give it to someone
who could profit from it. The only weak point about this piece of the interview
is that Warrior laughably says he took time to plan his promos. Anyone who has
ever heard one can dispute that fact.
The
Ultimate Warrior vs The Honky Tonk Man (SummerSlam 1988, August 29th 1988) may
only be thirty seconds long and in every other reviewer’s weakness column but
for historic value, it belongs on the release as it was the beginning of The
Ultimate Warrior’s serious push to the top of the card and ever wrestler
deserves to have their turning point moment on their own bio release be it good
or bad. A thorough whipping of Tonk, the performance did what it was meant to
do and that was paint Warrior as a formidable force.
Moving
onto the subject of Randy Savage, the release affects a sombre tone as Warrior
talks about his friend with nothing but love and respect. Running through the
similarities between himself and Randy Savage, Warrior rightly observes that
‘Macho Man’ was the best. He certainly was, no one could hold a crowd or structure
a match like Randy Savage. Exploiting Savage’s discipline for the wrestling
business, it’s nice to hear about Savage from someone who doesn’t hold a grudge
against him, and it obvious by the glowing way Warrior talks about his friend
that Savage’s enthusiasm for the wrestling business was infectious. Warrior’s
impression of Randy isn’t half bad either.
The
Ultimate Warrior vs Randy Savage (Boston Garden, February 11th 1989) is nowhere
near as gripping as their tremendous WrestleMania VII scrap but this is still a
worthy entry into their series packed with ring psychology and some very crisp
manoeuvres which wouldn’t look out of place on a WrestleMania card. There’s a
little more submission and rest holds than one would have liked to see but when
Savage and Warrior kick it into gear they’re amongst the best in the company at
that time and around that time it’s not often you could have said that about
The Ultimate Warrior. Rick Rude’s input doesn’t detract from the action though
his posing which is intended to put Warrior off is mostly done when the then
Intercontinental Champion wasn’t even looking. The back and forth action is
nicely complimented by Warrior’s willingness to show weakness for a man he
clearly trusts in the ring.
The
next piece of interview took me by surprise somewhat. It’s well known by die
hard wrestling fans that The Ultimate Warrior and Rick Rude had their
disagreement backstage many times, stemming from Warrior’s stiff nature in the
ring. Rude had complained to management and even Warrior time and time again
that he needed to soften up before he caused Rude or someone else an injury. As
the story goes, Warrior told Rude to go away in not so flattering terms before
Rude punched him to the ground and left. By listening to Ultimate Warrior here,
you wouldn’t know that ever happened. Warrior is nothing but positive about
Rude and his experiences with him. Many may see this as trying to gloss over
what is widely known to have happened but again it shows that Warrior has no
ill feeling towards anyone in his later life and can spot a quality wrestler
despite what feelings he may have about them.
The
Ultimate Warrior vs Rick Rude (SummerSlam 1989, August 28th 1989) is a
brilliant match which Warrior shares his load of the work for, complimenting
Rick Rude’s mega effort to help make Warrior look like a true star. Rude is
beautifully arrogant and takes his comeuppance like a man whilst Warrior looks
nothing but a million dollars even if it appears he blows up horrendously not
long into the bout. Near falls combined with red hot crowd heat and Bobby
Heenan’s interactions with the action are just brilliant.
Yet
another welcome detour from the heavy nature of a bio release such as this
occurs when Warrior admirably takes the time out of his own documentary to give
a thankful nod to the jobbers of the day who he rightly states did so much for
him. Everyone reading this knows a jobber in the 80’s and 90’s had to do as
they were told or were sent packing, but they didn’t have to take the beating
Warrior gave them in short and usually pointless matches. Neither is often we
hear a wrestler express his thanks to them either. Most are forgotten about
today except Barry Horowitz who somehow managed to carve out a career for
himself as a total and utter jobber to the stars. Warrior is bang on the money
when he says without the jobbers, no stars would have been made and to a degree
I agree with him. It was certainly easier to make stars when they weren’t
burying each other on a regular weekly basis. Maybe it’s something WWE need to
go back to on occasion when attempting to make a new star.
The
passion Warrior emits when talking about his character is nothing but joyful
and impressive. After so long as one man some wrestlers would do anything and
everything they could to avoid being that person or even talking about it in
the modern day. Stan Lane is one of those people. Warrior though is still so
passionate about the character that it’s hard not to get emotionally involved
with it yourself. So involved in the character, Warrior gets detailed about his
practices to get into the character and everything it embodied and judging
every situation on what Warrior would do instead of Jim Hellwig. Can you
imagine John Cena doing this on a nightly basis? Other wrestlers should have
this commitment in the present day.
Like
Rick Rude, The Ultimate Warrior also had backstage problems with Andre the
Giant for the exact same reason. Anyone who has seen ‘Self Destruction’ will no
doubt remember Bobby Heenan’s story about Andre physically striking Warrior
during one match in order to teach him a lesson. However yet again, Warrior
seems to bare no ill feeling towards wrestling’s most famous giant stating that
he loved to work with Andre who was always smiling. It’s nice to hear something
positive about Andre in 2014, not that we haven’t in the past but it’s a breath
of fresh air to know that the older generation hasn’t been forgotten amidst the
shuffle the business has undergone in recent years. The only thing which could
have made this better would have been had Warrior answered some of the
accusations hurled at him in ‘Self Destruction’.
Painting
the picture of his journey to WrestleMania VI and the WWE Championship, Warrior
changes tack and portrays his rise to the top of the mountain as a storybook
tale. There’s another unknown story thrown in about how he and Hogan met only
once before the event in a dungeon with a gym to walk through the match though
here you can see his bile towards Hogan as Warrior rarely mentions one of
greatest real life rivals by name. Correctly stating that the feud had to be
handled differently to Hogan’s previous WrestleMania outings seeing as The
Ultimate Warrior couldn’t effectively be turned heel, one of Warrior’s best
moment of the entire release comes when he utters the phrase ‘It’s not the
destiny, it’s the journey’, which is prudent here considering Warrior’s career
didn’t have a definitive conclusion before being inducted into the WWE Hall of
Fame but the journey was unforgettable for a myriad of reasons.
The
Ultimate Warrior vs Mr. Perfect (Madison Square Garden, March 19th 1990) is
most notable for Mr. Perfect’s excellent performance which includes some top
notch selling of Warrior’s power offence. Very few sold or worked better than
Henning in the early 1990’s as this match attests. Perfect’s offence is so
crisp that for a moment you actually believe he can defeat the Warrior and he
covers very well for Hellwig’s short comings at that particular time though
Warrior would get better and overall wrestler as time went on. I doubt any of
this will truly thrill you but on a release littered with squash matches, this
is a diamond in the rough.
The
Ultimate Warrior vs Hulk Hogan (WrestleMania VI, April 1st 1990) is a stunning
bout for the simple reason neither Hulk Hogan or Ultimate Warrior were used to
putting on a match of such calibre with others. Hogan’s match one year previous
with Savage was great but pound of pound this tops it with some excellent near
falls and flawless performances from both men. It was the beginning of the
Warrior’s ascension to eternal wrestling legend and though many believed he
couldn’t handle the main event spotlight, he proved them all wrong here. Both
look completely knackered at the conclusion which only adds to the drama of a
well fought and unforgettable match. Hogan’s show stealing antics at the
conclusion are still a disgusting show of disrespect.
Following
the WrestleMania VI bout, Warrior takes the time to review the match for us
which is good of him to a degree but seeing as it comes with clips of
everything we’ve just seen it really isn’t necessary. Having said that, we are
provided with another smile inducing story about how when watching the match
with people they’re never brave enough to broach that Warrior never got Hulk
Hogan up over his head completely and Warrior has a good laugh about the fact
that even if he admits it to said people they’ll still try and convince him
that he did. The story saves what would have been an otherwise repetitive segment
which while good could have been made better by Warrior commenting on Hogan’s
selfish ways by stealing his spotlight. After all these years I would have
liked to have known Warrior’s true feelings about that incident.
The
Ultimate Warrior vs ‘The Million Dollar Man’ Ted Dibiase (Tokyo Dome, April
13th 1990) provides a very different feeling to every other match of the era.
It’s long been said that the Japanese fans have a different and even better
appreciation for the sport of wrestling and it certainly shows here. The roles
of WWE Champion and challenger are reversed here as the sell out Tokyo crowd
favour Ted Dibiase, cheering every one of his moves, thanks to his long and
storied association and history with the country. They treat him like a hero and
have almost no emotion for Warrior. Dibiase counters Warrior’s Shoulderblock
very well and never looks second best which he very rarely was. Every move is
delivered with confidence sealing a well fought, if swift outing. Dibiase could
always bring out the best in an opponent.
The
Ultimate Warrior vs Rick Rude (Saturday Night’s Main Event, July 28th 1990) is
one of the best non pay-per view matches on the entire release. So good and
with such a pace it could pass for a WrestleMania main event. Whilst Warrior
blows up on a ten count kick in the corner, Rick Rude nails his heel
performance first selling like a trouper for Warrior and then taking control
with the greatest of ease. The pace of the match is very impressive especially
for Warrior who relied on his power and not pace, it’s one of the few matches
which could have gone for another twenty minutes at the same pace and not
become boring. Warrior sells the belt shot to perfection and Rick Rude provides
comic relief on an Atomic Drop whilst his Sleeper Hold is ultra tense to the
point you allow yourself to believe we could have a new WWE Champion. The pair
may have had their differences outside the ring, but inside they had an
incredible connection. Bobby Heenan is also excellent on the outside; he’s the
90’s version of Paul Heyman today.
The
Ultimate Warrior vs ‘The Million Dollar Man’ Ted Dibiase (The Main Event,
November 23rd 1990) is yet another well timed and proficient outing, sealing
the fact that Ultimate Warrior’s WWE Championship defences were as good if not
better than everything else he did during his career. They were scorching and
more than that, they proved everyone wrong. These matches are a giant middle
finger to Vince McMahon and everyone else who criticised Warrior over the years
and prove that he could do it as good as anyone when it suited him. The back
and forth featured is amazingly slick and the comebacks are so believable that
you’d think Warrior had been studying ring psychology all his life.
Unfortunately the review disc this was featured on (DVD disc 2) stuck at the
conclusion of the bout so I never got to see the end of the bout.
Coming
onto the subject of WrestleMania VII, Warrior never admits that Randy Savage
was ninety percent responsible for the quality of the bout, it was a cracker,
but does allude to the match on the night not being of equal proportions as far
as input was concerned. This is as close as we may ever get to Warrior
admitting he wasn’t the best in ring talent in the entire world. It’s yet
another gracious moment and on a release which comes after a years worth of
wrestling revelling in self absorbing rubbish as if they’re the only ones who
made it possible for themselves to be present in the business, this again comes
as a nice touch. You can almost guarantee it won’t be seen again in the next
year or two. Delving into how easy it was to work with Randy Savage, Warrior
genially tells us how great Randy was when asked if he could be pinned with one
foot on the chest, something other wrestlers would rightfully refuse to happen.
The
Ultimate Warrior vs ‘Macho King’ Randy Savage (WrestleMania VII, March 24th
1991) is arguably the greatest match Ultimate Warrior had in the wrestling
business. Structured to perfection and with outstanding performances from both
men, this is one of the most solid and underrated matches in WrestleMania
history. Once again, Randy Savage is absolutely unforgettable and Warrior looks
like a complete beast as he dominates Savages in a thrilling few final minutes
which really cement his image. When you look back on Ultimate Warrior’s career,
he really does have a lot to thank Randy Savage for and had he been alive in
2014, then I’m sure it would have been ‘Macho Man’ who inducted Warrior into
the Hall of Fame. Some arrangement would have been worked out especially for
that night.
Leaving
behind what many see as the ‘old’ generation, the release turns its attention
to the beginning of what your Wrestling God has often called the ‘golden era’
(1991 – 1996) which was full of cartoon esc characters and even then better
storylines than we often get today, beginning with The Undertaker. Pitching the
notion that Taker was the first character build from scratch in the company
(that’s one who didn’t enter the promotion with the gimmick already in tact),
Warrior is again accurate when he states that the only way to get a character
like The Undertaker over was to have him work with a main event talent like The
Ultimate Warrior. Sadly though more times than not their matches were terrible
but that is never alluded to and why should it be? Before we’re shown one of
the worst main roster talent clashes on the release, Warrior takes the time to
give us an unknown Undertaker backstage story which is somewhat different
seeing as we don’t get to hear stuff about Undertaker very often. Mark Calloway
is very guarded about The Undertaker character and image to the point he
doesn’t sit with the rest of the roster at the Hall of Fame ceremonies, instead
preferring to stand backstage in order to preserve his characters image.
Warrior’s story is spliced with some forgotten footage of their feud.
‘The
Funeral Parlour With The Ultimate Warrior’ (Superstars of Wrestling, April 13th
1991) is one of the very few non wrestling segments included across the span of
the release which is actually worth the time to watch. Kept watchable thanks to
the brilliant Paul Bearer and his flawless microphone skills which remind you
of what WWE are missing today, this is much better than The Brother Love Show
segments included alongside this which are a waste of time. Hell, even Warrior
makes sense here in one his few distinguishable promos. The Undertaker’s
beat-down of Warrior is mostly weak but the stunt where Warrior is locked
inside the casket is surprisingly tense, helped along by the commentary in
which all members are shocked and anxious to get Warrior, who is supposedly
running out of air, removed from his confines. I’m sure I watched this as a
child and feared for Warrior as much as those on commentary seem to be, but
this is one of the rare segments which doesn’t lose quality as you get older. I
will say though the CPR on a supposedly dead Warrior one step too far.
‘Gene
Okerlund Interviews The Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage’ (Superstars of
Wrestling, July 25th 1992) is nothing but an excellent for the still
unforgettable SummerSlam 1992 from Wembley Stadium. Though no one watching will
be able to grasp Warrior’s words thanks to him seemingly trying to recite
Shakespeare through the angle, the angle is saved by Randy Savage and Ric
Flair’s excellent comprehension of microphone skills. Intense to the maximum,
Savage tells Ultimate Warrior that he’s better than the best; he was, before
Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect inject the segment with attitude. Still one of the
best in the world at this point regardless of what people say, Flair marvels
with the lines “I’ve beaten guys with paint on their face for ten years! I
specialize in them!” and “Walk that aisle and I’ll beat you for that belt like
that (snaps his fingers)! Warrior, if you want to follow him, I’ll beat you
five minutes later!” whilst Mr. Perfect rounds off proceedings with the classic
“Macho Chicken” line before a brawl is incited.
Whilst
the subject of the SummerSlam 1992 feud isn’t covered in as much depth as
needed, the interview soon turns to forgotten The Ultimate Maniacs team which
Warrior and Randy Savage formed following SummerSlam 1992 before Warrior left
prior to the 1992 Survivor Series. Many in wrestling forget how good the pair
were as a team and this serves to remind them. In his own words, Warrior
gleefully states that he learnt so much from Randy Savage and how much of a
ball he had working with him during that and every other period in his career.
Warrior’s Survivor Series 1992 exit is glossed over yet again which means we
can only believe Vince McMahon’s word that he failed a drugs test as Warrior
doesn’t tell us anything more than he had ‘other projects’ on the go, but this
is worth the time as it reminds of a period which isn’t necessarily remembered.
‘Riding
on the Edge of a Lightening Bolt’ (Superstars of Wrestling, November 14th 1992)
is a short but exciting promo, one of the few in that class included, which
takes in an unusual but compelling Warrior moment and yet another brilliant
Randy Savage rambling which blows the entire segment away. The costumes of the
pair are so colourful that WWE could in 2014 bring out a double pack of The
Ultimate Maniacs and it would sell like goldust, not the wrestler, the
material.
The
Ultimate Maniacs vs Money Inc. (Saturday Night’s Main Event, November 14th
1992) is very good technically is a little messy in other parts. However the
pace keeps the match relevant whilst Bobby Heenan is pure gold on commentary.
The sheer pace of the match exhausts Ted Dibiase by the end but the bout boasts
a slick style in which Warrior doesn’t have to do anything of much to stand
out. The only down side to this match is the awful countout ending which should
have been put right via pinfall, it wouldn’t have damaged Money Inc. at all.
Warrior’s
1996 return is enveloped by a story which seems to represent more of a battle
of wills between Warrior and Vince McMahon rather than a business transaction
which should have gone smoothly. To prize Warrior away from other projects,
such as his comic book franchise and running his own gym which is mentioned,
McMahon had to offer Warrior a massive contract which in the end just wasn’t
worth the money they paid him. In truth, Warrior’s 1996 comeback was a disaster
and whilst he looked more proficient in the ring it would have been better for
his legacy had he stayed away and reject McMahon’s offer to return. The fans
had moved on and he was a fish out of water, simply, he didn’t fit anymore.
With that said, Warrior spins the yarn in such a way that it’s amusing and a
joy to listen to especially when its revealed that he gets as a thrill out of
telling Vince to ‘F’ off. That’s amusing. Revealing that he wouldn’t have
returned if it wasn’t for Linda McMahon, which is why she’s inducting him into
the Hall of Fame, Warrior mentions his Mania XII fleeting appearance with
Triple H but doesn’t respond to Hunter’s claims that Warrior was the most
unprofessional wrestler he’s ever worked with.
‘The
Ultimate Warrior Returns’ (Monday Night Raw, April 8th 1996) is the final
competent segment on the release, everything after this is worth skipping over,
just watch the interview. For the most part, the segment in which Ultimate
Warrior is interviewed by Vince McMahon is handled with ease and Warrior reels
off his promo like he’d had ample training in front of a camera. The magic
moment comes when Warrior informs that the fans spoke to him and said “We want
to live one last time in the presence of the Warrior”. It’s somewhat poignant
and whilst fans do today, in 1996 they really could give a damn. Wrestling fans
had little nostalgia value in 1996 seeing as they had just come off of that
particular time and were looking to evolve. The ending confrontation with
Goldust is handled well and even somewhat amusing.
On
the subject of WCW, The Ultimate Warrior bashes the company and everyone
involved. It’s the first time during the release which Warrior takes a negative
tone about any one or any thing and it serves the tone well that it’s not all
praise. Had Warrior come out and said his time in WCW was brilliant then we’d
know he was lying from all the other accounts we’ve heard of how the company
was run over the years. Condemning people who can’t take ‘no’ for an answer
when he didn’t want to return, Warrior turns the tone of the interview on its
head with nothing but a stern stance, saying that people believe they’re doing
you a favour by putting you back in a ring when you have no desire to be there.
And finally, it happens. The moment we’ve been waiting for, for nearly seven
hours. The Ultimate Warrior gives a small peak into his real feelings for Hulk
Hogan when he spits that Hogan was like that as well and he always spouts the
same old shtick and clichés. The hatred in his eyes is plain to see.
Admitting
that coming back to the ring for WCW was a mistake is a moment when Warrior
grows as a character in stature. It’s the first time on the release and maybe
ever he’s admitted he was wrong and that he made a mistake. Taking a cheque to
lose to Hogan obviously doesn’t still well with him today and Hellwig seems
genuinely disgusted with himself, stating that the idea was repulsive to him.
You can believe Warrior when he says that had he known from the beginning what
he was going to be used for then he would never have returned for all the money
they paid him. He’s right. The WCW version of The Ultimate Warrior certainly
wasn’t the man we knew and loved. He was even more out of place in 1998 than he
was in 1996. It’s a powerful moment.
Like
the opening statement where Warrior speaks to his ‘Warriors’, the release ends
on the same heartfelt and intimate note. Mentioning his Hall of Fame induction
and how he refused to accept it until the real story had been told, we’re
reassured by Warrior that this release is only the beginning, though what more
can be said? Movingly, Warrior ends his bio by staring straight down the lens
and saying “Until we meet again, I’m Warrior man, always believe.” It’s very,
very nice and our payoff for waiting so long to see him again. Cheers Warrior,
the pleasure was ours.
Weaknesses:
The
Blade Runners vs Mike O’ Riley and Perry Jackson (Universal Wrestling
Federation, April 11th 1986) may be historically interesting but this is
nothing more than a squash match in which Warrior and Sting wipe the floor in
seconds with their opponents. In fact, they spend more time out of the ring on
their entrance than they do wrestling in it. There’s nothing of quality here.
The
Dingo Warrior vs Chris Adams (World Class Championship Wrestling, August 8th
1986) is a complete and utter mess from the beginning to the end. Monotonous
beyond belief, the bout begins with power moves and seems to last an age.
Dropping Adams on a Flying Crossbody is just one of the cringe worthy moments
which make this more painful than rewarding and another is Adams clearly
missing a Super-kick which sails miles wide. It’s only notable for the
appearance of a very young and blonde Paul Bearer.
Covering
his entrance and debut in the World Wrestling Federation, Hellwig says that he
was headhunted especially to play The Ultimate Warrior character after Vince
McMahon had seen him perform as Dingo Warrior in WCCW. A wrestler as limited as
Warrior was back them, it’s hard to believe that Vince McMahon with all the
talent he had in the company at the time looked at Hellwig and believed someone
as limited as him could be a major star just a few years into his career. It’s
believable that Vince would employ him with a view to training him better for
future stardom but not headhunt him to play a character intended for greatness.
Unlike its counterpart ‘Self Destruction’, there’s no information here from
Warrior on how The Ultimate Warrior came about. We’ve heard Vince claim the
glory for coming up with it and that is most probably true seeing as Warrior claims
he was headhunted for the part. It would have been nice to hear his thoughts on
the character and the name in more detail. There is none here.
The
Ultimate Warrior vs Barry Horowitz (Wrestling Challenge, November 7th 1987)
exists only to prove what a force Warrior was at the time. Short and
ineffective it has no class about it and is baffling as to why it’s included.
Mentioning
the steps he took to upgrade The Ultimate Warrior character with exercise and
nutrition, Warrior doesn’t mention the copious amount of steroids and body
enhancers he took around the time which have been well documented. In 1992,
when The Ultimate Warrior and The British Bulldog left the company before
Survivor Series the pair were fired for failing a drugs test and being found to
have been using enhancers to bump up their physique. This should be mentioned
and owned up to by Hellwig especially when other wrestlers of the era have held
their hands up to the act in recent months. We would have respected Warrior
more for telling the truth. There’s no sense in hiding it now. It looks like
he’s hiding something.
The
Ultimate Warrior vs The Honky Tonk Man (Philadelphia Spectrum, December 17th
1988) is slow that fast forwarding it actually enhances the experience.
Uninvolving from the beginning, Honky’s offence is so weak that at times it
looks like Tonk is stroking his opponent instead of wrestling him. This is one
of the rare occasions where the selling actually holds up the bout and strips
away and tension and intrigue it may have had. It’s not often you’ll hear this
but their SummerSlam 1988 collision was much better because it was so short
that it didn’t have time to get dull. Honky spends so much time loosening
Warrior’s arm straps and choking him out that it resembles a first match for
both men and comes to a complete halt. Feeble at its best.
The
Ultimate Warrior vs Bob Bradley (Prime Time Wrestling, September 18th 1989) and
The Ultimate Warrior vs Brian Costello (Prime Time Wrestling, December 25th
1989) are the same match but with different opponents. Both short, they clutter
this release with unneeded time wasting and that is what they are. Holding no
interest, intrigue or value as far as wrestling goes they should have been
omitted, though combined they struggle to break the three minute mark.
‘The
Brother Love Show’ (Superstars of Wrestling, July 29th 1989) segment is wholly
rubbish and features Andre the Giant struggling to relay a promo in English and
Brother Love’s capable introduction but little else. Warrior tears onto the
set, shouts something which we never quite work out the meat and bones of
before challenging Andre who looks like he genuinely wants to kill Hellwig.
Very unspectacular.
The
Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant (Madison Square Garden, October 28th 1989)
and The Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant (Saturday Nights Main Event,
November 25th 1989) are both wholly repugnant affairs. The first is blink and
you’ll miss it at less than fifteen seconds whilst the latter tempts you to
fetch the razor blades. Slow to the point the time on the show could have been
filled with an interview and the release could have been cut by seven minutes,
almost literally nothing happens other than Bearhug’s and it’s made even worse
by the terrible ending. Andre was done here and it shows.
‘Crash
the Plane’ (Wrestling Challenge, March 10th 1990) may just be one of Warrior’s
most famous promos before stepping into the ring with Hulk Hogan at
WrestleMania VI but listening to it in it’s entirety, you’ll need subtitles and
at least three rewinds to work out what Warrior is saying. Worse, he mumbles
the whole thing and then interjects it with long pauses. His pacing of the
promo is maddeningly long whilst he spends half of the time with his back to
camera. Saying all that, it’s worth the watch just for the experience.
The
Ultimate Warrior vs Sgt. Slaughter (Huntsville, Alabama – January 7th 1991) is
sluggish and clumsy, not to mention uninteresting. If WWE were hoping this
would serve as a teaser for their even worse Royal Rumble encounter then I
would question the integrity of the decision maker. Slaughter may have had
massive heat thanks to the Iraqi sympathiser gimmick he was portraying but it
can’t save this debacle. Slaughter is so leisurely in his approach he walks
through a good portion of the fight and sells horribly and Warrior just has
nothing to work with so doesn’t bother at all. The double clothesline looks
hideous and to make matters worse, Warrior has to clap twice on his final
flurry so Slaughter who takes an age to lift himself from the mat knows his
opponent is coming. It’s a wonder they didn’t injure each other in this clumsy
and lacklustre match.
The
Ultimate Warrior vs Randy Savage (Madison Square Garden, January 21st 1991) is
a fairly by the numbers outing which disappoints considering both men had such
amazing charisma. Fought inside a steel cage, Randy Savage almost runs out of ideas
of what to do with Warrior and how to give him the best possible launch pad to
succeed here. The cage limits what both men can do and what we end up with is a
lot of punching and kicking interspersed with slams and only a few high spots
which needed to be the main focus of a match in which Warrior was caged and had
to stay in the ring. Variety is sparse here and too much time is spent stalling
and beating on Sensational Sherri.
‘The
Ultimate Warrior Ends Brother Love’s Career’ (Superstars of Wrestling, March
2nd 1991) is only notable for Bruce Pritchard’s turn as Brother Love who by his
final appearance in 1991 had outstayed his welcome. If anything, this segment
is an embarrassment for Warrior who tears down the set and then fails to pull a
truss down because it’s simply too heavy and failure to do so only damages
Warrior’s image. The attack on Love is by the book, though Warrior seems to
take liberties with a non-in-ring talent.
The
Ultimate Warrior vs The Undertaker (Maple Leaf Gardens, June 2nd 1991) is the
ultimate snore-fest. If you thought his matches against Honky Tonk Man and
Andre the Giant were bad then this will top the lot. To his credit, Warrior
begins at pace but the bout is soon brought to a shuddering halt by the
inexperienced Undertaker who applies a Jaw Vice and holds it for nearing four
long and boring minutes. To make matters worse, when he has the hold applied,
Undertaker just stands there and ushers to Bearer at ringside. The pair look
like two statues and you have to whizz the match forward just to reassure
yourself that time hasn’t actually stopped of they haven’t died in that
position. Warrior devaluates the Tombstone Piledriver by sitting up immediately
and apart from his ring gear, there’s nothing special about this nonsense.
We’ve
heard stories about Warrior’s exit in 1991 and not many people know the truth
except Vince McMahon who tells us on ‘Self Destruction’ what is widely believed
to be the truth that at SummerSlam 1991, Warrior demanded an extra half a
million to appear in the scheduled main event. I can’t verify that claim, but
something went awry between Vince and Warrior and seeing as that story has been
touted by Power Slam, the most reputable of all UK wrestling magazines, for
years then I am inclined to believe it. Yet there’s nothing in the interview
segment about why Warrior upped and left. Warrior tells us he had a bunch of
stuff going on but never that he was fired by McMahon and no explanation is
provided as to why he got greedy and demanded a bigger pay off. That’s a shame.
Why hide the truth, if it is the truth, when everyone knows anyway?
The
Ultimate Warrior vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley (WrestleMania XII, March 31st 1996)
is again rapid and offers nothing. The way Ultimate Warrior treats Hunter; this
may as well have been a Superstars squash match. I can’t begin to tell you the
damage Warrior did to Hunter’s image that night, when it could all have been
avoided by tacking ten more minutes onto the bout and allowing Triple H some
offence. Though with Warrior displaying ring rust upon his return maybe WWE
thought that neither man could effectively work a ten minute bout.
Talking
about his return feud with Goldust, Warrior seems to believe that time in 1996
was the best he’d been in his whole career. No it wasn’t. He may have been more
proficient in the ring but the feud against Goldust did nothing for Dustin
Rhodes’ character and only served to devaluate the Intercontinental
Championship when Warrior stated in an interview before their bout at In Your
House that the title wasn’t important to him and it wasn’t what he came back
for. His belief that after all these years and even though the company had
clearly moved on with smaller and better wrestlers that he was going to be a
prominent main event player is somewhat misplaced. Warrior had to know he was
never going to be a main event player again and his whole persona in 1996
screamed ‘mid-card’ player. His intention should have been to help build a
better future of younger stars, not the development of his own already well
fleshed out character. Maybe its best we forget about this period in Warrior’s
career.
‘Vince
McMahon Interviews The Ultimate Warrior and Jerry Lawler’ (Monday Night Raw,
June 10th 1996) is a by the numbers interview which does nothing but hype their
match at the 1996 King of the Ring. Warrior looks uninterested at what Jerry
Lawler has to say and just shouts and paces the ring. The best thing about this
is Lawler who was interesting in 1996. Where did it all go wrong?
The
Ultimate Warrior vs Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler (King of the Ring 1996, June 23rd
1996) only has life and meaning when Warrior kicks into gear. Unfortunately,
when he does, the match is over. For the rest of the match Lawler dominates
Warrior with punches, kicks and chokes which add nothing of value. Lawler was
better than this and he knew it.
‘The
Warrior’s WCW Debut’ (Nitro, August 17th 1988) starts out as able but descends
into monotony. Hogan sets up Warrior’s return nicely though contradicts himself
when he says that he’s going to take out yesterdays trash when he was lumped
into that category as well. However when Warrior enters, Hogan feigns shock and
fear excellently and Warrior’s banter with the crowd is lively until his turns
his attention to Hulk Hogan. As the crowd chant ‘Hogan Sucks’, Warrior wryly
turns to the audience and says “Let’s Talk About Something He Doesn’t Know” in
an excellent piece of improvisation which couldn’t have made Hogan happy. Sadly
though Warrior then goes into his own world and begins to fluff lines,
repeating things over and over again. Worse, the segment goes on and on and on
clocking in at nearly twenty minutes. This features the moment when Warrior
alludes to their WrestleMania VI outing which on ‘Self Destruction’ Hogan
criticises Warrior for, saying that you never hark back to the past and what
has been. Sorry Hulk, but you’re guilty of that more than anyone and it’s been
done thousands of times. Hogan was blowing it out of proportion as he usually
does, just to make Warrior look bad. Still, it could have been worse. Their
utterly abysmal match at Halloween Havoc could have been included. We all had a
lucky escape there.
‘Ultimate
Warrior Promo’ (Nitro, October 26th 1998) is almost wholly baffling as Warrior
has to shout his lines because the microphone doesn’t fully cut in until near
the end. The angle is short and useless, featuring a beat down of the NWO and
Hogan’s dodgy take of the Flying Shoulderblock. Avoid if you want to save time.
There
is nothing mentioned about Warrior’s post wrestling career which included the
Warrior University which would have been nice to take a look inside and his
lecturing job at schools and universities across America. Footage of this
whilst summing up his career before the final farewell to the fans would have
been a welcome distraction. Neither is there anything said about his return to
the ring for a foreign promotion, for whom he defeated Orlando Jordon for the
company’s top title.
Blu-ray Exclusive Extras:
World Class
Championship Wrestling – October 24th 1986
Dingo
Warrior vs Matt Borne
Maple Leaf Gardens –
July 24th 1988
The
Ultimate Warrior and The British Bulldogs vs Demolition and Mr. Fuji
WWE The Main Event –
February 23rd 1990
WWE Intercontinental
Championship Match
The
Ultimate Warrior vs Dino Bravo
The Ultimate Challenge
– March 25th 1990
WrestleMania
VI Contract Signing
Road To WrestleMania
VII – March 17th 1991
WrestleMania
VII Contract Signing
WrestleFest – Tokyo,
Japan – March 30th 1991
The
Ultimate Warrior vs Sgt. Slaughter
WWE In Your House –
April 26th 1996
WWE Intercontinental
Championship Match
The
Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust
Conclusion:
‘The
Ultimate Warrior: The Ultimate Collection’ is going to be for you depending on
your taste in viewing. If you can sit through the run time and ignore all the
inconsistencies in stories and are okay with Warrior leaving out some important
detail then absolutely this is an essential purchase. However, if you’re of the
ilk that is slighted by the truth not always being present and a percentage of
the matches which are simply squash then you may want to give it a miss or at
least wait until it has gone down in price.
Warrior
begins the release by stating that people throughout the years said that such a
release could never be made because there simply weren’t enough good matches to
compile. Looking at how Warrior and WWE struggled to fill this release then one
would have to say those people were partially right. Whilst the release strays
away from collecting together matches which aren’t already widely available on
other releases, the pitfall it fell into is that those matches it has included
only a handful are must see. The rest are simply not worth the time it takes to
get through them. Warrior’s defences of the WWE Championship are among the best
of his entire career, barring the Sgt. Slaughter scrap, and his pay-per view
bouts with Hogan and Savage are two of the best he’s ever contested. With the
exception of these and one or two house show outings, everything else is
worthless and that’s unfortunate.
Amongst
the matches, the release also includes unneeded interviews and segments, again
only a handful of these are worthwhile. This should have been easy to avoid for
WWE, who are more than experienced at releasing media outings now. It would
have been much better had the company released a two disc set with the first
disc featuring just the sit down interview with Warrior and the second
compiling the best matches from across this three disc release. That way, it
would have necessitated all the rubbish be scraped away and left us and Warrior
with the perfect release.
With
all that said, the new sit-down interview is mostly excellent and Warrior comes
across as someone you’d really like to know in real life, not the ogre of
wrestling past he’s been painted as before. Disc 2 offers the best value
because it’s shorter and there’s not so much time to waste whilst Disc 3,
depending on your preference can feel like a chore to get through.
It
seems like we’ve been waiting for this release and moment for many years and
it’s finally here. It’s not all bad and the good certainly outweighs it, but
you’ll come away from this feeling WWE could have done more to make the
experience more enjoyable instead of making us sit through material which is
obviously tripe. On the whole, it’s not excellent when it should have been. But
it’s good enough to warrant a purchase when you have the funds available.
Rating: B
Next Time In Review
Corner: WWE Royal Rumble 2014 DVD and Blu-ray
Onwards
and upwards...
