40 Fun Facts About The Ultimate Warrior

Which reigning WWF Champion did Ultimate Warrior pin in the title-versus-title main event of WrestleMania VI?

Hulk Hogan had not lost by a clean pinfall since 1981, and the win made his challenger the first man to hold the WWF and Intercontinental titles at once.

Which career did Ultimate Warrior plan to pursue before he abandoned it to join a wrestling team in 1985?

Chiropractor was the plan until three fellow bodybuilders invited him to form a wrestling team, after he had spent six weeks training in California for a contest.

Whose 14-month Intercontinental title reign did Ultimate Warrior end in about half a minute at the first SummerSlam?

The Honky Tonk Man had demanded any opponent at all after Brutus Beefcake was ruled out, and a surprise challenger sprinted in to oblige.

According to a 1990s urban legend, which part of Ultimate Warrior's ring gear had cut off his blood circulation?

His arm tassels were blamed in one of the rumours that swirled when he came back in 1992 looking slimmer, with shorter and blonder hair.

Which rival had to retire after losing a career-ending match to Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VII?

Randy Savage lost the match but was reunited in the ring afterwards with Miss Elizabeth, his estranged former valet.

What was Ultimate Warrior's surname at birth, before he legally changed his name to a single word in 1993?

Hellwig vanished from his legal documents in 1993, and his children carry his one-word ring name as their surname.

What did Ultimate Warrior grab and shake violently after sprinting down the aisle in his trademark entrance?

The ropes got a furious shaking every time, in an entrance so frantic that he once knocked the announcer to the floor on his way in.

Who suspended Ultimate Warrior by letter right after SummerSlam 1991, calling his pay demands exorbitant?

Vince McMahon had agreed weeks earlier to pay him $550,000 for WrestleMania VII, and later said he gave in only to make sure the star turned up.

In a 1991 WWF storyline, which animal bit Ultimate Warrior in the face when he opened a chest?

A cobra struck during the last of three tests set by Jake Roberts, who then revealed he had been in league with Warrior's enemies all along.

Ultimate Warrior became WWF Champion at WrestleMania VI, the first WrestleMania held outside the US, in which city?

Toronto staged the show at the SkyDome, where an announced crowd of 67,678 set a record for the building.

Which wrestler, cast as an Iraqi sympathizer in the Gulf War, took the WWF title from Ultimate Warrior in 1991?

Sgt. Slaughter needed outside interference to win at the Royal Rumble, and the wartime storyline made him one of the most hated villains of the day.

Which rival took the Intercontinental title from Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania V with help from his manager?

Rick Rude got the pin only because his manager held the champion's foot down from outside the ring; the belt changed back that August.

At which annual WWF event was Ultimate Warrior the last man left on his team three years running, from 1988?

Survivor Series ended with him as the sole survivor in 1988, 1989 and 1990, the last time as captain of a team billed as the Warriors.

Which WCW legend was Ultimate Warrior's partner in the Blade Runners tag team in 1986?

Sting, a fellow former bodybuilder, wrestled beside him for about a year before Warrior left to go solo in Texas.

Which future WWE champion did Ultimate Warrior beat in his comeback match at WrestleMania XII in 1996?

Triple H, then billed as Hunter Hearst Helmsley, hit his Pedigree finisher early on, only for Warrior to shrug it off and pin him.

At which 1998 WCW pay-per-view did Ultimate Warrior lose a WrestleMania VI rematch often called one of the worst ever?

Halloween Havoc was meant to feature a fireball trick, but his opponent set the flame off in his own face and singed his moustache and eyebrows.

In what type of match did Ultimate Warrior defend the WWF Championship in a SummerSlam 1990 main event?

A steel cage match was one of the night's two main events, and he threw the challenger's interfering manager out before escaping himself.

Which wrestler put a curse on Ultimate Warrior in 1992 that made him convulse and vomit?

Papa Shango's spell was voted the worst feud of 1992 by one newsletter's readers, and Warrior said he hated the story and had no control over it.

On which weekly WWE show did Ultimate Warrior make his final public appearance, in New Orleans in April 2014?

Monday Night Raw had not featured him for almost 18 years, and he spoke to the fans in character one day before his death.

Which legend did Ultimate Warrior beat in a string of very short matches at house shows in late 1989?

André the Giant lost in quick squash matches that were designed to establish the younger man as a main-event star.

At which venue did Ultimate Warrior challenge for the WWF Championship at SummerSlam 1992 before almost 80,000 fans?

Wembley Stadium in London saw him win only by count-out, which meant the title did not change hands.

What did an interfering rival smash over Ultimate Warrior's head, costing him the WWF Championship in January 1991?

A scepter was part of the attacker's royal costume, and the blow landed while the challenger kept the referee looking the other way.

Which wild animal was part of Ultimate Warrior's ring name when he won the Texas Heavyweight title in 1987?

Dingo was dropped when he joined the WWF, where, by one account, the boss did not know what the word meant.

Which WCW faction did Ultimate Warrior's One Warrior Nation stable set out to oppose in 1998?

The New World Order's initials were flipped to give his own group its nickname, oWn, and he kidnapped one of its members to convert him.

What did Ultimate Warrior publish in 1996, starring himself as the hero and co-written with Jim Callahan?

A comic book titled Warrior led straight to a match: he beat Jerry Lawler at King of the Ring after Lawler had mocked it.

In which US state did Ultimate Warrior die in April 2014, days after his Hall of Fame induction in New Orleans?

Arizona is where he collapsed while walking to his car with his wife; an autopsy found that he had suffered a heart attack.

Which overhead lift did Ultimate Warrior use to set up the splash that finished many of his matches?

The gorilla press slam showed off his bodybuilder's strength; at the 1991 Royal Rumble he used it to throw a rival's valet out of the ring.

Which wrestler was rumored to have replaced Ultimate Warrior when Warrior returned looking different in 1992?

Kerry Von Erich was under WWF contract at the time, and WWE has called the swap story perhaps its longest-standing urban legend.

In which Japanese venue did Ultimate Warrior defend the WWF title twelve days after winning it at WrestleMania VI?

The Tokyo Dome hosted a joint show with two Japanese promotions, where he beat Ted DiBiase to keep the belt.

Which ring feature, built for Ultimate Warrior's WCW vanishing act, badly injured Davey Boy Smith at Fall Brawl 1998?

A trapdoor under the mat let him appear and vanish behind clouds of smoke, and the wrestlers in that match had not been warned it was there.

Which wrestler won the tournament for the Intercontinental title that Ultimate Warrior had to give up in 1990?

Mr. Perfect claimed the vacant belt because WWF rules barred one wrestler from holding both singles championships at once.

Which Intercontinental Champion fled the ring to hand Ultimate Warrior a count-out win at In Your House in 1996?

Goldust kept the belt, since a title does not change hands on a count-out, and their televised rematch ended in a double count-out.

Whose steel chain snapped in a tug of war with Ultimate Warrior, setting up their match at WrestleMania IV?

Hercules lost the resulting match, which was Warrior's first appearance on pay-per-view.

Which manager did Ultimate Warrior beat in a series of 'weasel suit' matches during the summer of 1988?

Bobby Heenan, long taunted as the Weasel by his rivals, usually lost to a sleeper hold and was then forced into the animal costume.

Which face-painted tag team joined Ultimate Warrior for six-man matches against Demolition in 1990?

The Legion of Doom were known outside the WWF as the Road Warriors, the team one of its members accused him of imitating early on.

Which magazine's readers voted Ultimate Warrior's WrestleMania VI main event the Match of the Year for 1990?

Pro Wrestling Illustrated readers loved the match, while a rival newsletter's readers voted him the most overrated wrestler three years running.

At the 1989 Royal Rumble, Ultimate Warrior and a rival competed in what kind of contest, judged by the crowd?

A posedown let both men flex for cheers; when the crowd sided with Warrior, his rival attacked and choked him with a steel bar.

Which WCW wrestler arrived in 1995 with mannerisms, moves and entrance music closely modeled on Ultimate Warrior's?

The Renegade was hyped beforehand as an 'Ultimate Surprise', and later served as the real Warrior's stunt double during his 1998 WCW run.

Which bodybuilding title did Ultimate Warrior win in 1984, the year before he began training as a wrestler?

Mr. Georgia was the peak of an amateur career he took up after seeing the bodybuilder Robby Robinson in California.

Isaac Yankem, a wrestling dentist beaten by Ultimate Warrior in 1996, later became famous under which ring name?

Kane arrived in 1997 as a masked, horror-themed monster, and the man behind the mask was later elected a county mayor in Tennessee.