[spacer height=”20px”]WGD Weekly with Steve and the Scum recently hosted a “Ultimate Tribute to the Ultimate Warrior.” Over a dozen performers that had in some capacity worked with the Warrior joined the program to pay tribute. Here are some highlights:
Kevin Sullivan: “I knew him before he was in the wrestling business. I knew him when I was bodybuilding and he was Mr. Georgia. I watched him perform, he electrified the crowd. He was up in the WWF the next thing I knew and he was getting a huge reaction. Vince McMahon promoted the Warrior right behind Hulk and they ended up drawing a huge gate for WrestleMania, babyface versus babyface and it drew huge.
“All these people that knock the Warrior’s work, well people who knock guys work have never put on a pair of tights. Not all of us could work like Ric Flair, or Shawn Michaels, or Ray Stevens or guys of that caliber, but the Warrior did something that people don’t understand. He put asses every eighteen inches. He had to be over to sell out and the Warrior sold places out, time and time again. He was a great performer and an icon in this business. He will remain an icon in this business fifty years from now when people Google his name, or whatever they got then, there will be a picture of the Ultimate Warrior.
“The sad thing is his family isn’t going to grow old with him. When I saw his children and him walk on that stage, that really upset me, because I know how hard it must be to grow up without a father. He must’ve been a great human being because you could look at those kids and see that they were loved, you could look at his wife and see that she was loved. You could look at him and see that he was loved by them. So, it’s a sad day in the wrestling business, and it’s a sad day for his family. All I can say is I hope everything works well for his family, because they were loved, and I hope the Warrior will rest in peace.”
Ken Shamrock: “I was impressed with his physique and his character. I remember shaking his hand and talking to him, just a really nice guy. He didn’t really talk a whole lot, but when he did, he only had kind things to say to me. Once I got to talking to him, wow, what a tremendous person, and a tremendous work ethic for him to achieve what he achieved in the style that he did it in. He was always in shape, he always looked good, and wow, what a loss. People always talk about when someone passes away, we always think about them, but if there is one thing that I think we need to understand, it’s that they have moved on and we are the ones left here on earth to sort through the pain and hurt. So, I think that our prayers and our thoughts need to go out to the family and friends to help them through these times, because, when we move on, we move on to something better. So, God bless to the people who are still around and are trying to fight through their loss still. God bless them, and Godspeed.”
Bill Apter: “One of the most catastrophic moments in the universe, is what has happened to the Ultimate Warrior, on what was probably one of the greatest weekends of his life. But, we want to remember the good times, and people ask me, what is it that you remember most about the Ultimate Warrior? It wasn’t really anything that he did in the ring. It was this past weekend, when he became the Ultimate Warrior again and he got back in character on Monday Night Raw and also the awesome speech that he made where he made peace with himself and everyone else and showed how much his family meant to him. That was the quality behind the Ultimate a Warrior. Man, they must be having a heck of a battle royal, welcoming him into heaven, with “Ravishing” Rick Rude and Curt Hennig and all those guys.”
J.J. Dillon: “There are outsiders often who look and who are critical of people, who aren’t maybe the best technicians in the ring. They seem to be critical of them as though that’s the most important thing, and I am not in judgement of how great he was in the ring in the course of a match, but I can tell you, that when the music hit and he came through that curtain like a freight train, huffing and puffing, and running to the ring, and shaking the ropes, he electrified a crowd. It wasn’t like it was a phenomenon that lasted just one or two times, like a lot of things in life that are successful, there is a test of time involved and he consistently really was a superstar in our profession. At the end of the day, you have to look at what he accomplished and what he meant to the business and I for one know the feeling of someone who loved the business, who was grateful for how kind the business was to me and then to receive the acknowledgement of being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. It really is very, very gratifying, and I know it had to be for Warrior at this stage with all that has happened.
“I went to bed, not knowing the news, and traditionally, when I get up in the morning, the first thing I do is turn on my computer and I saw it just full screen, the Ultimate Warrior has died. I gasped, I’m sitting there alone, just collecting my thoughts, and I see fifty four years old. It causes you to think about your own mortality, if only for that instant. I guess you have to look at the positive side, which is what I try to do, in that he had the same experience I had in that he went to the Hall of Fame ceremony, got the approval of everybody in the business. He got the chance to meet one on one with people who he may have had issues from in the past and as they say, the hatchet was buried with a lot of these people, including Vince McMahon and the WWE. Then the next day, to be introduced at WrestleMania, the event itself, and he got an individual introduction and came out and again, the response from the crowd.
“Again, I watched Monday, when he came out on Raw and I had not seen him in seven years. I went to one of these small wrestling conventions in New Jersey. I hadn’t seen him in a while and there was just a line of people out the door, to see him and have that moment with him. I didn’t want to leave without stopping by and saying hello to him, because he was somebody who I did respect and did admire. He saw me and as always was very gracious. He paused everything for a moment and had me come around the table and gave me a big hug. We had a limited few seconds together to say hello. I am happy for that moment and it’s hard to believe seven years have passed. I saw him when he walked out on Raw. It’s good that he had a chance to get in front of a live audience and say what was in his heart and much the way I feel is that the final comment that he made. He pointed out in all directions of the audience and thanked the fans because basically without them, there would’ve been no Warrior. So it was good that he gets the recognition to be in the Hall of Fame, he had a chance to put to rest a lot of feelings that maybe festered for a long time that shouldn’t have still been there. he got the chance to get in front of the people and say thank you and then the next day, I just really feel sad for his widow and his two daughters that walked out with him when he was introduced. It’s just hard to put into words, it is just very, very sad.”[spacer height=”20px”]
