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Over the years Vince McMahon has been known to give many second chances to his former talent. He has built up a solid reputation for sending out invitations to professional wrestlers who may have wronged him in some way. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash used their notoriety from WWE to make big waves for Vince's competition in WCW. Countless times he's patched up his on and off again relationship Hulk Hogan and obviously has allowed him make several more appearances. And despite this attitude, there are still a few instances where former wrestling personalities are thought to be cut off altogether from World Wrestling Entertainment. Up untill about a week ago, the Ultimate Warrior was thought by many to be a name on that short list.
However, it has been recently reported that there may be a reasonable chance for The Ultimate Warrior to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009. This was surprising to me, as I'm sure it surpsed many fans. It's not a big secret Warrior has a poor track record of behavior in the sports entertainment industry.
Many of these instances are well documented. Leading into Summer Slam '91, Warrior was scheduled to be the partner of his kayfabe friend Hulk Hogan in "The Match Made In Hell. However, Warrior held a "figurative gun" to Vince's head a demanded he pay him a certain number of dollars to participate in the main event. As Road Warrior Animal commented in an interview (not pertaining to this incident) "holding up for more money is a way to cut your throat in this business." Vince promptly fired Warrior after this match. And even though the Ultimate Warrior commited such an unprofessional act in holding up his boss, Vince McMahon eventually forgave him, as we've seen him forgive many wrestlers for the sake of good business. Warrior's return was scheduled for Wrestlemania 8, where he would do a run in to save Hulk Hogan in a two on one beatdown. The main event, Hogan vs. Sid Justice, was a lack luster match in many people's eyes. But the grand finale is what is most remembered. Warrior came back in time to save Hulk Hogan from a two on one assault. Unfortunately, Warrior was fired again from the World Wrestling Federation after reportedly failing a drug test.
I personally feel this termination was costly, in that Warrior, who had an impressive win/loss record, did not stay long enough to return the favors for new main eventers on the rise. Bret Hart was significantly hurt by this, as he never got any big wins over long standing, credible main eventers (save for Ric Flair in an untelevised match.). He lacked credibility as a World Champion, thanks in part to Warrior's departure. But again, Warrior was offered yet another second chance by the World Wrestling Federation. This time it was years later in 1996. He made his grand comeback at Wrestlemania 12, obliterating Hunter Heasrt Helmsley. However, Warrior let down fans by missing several WWE events that he was scheduled for in 1996, and was eventually gone from WWE after only a few months for his unprofessional behavior. I feel his WCW tenure is a non factor in his worthiness of entering the WWE Hall of Fame. Not because it was another promotion, but because it just didn't mean much overall.
So the question arises, does The Ultimate Warrior deserve a spot in the Hall of Fame?
If this were based solely on his success in the squared circle and his on the air work, I would have to say he definitely deserves it. Warrior was, whether anyone liked it or not, an integral part of the World Wrestling Federation in the late eighties and the early nineties. His first Intercontinental Championship came about in a dominating victory over the Honky Tonk Man. Honky Tonk was an impressive champ who had a very lengthy reign as the IC Champ, and to this day still holds the record for the longest IC Title reign. But Warrior destroyed him that night at Summer Slam '88. Warrior of course went on to cleanly defeat Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania, winning the WWE World Title until losing roughly a year later to Sgt. Slaughter. He also won a retirement match against Macho King Randy Savage in a classic at Wrestlemania 7.
Warrior was not considered by many to be a good worker in the ring. Yet in all fairness, it is difficult to hold that against him. You don't always need to be a five star wrestler to be a huge benefit to the business, with the most obvious example being Hulk Hogan, among others like John Cena and J.B.L. Similar to Goldberg in WCW, Warrior would tear through opponents to hid his lack of ability. Yet, as Chris Jericho said Warrior was "under rated", because he could still pull of a good, high profile match when he needed to. Hogan, Savage, and Rick Rude, among others, had good, solid matches with each other. In fact, Hogan and Warrior probably had the best match of any two power wrestlers in WWE history. While Warrior was World Champion, business did go down from when Hogan was Champ. That is true. However, it is a very big task to fill the Hulkster's shoes. In light of the unbelievable success of Hogan, you can't reasonably expect anyone to do it. It's like blaming wrestlers today for not being as over as Rock and Steve Austin. Few people are.
In 2010, Wrestlemania is going to be held in Arizona, where Warrior lives. And for maybe the first time ever, WWE has seriously considered offering an induction to Warrior. In light of what Warrior has done, both the good and the bad, I personally would have a tough time offering him an induction. I don't like to jump on a bandwagon and insult Warrior because everyone else is, nor will I praise him just to offer a different opinion. I'd be lieing if I said I didn't enjoy his work, however, I can only imagine what a nightmare it would be to have him work for me.
I'm going to say he deserves entry. By some accounts he was unsafe while working with someone in the ring, and he didn't get along well with his co-workers in the locker room. However, the wrestling world seems to be ruled by star power, and seems to be Vince McMahon's main focal point when judging a performer. Ty Cobb was one of the most unpopular baseball players of all time, constantly started fights, and was talked down upon by the owners of his own team. Yet he was the first person inducted into the baseball hall of fame. He was a son of a bitch as a person, but he could not be overlooked for being an incredible baseball player.I agree with this, and the same applies to Warrior. He was disliked by most of his peers in the locker room, and showed instances of extreme unprofessionalism. Yet he truly was one of the biggest stars of both his own era and of all time. He deserves to be offered a spot in the HOF.
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