[the modern myth]

I remember as a kid being really psyched that Ultimate Warrior had returned at Wrestlemania 8. Although he wasn't the best technical wrestler, he was certainly one of the more entertaining stars in WWF and had a great larger than life personality that exploded out of the screen at you.

His run in 1992 never really amounted to much, though. Besides a short feud with Papa Shango, and his Summerslam title match with Savage, he didn't really do a lot. In November 1992, Warrior was fired from the WWF - less than a year after returning amidst great fanfare.

My question is this: obviously, Warrior was brought back in 1992 to fill the Hulk Hogan shaped void. They wanted a huge star and, as Warrior had proven himself to be a pretty big star, they drafted him in but, seriously, did they actually have any real long term plans for him or was he just there to make up the numbers? If he hadn't been released in late '92, how would the WWF landscape have looked in 1993 (with both Hogan and Warrior around)?

When he left, they were pushing the idea of him and Savage teaming up as 'The Ultimate Maniacs', which was quite interesting. I think that they probably would have pushed that team to take on Money Inc. for the tag team titles over a lengthy feud. I seem to remember they had one match, which Money Inc. lost by DQ (I think) and managed to sneakily keep their gold. With Warrior around, maybe Savage wouldn't have been relegated to the commentary desk; how different would Savage's career have been if he'd been partnered up with Warrior for a bit? We know that he left for WCW because he felt that he was being under utilized in the WWF - would this have happened if Warrior had stayed and the Ultimate-Maniacs team had played out?

I also heard a rumour that Bret Hart was supposed to defend his WWF title against Ultimate Warrior at Royal Rumble 1993. If this match had happened, do you think that it would have made Hulk Hogan more willing to face Bret?

I guess the question is this: what difference would it have made to the WWF if Ultimate Warrior had not been fired in late 1992?

 

[Hotdiggity11]

I'd imagine Vince wanted to maintain him as the 2nd biggest face on the roster [Next to Hogan] but being a total asshole ruined that. And even if it hadn't, the steroid scandal would have.

 

[Berkajr]

Warrior was slated to win the WWF championship at Summer Slam 1992 from Randall Poffo by turning heel, siding with Flair and Perfect. But he nixed the idea due to it would affect his character. So VKM decided to put the belt on Flair 3 days later or so.


Warrior was fired from WWF along with British Bulldog in the end of 1992 due to the upcomming steroid scandal. They were scapegoats basically.

There was never any confirmed plans for Bret to wrestle Warrior at the rumble as Bret claimed in one interview. What is noteworthy is that Bret in his biography, mentions the firing of the Warrior. He writes something in the line with: So by firing the Warrior, any little hopes and fantasies I had about making Warrior submit at WRESTLEMANIA to my sharpshooer was down the drain. So in his biography Bret claims that he had hopes of wrestling Warrior at Wrestlemania, while on a more recent interview Bret claiemd that there were plans for him Wrestle Warrior at Royal Rumble. So to me I just think it is all wishful thinking by Bret, that he should wrestle and beat the Warrior because that would (in Brets own world) make him better than Warrior...

 

[The Ultimate Warrior]

Warrior was slated to win the WWF championship at Summer Slam 1992 from Randall Poffo by turning heel, siding with Flair and Perfect. But he nixed the idea due to it would affect his character. So VKM decided to put the belt on Flair 3 days later or so.


Warrior was fired from WWF along with British Bulldog in the end of 1992 due to the upcomming steroid scandal. They were scapegoats basically.

There was never any confirmed plans for Bret to wrestle Warrior at the rumble as Bret claimed in one interview. What is noteworthy is that Bret in his biography, mentions the firing of the Warrior. He writes something in the line with: So by firing the Warrior, any little hopes and fantasies I had about making Warrior submit at WRESTLEMANIA to my sharpshooer was down the drain. So in his biography Bret claims that he had hopes of wrestling Warrior at Wrestlemania, while on a more recent interview Bret claiemd that there were plans for him Wrestle Warrior at Royal Rumble. So to me I just think it is all wishful thinking by Bret, that he should wrestle and beat the Warrior because that would (in Brets own world) make him better than Warrior...

Interesting. I never knew about the Warrior heel turn you allude to.
Bret/Warrior - dream!
"make him better than Warrior". Isn't he better than Warrior?

 

[the modern myth]

Warrior was slated to win the WWF championship at Summer Slam 1992 from Randall Poffo by turning heel, siding with Flair and Perfect. But he nixed the idea due to it would affect his character. So VKM decided to put the belt on Flair 3 days later or so.

I didn't know that. That actually answers a lot of questions for me. I've always wondered what the point of the whole "Flair/Perfect messing with their heads at Summerslam" plot was all about. The actual reuslt was really disappointing; a Warrior heel turn would have been amazing. It also explains the way the belt was bounced around so much between Summerslam and Survivor Series. I wish that Warrior had turned heel at Summerslam 1992. That could've been amazing.

 

[JigsawKrueger]

I can't imagine Vince turning the Ultimate Warrior heel. He's always reluctant to turn big stars heel and Warrior was a major merchandise draw at the time.

 

[Berkajr]

Interesting. I never knew about the Warrior heel turn you allude to.
Bret/Warrior - dream!
"make him better than Warrior". Isn't he better than Warrior?

Meltzer confirmed this about the heel turn, also I saw an interview with a wrestler whos name slips my mind atm, who also confirmed this


Yeah Bret was always better than Warrior inside the ring. But Bret never had the impact Warrior had or drawing power

 

[MatMurko]

I remember as a kid being really psyched that Ultimate Warrior had returned at Wrestlemania 8. Although he wasn't the best technical wrestler, he was certainly one of the more entertaining stars in WWF and had a great larger than life personality that exploded out of the screen at you.

His run in 1992 never really amounted to much, though. Besides a short feud with Papa Shango, and his Summerslam title match with Savage, he didn't really do a lot. In November 1992, Warrior was fired from the WWF - less than a year after returning amidst great fanfare.

My question is this: obviously, Warrior was brought back in 1992 to fill the Hulk Hogan shaped void. They wanted a huge star and, as Warrior had proven himself to be a pretty big star, they drafted him in but, seriously, did they actually have any real long term plans for him or was he just there to make up the numbers? If he hadn't been released in late '92, how would the WWF landscape have looked in 1993 (with both Hogan and Warrior around)?

When he left, they were pushing the idea of him and Savage teaming up as 'The Ultimate Maniacs', which was quite interesting. I think that they probably would have pushed that team to take on Money Inc. for the tag team titles over a lengthy feud. I seem to remember they had one match, which Money Inc. lost by DQ (I think) and managed to sneakily keep their gold. With Warrior around, maybe Savage wouldn't have been relegated to the commentary desk; how different would Savage's career have been if he'd been partnered up with Warrior for a bit? We know that he left for WCW because he felt that he was being under utilized in the WWF - would this have happened if Warrior had stayed and the Ultimate-Maniacs team had played out?

I also heard a rumour that Bret Hart was supposed to defend his WWF title against Ultimate Warrior at Royal Rumble 1993. If this match had happened, do you think that it would have made Hulk Hogan more willing to face Bret?

I guess the question is this: what difference would it have made to the WWF if Ultimate Warrior had not been fired in late 1992?

I hated how they teamed him up with Undertaker a year after Undertaker tried to murder him by locking him in the casket.

Of course I also hate how Undertaker and Kane are buddies now, two years after Kane attacked Undertaker and left him in a coma. Plus didn't Kane have Nexus try to bury Undertaker alive?

When someone tries to murder someone else in the storylines they shouldn't just be buddies again like nothing ever happened.

 

[Berkajr]

I hated how they teamed him up with Undertaker a year after Undertaker tried to murder him by locking him in the casket.

Of course I also hate how Undertaker and Kane are buddies now, two years after Kane attacked Undertaker and left him in a coma. Plus didn't Kane have Nexus try to bury Undertaker alive?

When someone tries to murder someone else in the storylines they shouldn't just be buddies again like nothing ever happened.

Maybe they settled it outside of court

 

[the modern myth]

Meltzer confirmed this about the heel turn, also I saw an interview with a wrestler whos name slips my mind atm, who also confirmed this


Yeah Bret was always better than Warrior inside the ring. But Bret never had the impact Warrior had or drawing power

So, reading between the lines, Warrior would've turned heel and picked up the WWF title at Summerslam and eventually dropped it to Bret Hart at Wrestlemania? That would actually have been pretty entertaining. Presumably, Bret would've won the 1993 Royal Rumble, then? Meaning that we would've been spared the dreadful Yokozuna push!

 

[dave 1981]

So, reading between the lines, Warrior would've turned heel and picked up the WWF title at Summerslam and eventually dropped it to Bret Hart at Wrestlemania? That would actually have been pretty entertaining. Presumably, Bret would've won the 1993 Royal Rumble, then? Meaning that we would've been spared the dreadful Yokozuna push!

I heard the plan was to then do Warrior/Savage in a rematch for the WWE title at Survivor Series and Shawn Michaels beating Bret Hart in a rematch for the Intercontinental title as originally Michaels/Hart was meant to happen at Summerslam until Bret Hart went to Vince McMahon and said it would be better to do Hart/Bulldog instead. The thing is Bret Hart has told so many conflicting stories about what he believed was meant to happen in between mid 1992 to mid 1993 that i don't believe anything he says as he even said that the plan was for him to go over Jake Roberts at Survivor Series in 1992 in a match for the WWE title despite the fact Jake Roberts had left WWE some six months beforehand and Bret Hart was very much a mid carder back then and not anywhere near WWE champion.

 

[the modern myth]

I heard the plan was to then do Warrior/Savage in a rematch for the WWE title at Survivor Series and Shawn Michaels beating Bret Hart in a rematch for the Intercontinental title as originally Michaels/Hart was meant to happen at Summerslam until Bret Hart went to Vince McMahon and said it would be better to do Hart/Bulldog instead. The thing is Bret Hart has told so many conflicting stories about what he believed was meant to happen in between mid 1992 to mid 1993 that i don't believe anything he says as he even said that the plan was for him to go over Jake Roberts at Survivor Series in 1992 in a match for the WWE title despite the fact Jake Roberts had left WWE some six months beforehand and Bret Hart was very much a mid carder back then and not anywhere near WWE champion.

I hadn't heard that one about Jake/Hart. You're right - that doesn't make sense. I thought that it was Bret's performance at Summerslam 1992 which made the office take notice of him and recognise him as a potential WWF Champion, so any suggestion that he was being primed for the top spot any earlier than that doesn't click right, at least with me. A Bret/Jake feud would've been boss, though!

 

[dave 1981]

I hadn't heard that one about Jake/Hart. You're right - that doesn't make sense. I thought that it was Bret's performance at Summerslam 1992 which made the office take notice of him and recognise him as a potential WWF Champion, so any suggestion that he was being primed for the top spot any earlier than that doesn't click right, at least with me. A Bret/Jake feud would've been boss, though!

I think it was on one of Bret Hart's interviews with Arda Ocal on The Score and he said he was going over Jake Roberts at Survivor Series and then The Ultimate Warrior at The Royal Rumble before going over Hulk Hogan at Summerslam and even bashed Jake Roberts and The Ultimate Warrior by saying they and other older wrestlers didn't want to put him over. I found it funny when he said that because Bret Hart didn't want to lose to Shawn Michaels at any point outside of WrestleMania 12 but he was having a six month break following that and then never once lost to Stone Cold Steve Austin outside of a disqualification loss on Raw after WrestleMania 13.

On topic though and i was so excited when The Ultimate Warrior returned at WrestleMania 8 during Hogan/Sid as he and Randy Savage were my two favorite WWE wrestlers as a child but everything seemed so different in his second run. Maybe it was the booking or maybe it was a case of there not being as many great in ring workers around at that time with name value like Rick Rude, Ted DiBiase, Curt Hennig and Sgt Slaughter that could make him look as good as he did first time round. Of course in Randy Savage there was one person who everyone knew could make him look great as could Ric Flair have done had he worked with properly as was planned but as we all know now The Ultimate Warrior was very hard to work with backstage and believed he was bigger than he was which ultimately ruined his career long term.

 

[blazegod99]

Bret vs Warrior would've been great.... Bret vs Hogan would've been fun to see at Mania and Bret going over would've been perfect.

But Bret does say a lot of bullshit

 

[Berkajr]

So, reading between the lines, Warrior would've turned heel and picked up the WWF title at Summerslam and eventually dropped it to Bret Hart at Wrestlemania? That would actually have been pretty entertaining. Presumably, Bret would've won the 1993 Royal Rumble, then? Meaning that we would've been spared the dreadful Yokozuna push!

Nah, I strongly doubt that, since it was Brets performance at Summer Slam and the steroid thing that eventually elevated him in to becoming WWF champion. And the plan was for Warrior to win the title before Bret was even considered to be champion.

I heard the plan was to then do Warrior/Savage in a rematch for the WWE title at Survivor Series and Shawn Michaels beating Bret Hart in a rematch for the Intercontinental title as originally Michaels/Hart was meant to happen at Summerslam until Bret Hart went to Vince McMahon and said it would be better to do Hart/Bulldog instead. The thing is Bret Hart has told so many conflicting stories about what he believed was meant to happen in between mid 1992 to mid 1993 that i don't believe anything he says as he even said that the plan was for him to go over Jake Roberts at Survivor Series in 1992 in a match for the WWE title despite the fact Jake Roberts had left WWE some six months beforehand and Bret Hart was very much a mid carder back then and not anywhere near WWE champion.

Never heard the plan for a re-match between Savage and Warrior. I also strongly doubt it since they already had wrestled each other on two ppv's.

I think it was on one of Bret Hart's interviews with Arda Ocal on The Score and he said he was going over Jake Roberts at Survivor Series and then The Ultimate Warrior at The Royal Rumble before going over Hulk Hogan at Summerslam and even bashed Jake Roberts and The Ultimate Warrior by saying they and other older wrestlers didn't want to put him over. I found it funny when he said that because Bret Hart didn't want to lose to Shawn Michaels at any point outside of WrestleMania 12 but he was having a six month break following that and then never once lost to Stone Cold Steve Austin outside of a disqualification loss on Raw after WrestleMania 13.

On topic though and i was so excited when The Ultimate Warrior returned at WrestleMania 8 during Hogan/Sid as he and Randy Savage were my two favorite WWE wrestlers as a child but everything seemed so different in his second run. Maybe it was the booking or maybe it was a case of there not being as many great in ring workers around at that time with name value like Rick Rude, Ted DiBiase, Curt Hennig and Sgt Slaughter that could make him look as good as he did first time round. Of course in Randy Savage there was one person who everyone knew could make him look great as could Ric Flair have done had he worked with properly as was planned but as we all know now The Ultimate Warrior was very hard to work with backstage and believed he was bigger than he was which ultimately ruined his career long term.

Well, that is Bret in a nutshell, always blaiming others for refusing to put him over. and then refusing to put HBK over.

Bret vs Warrior would've been great.... Bret vs Hogan would've been fun to see at Mania and Bret going over would've been perfect.

But Bret does say a lot of bullshit

I agree, a Warrior vs Bret match would have been good, but as a Warrior-fan I would have preferred the Warrior to get the pinfall victory. Also a Bret vs Hogan match would have been great. Would have been perfect if Hogan dropped the title to Bret at WM 10. Making Hogan do the first 10 manias.

 

[Vic Capri]

I heard if Ric Flair didn't get injured (coincidentally which happened with Warrior), he was going to drop the title at Warrior at The 1993 Royal Rumble.

Yeah Bret was always better than Warrior inside the ring. But Bret never had the impact Warrior had or drawing power

Well, you can't be a big star if the big stars before you refuse to make you one. I don't blame Bret for being bitter one bit.

- Vic

 

[Austin & DX]

I heard if Ric Flair didn't get injured (coincidentally which happened with Warrior), he was going to drop the title at Warrior at The 1993 Royal Rumble.



Well, you can't be a big star if the big stars before you refuse to make you one. I don't blame Bret for being bitter one bit.

- Vic

Ultimate Warrior was big star but I didn't like his ego. Bret-Warrior would've happened Rumble 93

 

[Bad Blood]

I remember as a kid being really psyched that Ultimate Warrior had returned at Wrestlemania 8. Although he wasn't the best technical wrestler, he was certainly one of the more entertaining stars in WWF and had a great larger than life personality that exploded out of the screen at you.

His run in 1992 never really amounted to much, though. Besides a short feud with Papa Shango, and his Summerslam title match with Savage, he didn't really do a lot. In November 1992, Warrior was fired from the WWF - less than a year after returning amidst great fanfare.

My question is this: obviously, Warrior was brought back in 1992 to fill the Hulk Hogan shaped void. They wanted a huge star and, as Warrior had proven himself to be a pretty big star, they drafted him in but, seriously, did they actually have any real long term plans for him or was he just there to make up the numbers? If he hadn't been released in late '92, how would the WWF landscape have looked in 1993 (with both Hogan and Warrior around)?

When he left, they were pushing the idea of him and Savage teaming up as 'The Ultimate Maniacs', which was quite interesting. I think that they probably would have pushed that team to take on Money Inc. for the tag team titles over a lengthy feud. I seem to remember they had one match, which Money Inc. lost by DQ (I think) and managed to sneakily keep their gold. With Warrior around, maybe Savage wouldn't have been relegated to the commentary desk; how different would Savage's career have been if he'd been partnered up with Warrior for a bit? We know that he left for WCW because he felt that he was being under utilized in the WWF - would this have happened if Warrior had stayed and the Ultimate-Maniacs team had played out?

I also heard a rumour that Bret Hart was supposed to defend his WWF title against Ultimate Warrior at Royal Rumble 1993. If this match had happened, do you think that it would have made Hulk Hogan more willing to face Bret?

I guess the question is this: what difference would it have made to the WWF if Ultimate Warrior had not been fired in late 1992?

Bret v Warrior really would had been special. I feel it would had been a great match

 

[Filipo Sooa]

Bret Hart needs to go get his mindset checked out by the lobotomy doctors, plus Ultimate Warrior and Jake Roberts.

Even Warrior's childlike mentality is a better draw than Bret's fighting champion mentality. As well as Jake's Dr. Evil heel run from '91-'92.

 

[Brock]

Don't bump old threads.