TSC Evaluation #10: The Ultimate Warrior

[Kill Dat Noize]

warrior didn't even have good squash matches. not a lot of great spots, very slow, would do lots of pointless chops. that guy got over strictly on character and performance.

still one of my all time favorites, can't really add more than what's already been said. the guy is one of the GOATS.

 

[mrken12]

Say what u want bout dudes work. His matches with hogan n savage were both better than higan vs savage. Dude a legend but i gave him sn 8. Ahead of its time character that was right on time to become a legend. Promose crazy. Paint. Music. Tassles. Clotheslines. Run. Press slams. More clotheslines

shyt worked.

N he got his money.

N he took on mcmahon n won.

Dudes call him crazy but he was very smart.

He got the last word too. Literally.

GOAT exit to the fans of all time.

20 years later dude made history coming back n giving his last will and testament.

fukk it. 10. He is what i thought wrestling was growing up. Larger than life.

How exactly was he ahead of his time?

 

[stro]

I'm going with 8

Ring work: He had a great gimmick where being a great wrestler would undermine it, so he didn't need to be a good wrestler. But he was capable with the right opponents and could follow a well laid out match, having some real classics with Hogan/Macho/Rude. Rarely wrestled more than a few minutes, everything he did looked awesome. 6

Promos: Legendary, the epitome of coked up 80s nonsense. Absolutely wonderful. 10.

Look: Legendary, epitome of coked up 80s nonsense. Absolutely wonderful. 10.

Warrior is a perfect touchstone for the bright and colorful circus that WWE was in the late 80s.

 

[Kill Dat Noize]

warrior wasn't ahead of his time. he's one of the GOATS but i definitely don't see how he was ahead of his time.

he was just a louder, more colorful, more extreme version of hogan.

 

[mrken12]

warrior wasn't ahead of his time. he's one of the GOATS but i definitely don't see how he was ahead of his time.

he was just a louder, more colorful, more extreme version of hogan.

Quoted for emphasis.

Hogan was 10 times the wrestler he was and was able to adapt with the times. Warrior just came along at the right time.

 

[Cartier Murphy]

-Mic work/promos - 7

Always intense, always interesting. I know on that Self Destruction DVD they tried painting his promos to be nonsensical jibberish but they were fun and entertaining to me. The WM 6 promo on Hogan is legendary. His final RAW promo is infamous. He had a definitive style that couldn't be duplicated. When he spoke you listened.

-Personality/gimmicks - 9

An otherworldly being with an unparalleled level of energy and intensity. An iconic look. He was unforgettable.

-Ring work (along with some of your favorite matches/feuds) - 6

His weakest category. The WM 6 match with Hogan is his crowning achievement, followed closely by the WM 7 match with Savage. He had good matches with Rick Rude. I enjoyed his rivalry with the Undertaker and the Jake Roberts vignettes. His later WWF run was too short to really have anything worthwhile and he didn't really fit in that era. Likewise for his WCW run which is better left forgotten.

-Overall rating (which doesn't have to be an average of the above scores) - 8

Perfect look and persona for the era, and while his ringwork wasnt his strongest category, his matches made sense for his gimmick. The fact that he was able to carve such a legacy for himself with only a few short years in total between runs speaks to how charismatic a presence he really was and his influence can be seen on the generations that have come since. A sentimental favorite of mine from my childhood although admittedly I don't rewatch his work all that often now.

 

[stro]

Quoted for emphasis.

Hogan was 10 times the wrestler he was and was able to adapt with the times. Warrior just came along at the right time.

That's as important as anything in wrestling, though.

 

[ZEB WALTON]

How exactly was he ahead of his time?

Dude was a comic book character. I dont even consider warrior like a wrestlerbits weird.
Wanting to do his comic book n make some bread. He was branding himself even changed his name so he couod keep his brand.

Idk i dont remember many wrestlers who did that or were even as wild cept like undertaker.

Those non real kayfabe great characters. Warrior n taker are bigger than wrestlers youd see in dubya cee dubya.

 

[CM_Burns]

7.

Promos- 9. Tremendous. So much intensity. Not much else can be said.

Ring- 4. He had some good matches, but pretty clearly is being led through them. Some of his offense didn't look that good either imo. Big splash was a wack finisher. The gorilla press was dope though.

Star Quality- 9. Great entrance/look/working the crowd with the ropes shaking/etc. The fans thought he was a star brother.

I'm going with 8

Ring work: He had a great gimmick where being a great wrestler would undermine it, so he didn't need to be a good wrestler. But he was capable with the right opponents and could follow a well laid out match, having some real classics with Hogan/Macho/Rude. Rarely wrestled more than a few minutes, everything he did looked awesome. 6

Promos: Legendary, the epitome of coked up 80s nonsense. Absolutely wonderful. 10.

Look: Legendary, epitome of coked up 80s nonsense. Absolutely wonderful. 10.

Warrior is a perfect touchstone for the bright and colorful circus that WWE was in the late 80s.

I generally agree with your post, except for this. Watching the Hogan match a few months back, his offense didn't look that great and though he was jacked to the gills his power moves didn't have that Steiner/Lesnar/Goldberg type of powerful impact to them.

 

[Kill Dat Noize]

7.

Promos- 9. Tremendous. So much intensity. Not much else can be said.

Ring- 4. He had some good matches, but pretty clearly is being led through them. Some of his offense didn't look that good either imo. Big splash was a wack finisher. The gorilla press was dope though.

Star Quality- 9. Great entrance/look/working the crowd with the ropes shaking/etc. The fans thought he was a star brother.



I generally agree with your post, except for this. Watching the Hogan match a few months back, his offense didn't look that great and though he was jacked to the gills his power moves didn't have that Steiner/Lesnar/Goldberg type of powerful impact to them.

He's the opposite of Goldberg.

Goldberg was shyt outside the ring but the most intense motherfukker you've ever seen INSIDE the ring.

The fact is they were both so good at what they did that it made up for their other weaknesses which no one gave a shyt about.

So long as you can get the people to believe in you, that's all that matters. Look at Enzo, still over as hell despite being dog shyt in the ring.

 

[Bonefan32]

Oooooooooh man I can wait for the Tommy Dreamer one

me neither I've already taken a few hours to pen a nice tribute to him in anticipation


I'm not gonna spend any time on warrior I've always hated everything about him

So a 1

 

[mrken12]

me neither I've already taken a few hours to pen a nice tribute to him in anticipation

You may be the only Dreamer fan that I've ever encountered.

 

[stro]

Tommy Dreamer fans


in 2016

 

[mrken12]

That's as important as anything in wrestling, though.

If the Warrior character debuted in 1996 with the same character and same limited ring skills, he wouldn't have done well.

 

[stro]

If the Warrior character debuted in 1996 with the same character and same limited ring skills, he wouldn't have done well.

That was my point. CM Punk's character 2-3 years in either direction wouldn't have done as well, either. There are a lot of guys who were big stars that had they shown up 2-3 years before or after wouldn't have had the same impact. Stone Cold or Rock in 1994 wouldn't have meant shyt. Hogan debuting in 1997 WWF wouldn't have meant anything, either. Sometimes, some guys have the right look/character/skills in the right time. Warrior was one of those guys, and he not only was in the right time, but helped define the entire generation.