The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior DVD Review

This is the first time the WWE has released a DVD about a former wrestler they were on bad terms with at the time of production. Will this be an accurate portrayal of the Warrior's career, or will the WWE hold their lost lawsuit over his name against him? I think the name of the DVD answers that question.

The first hour of this DVD is nothing more than a bunch of current WWE employees bad mouthing the Warrior. Everything he accomplished was either due to his opponent or Vince McMahon's genius. The DVD gets interesting when it starts to explain the Warriors frequent comings and goings, although by this point it is hard to take anything said by any of the guest commentators seriously. According to the DVD, Warrior was fired after SummerSlam 91 because he held Vince up for money before the match, left in the Fall of 92 because he failed a drug test and was fired a third time because he missed dates using the excuse that his father just died yet Vince McMahon claims the Warrior hadn't seen his dad in 10 years. The Warrior then went to WCW and Eric Bishoff didn't have too many good things to say about the Warrior either. In the only bit of genuine honesty on the DVD, Hulk Hogan admits that he screwed up in their Halloween Havoc 97 match and caused it to be bad when he couldn't light up a piece of flash paper. The DVD ends with the consensus that the Warrior was nothing but a flash in the pan. The only redeeming part of this disc is Christian's impersonation of a Warrior interview.
Recommendation: Skip the main program

vs Terry Gibbs: This is his debut match on Wrestling Challenge. This is a typical squash match that is only on the DVD for historical purpose. Recommendation: Skip
vs Honky Tonk Man (SummerSlam 88):The HTM was supposed to defend the Intercontinental title against Brutus Beefcake, but Beefcake was injured by Ron Bass on TV the week before the match. HTM challenges anyone in the back to a fight. Out comes the Warrior and after a few shoulder blocks, a few clotheslines and splash the Warrior wins the I-C Title in about 30 seconds. Recommendation: Watch

This match was a rare good guy vs good guy match for both the WWF and I-C titles. Note that the commentary features only Gorilla Monsoon. Jesse Ventura's voice is deleted from the commentary. This becomes annoying very quickly. The match starts out with several different types of test of strength with no man winning. After a few minutes, Hulk falls out of the ring and hurts his leg. Warrior takes advantage of this. The action goes back and forth until the ref gets hurt. While the ref is out, both men have the other pinned for more than the 3 count. When the ref gets up, Warrior uses the press slam and splash on Hulk who becomes the first to kick out of this. He Hulks up but misses the leg drop and the Warrior covers Hulk for the win and becomes WWF champion. Recommendation: Watch

The first few minutes are controlled by The Warrior until he runs into the cage. Rick Rude uses the Rude Awakening and instead of exiting the cage decides to jump of the top of the cage several times. The second time he misses. When Warrior tries to leave the cage, Bobby Heenan closes the door on the Warriors head. After a few more minutes of being beaten up, Warrior regains his "power", press slams Rude and climbs out of the cage for the win. Recommendation: Watch in fast forward mode