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108 of 120 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Rise And Fall Of The Ultimate Warrior, September 28, 2005
This review is from: The Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior (DVD)
First things first, I am was and still am a HUGE Ultimate Warrior fan. I got back into wrestling from 1997-2002 (I still watch it here and there but no longer consider myself a fan any more) and cheered for wrestlers like The Rock before he was big all the way up until he left (probably the single biggest reason why I lost interest in WWE again). Before that time I was a WWF fan from 1987-1993 and I absolutely loved the Ultimate Warrior. Bar none, he is my favorite wrestler of all time, as short a moment in time as it was.
I state this to make it known that I was extremely excited when I heard that WWE was releasing an Ultimate Warrior DVD, scouring the Internet for news on a daily basis to learn more about what was being released regarding my favorite wrestler of all time. I knew that this was not going to be any love-fest by the WWE brain trust, but I didn't care. Just the ability to see the warrior in the DVD format and have others talk about the individual that made moments of my sometimes crappy childhood filled with joy... it took me back to happy moments that you cannot easily feel again.
After having rushed out to pick up "The Self Destruction Of The Ultimate Warrior" and watched the 1.5 hour special about his career in the ring, I find that it was a very FAIR assessment of Warrior's wrestling legacy. Other Ultimate Warrior fans have written online that this DVD badmouths the former Mr. Hellwig and puts him in a light that isn't completely accurate. In a situation of "he said she said" usually the truth lies somewhere in between so I am sure that this DVD isn't 100% accurate, but my overall impression of this disc is that it is very FAIR (and again, I remind you that I was about as a big a fan as there is of The Ultimate Warrior).
Starting off with the origins of the Ultimate Warrior from Rock to Dingo Warrior to Ultimate Warrior, this DVD speaks of UW's quick rise from a house show wrestler to beating the Honky Tonk Man in 30 seconds at SummerSlam 1988 in Madison Square Garden. Following Warrior's rise in popularity, the UW does the unthinkable on April 1, 1990 in Toronto, Canada at WrestleMania VI as he CLEANLY beats Hulk Hogan in the middle of the ring in what is the penultimate moment of my wrestling fan "career". From this point on we learn how the Warrior defended that very title as best as he could (and I truly believe the Warrior did the best he could do), until he eventually lost it to Sgt. Slaughter and arguably then had the best match of his career with Randy Savage at WrestleMania VII. The Ultimate Warrior's 1st run with the WWF came to an end in 1991 when (as the WWF and Vince claim - Warrior himself says this isn't true) during the SummerSlam PPV Warrior demanded more money or he wouldn't perform. After a 7 month hiatus we see The Ultimate Warrior make his incredibly shocking return at the end of WM VIII to begin his 2nd run with the WWF which would only last a mere 8 months or so. Warrior's last 2 runs at wrestling for major promotions are covered in his 4 month 1996 WWF run and his 3 month 1998 WCW run (he hasn't wrestled in a big promotion since that time).
Throughout the history of UW's wrestling career we get comments from Vince McMahon, Eric Bischoff, Ted Dibiase, Bobby Heenan, Gene Okerlund, Jim Ross, Hulk Hogan, Bruce Pritchard, Jerry Lawler, Christian, Chris Jericho, Ric Flair and many others. To say that these fellow wrestlers put Warrior in a bad light is like saying that rotten eggs smell bad. It's quite evident that Jim (most of these guys refuse to call him Warrior unless it's with their eyes in the back of their heads) wasn't very popular in the back room, and never will be.
But as I have said numerous times in this review, IT'S FAIR.
You generally get the impression when someone is lying, and it's pretty evident that everyone on this DVD is speaking from their hearts. They truly believe what they are telling the camera about the Ultimate Warrior and it is highly entertaining to say the least.
As an individual that prides themselves on knowing as much as possible about The Ultimate Warrior, I learned new things about the man from Parts Unknown, more so than anything else, how little he was respected in the back room by "the boys". As much as wrestling is for the fans, when it comes to the end of the day, the most important thing is how you interact with your little wrestling family in the back room. The fans you see maybe 20 minutes a night, your fellow wrestlers the entire rest of the day. It's a shame that as loved as the Warrior was from 1989-1991, he was so disliked by everyone else.
If you read any of Warrior's posts on his web site (ultimatewarrior.com) he'll tell you over and over again how much he can't stand the WWF and that they are liars, but when you have so many people saying 1 thing and 1 other person saying another, you can't help but think that maybe the problem isn't everyone else. Mr. Hellwig (sorry, WARRIOR) would have you believe that Vince has "brainwashed" his entire stable, but after watching this DVD you will probably feel otherwise.
My only complaint is that as good as 1.5 hour feature is, this collection could have been even more. It's quite clear that no "double dipping" will be done for another Ultimate Warrior DVD, so why not have matches on here like Warrior/Slaughter from Royal Rumble 1991, the complete Super Posedown from RR1989 with Rick Rude, more interview segments like when he gets hits by Honky Tonk in summer 1988, Rude at WMV, Hercules at WMIV, the whole Jake feud in 1991 and so forth? There are a handful of matches on here including the 2 big ones with Hogan at WMVI (sadly Jesse Ventura's commentary had to be cut out) and Savage at WMVII, but this set of choices feels lacking.
Overall, a very entertaining DVD that any Warrior fan should take a look at, and any wrestling fan that wants to learn more about the Ultimate Warrior shouldn't ignore (especially if you are ignorant of the story of Warrior).
**** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
this DVD...is...ULTIMATE!!!, October 2, 2005
This review is from: The Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior (DVD)
One of my favorite era's in WWF history is during the Ultimate Warrior's 1st run. I still get chills & my heart races watching the closing moments of WrestleMania VI. "The Self-Destruction Of The Ultimate Warrior" is brutally honest. It takes a look at Jim Hellwig's career, touching on his start with Steve 'Sting' Borden as the 'Dingo' Warrior, & his various stints in other minor promotions before calling the WWF for a job. It covers some of the aspects of the Warrior that made him unique & appealing, like his ring enterances, & his extremely un-understandable interviews. Most of his major rivaleries & high spots are looked at, like Rick Rude, Andre The Giant, Bobby Heenan (who provides some awesome stories & insight though-out the DVD), his quick raise to the Intercontinental Title, his historic WWF Heavyweight Title victory, & other topics like why he left the WWF 3 times, his brief run in WCW, his horrible rematch against Hogan at 'Halloween Havoc', & more.
Extras include 5 matches:
Vs Terry Gibbs (debut match - note: no music, & he WALKS to the ring)
Vs Honky Tonk Man (SummerSlam 88, if you've never seen it, don't blink or you'll miss it)
Vs Hulk Hogan (WrestleMania VI, Title for Title)
Vs Rick Rude (SummerSlam 90, Steel Cage)
Vs Randy Savage (WrestleMania VII, 'Loser Must Retire' Match)
& some stories:
-Jerry Lawler tells a Warrior story from Memphis
-a promo for Warrior University
-Christian impersonates the Ultimate Warrior
-Ted DiBiase tells about an autograph signing with Warrior
Plus 2 hidden extras - both Warrior promos -
- In chapters, left click 'The Name Change' for 'Unleash the Warrior'
- In extra's, right click 'Warrior University' for 'The Journey Begins'
I bought the FYE exclusive, which contains a bonus DVD with 3 more matches:
Vs Hercules (MSG - 4/25/88)
Vs Sgt. Slaughter (Saturday Nights Main Event, 4/27/91)
Vs Randy Savage (SummerSlam 92)
- In a recent 'Ross Report' on WWE.com, a fan mentions 2 hidden extra's on the bonus disc. No hidden extras are on mine, so if anyone has any info on these extra's (perhaps another exclusive set), please post it as to where it's sold or where it is on the disc.
Anyway, very highly recommended. Warrior fans will appreciate it, non-Warrior fans will love it.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE ULTIMATE DOCUMENTRY, November 22, 2005
This review is from: The Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior (DVD)
THE SELF-DESTRUCTION OF THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR
After being one of the most famous talked about wrestlers in the history of the sport it seemed as if we would never hear about The Warrior again after his short stint in WCW. But ah a form of filmmaking called the documentary as brought to life the memory of one of professional wrestling's most colorful forgotten figures. It seems like yesterday I was seeing the Warrior battle the likes of Ravishing Rick Rude, Andre The Giant, Hulk Hogan, Sgt Slaughter, and The Macho Man {at the time Macho King} Randy Savage. The last one in particular was the most exciting of his feuds, and I in particular was disappointed when The Warrior came out on top. Savage has always been a personal fav of mine, and I wish he had won that feud. But with that bias aside I have always found Warrior to be an entertaining figure.
One of the things I found that interested me the most was that he started out on his own as The Dingo Warrior in Dallas TX. I always knew that Warrior started out his career with Sting, but as a soloist it seems weird that The Ultimate One was once called Dingo. So that was the first surprise to me offered from this documentary, though that was far from the most surprising. One thing I enjoyed most from this DVD was all of the early video footage of Warrior; it seemed weird seeing him in the early stages of the development of his character. They even called him The Dingo Warrior in his earlier matches with WWE {I still say WWF}. The story of how he got the name change from Dingo to Ultimate was some what interesting seeing that Vince did the opposite of what he wanted. If you listen to what is said they say that didn't want another Warrior, since Animal & Hawk, and Kerry Von Eric already had that title in some way. But since he was more energetic, he was that much more ULTIMATE-hence the name. Also I found it interesting that nobody really liked the guy, especially The Weasel Bobby Heenan. The things he said about Warrior surprised the heck out of me, also I loved the footage of the weasel suit match. Also the fact that Andre knocked the crap out of him struck me funny, also a surprise Andre didn't like him. Let me stop and take time to ask a question, if you were the top guy in a major entertainment company, would you risk your career by not performing unless you get more money? Here's a better question would you do it minutes before you had to go on, I wouldn't but this guy did. I absolutely agree with Vince's decision to fire him, but I kinda wish Hogan's idea would have been carried out, because that was mad crooked. But to Vince's credit he gave Warrior another chance as any one who saw WRESTELMANIA 8 would know, as he returned to aid Hulk Hogan. Of course it seems that Warrior had a bit of a drug problem and again he was shown the door. And being the forgiving sole that Vince is he got a third and final chance. We all remember the short lived 96 Warrior who had his own comic book, cussed, and actually spoke were you could understand him {at times}, even wore the out of place cap. But even with victories over Vader, and then I-C Champ Goldust, he still skipped out and refused to show at promoted events. So with that said his glory days of the WWE came to an end, but that wasn't the end of his career. Remember the OWN {One Warrior Nation}, me neither. It took watching his return to wrestling with WCW to remind me. Of course with a name like that, it seems funny that there were TWO members in the ONE Warrior Nation, The Disciple was the second. Watching the footage from Nitro brought me back to that time period, and made me remember how great the hype was but how boring the actual rematch between Warrior & Hogan was. Next question for ya, if you had a history of being fired, and were very unreliable would you want way more money then any company would give you. My answer would be no, I would be happy to be employed in the big time again. So Warrior is gone, but that isn't the surprising thing, that would be his name change. This guy actually changed his legal name to Warrior, what the hell. And in a further attempt to keep his name he sued the WWE for millions for the right to his wrestling identity.
With all that aside the DVD actually has some great moments that highlight the man's career and also some humorous ones as well. Like the Ultimate Warrior's interviews, I actually never really noticed how crazy they were until I revisited them in the form of this documentary. To be honest some of them were actually good and made sense, well at least sounded cool I guess. And also the thing about him being from parts unknown was pretty funny, especially the guest speakers on the film like Jericho and Gene Okarland. But this DVD also includes great moments though out his career, like his classic feud with Randy Savage, his win over Hogan at Wrestlemania 6, and feuds with Rick Rude, Slaughter, and The Million Dollar Man. The DVD also includes 5 matches in their entirety, including Warrior vs, Terry Gibbs on Wrestling Challenge, vs Honky Tonk Man at Summerslam 88 for the I-C title, vs Hogan at Wrestlemania 6 title vs title, vs Rude at Summerslam 90 in a cage for the title, and vs Savage at Wrestlemania 7 in a retirement match.
This is with out a doubt one of the best documentaries I have seen in a long time, I recommend it to every body. Also Christian doing the Warrior interview was great.
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