Wrestling Icon The Ultimate Warrior Dead at 54

[JohnnyHopkins]

I was never a fan. I liked his entrance music and that was it. He was a garbage wrestler and his promos were trash.

Now that said none of that matters because it's very sad that the man died at 54 with a wife and kids left behind. That's terrible. I just watched his hall of fame speech on Sunday night too and they showed him talking to his wife and daughters. That's just an awful tragedy for those poor people.

RIP Jim.

Been a long time since I watched wrestling, but I do remember him being fairly bad at actual wrestling. He certainly did his best to make up for that with shouting, ring rope shaking and limitless energy. May he rest in peace.

 

[TheSport78]

There's no way WWE knew he was going to die soon. That's just ridiculous. It's obvious he had some apparent heart condition that wasn't diagnosed. The man had a devoted wife and lovely children. It's sad to say, and I hope I'm wrong, but I suspect that his usage of anabolic steroids throughout his career contributed to his demise. There's an autopsy scheduled for tomorrow, and I'm willing to bet my life that he had advanced cardiovascular disease and/or an enlarged heart.

RIP Warrior

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I was about to comment on that. I'm wondering if it's the insane bodybuilding aspect that's causing this. A lot of those guys are on various roids, growth hormone, insulin, etc... I'm wondering if that's what's killing them early.

Or maybe it's the lifestyle? Who knows what these guys do in their free time. And usually when you see stuff like this these guys think they're invisible and heavily abuse recreational drugs and think it won't affect them long term.

Mostly lifestyle. Back in the 80's they relied more on anabolic steroids than HGH. Depending on what heart doctors you talk to, some of them feel that the body essentially only has so many heartbeats in it in a lifetime. So using steroids which gets the heart beating super fast eats up that time.

Back then they would work easily 300+ nights a year.

The basic schedule was work and be on the road for 25-26 days straight and then get the last 4-6 days off to go back home.

In the meantime you had steroids because the business was filled with big men at the time and if you got injured, you would likely lose your spot. So you had guys that would take roids, then take coke to get the adrenaline flowing (and for recreation use), then they would have to travel on road to the next town. Then when they tried to get to sleep, they had to take some sort of downer. And given the rigors of wrestling and steroids making it tough on the joints, they usually would resort to some sort of pain killers to help them out.

It started to get even more deadly in the early 90's as wrestlers were using even harder drugs. One drug, GHB, is known as the 'date rape drug.' They would take it in order to get to sleep. It also worked well because you can lose fat from your body. But, it is an insanely dangerous drug and you should only take an extremely small amount if you're going to take it....otherwise you will pass out and lose control of bodily functions....much like the drug is used by date rapists.

Human Growth Hormone started to make waves because it had less bad side effects from an aesthetic perspective than anabolic steroids (provides a more 'cut' look and less back acne). But it still has dangerous effects like one of my friends who died from an enlarged heart. His widow actually enrolled in a local college just to study HGH afterward and the conclusion was that if you cut HGH cold turkey, it will enlarge your organs like the heart.

It just gets to the point where people are taking some really hardcore drugs just to function. Pain killer experts are now saying that one of the side effects of being addicted to pain killers is now it actually heightens pain because the pain killers are destroying the synapses to your brain. So you have guys that are taking these drugs and using them in extreme fashion to get extremely up and then extremely down. And if it doesn't kill you when you are addicted to it....it will damage you body forever.






YR

 

[Stryker44]

Mostly lifestyle. Back in the 80's they relied more on anabolic steroids than HGH. Depending on what heart doctors you talk to, some of them feel that the body essentially only has so many heartbeats in it in a lifetime. So using steroids which gets the heart beating super fast eats up that time.
YR

Wouldn't that imply cardio exercise (or anything that increases heart rate) as shortening one's lifespan?

 

[big dog cowboy]

What other thread?

There is a Wrestlemania thread in the SportsZone where I mentioned Hellwig passed last night.

 

[CashMan]

Wouldn't that imply cardio exercise (or anything that increases heart rate) as shortening one's lifespan?

I think he is implying natural is fine it is the artificial kind that shortens lifespan. The body was not made to take steroids/coke/hgh ect, it was made for cardiovascular exercise.

 

[BoysFan4ever]

I'm curious as to what makes a "good" wrestler?

I see posts on here saying he was not that good & yet apparently he was very famous & acclaimed if he made their HOF.

is it being a good actor? A good athlete? I know there are good guys & bad guys but what makes one better than another?

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Wouldn't that imply cardio exercise (or anything that increases heart rate) as shortening one's lifespan?

No.

Because cardio exercise helps reduce the heart rate when the person is not exercising. Most of their existence is not doing cardio exercise.

And it's not my theory, but what I've been told by a couple of heart specialists.





YR

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I'm curious as to what makes a "good" wrestler?

I see posts on here saying he was not that good & yet apparently he was very famous & acclaimed if he made their HOF.

is it being a good actor? A good athlete? I know there are good guys & bad guys but what makes one better than another?

Depends on how a person views it. But, I think most hardcore wrestling fans view it from how well they perform in the ring. It doesn't mean a bad in-ring performer cannot be very popular and successful.

Wrestling is based on the fans suspending their disbelief. So a lot of in-ring performance is about doing things that are plausible in the spectrum of wrestling. For instance, throwing somebody off the ropes and performing a back body drop is not realistic in real-life. But, in wrestling it is accepted as plausible.

Most wrestlers refer to it as being able to 'tell a story' in the ring. I just look at it like the wrestling moves and 'psychology' are very plausible and entertaining to watch. Good in-ring performers can bump, sell, have good matches with those that are limited in their abilities, etc. With Warrior, he had one template for a match....run to ring, shake the ropes...do a bunch of clotheslines, then a gorilla press slam, and then a splash.

That was it.

To be able to perform those is something most pro wrestlers could do. But, Warrior got it over because of his look and intensity and being unique. Eventually the fans will tire of it and they will want something different. Longer matches where Warrior would have to get the other opponent over. And he was such a weak in-ring performer that it made it impossible to do so.

As a performer overall he was very much a 1-trick pony. It was a helluva trick, but that stuff wears out after a while.







YR

 

[hairic]

Wouldn't that imply cardio exercise (or anything that increases heart rate) as shortening one's lifespan?

No, because exercise usually doesn't last long enough to be worse than the gains in lowered resting heart rate.

30 mins exercise at 100bpm + 23 hours, 30 minutes at resting 60bpm (in shape) = 87,600 heart beats.
0 minutes exercise + 24 hours at resting 70 bpm (out of shape) = 100,800 heart beats.

Divide that difference by 40 and that's how many minutes of exercise it'd take to be even. So 6 hours of exercise a day at 100bpm/resting 60bpm is the same as 24 hours resting at 70 bpm.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I'm curious as to what makes a "good" wrestler?

I see posts on here saying he was not that good & yet apparently he was very famous & acclaimed if he made their HOF.

is it being a good actor? A good athlete? I know there are good guys & bad guys but what makes one better than another?

Horrible and sad that the guy passed away so young.

I feel bad for his wife and his two daughters.

But yeah, if I had to rate the top 150 wrestlers he wouldn't make the cut.

He was a horrible worker. He was stiff and couldn't make the other guy look good. And a more skilled opponent was going to have a difficult time making him look any better.

"Superstar Billy Graham" was of a similar ilk in that he was a poor worker too. And while both had a lot of charisma, the Ultimate Warrior didn't have Billy Graham's interviewing skills nor did he influence other wrestlers like Graham did... There was no legacy left by UW.

Hence he wasn't a top-notch wrestler.

The WWE HOF isn't necessarily an accurate representation of where a wrestler actually rates in his career when it comes to comparing these guys. It's a marketing gimmick mostly.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Depends on how a person views it. But, I think most hardcore wrestling fans view it from how well they perform in the ring. It doesn't mean a bad in-ring performer cannot be very popular and successful.

Wrestling is based on the fans suspending their disbelief. So a lot of in-ring performance is about doing things that are plausible in the spectrum of wrestling. For instance, throwing somebody off the ropes and performing a back body drop is not realistic in real-life. But, in wrestling it is accepted as plausible.

Most wrestlers refer to it as being able to 'tell a story' in the ring. I just look at it like the wrestling moves and 'psychology' are very plausible and entertaining to watch. Good in-ring performers can bump, sell, have good matches with those that are limited in their abilities, etc. With Warrior, he had one template for a match....run to ring, shake the ropes...do a bunch of clotheslines, then a gorilla press slam, and then a splash.

That was it.

To be able to perform those is something most pro wrestlers could do. But, Warrior got it over because of his look and intensity and being unique. Eventually the fans will tire of it and they will want something different. Longer matches where Warrior would have to get the other opponent over. And he was such a weak in-ring performer that it made it impossible to do so.

As a performer overall he was very much a 1-trick pony. It was a helluva trick, but that stuff wears out after a while.







YR

Wow! Great explanation Rich!

 

[BoysFan4ever]

I appreciate the answers so it seems he was very popular for a time despite his wrestling ability. Or lack of.

I have to say just watching the few You Tube videos I looked at out of curiosity I can see where he would appeal to kids with the face paint & over the top running & all that. It was catchy.

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

This commercial was one of my favorites back in the day....

 

[CyberB0b]

Been a long time since I watched wrestling, but I do remember him being fairly bad at actual wrestling. He certainly did his best to make up for that with shouting, ring rope shaking and limitless energy. May he rest in peace.

Cocaine and steroids made 80's wrestling great.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I appreciate the answers so it seems he was very popular for a time despite his wrestling ability. Or lack of.

I have to say just watching the few You Tube videos I looked at out of curiosity I can see where he would appeal to kids with the face paint & over the top running & all that. It was catchy.

Yes, he was very limited his ability.

Part of what happened was that before he came in, the big superstar was Hulk Hogan. Hulk was a different type of wrestler because most of the bigger wrestlers before Hogan were more barrel chested and slow. Hogan comes in and has more of a bodybuilder physique and for the bigger wrestlers he was more agile.

That got over big-time with the fans.

When Warrior came in, he had a physique that in many people's minds was better than Hogan's. And he was also fairly agile for his size. Combine that with the face paint he was deemed to be the heir apparent to Hogan and that helped make him popular.

You don't have to be skillful in the ring to be popular. But, the issue is when you're not very good in the ring is that the payoff for the fans is really the final match of a feud. So you can have all of this incredible hype into the match, but if the match is a stinker the payoff for the fans stinks. And after a while they see no reason to come back anymore.

Personally, I think Hogan was a poor in-ring wrestler as well. But, he was paired with phenomenal heels (Iron Shiek, Piper, Bundy, Andre, Orndorff, Funk, Savage, etc) that the payoff usually ended up being good either because the heel could really work in the ring or there was some sort of gimmick (i.e. Hogan slamming Andre).

I think that doomed Warrior more than anything...a lack of phenomenal heels to work with.






YR

 

[BoysFan4ever]

I was kind of bored & looked at Twitter. Many of the guys he worked with had very kind words for him. Hulk Hogan (I do know who he is! ) said they settled some petty disagreement they had & left all that bitterness behind. So that was good.

 

[BoysFan4ever]

Yes, he was very limited his ability.

Part of what happened was that before he came in, the big superstar was Hulk Hogan. Hulk was a different type of wrestler because most of the bigger wrestlers before Hogan were more barrel chested and slow. Hogan comes in and has more of a bodybuilder physique and for the bigger wrestlers he was more agile.

That got over big-time with the fans.

When Warrior came in, he had a physique that in many people's minds was better than Hogan's. And he was also fairly agile for his size. Combine that with the face paint he was deemed to be the heir apparent to Hogan and that helped make him popular.

You don't have to be skillful in the ring to be popular. But, the issue is when you're not very good in the ring is that the payoff for the fans is really the final match of a feud. So you can have all of this incredible hype into the match, but if the match is a stinker the payoff for the fans stinks. And after a while they see no reason to come back anymore.

Personally, I think Hogan was a poor in-ring wrestler as well. But, he was paired with phenomenal heels (Iron Shiek, Piper, Bundy, Andre, Orndorff, Funk, Savage, etc) that the payoff usually ended up being good either because the heel could really work in the ring or there was some sort of gimmick (i.e. Hogan slamming Andre).

I think that doomed Warrior more than anything...a lack of phenomenal heels to work with.




YR

I'm learning a lot. I guess I will have to find a wrestling show to,watch.

 

[bigdnlaca]

Horrible and sad that the guy passed away so young.

I feel bad for his wife and his two daughters.

But yeah, if I had to rate the top 150 wrestlers he wouldn't make the cut.

He was a horrible worker. He was stiff and couldn't make the other guy look good. And a more skilled opponent was going to have a difficult time making him look any better.

"Superstar Billy Graham" was of a similar ilk in that he was a poor worker too. And while both had a lot of charisma, the Ultimate Warrior didn't have Billy Graham's interviewing skills nor did he influence other wrestlers like Graham did... There was no legacy left by UW.

Hence he wasn't a top-notch wrestler.

The WWE HOF isn't necessarily an accurate representation of where a wrestler actually rates in his career when it comes to comparing these guys. It's a marketing gimmick mostly.

Yeah that is true but I will defend the Warrior in that he really didn't have "great" opponents. When he did have "great" opponents like Rude, Hogan and Savage, he looked fairly decent because they wouldn't want to wrestle a guy that wants to go full speed in a match. The issue is that most of the time he had to wrestle people that were as big or bigger than him, and we all know the WWF @ the time didn't have good heel workers @ 300 pounds with the exception of the Big Boss Man. The end result is that he had a lot of short sloppy matches but I can't put all the blame on him.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Cocaine and steroids made 80's wrestling great.

LOL!

Was that it?

You may have something there.

The steroid thing started before the 80's. Guys like Superstar Graham and Bruiser Brody were doing steroids in the mid-70's... And there were probably guys doing roids before that.

The thing that made the early 80's great for me was the shear variety. You had some many territories that yeah, there were a lot of lousy wrestlers out there but you had far more upper echelon guys than you have today. Not too mention a huge variety of characters and personalities. And of course managers which add a different flavor to the mix were much more prevalent then.