Who is the last warrior?
Let's start from the beginning. The man who would eventually become the ultimate warrior was born James Hellwig in 1959 in Crawfordsville, Indiana. He was always interested in sports and the gym. He began lifting weights at the age of 11 and began competing in amateur bodybuilding championships at a young age. He won the Mr. title in 1984 at the age of 25. Georgia. After winning this title, he began to interact with other bodybuilders involved in the world of professional wrestling. Hellwig saw this as a professional tool that would allow him to combine several of his interests and decided to try his hand at wrestling as well.
Initially, Hellwig worked for several small professional wrestling promotions playing various characters, baptized with names such as Blade Runner Rock or The Dingo Warrior, who little by little began to resemble what they would be like in the future. "The deep warrior." Curiously, his name translates from Spanish as “The Last Warrior,” but the more accurate translation would be “Ultimate Warrior.”
In 1987, he was presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. Vincent McMahon, the owner of WWE (then known as WWF), hired him to participate in his tours, and on October 25, 1987 he made his first appearance on television, playing the character that would bring him worldwide fame. He became a crowd favorite because of his personality, energetic energy in the ring and the heavy metal style that was popular at the time.
The peak of his fame was the fight with Hogan, which I have already mentioned. This is without a doubt one of the classic moments in the entire history of WWE. Everything was ready for the warrior to take the place of the giant with the blonde mustache. Even the battle they faced was called the "final test" and clearly hinted at what would happen in the end. But everything went wrong.
In April 2014, after resolving all his differences with McMahon, The Ultimate Warrior was inducted into the World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New Orleans. The next day, he revealed what would be his last public appearance, putting himself in the shoes of his character for the last time. On April 8, two days after the show, Warrior died of a heart attack in Scottsdale, Arizona. This was the end of one of WWE's undisputed legends.