DVD Review: Ultimate Warrior

Certificate: 15
Running Time: 9hrs 00mins (540mins)
Discs: 3

Disc 1

A Message From Dana Warrior
Always Believe
Beginnings
The Blade Runners
Dingo Warrior
Ultimate Warrior
SummerSlam 88
Competing for a Spot
WrestleMania VI
What’s Next?
WrestleMania VII
SummerSlam 1991
Back in the Spotlight
The Ultimate Love
WCW
“Self-Destruction”
One Warrior Nation
The Journey Home
Hall of Fame
Back Home
The Apology
An Incredible Weekend
April 8, 2014
Outpouring of Support
Nattie
Future Diva
No Greater Tribute
Final Letters
The Spirit of Ultimate Warrior Will Run Forever

Disc 2

2-on-1 Handicap Match: Dingo Warrior v Perry Jackson and Chico Cabello – World Class Championship Wrestling * July 25, 1986
Dingo Warrior v Big Bear Collie – World Class Championship Wrestling * June 2, 1987
Ultimate Warrior v Frenchy Martin – Madison Square Garden * November 24, 1987
Ultimate Warrior v Brian Costello – Wrestling Challenge * November 29, 1987
Ultimate Warrior v Mike Sharpe – Philadelphia, PA * December 5, 1987
Ultimate Warrior v Conquistador #1 – Wrestling Challenge * May 8, 1988
Intercontinental Championship Match: Ultimate Warrior v Honky Tonk Man – Boston, MA * October 10, 1988
Intercontinental Championship Match: “Ravishing” Rick Rude v Ultimate Warrior – East Rutherford, NJ * May 8, 1989
Ultimate Warrior & King Duggan v “Ravishing” Rick Rude & Andre the Giant – Madison, WI * June 6, 1989
Ultimate Warrior v John Weiss – Wrestling Challenge * September 24, 1989
Intercontinental Championship Match: Ultimate Warrior v Andre the Giant – Maple Leaf Wrestling * October 29, 1989
Ultimate Warrior v Brooklyn Brawler – Wrestling Challenge * March 11, 1990
WWE Championship Match: Ultimate Warrior v Haku – Saturday Night’s Main Event * April 28, 1990
Ultimate Warrior v Sgt. Slaughter – Saturday Night’s Main Event * April 27, 1991
Ultimate Warrior v Rick “The Model” Martel – Wrestling Challenge * April 28, 1991
Ultimate Warrior v Smash – Superstars * May 18, 1991
Ultimate Warrior v Skinner – Superstars * May 2, 1992
Ultimate Warrior v Papa Shango – Lexington, KY * May 19, 1992
Ultimate Warrior & “Macho Man” Randy Savage v The Nasty Boys – SummerSlam Spectacular * August 19, 1992
Ultimate Warrior v Isaac Yankem – RAW * April 29, 1996
Ultimate Warrior v Owen Hart – RAW * July 8, 1996

Disc 3

Bill Mercer interviews Dingo Warrior – World Class Championship Wrestling * September 19, 1986
Nightmares are the Best Part of My Day – Superstars * February 27, 1988
I Live For Anger and Frustration – Wrestling Challenge * March 13, 1988
Normal People – Wrestling Challenge * June 5, 1988
I Won’t Let You Down – Wrestling Challenge * June 25, 1988
Legends Weren’t Built Overnight – Superstars * July 16, 1988
Craig DeGeorge Interviews the New Intercontinental Champion – Superstars * September 3, 1988
You Can Feel It – All American Wrestling * September 18, 1988
Totally Out of Control – Wrestling Challenge * January 29, 1989
A Test Like all the Others – Wrestling Challenge * May 28, 1989
We Shall Conquer the Giant – Superstars * July 15, 1989
Mean Gene interviews Ultimate Warrior about SummerSlam – Wrestling Challenge * August 13, 1989
The Eighth Wonder of the World – Superstars * September 9, 1989
Mean Gene interviews The Ultimate Warriors – Wrestling Challenge * November 5, 1989
The Brother Love Show Discussing the Royal Rumble – Superstars * January 13, 1990
I Speak to You, Hulk Hogan – Superstars * February 3, 1990
The New WWE Champion – Superstars * April 14, 1990
The Brother Love Show Discussing SummerSlam – Superstars * June 23, 1990
Confined Spaces – Superstars * July 21, 1990
Leaving Nothing Behind – Wrestling Challenge * August 12, 1990
Useless Dreams – Wrestling Challenge * August 26, 1990
The Brother Love Show with Queen Sherri – Superstars * September 8, 1990
Sister Love – Superstars * October 13, 1990
The Commander in Chief – Wrestling Challenge * December 23, 1990
Your Ultimate Destruction – Wrestling Challenge * December 30, 1990
Total Surrender – Superstars * January 5, 1991
The Smell of Defeat – Wrestling Challenge * January 13, 1991
Mean Gene interviews Queen Sherri – Royal Rumble * January 19, 1991
I am the Wildness – Superstars * February 9, 1991
I Said Sew It In! – Superstars * February 16, 1991
You Have Found the Madness – Superstars * February 23, 1991
Don’t Look Back – Superstars * March 9, 1991
One More Step in the Destiny – Wrestling Challenge * March 10, 1991
A Battle Like No Other – Wrestling Challenge * March 17, 1991
Now We Are Back – Superstars * May 4, 1991
Then We Shall Feast – Superstars * April 11, 1992
These Are My Warriors – Superstars * April 18, 1992
The Papa Shango Curse – Superstars * May 23, 1992
Only Desperate Men Act with Impatience – Superstars * August 8, 1992
The Ultimate Maniacs Are Born – Superstars * September 19, 1992
The Ultimate Maniacs Are Out of Control – Wrestling Challenge * November 7, 1992
One Warrior Nation – WCW Monday Nitro * August 24, 1998
Running to Reappear – WCW Monday Nitro * September 21 * 1998
Ultimate Warrior – Hall of Fame Induction – Hall of Fame * April 5, 2014
The Spirit of Ultimate Warrior Will Run Forever – RAW * April 7, 2014

If you bought last year’s Ultimate Warrior – The Ultimate Collection, this is a fantastic companion piece to that release, although a lot of the Warrior talking-head footage comes from that set. Of course, it was impossible to get new footage, but even the repeated comments are welcome and the other talking-heads compliment it with their own input.

The first disc is a documentary and something that WWE’s excellent production crew excel at. Opening with a very poignant speech from Dana Warrior, it runs through the man’s career with comments from Warrior himself along with Hogan, Sting, Vince, Triple H, Stephanie, Linda and a host of the current roster.

As with the previous DVD, it’s obvious on the candid behind-the-scenes segments how much it meant to Warrior to return home and bury the hatchet with virtually everyone he had previous issue(s) with. It’s also obvious to see how much it meant to everyone else to have him there for what turned out to be the last few days of his life.

The pride in his family and the pride they had in him in return leaps from the screen and footage of current day stars being in genuine awe at meeting him backstage (“I was a huge Warrior fan” was repeated over and over again… and not once did it seem false flattery). The part where Sheamus meets Warrior for the first time and is taken aback when Warrior immediately compliments the Irishman on his look and his style was great and another example of how genuine Warrior was in his comments.

There are two main differences between this collection and the previous release; The Ultimate Collection almost seemed like an apology for The Self-Destruction and, of course, Warrior was alive when it was put together.

Because of this, there are a lot of sentimental comments from the likes of Triple H, Vince, Stephanie, Linda, Dana and their two daughters. At times it can be too easy to point and say the tears are for show, but in this case, they are genuine tears of emotion at having lost a long-time friend.

Warrior’s wife (much like Vicki Guerrero after Eddie’s passing) has been accepted as part of the larger WWE family (as twee as that sounds) and his two daughters come across as bright, articulate little ladies, with Mattie laying the groundwork for being the most unlikely of second-generation wrestlers.

All of the footage from his return during the WrestleMania / HoF build to the backstage footage from his final appearance on RAW is both uplifting and sad. Uplifting because it gave him a fitting send-off and all of the emotional baggage had been shed. Sad, of course, because we were watching a man live out his final days live on TV.

Load the spaceship with the rocket fuel, load it with the Warriors and strap in for a fascinating documentary covering the life and career of a fascinating man.

Overview

When I reviewed The Ultimate Collection, I had written what would have been the final draft before he died, but hadn’t sent it to go on the site. Warrior then passed away and I felt that my review should be rewritten after watching the DVD again to give proper (and current) context.

With this set being released a year later, the same footage can be viewed from a perspective of distance from the rawness of his death.

There are loads of little things that make this a companion to Warrior’s last outing rather than just a repeat. Candid pictures of Warrior as a young bodybuilder meeting Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sting talking about watching WrestleMania VI and being a little jealous, the relationship between the Divas and Dana and the girls, Hogan taking the blame for Halloween Havoc 1998’s match sucking majorly and just the genuine heartfelt emotion from everyone.

There are a lot of matches here that few people will have seen and the third disc is pretty much just promos, which are worth watching just for reliving the giddiness you had as a kid when this massive face-painted man ranted about things you didn’t understand (Warrior was very big on metaphors), but you knew he meant every word.

As a last word, anything that gets “Iron” Mike Sharpe on WWE DVD in 2015 can only be a positive.

If you buy the Blu-Ray version, you get the following additional content -:

Blu-ray Exclusive

Ultimate Warrior? Who’s That?
Disneyland Warrior
The Ultimate Bike Ride
Call Vince
That’s My Dad!
WrestleMania VI Movie Night
Barbie Meets Ultimate Warrior
Cockpit Door Promo
Batista’s Homage
Warrior Plays The Game
The Warriors Meet The Goldbergs
The Slammy Award Presentation
Mattie v Nattie
Warrior Girl
Dingo Warrior v Rick Rude – WCCW * August 22, 1986
Ultimate Warrior v Hulk Hogan – WrestleMania VI * April 1, 1990
Ultimate Warrior and Legion of Doom v Demolition * Saturday Night’s Main Event – October 13, 1990
Ultimate Warrior v Earthquake – Fort Myers, FL * February 19, 1991
Ultimate Warrior and Undertaker v Papa Shango and Berzerker – Ontario, Canada * June 3, 1992