the Dingo Warrior - the only wrestler Hulk Hogan never defeated

The Beginning
I can't recall the exact time - it was a few months before Wrestlemania 4 - but the first impressions of the Ultimate Warrior where not that great. Just another wrestler really. He was under-costumed and had no charisma. His costume only consisted of a few tassels, a shoddy head band, and rudimentary face-paint. Though, at least it was in the shape that has now become the Warrior trademark. But where did it all begin? How the did the concept of the Ultimate Warrior materialise?

Rock (Warrior) & Flash (Sting)

After wrestling under a few different "Warrior" names, he finally settled, and became successful as the Dingo Warrior. Soon he made a name for himself and established many feuds with wrestlers he would later meet in the WWF - most famously Ravishing Rick Rude. Sting ended up in the NWA (now WCW) after a merger between two minor organisations where his career would run remarkably parallel with his former partner. Like most wrestlers, the Warrior started life in the minor federations like the UWF and World Class Wrestling and was initially recruited as a part of group of ex-body-builders into a group known as Powerteam USA. They wrestled predominantly in the mid-south-west (Texas). His first piece of notoriety came in the formation of a formidable tag-team with the wrestler now known as Sting who was also in Powerteam. As Rock and Flash, they were the Blade Runners, and were awesome. However, the partnership was short lived. Once the Blade Runners disbanded, the UW's calling sign became apparent. Being a "Warrior" was his destiny. The World Wrestling Federation - what the WORLD was watching Now it was time for the WWF - the premier wrestling organisation of the time. Naturally Vince McMahon recruited him, but the Warrior character was all the UW's. He insisted upon it, and developed it. His first significant feud was with Hercules Hernandez. In a pre-cursor to their Wrestlemania 4 matchup, the two had a tug-o-war with Herc's chain which the Warrior naturally snapped as he try to wrench it from Herc. Shell-shocked, Herc tried to choke the Warrior with it. The Warrior broke free and eventually chased him and choked him all the way back to the dressing room. The big WM4 match was actually quite good. The Warrior going berserk whilst seemingly being impervious to Herc's attacks. Eventually Herc cheated and got the advantage, but in the end, a back to back suplex from the second corner buckle would decide the match. Both men's' shoulders were on the ground, but as the referee was about to count three, the Warrior lifted his to take the match. A good start in dispatching one of the higher profile wrestlers, but within the context of the event (Hulk/Andre rematch involving a tournament for the WWF Championship), it paled in significance.

The Warrior's trademark splash - a move that finished off the Honky Tonky Man at Summerslam 88 to win his first WWF title. The Warrior was stagnating - the crowd had not been captured. He needed revitalisation. It came with a lucky break in the form of SummerSlam 88 - the first SS ever. Brutus Beefcake was due to face Honky Tonk Man for the Inter-Continental Belt., but unfortunately for Brutus, he was attacked from behind by Outlaw Ron Bass who injured him with his spur. Brutus was out and a new opponent required. However, Honky's opponent was unknown, by anyone. That not only included the fans, but the referee, the announcers and even Honky! Being his cocky-self, naturally Honky grabbed the microphone asked for anyone. He did not care who it was. But as the music started, the crowd erupted, and Honky looked stunned. The Warrior burst out with the force of 1000 megatons of TNT and destroyed Honky in less than 20 seconds. Amazing! The crowd went wild, the Warrior won the belt, and it was the start of a new era.

The post match interview was one of the best ever. When Honky was questioned regarding his challenge to take on anyone, he responded: "I said I would wrestle anybody, I did not say I would wrestle a Warrior. God damn it, they sent a Warrior! It's not fair, the belt's mine, it belongs to me, I'm the greatest of all time!" The eruption of the Warrior at SummerSlam seemed to be part of a new full-frontal image to really ingratiate him to the fans. Along with the amazing match, the Warrior's costume had received a face-lift. The head-band was gone, but most importantly, the trademark Warrior entrance with arms pumping and ropes shaking and general mayhem was born. From now on, the sound of the UW's music meant only one thing......THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR WAS ON HIS WAY AND NOTHING WAS GOING TO STAND IN HIS WAY!!!!!!! The phenomenon that is the Ultimate Warrior gets bigger and bigger In the aftermath of Summerslam, the Warrior's presence and statue grew rapidly. In that time he thrashed opponent after opponent, but it was not until January 1989 that Honky had a chance at revenge in an attempt to regain his title. He continually bragged that no one had ever regained the title, and naturally the WWF refused to deny it either, but really, Tito Santana regained his title after losing it at the very first Wrestlemania to Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. Eventually, Tito lost it to the Macho Man, who lost it to Ricky Steamboat at WM3 in one of the greatest matches ever seen. Honky then won it from Steamboat and held it for over a year. The Honky Tonk Man copping it bad during his Intercontinental rematch, January 1989

The rematch at a Saturday Night Main Event card was great. Honky was cocky and planning to have a "hit", whilst the Warrior was bordering on the insane. These were his pre-match comments: "Arrrrghhhh, the Ultimate Warrior denies himself no victory. Victory was mine once, and it will be again. My opponent, only knows defeat. AND I...... WILL NOT.....DENY HIMMMM!!", as he pounded his chest and brushed off Mean Gene. So possessed was the Warrior that Jesse "the Body" Ventura labelled him the Ultimate Maniac and loathed him like he did with most fan-favourites like Hulk "the Chump" Pukster. Now in trademark fashion, the Warrior burst to the ring and layed ferociously into Honky. Even in Honky's retreat back to the dressing room, the Warrior simply put him into a gorilla press, and threw him into the ring. Honky actually made a fight of it this time, with the help of Jimmy Hart. The megaphone was again prominent, but unfortunately for Honky, he just could not get Shake, Rattle and Roll happening on the Warrior. Eventually the Warrior's strength and imperviousness to pain saw him through. The flying spear tackle, gorilla press and warrior-splash combo that ended many an opponent's fight, ended Honky's. With Honky dispensed, it was time for bigger fish to fry.

The big fish came in the form of Ravishing Rick Rude, Macho Man and Andre the Giant. In fact, the feud with Rude was the Warrior's greatest in the WWF. It really kicked off three months prior to Wrestlemania 5, at the Royal Rumble. There the two participated in the Super Posedown where the crowd was the judge. Rude, incensed with the crowd's snub (they went too far - Rude did have the best abs!), attacked the Warrior with his workout bar. It took a dozen referees to remove Rude, but when they did, the Warrior then brushed them aside, and even attacked some of them, and chased Rude back to the dressing rooms. Also at this time, the Warrior was engaged in a series of title vs title matches against WWF Machon Man Randy Savage across the country (yes, there were these sorts of matches before WM6). I saw two of these matches on various WWF tapes, and both were choreograped virtually identically! Even Rude's role in both was the same. He interfered and caused the Warrior to be counted. There were never any falls or submissions so no titles ever changed hands, but it was still enough to rile the Warrior. He naturally took his frustration out on both Macho and Rude as they gloated in glory post-match. Rude received the brunt of the attackl with some ferocious turnbuckle action - something he would receive plenty of in future matches. The speed and force that Rude was flung into the buckles was amazing.

Come Wrestlemania 5 time, the Warrior had held his IC title for 8 months and it was almost inconceivable that the Warrior could ever lose it. But he did, when Rude sensationally won it with the help of Bobby Heenan. Heenan tripped the Warrior as he was about to suplex Rude back into the ring from the apron. Rude fell on the Warrior whilst Heenan then held down the Warrior's legs. Rude hobbled back to the dressing room whilst the Warrior expelled his frustration on "The Brain". This was the start of the real Warrior/Rude. After a few rematches where Rude managed to get himself disqualified or counted out after receiving the beatings of his life, the event where the Warrior would finally exact revenge was at SummerSlam 89 - exactly one year after the Warrior initially captured the belt. A classic match where Rude again was battered senseless and received one of the most ferocious and almost outrageous onslaughts ever. He even suffered the humility of being gorilla pressed high up and being tossed out of the ring onto the floor. I don't care what universe you're from, that's got to hurt. The turning point came when in one of Rude's rare moments of dominance, Roddy Piper came out and observed. Rude then jumped onto the turnbuckle to question him and as he did, Piper chucked a brown eye. The Warrior took his chance to suplex Rude and then progressed legitimately towards victory. The Ultimate Warrior pile-driving Ravishing Rick Rude at Wrestlemania 5. Rude managed to win the belt with the help of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan's interference

The feud with Rude took a hiatus as Rude now battled Piper and the Warrior took on even greater opponents. The most dangerous of which was Andre the Giant. As with the Warrior/Macho matches, these were never fought in a big pay-per-view, but unlike Warrior/Macho, I never ever saw a match. However, reports from wrestling magazines at the time showed the Warrior dominated every match with lightning and powerful onslaughts that resulted in quick wins - mostly count-outs - and leaving Andre wondering what hit him. Obvsiouly any win over the Giant must be deemed as extraordinary - even for the Warrior - but it must be said that this was a phase that Andre was at his most vulnerable with Heenan managing him and the loss and disqualification to Hogan at WM3 and WM4 respectively still affecting his confidence. After destroying all opponents before him, there seemed to be only one logical opponent left able to stop him, or even for him to conquer: Hulk Hogan! The Warrior's rise meant that Hogan was no longer the undisputed force in the universe, or had ultimate favouritism amongst the crowd. There was only one logical direction the two could head: a crash course towards each other. The fans sensed it, but would the WWF, at the time loath to allow fan favourites to face one another, allow the two most dominant forces in the universe to meet in such an unprecedented battle? In the end, they really had no choice because the fans' desire was so overwhelming. Hulk Hogan versus the Ultimate Warrior - In The Making The first sense the fans received of a possible Hogan/Warrior match was when both wrestlers were included in the 1990 Royal Rumble, 3 months prior to Wrestlemania 6. The Rumble, a 30-man affair where wrestlers enter the ring at 2 minute intervals, obviously allowed for the possibility for any two wrestlers to face off in a relatively unscripted manner. As the wrestlers ticked by, the Warrior was the first of the two to enter, at number 23. He promptly went crazy and cleared the ring. However, the next few wrestlers managed to stick around until Hogan came in at 25. Hogan and Warrior avoided each other while another couple of wrestlers entered, but in a thrice, Hulk went on a rampage and started throwing everyone out. The Warrior chimed in with a couple, and when they both turned around in search of more prey, they saw nothing but each other in the ring. The universe literally stopped in anticipation. In fact, managers Bobby Heenan and Jimmy South, whose wrestlers were long eliminated, hung around at ringside just to watch the showdown. After a furious stare-down and a couple of shoves, both wrestlers entered a cris-cross and knocked each down on one occasion each. On the third time into the ropes, both wrestlers close-lined each other, leaving both prostrate on the mat. That was the end of the impromptu match-up, but it was enough to stoke the fans' fires for more. With both wrestlers still down, the Barbarian entered next and attacked both. As more wrestlers entered, the Warrior and Hogan never lay another shot on each other. The Warrior was first eliminated when, as he was trying to lever a couple of other wrestlers over, Hogan came and assisted and rolled them all over. Both Hulk and the Warrior seemed oblivious to who went out and how it occurred, so as Hogan continued on in the match, the Warrior went crazy on a few other wrestlers and officials, then ran out of the arena. Hogan went on to win the Rumble, but that was inconsequential in what undoubtably will be remembered as one of the paradoxical moments in the sport. Once it was announced that WWF Champion Hulk Hogan would indeed face the "Ultimate Challenge" of the Intercontinental Champion the Ultimate Warrior in the Clash Of The Titans in a Champion versus Champion showdown at Wrestlemania 6, both wrestlers postured one another and fought as a tag-team in a couple of matches. These matches served nothing other than to help build a greater rivalry when both wrestlers accidentally clocked each other. Unfortunately for myself, at this time, the lead-up to WM6 post-Royal Rumble was missed as the WWF was cruelly taken off the air in my country due to poor ratings. It left a huge unanswered question of whether the WWF would preserve their mantra of not allowing fan-favourites to face one another. The fear was that in the lead-up to WM6, the Warrior would be turned bad, and hence, totally spoiling the "integrity" of the match. After all, the fans did not want to see good-guy Hogan predicably beat up yet another villain. We wanted a match between these two superstars as they were, not as some artificial persona imposed by the WWF.

Wrestlemania 6 - The Ultimate Challenge Video Box Finally, Hulk Hogan Versus The Ultimate Warrior It was not until Wrestlemania 6 was released on video tape that I could see it. And as I watched the early bouts, there was no sense of anything untoward with the main event, nor especially the Warrior. However, in the pre-match interview, genuine fear materialised when, first, Hogan offered to "save the Warrior and the Warriors" and second, the Warrior appeared with some serious black his face paint, which gave him a somewhat evil look. His character seemed darker, but as the interview progressed, relief filled as it became clear that the Warrior was there not to destroy Hulkamania, but to unite the Hulkamaniacs and the Warriors. The Warrior was first to the ring, running all the way - as usual - down the long aisle at Toronto's Skydome. Hogan also went to the ring under his own steam rather than the ring-style motorised cart that carried wrestlers in the previous matches. Both wrestlers seemed to have equal crowd support. The match started similarly to the Royal Rumble showdown, with a stare-down (in fact, it looked like Hulk was trying not to laugh!), test of strength and some push-offs. Once the match got away proper, Hulk seemed to have wrenched his knee when thrown out of the ring. It seemed genuine too as the Warrior gave Hulk time to recover, and the commentators begged the match not to end with an early injury. Thankfully, the fear that the clash of the titans would be over before it started evaporated as Hogan re-entered the ring and fought. Even better, all thoughts of a non-violent match also evaporated when, and to the comment of "let the two goodie two-shoes go at it" from Jesse "The Body" Ventura, Hogan raked the Warrior's eyes. By the way, this succeeded the Warrior kicking at Hulk's injured knee, except it was the wrong leg!

Hogan in fact dominated quite a bit of the match earlier, until the Warrior drew his usual inspiration from the ropes and fought back. Now, the match could not progress without any form of controversy, so for this match, the referee (Earl Hebner) had to get knocked out. Thankfully that was all there was. As the Warrior went for his flying spear charge to finish of Hulk, Hogan moved out of the way and helped the Warrior on his way face-first into the mat. But with the referee out, Hulk's cover was pointless. Soon after, the Warrior made a cover when he rolled Hulk up into a small package, but still the referee was out. It now became a two-out-of-three falls match in effect. After 20 minutes, and with the referee now recovered, we'd still not seen Hulk's trademark berserk mode when on the precipice of defeat. So when the Warrior placed Hogan in his trademark gorilla pressed, dropped him, splashed him, then covered him, the time was now right for Hulk to predicably explode. And if so, history said that the Warrior was gone providing nothing untoward happened, like outside interference, etc. So when Hulk kicked out, became impervious to the Warrior's attacks, and prepared to go berserk, it seemed the Warrior would finally meet his match. Hulk continued to blaze away, then threw the Warrior into the ropes and gave him stage one of his finishing move - the big boot to the head. With the Warrior flat on his back, Hulk initiated stage two - the big leg drop - and launched himself into the ropes. As he began to drop the leg, the Warrior rolled out of the way, which saw Hogan miss and writh in agony whilst clutching his lower back. The Warrior then splashed Hogan and got the three-count. As Skydome crowd erupted, so did the Warrior, and so did I. As for Hogan, he dropped to the canvas in disbelief.

Hulk Hogan Becomes Immortal
After a minute or so of mayhem as the Warrior and the crowd celebrated the remarkable Wrestlemania 6 victory, Hulk grabbed the WWF and Intercontinental belts and strode back into the ring. As the crowed hushed in anticipation of what Hulk was about to do, he merely handed the belts to the Warrior and raised the hand of his conqueror. The two then embraced as the crowd again went wild. As Hulk left the ring and, this time, rode the little cart away from the ring, he saluted the Warrior with a raised fist, who intern saluted back by crossing his chest with his fist and repeatedly raising it. Hulk had acknowledged that the Warrior's goal of uniting the Hulkamaniacs and the Warriors together had succeeded whilst also writing himself into the history books as the Immortal Hulk Hogan. Indeed, the Warrior had reached a higher stratospheric level, but even in defeat, so too did the Hulkster.