The Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior (2005 Video) User Reviews

I have some doubts

[super marauder · 7/10 · 3 November 2009]

I was huge wrestling fan from about 1984 to 1995. I got bored over the idea that I was being told who to cheer for and who to boo at. Do you want to be a bad guy? Just slap Hulk Hogan and there you go! Just ask Andre the Giant. As well as really dumb characters such as Doink the Clown, or Papashango. How about when Demolition Smash disappeared and six or eight months later we are introduced to Repo-Man! Between Brett Hart, and The Ultimate Warrior I stuck by them because they didn't sell out to the fluff.

I really liked The Ultimate Warrior because he was fun to watch. Intense, out of control, totally unique for the day. I always wondered what happened to him and why the WWF/WWE didn't do much with him when he was champion. This video answered many of those questions, although most of the answers really made him look like a total jerk. Maybe he was, I don't know.

The trouble is Vince McMahon is not the most honest person himself. He screwed over many wrestlers including Bruno Sammartino, Dusty Rhodes, Brett Hart, and even Hulk Hogan just to name a few. See for yourself. Just watch 'Brett Hart:Wrestling With Shadows', or the Biography on Hulk Hogan and find out the real reason why he went to the WCW. Add to that, his company men like Bobby Heenan, and Gene Orkerlund backing up everything. In all fairness however, Hulk Hogan didn't have a bad word to say about him.

Maybe this is all true. However I find it interesting this came out after the Warrior sued the WWE, and now that Vince has the only game in town without nobody to challenge him, I have my doubts. Is there more to the story here? I'll let you make up your own mind.

Yes, like this bad-ass DVD states, The Warrior is crazier than a crazy straw...and that's pretty crazy.

[Lando_Hass · 8/10 · 13 October 2005]

Yes, bruh, The Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior is a DVD that has a bunch of interviews from wrestlers, commentators, and WWF employees. At first, when I was a lad back in the 90's, The Ultimate Warrior was, to me, one of the most bad-ass wrestlers out there. He had the ass-kicking entrance music, the cool face paint, and entrance of a coke head who just drank 8 and a half cups of coffee. This guy was bad-ass. His character was bad-ass. But back then, I never paid attention to his wrestling ability, which turns out to be pretty crappy, and this DVD showcases some of his worst matches. This DVD also showcases his hilariously weird interviews, and lots of wrestlers (and Vinny McMahon) explain his personality and what it was like working with a crazy person who had a cool gimmick and cool entrance music. I must say, bruh, this DVD is awesome. It chronicles Warrior's start with Sting, his rise to bad-assery, and his fall to crazy racist moron (it doesn't actually mention that, though). This DVD has it all.

At first, you watch this and expect all the interviewees to trash him nonstop. No, people, that's NOT THAT CASE! AHHH! Instead, they actually praise him, but subtly bash him. Then, after about the first quarter of the DVD, after they show his win over Hulk Hogan, then that's where it all goes down. They show a bunch of his backstage interviews, which are some of the funniest things you'll ever see. Seriously, if you're ever constipated, watch these interviews, you'll mess yourself laughing. In those interviews, Warrior just strings together a bunch of words and stories that have something to do with the matches he's talking about. In these interviews, whenever he speaks of another wrestler or an upcoming match, he basically tells a complex premise for a book or a movie.

They also talk about his lack of in-ring ability, and fans of the Ultimate Warrior will say, "Oh, well Vince is just mad because Warrior sued them and won!" That may be true, but that doesn't change the face that this DVD shows some truly bad wrestling on Warrior's part. His timing is off, the moves look sloppy and unconvincing, and his specials look like they wouldn't even hurt an ant. Warrior wasn't horrible, but he definitely wasn't very good. His match in WCW with Hulk Hogan was hilarious, too.

Lot's of fans of the Warrior argue that Vince just threw this DVD together because he was mad that Warrior sued them and won the rights to the name The Ultimate Warrior. That's probably true, Vince was probably mad, but that doesn't change the fact that today, Warrior is a crazy, loony racist moron, and probably was so back then. It also doesn't change the fact that Warrior wasn't much of a wrestler, either.

I should also mention that Warrior changed his name, legally, from Jim Hellwig to just Warrior. Now, obviously, if someone were to do this, something has to be wrong up in the cranium. I have to admit, this guy was a bad-ass character, but as a wrestler and as a person? Well, he's not that great of a wrestler, and as a person, he's a racist. When he was in WWF, he did whatever he wanted (like coming out to the ring in a baseball cap), and when he wrestled, he messed up moves without considering his opponents safety. I know a Warrior fan is reading this and saying, "No, I disagree," but if you watch these matches you can tell.

This DVD's pretty cool overall, but it needed to be a little longer. Warrior's interviews are hilarious, and hearing other wrestler's opinions of him is pretty interesting. It's hard to believe that such a bad-ass character was a racist, egotistical idiot.

Now, I'm going to summarize Warrior's career of sorts in the style of The Warrior: Now...when the molten steel and lava letters pour out of this keyboard as I punch each ambiguous letter key onto the computer screens of the legends of Cold Cutter Bay....you....readers....will be forced to confront your innermost demons....you will have to GRAB THEIR SWORDS!!!....from their COLD DEAD HANDS!!....you hold that sword up to your face...you take that sword....you read this review of awsomeness...which was written by Lando_Hass....then...you understand that the seemingly placid Jim Hellwig...had been morphed and MUTATED into something else....it's because of the winnings....and the TRIUMPHS that he had grasped and pulled from oblivion, and out into the open...after rising to the top, that he had eventually had to go somewhere that was contrary to UP....which was down....from there, after years in the black oblivion of the abyss....he rose to the middle of the abyss...which was a product of Ted of Turner...ultimately it was WCW....from there, he felt that the middle of oblivion did not meet his ultimate standards....from there, he sunk deeper...deeper, deeper...deeper into the even more oblivious abyss of the oblivion...now, he remains in the packed college rooms, spouting racist remarks and making the least bit of sense...and this DVD had been released from the ruler of W to W to E....to truly reveal the nature of the beast that is THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR!!!!!!! LA-LA-LA-LA-AHHHHHHH!!!

Score: 8 out of 10.

WWE's ultimate blunder was making this DVD. Self-destruction indeed.

[ironhorse_iv · 7/10 · 4 November 2014]

One of the most hateful wrestling DVD that ever came out. It was indeed pretty awful, but it was an interesting well-made controversy DVD. It wouldn't have been made, if only Ultimate Warrior didn't burn some bridges and got the company so angry. WWE in 2005, was indeed Ruthless Aggression. It was a time where WWE was looking to recapture the spirit of Attitude Era with new talents. Arena attendance was in all-time lows, and WWE hope to recapture some of the magic, through trying to rehire some big WWE alumni. One star, they hope to bring back was the Ultimate Warrior AKA Jim Hellwig, whom work for the company in the late 1980s/ early 1990s. The Ultimate Warrior was offered to work on a retrospective DVD about his career. Sadly, he was unwilling to take part of it, causing the direction of the documentary to go from well balance accurate bio-pic to one-sided negative accusations and shaming demonize piece. The movie break down the Warrior character from his rise, to his career demise in WWE. The DVD featured clips of Warrior most notable feuds and matches along with commentary from WWE stars past and present, which was mostly spoke about Ultimate Warrior in an unflattering matter. Some of the claims are that most of Ultimate Warrior's rise in popular was due to other people's work. I have to agree that he was indeed a rip-off of the Road Warriors at times, but I have to say, Hellwig did add a lot to the persona, turning the post-apocalypse Dingo Warrior into a Sci-Fiction superhero, Ultimate Warrior. It's OK to give him, some credit. The film stated out, that he never appreciated anything anyone ever did for him and had no respect for the wrestling business. The film used the fact that Hellwig sued the company in 1996 for the rights to his name and character, much to the shock and chagrin of the wrestling personalities now on Vince's payroll. It's not like other wrestling alumni like Hulk Hogan, and others didn't fight WWE, over the control of their character name, the degree of creative control over their bookings and how much, they were getting paid. Even Hogan, Vince's golden poster boy, kinda held up an appearance at an event for money. Likewise, other wrestling legends like Ric Flair being interview for the piece, lost a lot of respect for Warrior for trying to promote himself with an image created by the wrestling promotion that made him famous. Did the fan really supposed to forget that Flair brought the NWA world title belt onto WWF television? This is blatant hypocrisy of most everyone involved. I do have to agree with WWE, that the Warrior had some of the most bizarre promos, but it's no different than the other cartoony promos at the time. Half of the time, I couldn't understanding Macho Man Randy Savage, but you don't see a Self-Destruction of Randy Savage DVD out there with the controversy things he pull off. The documentary makes it look like Ultimate Warrior lost his mind after his time in WWE and just disappear into Crazyville; when in truth, he's a pretty well-rounded person with a very public speaking career. He's isn't mentally insane like this documentary, makes him out to be. The last thing, the documentary points out, is that he couldn't wrestle. Indeed, no argument there, but why they would ever include bonus matches of a guy they think sucked, let alone dedicate an entire DVD to him? It doesn't make sense. One thing that the DVD kinda brush off or little mention was the fact that Warrior was on steroids. Not once is the word "steroids" ever uttered in the DVD due to fears of re-sparking modern accusations of steroids use on current wrestlers. It was indeed needed, as it was indeed a valid criticism of Warrior's legacy and one based in fact. This would later, get a bigger mention in 2014's Warrior: The Ultimate Legend documentary. Due to the government's crackdown on steroids in wrestling, Vince McMahon claims that it was Warrior's experimenting with growth hormone which lead to his departure in 1992; Warrior was suspended and in return would skip dates as he took offense to McMahon's actions. The one and only thing that Warrior ever gets credit for on this DVD is his physique, in an odd way. The DVD had a general lot of white-washing by McMahon of WWE history. In the end, this DVD release is so biased and relentlessly negative. It was no surprise that in 2006, Warrior filed a lawsuit against WWE over the depiction of his wrestling career in The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior DVD. The case was late dismissed. Since 2005, WWE turn back into family friendly PG and try to be in a more-positive light. This meant a lot of reconciliation in WWE over the issues with certain ex-employees. People like Bret Hart was reintroduce in the WWE after the Montreal Screw-job of 1997. People thought Bruno Sammartino would never even dare to come back to that square-circle after years upon years of sour relationship with WWE. And people thought Ultimate Warrior could never return to WWE after this movie, The Self-Destruction of Ultimate Warrior. Indeed, money play a role for the return, but the buried the hatchet of the real life feud was indeed genuine. Warrior even got into the 2014 Hall of Fame. Overall: This is a black hate letter that WWE wish they didn't product. While, it didn't make a good documentary. It was indeed still fun to watch and have a good laugh at how pitiful this film is.

The airing out of dirty laundry from the Stamford side.

[BlackJack_B · 7/10 · 31 May 2006]

You know, Vince McMahon continues to try and hide the fact that despite his steroid-aided muscles, wealth and power walk that he is a despicable, ruthless, uncaring rogue with very low self-esteem and who is uncomfortable with his bisexuality. That he has an army of 50-somethings who will do his bidding and serve as yes-men is even sadder but this is the truth of what pro wrestling today is all about. In the WWE, kissing butt and not crossing the boss and his shrunken manhood is the way to get ahead. Or marrying his daughter.

As for the Warrior, he is a nutcase. He doesn't have both oars in the water. He may have had a history of questionable actions. However, "The Self-Destruction Of The Ultimate Warrior" was made without his participation and while the younger wrestlers who appear here still get a kick out of seeing him when they were young, the aged who appear here (McMahon, Steve Lombardi, Jim Ross, Bobby Heenan, Mean Gene, The Orange Goblin, Ric Flair, etc.) use this DVD documentary to constructively criticize Warrior.

The Ultimate Warrior's career in the ring, his successes, feuds, controversies and infamously hilarious interviews are all documented. We see the rise and fall of one of the most recognized wrestlers ever. The Warrior was a wildman with a massive physique and little wrestling skill but he was all the rage in the late 80's. The music, the running to the ring, the rope shaking and his colorful outfits and face paint made him a star in that era. Many of the aged call him reckless and uncaring to his opponents and that he wouldn't attempt to be better in the ring; instead relying on his clothesline-heavy offense.

While the younger wrestlers featured (including two wrestlers no longer in the WWE in NWA World Champion Christian Cage and the on-hiatus Chris Jericho) still respect the Warrior and are just having fun with his persona, the aged pretty much take the Warrior to task and some are outright brutal in their assessment. They even go so far as to make up lies and falsehoods about Warrior.

Vince appearing this documentary is pretty much proof that this is a one-sided documentary AGAINST the Warrior. Vince has had a long history of lawsuits with Warrior and I felt the story of what led to his first dismissal from the WWE is a blatant made-up lie. That Vince is sore for losing a trademark to him is even sadder. Vince has these useless trademarks that he will never use. Are we ever going to see another Nailz, Papa Shango, Repo Man, Sable or anyone else? This is the same man who tried to pawn off another Razor Ramon and Diesel, though.

Another lie comes from Gene Okerlund when he said the ratings for Warrior's debut segment in WCW were the lowest on that show. Wrong.

How about Hulk Hogan blaming the Warrior for their horrid but hilarious 1998 bout? Hogan only blamed himself for the fireball gone awry. According to Warrior's shoot DVD, Hogan didn't want to get a game plan set for the bout and it was performed on the fly.

Jim Ross, who has very little experience calling Warrior's matches, blasts him early on for leaving Bill Watts and Mid-South Wrestling for World Class because "he couldn't handle it." For years, MSW and World Class have despised each other the way the WWE and WCW did. Why is he even in this documentary? To anger those WCCW alumni? Why is Steve Lombardi here? Just because he jobbed to him 20-25 times? What would a jobber know about him? How about Ric Flair calling him a flash in the pan? That's a little too strong but this is from someone who should be retired and not losing to nobodies as well as being in trouble with the law. Take it as you may.

It goes on but you get the picture. However, the documentary is still worth seeing. The bad wrestling, the incoherent interviews, the friendly ribbing from the younger wrestlers and seeing the aged gang up on Warrior is absolutely funny stuff. It's proof that just like how Don Zimmer has drawn a paycheque from only baseball, you can, after a fashion, draw a paycheque from Vince just as long as you like the taste of GM on your lips.

For the other side of the story, well, the Warrior has that available.

Very entertaining

[Eraser81 · 7/10 · 18 August 2006]

I couldn't wait to hear everyone bombard the Warrior with their thoughts about him. Their remarks weren't as bad as I thought they would be. You could tell that Ted DiBiase despised the Warrior. Ric Flair didn't like him. Bobby Heenan didn't like how dangerous and careless he was in the ring. If you watch when Warrior gorilla press slams Heenan at Wrestlemania V you can see how he just lets him drop to the ground.

Hulk Hogan for the most part liked Jim Hellwig. Except for of course when he thought he killed the build up to their Halloween Havoc match. I agree it wasn't a good idea to ramble on and brag about how he beat the Hulkster 8 years prior.

Vince brought back the Warrior a few times to try to make some dollars but the Warrior's unreliability and unprofessional ism kept ruining those chances.

Jim Ross' input wasn't really necessary. He was not around for much of the Warrior's career.

All in all if you're curious about other wrestlers thoughts on the man behind the makeup check out the DVD, it retails for around $14.99.

The Ultimate Documentary

[WadiDosiTosk · 10/10 · 18 February 2022]

A great documentary, showing who Jim Hellwig really was behind the curtain. The remarks by those appearing in the documentary are neither defamatory, nor are they in any way disrespectful...quite the contrary, in fact.

This DVD is Vince making people born before the 90's jump on his new wrestlers bandwagon.

[andyvee · 7/10 · 13 September 2006]

THE ULLL-TI-MATE......WARRIOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES!

Today's generation may have John Cena, Randy Orton, Triple H, and Batista to call sports entertainers....if you all were born after 1990.

SORRY. Not ME!. Andyvee was born in 1985! Yeah! This 21 year old baby was watching wrestling before any of these guys were in the wrestling business. And if your like me, the only wrestler you would probably like to watch was the Warrior, kicking some ASS! Come on Vince McMahon. You're taking to Warrior fans who were too young to understand the problems Warrior was creating. All you're doing trying to destroy the love and support we have for the Ultimate Warrior, and make us want to see your stupid-ass "sports entertainers" who also watched the Warrior perform themselves.

Stop Hatin' Vince. The 80's was the good old days.

WWF sucks ass. The Rock is gone, Stone Cold is gone, and all of the good guys from the past.

Hey, I might be living in the past, but that's when wrestling was good.

I will never watch WWF again. And if you like the Warrior, don't either.

Not That Negative

[Bjorn_theBorg · 9/10 · 21 November 2015]

Some of the reviews on here warned of lots of bias, and the very title of the video suggests that it's negative. Having read the reviews first, I was pleasantly surprised at how it wasn't too negative or way too biased.

This was just a story of a guy who hit the big time and then gradually fizzled out, which happens all the time. A lot of the criticisms people made of the Warrior could have been made of the people criticizing him, and have been. Basically it's a must see, and then go watch random videos by the Warrior on Youtube to hear his side of the story, heheh

Ultimately, they do give him credit for his role in his success, but on the downside, they give too much credit to the WWE for his success. Anyone who knows anything knows that only a very few people can be lucky and gifted enough to ascend to the top of the WWE. Thus, if he did it, he deserve a lot of the credit and his achievements shouldn't be taken away from him like that.

Furthermore, elite-level pro wrestling is a very tough sport which breaks people down on every level imaginable, so it shouldn't be surprising that he gradually got tired and retired a little younger than some of his peers.

There are things in this Doc you can't ignore.

[BatStarIndyFreak · 7/10 · 22 February 2012]

Make no mistake, Vince McMahon has an ego that would fill 20 Donald Trumps. Still, I can't imagine that he'd have this many people from the Warrior's era in his pocket; many of whom had been distanced from him for many years. I was a big fan of Warrior when he first came out. Any wrestling fan from that era would tell that he brought a unique and intense energy to the (then) WWF. I predicted that he would 'legitimately' pin Hulk Hogan for the World title in Wrestlemania 6, and was actually excited to see what he would give us with it. I can remember how the producers did everything they could to get everybody into excitement by practically merging the Ultimate Warrior's image with their big emblem -- right down to starting the "Superstars of Wrestling" TV show with a sequence showing an animated Warrior in a dark rocky place, but energized with all kinds of lightning and shockwaves. But it was around that time that The Ultimate Warrior suddenly changed in his demeanor. He went from consistent raging powerful dialogue (and I will give him that I had no problem following it) to an annoying softspeak, coupled with a lame snarl. When I watched this documentary, and recollected my viewing experiences, so many things fit together perfectly. Shortly after Warrior lost the World title he suddenly disappeared (of the many things that bothered me about Vince McMahon was that he never said anything about any wrestler's departure. You had find out from some other source after going months asking, "when are we going to see '___' again?"). Then in Wrestlemania 7 we see a big dramatic comeback. After that we saw Warrior go through gimmick after gimmick in revving up his appearance. I stopped watching wrestling shortly after that (not really because of the Warrior's changes, it just faded from me). And Eric Bischoff (WCW owner) and all others in the WCW made a solid case for how problematic Warrior was for them. The title is a bit extreme, and I do see that as a product of Vince's ego, but even before I watched it, I had the sense that the Warrior had much the same problem.

Very Biased and One-Sided

[steve-575 · 5/10 · 29 May 2011]

I'll admit that I was never a huge fan of the Ultimate Warrior. He was never a great technical wrestler and his physique was way too good to be true. However, I felt that he was a good entertainer and made a lot of money for the WWE. When I saw "The Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior", it played out as Vince McMahon's way of exacting revenge on the Warrior for tying up the WWE in litigation for years and all of the other stunts that he allegedly pulled. Given that Vince McMahon has a reputation for being ruthless and he was practically portrayed as a saint for tolerating the Warrior, it was hard to take this video seriously. The video is the equivalent of a husband trashing his ex-wife after she just cleaned him out in divorce court.

During the video, the Warrior is given almost no credit for becoming one of the most popular wrestlers in the business. First, McMahon states that he was responsible for changing the gimmick from Dingo Warrior to The Ultimate Warrior which was crucial in the Warrior's rise to fame. He then stated that the Warrior's opening music was also a huge reason why fans rooted for him. Rick Rude was given credit for helping the Warrior look good in the ring in his first high profile feud. Then, it was later stated that Hulk Hogan allowing the Warrior to beat him at Wrestlemania VI was what propelled the Warrior to super-stardom. The Warrior's credibility was further brought into question when it was mentioned that he had tested positive for steroids, which lead to his departure. Can you actually name a WWE star in the 1980s/early 1990s that didn't use steroids?

Most of the interviews were with former wrestlers and ring personalities that are still employed with the WWE and being paid by Vince McMahon. For example, Triple H's comments about the Warrior ruining his first Wrestlemania experience seem to hold no water given that he is married to McMahon's daughter and will likely inherit the company. While I'm sure that the Warrior was probably no picnic to work with, it would have been nice to hear his side of the story. Since he allegedly refused to participate in the video, it would have been nice to at least hear from someone was at least close to the Warrior. Without anyone defending the Warrior, this was the equivalent of beating a dead horse into the ground.

So the message that they use almost two hours to repeatedly drive home is as follows: The Warrior was a "flash in the pan" who was not successful because of his talent. He was successful because of Rick Rude, Vince McMahon, Hulk Hogan, a catchy name and gimmick, great entrance music and steroids. He was not liked by anyone especially people who still have ties to Vince McMahon and are most likely still on his payroll.

In 2014, McMahon would ultimately resolve his differences with The Warrior, induct him into the Hall of Fame and produce a more favorable video of his career. Sadly, it was all overshadowed by The Warrior's death within the same week of the video release and induction. So in the end, at least this 2005 video would not prove to be the final nail in The Warrior's coffin.

Very Insightful and almost unbiased

[afeeney-2 · 8/10 · 13 April 2008]

I just watched the DVD and thought it was pretty good.

I was a young teenager in the late 80's when I first saw the Ultimate Warrior on TV in Australia. Like many people, I thought he was cool and his wrestling "theme" music was awesome.

This Doco/interview tells the unknown story of the Ultimate Warrior from his humble beginnings into wrestling to the end of his career. There is lots of actual match footage shown which is good and brought back fond memories. It's a shame that we never get to hear from Jim Hellwig (The Ultimate Warrior) himself, and his version of the story.

All the interviews from other wrestlers and associates are insightful and some are just plain funny.

In my opinion of this DVD, it does reveal that The Ultimate Warrior was a pretty weird guy and probably not the most talented TV Wrestler. But I also believe there is a lot of sour grapes coming from Vince McMahon and other wrestlers. It appears to me that Jim Hellwig was unhappy with his salary and thought he should be making more money than what he was being paid.

In summary, this was a good watch, with lots of great footage and some funny interviews. I would recommend this to everyone including non-wrestling fans.

Good, but questionable

[AnonymousBoy · 7/10 · 19 May 2009]

I liked this movie for some informative and entertaining reasons. I never saw The Ultimate Warrior before, but as a wrestling fan, I've heard very much about him. This movie gave me a good look into the career of the man.

He was obviously a very troubled man. I'm surprised some of those promos he did were even used. They were very odd, but so are many of the promos WWE stars make today. I am a little suspicious about whether or not WWE staff encouraged him to be weird. It wouldn't be the first time.

Some of the people interviewed gave very questionable criticism. The thing about Ultimate Warrior's gorilla press on Heenan wasn't as bad as they made it seem. It's called a botched move. Many wrestlers, including those in the WWE, botch a movie horribly by accident. They have to stay in character though; they can't turn to their opponent and start asking if he's okay. Pro wrestling doesn't work that way.

The only other very questionable part was the criticism against Ultimate Warrior for trash talking Hulk Hogan in the WCW. Many wrestlers will look at the person who is responsible for a big chunk of their success and say "You've never beaten me!" in a promo. They are expected to do that. It gets the fans emotional, which is exactly what pro wrestling is all about. It wasn't a "big no-no" as Hogan said, it was completely normal. This is coming from someone who's watched wrestling since he was a kid, and seen many wrestlers do that exact same thing.

The problem is with WWE itself. They tend to make the mistake of pushing guys who have the look and power but none of the talent or desire. Anyone remember Brock Lesnar? In conclusion, I highly recommend watching this. It's an interesting look at a legendary WWF star, and if you're a true wrestling fan, this stuff should be in your library of wrestling trivia.

Backhanded, Self-Serving and Thoroughly Forced

[drqshadow-reviews · 2/10 · 20 March 2013]

Fun as an overly specific retrospective of the WWF's silliest days, it's mouth-puckeringly bitter and mean-spirited. Although the target of all this vitriol certainly deserves his share of shaming (if even a fraction of this one-sided story is to believed), seeing this collection of yes-men run him through the wringer is akin to a dogpile on the weird kid during recess. A few scattered segments bear ripe material, like Christian's re-enactment of one especially terrible promo, but Vince McMahon and his cronies are really reaching on most of these bits. Typically funny, enthusiastic guys like Chris Jericho and Bobby Heenan seem shy, quiet and a bit embarrassed to be participating. A curiosity on first viewing, in a "I can't believe they just did that" sense, but not remotely revealing, rewarding or entertaining.

Ultimate Warrior

[Terryfan · 7/10 · 17 March 2015]

How do you want to rip someone a new one? Create a DVD called The Self-Destruction Of The Ultimate Warrior.

The DVD more or less is a rant and shoot interview about how much the Ultimate Warrior did so much wrong in the wrestling business.

The DVD features interviews with Hulk Hogan, Chris Jericho, Edge, Christian, Ted DiBiase, Ric Flair, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, Jerry "The King" Lawler, and 'Mean' Gene Okerlund as they talk about The Ultimate Warrior.

It feature them mostly ripping the Warrior for how he was back in the day. It shows how Jim Hellwig would become the Ultimate Warrior and how he would become a member of The WWF.

It shares some of the most interesting stories you have seen in a wrestling DVD that have to be watched to understand. Along with showing footage of his beginning days of the WWF.

Now I'll admit I wasn't a big Warrior fan but this DVD make you go wow and it is better if you watch it to better understand it.

I give The Self Destruction Of The Ultimate Warrior an 7 out of 10

Biased or honesty

[jonny_c1990 · 7/10 · 19 January 2007]

The release of this DVD caused a lot of controversy with both Warrior fans and WWE fans and debate on the war between McMahon and Warrior went all over the internet forums. But I knew that you can't judge Warrior or WWE for the stuff said until you actually see the documentary. Having seen it, I think the project isn't really negative on Warrior overall as there is just as much praise as there is criticisms on the DVD. Therefore I think it is a mixed opinion production. Although there are a lot of things said on the DVD that I think the WWE didn't have any right to say.

First off, quite a few of the people interviewed said they couldn't make out anything the Warrior said in his promos, which was a fair enough opinion, but only a bit after covering this, they showed a promo given by Andre the Giant who (no disrespect to him) was even harder to make out. The documentary spent all this time criticising Warrior of not giving clear enough interviews but never said a damn thing about the fact that Andre was even worse.

Also, when covering the third time Vince McMahon fired Warrior, Vince said his reason for the dismissal was because Warrior failed to attend some live events because his father had passed away. Vince then mentioned how the Warrior said he hated his own father and couldn't care less about him and so Vince saw this as a false excuse to not attend and so he fired Warrior. This was an unfair dismissal in my opinion because even if Warrior couldn't care less about his father, his family would still expect him to spend time with them in their mourning. It would also be a time of regret for Warrior because he would wish he had spent more time with his dad. So I can see how it would have been a difficult time for Warrior.

They also said how weird it was that he changed his name from Jim Hellwig to Warrior. Mr. T officially changed his name to that of Mr. T but you don't hear anyone ridicule that. And Mr. T had a good relationship with WWE.

Despite the biased criticism, the rest is terrific, with some really good footage of the Ultimate Warrior as well as other interesting information on Warrior's career and on the DVD extras there is the legendary Hogan vs Warrior battle from WrestleMania 6 and his cage match against Rick Rude from SummerSlam 1990. Like I said earlier, this DVD has as much praise to the Warrior as it has criticisms, and it is only because negative stuff sticks out more that people say the DVD is completely against Warrior. If you want to join the debate about Warrior and McMahon, you MUST watch this first.

Self Destruction?

[sheldonsadova · 2/10 · 23 March 2006]

I saw this DVD for the first time a couple of days ago and frankly it seems like your standard Mc Mahon sour grapes.

This is what Bret Hart's DVD would have been like had he refused to participate in it and I think that is the only reason Bret did.

Imagine a wrestler and a promoter not seeing eye to eye, or even a wrestler having an ego problem, this is supposing any of this is even true.

We are now in the reign of terror of HHH the worlds worst and most boring wrestler maybe next to current champion Jon cena neither one of these two can wrestle why doesn't WWE put out a DVD pointing out their lack of wrestling ability.

Because they KISS A** and that's all that counts in the business, Warrior may not be a great wrestler but then neither is half of the WWE roster today and at least Warrior was entertaining, how many SNME with him in it score a 3.4.

So I guess if Warrior sucks that much todays group must just suck that much worse. Food for thought.

I give this a 2 and that's only for the old warrior footage.

The Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior

[Scarecrow-88 · 5/10 · 11 May 2010]

It's amazing how intense the vitriol and distaste for Jim "Ultimate Warrior" Hellwig was during his successful tenure with the WW(F)E. In a not-so-flattering series of interviews chronicling the years Hellwig was with the WWF(before it would become WWE) during his three different phases with Vince McMahon's company, we get a strong sense of just how ill-felt his presence was for many of the stars who worked in the business(or still do)during the 80's, and at times, in the 90's.

Very revealing are interviews with such personalities as "Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase, a sickly Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Vinnie Mac himself, Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, and "Mean" Gene Okerlund. Nothing is held back, and those interviewed rarely have anything positive to say about Hellwig, it's all pretty nasty and bluntly honest.

Anyway, it starts from Hellwig's early days of the WWF and continues through his meteoric rise to the top of the mountain at the Toronto Skydome where he in just three years would defeat Hulk Hogan for the World Heavyweight championship. From this point on, the interviewees really lay on the criticism, taking the character of Hellwig to the woodshed. Hellwig's skills as a wrestler and interview subject are scathingly demonized..this guy doesn't catch a break.

We get insight from Heenan about Andre the Giant's not-so-pleasant feelings for Hellwig, and Dibiase weighs in on how disgusted he was about how the revered veteran had to put the Warrior character over by losing some matches. I mean even when it's recognized what he accomplished for the company, his representation as someone who alienated the other wrestlers, dedicated little to becoming a stronger, more efficient performer, and swelling ego are mentioned shortly afterward..it's plain and simple, the Ultimate Warrior, a wrestling superstar, is presented as a blight in the company who wasn't appreciated or respected by his peers or employers, and seems to have been considered a major a-hole who rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.

Popular WW(F)E wrestling broadcasters Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler even weigh in on Hellwig..JR sure doesn't cast Hellwig in a very positive light, pretty much disparaging towards everything the Warrior was as a wrestler and sports entertainer.

It's kind of sad that the parting of ways between the two parties wasn't more amicable and that both the wrestler and the organization decided to end their relationship on such inhospitable terms.

Other WWE superstars such as Chris Jericho, The Edge, and Christian Cage chime in on Ultimate Warrior, his impact on the sport and their thoughts on the wrestler and character. Certainly established is the ridicule geared towards Hellwig's (lack of)skills as a wrestling orator and how his ramblings were often considered incoherent and embarrassing.

I think fans of the wrestler will find this rather troubling how it seems that this entire documentary is meant to diminish and demoralize what the Ultimate Warrior was in the sport of wrestling, the person behind the personality and the character himself. There is Warrior's side of the story, a very vocal and open Hellwig who comments on his career and the people he came across along the way in an hour long interview you can probably find on youtube.