Eye Candy #81 - "The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior"

The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior: So many of these wrestling collections are puff pieces to stroke the egos of those involved and make good ol‘ fashioned moolah. “SDOFUW” stands out in the crowd as having been put together without the participation of Jim Hellwig, the wrestler known, among things, as “The Ultimate Warrior”, who has several long-standing grievances with Vince McMahon and the WWF. I will be the first to admit that, as a child, I was a huge fan of the Ultimate Warrior - his face paint, his persona, his entrance music, I ate that stuff up with a spoon. Couldn’t get enough of it. Being a more rational adult, I know now just how bat-crap crazy Jim Hellwig was before, during, and after his various runs as the Ultimate Warrior (and now on the conservative speaking circuit). What’s interesting about the DVD is the breakdown in the commentary between the old guard and the younger wrestlers, those who couldn’t stand him, didn’t want to work him, and those that worshipped him as I had for what we saw him do in the ring. This DVD is entertaining as all get out, because the Ultimate Warrior promos are memorable today as they are incoherent, full of weird, weird imagery and behavior that you just don’t hear anymore on wrestling TV (and as the wrestler Christian perfectly imitates FROM MEMORY). Sure, I don’t agree in character assassination, but this DVD didn’t tarnish my fondness for the character and it’s entertaining for what it is. It doesn’t diminish the fact that for a brief period of time he was the #1-2 draw in the world of professional wrestling, second only to Hulk Hogan in terms of tickets and merchandise sales and carries that popularity to this day. Definitely top of the heap as far as the recent glut of wrestling DVDs go. Woodchuck sez, “Check it out.”