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Downloaded from
YTS.MX

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‐ Ready for another take,
Kerwin?

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‐ We're only halfway through.

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Widen out a little bit

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and go right back
to that extreme closeup.

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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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‐ Okay. Kerwin, here.

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‐ Remember what's going on
in the ring.

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‐ [grunting]

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I can smell it!

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It's in the air!

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I feel the cosmic powers
of Mars!

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The clouds of Jupiter!

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The boiling heat of Mercury!

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I can feel it.

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[soft music]

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♪ ♪

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‐ My dad taught my sister
and I a creed,

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and he would make us
write it out.

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Live strong.
Act bold. Be brave.

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‐ History has been made here.

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‐ Nothing's too hard to do.

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‐ Just stop me dead.

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‐ Always believe.

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‐ I walk as the general
of a legion of warriors!

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[cheers and applause]

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‐ Ultimate Warrior was just‐‐
he was a moment in time.

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And the Ultimate Warrior,

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the guy that we grew up
watching,

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the guy that fought Hulk Hogan
and beat him,

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was separate from Jim Hellwig.

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‐ Don't let the tin cup I kick

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hit you in the mouth
and knock your teeth out.

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[laughter]

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‐ The complicated layers
of his own psyche...

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♪ ♪

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Created a man who at times
was very difficult

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to get a grasp on.

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‐ [bleep] me.

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‐ He probably wouldn't
have been driven to be

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The Ultimate Warrior
if he hadn't had,

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like, the pain he experienced
in his early life.

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[shouting]

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‐ You've got to have some kind
of an explanation,

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Ultimate Warrior.

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‐ He might not have gone on

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to be the person
that he was afterwards,

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if it hadn't been
for the disappointment

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he was experiencing while
we were all cheering for him.

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‐ You have seen very
small snippets of the man

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that I‐I knew personally .

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You think of the guy who's,
you know, big and tough.

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But he'd tuck us in at night,
so gently,

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and read us our books.

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And if there was something
really sad or really rough,

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like, he'd leave it out.

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And that was a beautiful thing
for when we were little.

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But there's not
that privilege anymore.

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You have to tell
the full story.

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And with the past seven years
that's gone on,

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there's no more‐‐you
don't want to censor anything.

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Like, this is the story of
The Ultimate Warrior.

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[cheers and applause]

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Read the full book.

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♪ ♪

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[soft music]

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‐ He was skinny.
He was real skinny.

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You know, I had a picture‐‐I
couldn't find it‐‐of him

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in a football outfit.

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Poor‐‐beanpole. Skinny legs.
Cute as a button.

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♪ ♪

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‐ Jim Hellwig was the oldest
of five siblings.

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He has two brothers,
two sisters.

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‐ This is a picture of the four
kids before I had my last one.

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♪ ♪

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‐ Here's the place
that I understood Jim

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to tell me his wife grew up,
in this mobile home.

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And said that he lifted weights
on that front porch

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right there.

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‐ Crawfordsville was, I think,
like 18,000 people.

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Very rural.

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‐ Demographics of this area:
blue‐collar.

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Everybody knows or has an idea
of everybody in the community.

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♪ ♪

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‐ No, I don't think he was
real popular with the girls.

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Deep down, I think he was shy.
Insecure. Insecure. Yes.

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‐ He always worshiped his mom,
for her efforts,

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and was always
very complimentary of his mom,

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and loved her very much.

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‐ His father
departing their family

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was a pivotal moment for him.

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‐ I just think‐‐and it's not
just Jim,

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but all three of my boys‐‐they
had such shame

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that their dad
could leave them.

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He'd come back
and go mushroom hunting.

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He'd come back
and go to ball games.

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And never come to see his kids.

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‐ Jim's dad leaving seems
to have been at least

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a beginning point of
major trust issues in his life.

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‐ He had a lot of insecurities
due to the fact that he was ten

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when his father left.
I think devastated him.

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[tense music]

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I think, if I be honest,
having five kids

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and having to work so much,

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that the kids didn't always get
the reassurance they needed.

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He didn't get all the attention
he needed.

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♪ ♪

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‐ Growing up in a town
like Jim Hellwig did,

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there's sort of the haves
and the have‐nots.

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And when his dad left,

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and wasn't contributing
financially to the family,

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suddenly Jim finds himself
as one of the have‐nots.

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‐ Jim felt that a lot of people
in the community

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looked down on him.
He also very definitively said,

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"I'm going to show
these people.

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I'm going to do something
with my life."

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Which, you think about it,
this is a 17‐year‐old

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who has embraced this

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"I'm going to conquer
the world" attitude

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because of the way he feels

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that the people
of his community

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had rejected him
and his family.

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♪ ♪

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He also then goes searching for
an identity beyond his father,

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and that's what ends up
leading him to sports.

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And Jim ends up
meeting Gary Pate.

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‐ The first time I ever met
Jim would be

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at football practice
back in 1975.

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The first time I ever saw Jim

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was in this classroom
right here.

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All the team members
were sitting in here.

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Well, when you saw
some of these kids,

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those guys were all about 6'2"
and 220 and 225.

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And Jim looked to be about,
at that time,

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5'10" and 125.

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I'm sure he probably
might have weighed more,

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but he didn't look like it.

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As the year went on,
he found out that I would be

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in the weight room
when I had time.

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He'd ask if he could
come in with me, and I'd say,

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"Sure. Yeah.
Come in and lift all you want."

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And we would lift, and he would
be intense about his lifting.

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‐ You have Jim and Gary, who,
for about three years,

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end up lifting together on sort
of a cruddy old lifting machine

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in their high school.

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This is how he learned
to bond with people,

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especially with paternal
figures‐‐working out with them

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and lifting with them.

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By his senior year,

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Jim was utterly fascinated
with bodybuilding,

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and he was constantly
trying to get his hands

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on bodybuilding magazines
and materials.

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He would apparently be looking
at these magazines

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and say things like,

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"I can't wait
till I'm this massive."

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‐ He had the Arnold
Schwarzenegger

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poster in his room, you know.

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He'd have his EZ Curl bar
in there,

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and would be pumping iron

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facing the Arnold
Schwarzenegger poster,

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you know, and, like‐‐you know.

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He knew that he needed
to seek his own ambitions,

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so he wasn't stuck
in that rural area,

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being your own farmer,
working a factory,

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when he didn't have no desire

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to do either one of them
for a living.

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‐ Jim's pursuit of
a bodybuilding career

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seems to have manifested
in the early 1980s.

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But he makes a move
over to Georgia,

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because he feels like there
is a better opportunity

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for the professional
bodybuilding scene.

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During that time in Georgia,

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he meets his future wife,
Shari.

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They get married.

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‐ You know, he gets married
pretty young.

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He goes down to Atlanta
to try to start this career.

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You know, he's sort of going
through the stations of, like,

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what growing up and
entering adulthood looks like.

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‐ And by 1984,
he's made the move

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to definitively try to get
himself into competition shape.

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And he does so
and manages to win

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a pretty significant
competition in 1984.

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He wins Mr. Georgia.

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‐ I knew that it would serve me
well

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to make my body different
from everybody else,

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like a comic book character
just walked off the pages.

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‐ He was dedicated,
and he had a goal

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where he wanted to go
with this lifting.

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‐ He never said, "I'm gonna
be the world champion WWE,

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and I'm gonna pick up Andre
the Giant and body slam him."

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But he did say, "I will,

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one of these days, be a person
that people will remember."

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He said, "I'll guarantee
that people will remember me."

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[dramatic music]

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♪ ♪

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[dramatic music]

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‐ Today, I'm boxing
with my coach.

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I love boxing.
I feel like my dad.

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I feel strong and powerful
when I do it.

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I love the intensity
that comes out.

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The release from it
feels like him.

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I would hear him
screaming out in the gym,

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and I'm like‐‐I'm a little bit
like him when I'm in the gym.

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‐ Coming from my background,

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growing up in a town
of 600 people,

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I stumbled into the weight room
we had at our school.

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Runt of a kid.
Scared of my own shadow.

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And I started gaining weight
really quick.

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And when I started
gaining weight

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and putting size on my body,
I thought to myself,

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"Well, I can change
my life in other ways."

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♪ ♪

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‐ It's something that
I can strive to get better at,

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and I can look back
at my younger self

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and think, like, "Oh, I thought
I was so good back then,"

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and then you climb the wall
and you get better and better.

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♪ ♪

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Well, in terms of becoming
a wrestler, never say never.

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♪ ♪

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‐ So, I scheduled

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an appointment
with the high school counselor.

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15 seconds after I started
telling he what I wanted to do,

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she put her hand up to my face,
about ten inches away from it,

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and she said,
"Put that silly stuff away,

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and let me tell you
what you need to do.

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This summer, you need
to get a job at the factory.

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Do a good job. Come back
and finish your senior year.

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And when you graduate,

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you should be able
to get a full‐time job.

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Now, what else
can I help you with?"

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[tense music]

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♪ ♪

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‐ For any bodybuilder,
when you build your body,

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it's like putting
on your armor.

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You know, you're building
your muscle,

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which is your armor,
to protect yourself

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from who you are,
really, inside.

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You could be this insecure
person, but now you're,

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you know, 240, 250 pounds,
you know, of muscle.

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‐ It totally makes sense

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that someone
without a male role model,

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who's in search of what
masculinity means to them‐‐it

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00:12:01,054 --> 00:12:03,973
make sense that they would look
at this world of bodybuilding.

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00:12:04,057 --> 00:12:07,727
[upbeat music]

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In the '80s, I mean,
it's kind of hard to imagine,

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if you weren't there,

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but bodybuilding
was a huge deal.

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‐ There was really only
one person

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everyone was talking about,

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00:12:18,112 --> 00:12:20,198
and that was
Arnold Schwarzenegger.

251
00:12:20,323 --> 00:12:22,367
He was in the moving
"Pumping Iron,"

252
00:12:22,450 --> 00:12:26,329
and those images became iconic.

253
00:12:26,454 --> 00:12:29,290
‐ Arnold Schwarzenegger
becomes a huge star.

254
00:12:29,374 --> 00:12:35,213
I mean, arguably
the biggest star in Hollywood.

255
00:12:35,338 --> 00:12:38,299
‐ How did he get there?
It wasn't just, "Hey,

256
00:12:38,383 --> 00:12:40,677
let me go to acting school
and become this movie star."

257
00:12:40,802 --> 00:12:44,138
It was, oh, he goes to the gym
all the time,

258
00:12:44,222 --> 00:12:47,934
and he never quits.
Jim says, "I can do that."

259
00:12:48,017 --> 00:12:49,477
‐ If you really want
to make it,

260
00:12:49,560 --> 00:12:52,814
you gotta move to California.

261
00:12:52,855 --> 00:12:54,607
‐ Gold's Gym Venice,
in the '80s,

262
00:12:54,691 --> 00:12:57,151
became the mecca.

263
00:12:57,235 --> 00:13:01,114
‐ Gold's Gym became
the standard for anyone

264
00:13:01,197 --> 00:13:03,491
who wanted
to become a bodybuilder.

265
00:13:03,616 --> 00:13:10,748
♪ ♪

266
00:13:17,839 --> 00:13:19,340
‐ I contacted Jim,
and I invited him

267
00:13:19,424 --> 00:13:22,218
out to California to train
for his next contest.

268
00:13:22,302 --> 00:13:25,596
'Cause I thought
he had a lot of potential.

269
00:13:25,680 --> 00:13:28,308
‐ Ed introduced me to Jim,
saying,

270
00:13:28,391 --> 00:13:31,102
"Here's a young guy who's
trying to win the nationals."

271
00:13:31,185 --> 00:13:34,147
‐ My first house in Venice was
just two blocks from the gym,

272
00:13:34,272 --> 00:13:35,982
so the guys would stay
at the house

273
00:13:36,107 --> 00:13:37,317
and they would learn
from each other.

274
00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:39,819
We knew how they trained
or what they ate

275
00:13:39,902 --> 00:13:43,156
or what they took
for supplements.

276
00:13:43,239 --> 00:13:45,575
‐ Ed one day came in
to this gym,

277
00:13:45,700 --> 00:13:49,537
and he wanted me to let this
big dude come in and train.

278
00:13:49,662 --> 00:13:50,955
This guy was a giant, you know.

279
00:13:51,039 --> 00:13:53,124
He wasn't just big,
he was kind of freaky.

280
00:13:53,207 --> 00:13:56,085
He had a freaky build,
a freaky physique.

281
00:13:56,169 --> 00:13:57,879
And when he walked through
the room or through the gym

282
00:13:58,004 --> 00:14:00,423
or anywhere else, people went‐‐

283
00:14:00,506 --> 00:14:03,801
[tense music]

284
00:14:03,843 --> 00:14:05,720
‐ Performance‐enhancing drugs
and steroids

285
00:14:05,845 --> 00:14:07,138
were definitely in fashion

286
00:14:07,221 --> 00:14:08,973
when it came to
the world of bodybuilding.

287
00:14:09,098 --> 00:14:11,809
‐ Steroids were part of
the regiment of what you took

288
00:14:11,851 --> 00:14:14,062
to be a pro bodybuilder.

289
00:14:14,187 --> 00:14:16,189
What it did is it gave you
the ability

290
00:14:16,314 --> 00:14:19,150
to basically be
in an anabolic state.

291
00:14:19,233 --> 00:14:22,987
You can train hours in the gym
and not break down.

292
00:14:23,029 --> 00:14:25,406
But the thing was‐‐is
they were legal back then.

293
00:14:25,490 --> 00:14:28,117
You can actually have access
to go to a pharmacy

294
00:14:28,201 --> 00:14:31,371
and just buy them on your own.

295
00:14:31,496 --> 00:14:33,915
‐ I think, if people were
to open my refrigerator,

296
00:14:33,998 --> 00:14:35,416
they would have
probably been shocked.

297
00:14:35,541 --> 00:14:37,752
You know, most of the steroids
have to be refrigerated,

298
00:14:37,835 --> 00:14:39,962
so some of my family members
would visit,

299
00:14:40,046 --> 00:14:41,672
and so when they pulled
out the fruit door,

300
00:14:41,798 --> 00:14:43,466
they could something
other than fruit.

301
00:14:43,591 --> 00:14:47,970
‐ If I'm gonna take the time
to talk to you about this,

302
00:14:48,054 --> 00:14:51,015
then you need
to get it down right.

303
00:14:51,099 --> 00:14:52,433
So, I got up the courage
one day‐‐I weight

304
00:14:52,517 --> 00:14:53,810
about 175 pounds.

305
00:14:53,935 --> 00:14:55,061
I go up to this guy
as he's leaving the gym,

306
00:14:55,186 --> 00:14:56,687
and I tap him on the shoulder.

307
00:14:56,813 --> 00:14:58,314
I said, "Can I ask you
about ster‐‐"

308
00:14:58,356 --> 00:15:01,359
Before I even got the word
"steroid" out in my mouth,

309
00:15:01,484 --> 00:15:04,153
he turned around.
Guy just towered over me.

310
00:15:04,237 --> 00:15:06,239
He said, "Before I ever heard
about steroids,

311
00:15:06,364 --> 00:15:09,158
I was number three
in the whole world.

312
00:15:09,283 --> 00:15:11,327
But when you get up there
in that upper echelon,

313
00:15:11,411 --> 00:15:13,162
there may be a different
set of rules."

314
00:15:13,287 --> 00:15:15,039
And what he was telling me,
as a young punk kid

315
00:15:15,164 --> 00:15:17,333
of only 18 years old‐‐
he was saying,

316
00:15:17,417 --> 00:15:20,420
"You get there. You do what
it takes to get there.

317
00:15:20,503 --> 00:15:22,922
And then you worry about
making that decision."

318
00:15:23,005 --> 00:15:26,801
I weighed 295 pounds
before I ever touched them.

319
00:15:26,884 --> 00:15:28,386
That's the story
about steroids.

320
00:15:28,511 --> 00:15:33,182
And you better
get that story right.

321
00:15:33,307 --> 00:15:36,561
‐ And the next competitor
is Jim Hellwig.

322
00:15:36,686 --> 00:15:38,312
‐ You know, guys like Jim,

323
00:15:38,396 --> 00:15:40,481
who, you know,
I saw as this big guy,

324
00:15:40,565 --> 00:15:42,775
you would think he would become
a‐‐you know,

325
00:15:42,859 --> 00:15:44,235
a great pro bodybuilder.

326
00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:45,361
‐ [laughs]

327
00:15:45,445 --> 00:15:47,321
Jim's goals back then
was basically,

328
00:15:47,405 --> 00:15:49,949
I think, to make money
and have a great job.

329
00:15:50,032 --> 00:15:52,910
‐ You only made money
when you were a top pro.

330
00:15:53,035 --> 00:15:55,121
But if you didn't place
and win the nationals,

331
00:15:55,204 --> 00:15:57,373
or you didn't win the Mr. USAs,

332
00:15:57,498 --> 00:15:59,167
you really weren't
gonna make money.

333
00:15:59,250 --> 00:16:02,628
‐ On some level, he had to come
to the realization

334
00:16:02,712 --> 00:16:06,174
that just being a great
bodybuilder, in and of itself,

335
00:16:06,299 --> 00:16:09,135
was not going to make him
rich and famous.

336
00:16:09,218 --> 00:16:12,638
‐ I guess his path was
to go more towards

337
00:16:12,763 --> 00:16:14,265
becoming
a professional wrestler,

338
00:16:14,348 --> 00:16:19,812
you know, where he
saw money to be made.

339
00:16:19,896 --> 00:16:21,981
‐ In the early '80s,
wrestling was a big deal.

340
00:16:22,023 --> 00:16:23,983
Was on TV a lot.

341
00:16:24,066 --> 00:16:25,985
The wrestlers would train
at Gold's Gym Venice.

342
00:16:26,110 --> 00:16:28,946
So, we actually formed our own,
then, Gold's Gym team,

343
00:16:29,030 --> 00:16:30,990
which was composed
of two tag teams.

344
00:16:31,115 --> 00:16:32,658
‐ Out of the four, we had,

345
00:16:32,742 --> 00:16:36,120
you know, a big monster
that just disappeared one day.

346
00:16:36,204 --> 00:16:39,165
And I said, "Hey, I remember
meeting this guy, Jim Hellwig.

347
00:16:39,207 --> 00:16:41,042
He just won
a bodybuilding competition.

348
00:16:41,125 --> 00:16:43,336
He's huge. We should call him."

349
00:16:43,461 --> 00:16:44,962
‐ When I talked with Jim,
I explained

350
00:16:45,004 --> 00:16:47,381
that we had lost
the big member of our team,

351
00:16:47,465 --> 00:16:50,134
and he'd be perfect for it.
He said, "What does it pay?"

352
00:16:50,176 --> 00:16:52,637
And when I told him $100
a night, he said,

353
00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:55,264
"Well, that's more money
than I'm making now."

354
00:16:55,348 --> 00:16:58,684
‐ We sent out press kits.
We got one phone call back.

355
00:16:58,809 --> 00:17:00,186
It was about three days later,

356
00:17:00,311 --> 00:17:02,146
but we got a phone call back
from Jerry Jarrett.

357
00:17:02,188 --> 00:17:03,439
He said, "Yeah, I'm looking
at a picture,

358
00:17:03,523 --> 00:17:05,149
and I got four guys
in this picture,"

359
00:17:05,233 --> 00:17:07,568
but he says,
"I can only use two of you."

360
00:17:07,652 --> 00:17:09,987
"Well, which two do you want?"
He goes, "I want the two guys

361
00:17:10,112 --> 00:17:12,365
to the far left in this picture
I'm looking at."

362
00:17:12,490 --> 00:17:14,534
So we got in the car,
my '83 T‐bird,

363
00:17:14,659 --> 00:17:15,826
and we left California,

364
00:17:15,952 --> 00:17:17,870
and we drove out
to Nashville, Tennessee.

365
00:17:17,995 --> 00:17:20,414
And that's where it started.

366
00:17:20,540 --> 00:17:22,333
‐ Right now, we would like
to welcome

367
00:17:22,416 --> 00:17:24,752
in a couple of brand new faces
to Championship Wrestling,

368
00:17:24,835 --> 00:17:27,380
a couple of guys you're gonna
get to know and know well, too.

369
00:17:27,505 --> 00:17:29,590
We're talking about
the Freedom Fighters.

370
00:17:29,674 --> 00:17:31,467
Jim Hellwig.
Jim, glad to have you here.

371
00:17:31,551 --> 00:17:32,802
And Steve Borden.

372
00:17:32,885 --> 00:17:34,136
Steve, glad to have
you guys here.

373
00:17:34,262 --> 00:17:35,638
This is your first time
out here.

374
00:17:35,721 --> 00:17:39,433
We want to get
a little background on you.

375
00:17:39,517 --> 00:17:40,685
How about‐‐are you guys
married,

376
00:17:40,810 --> 00:17:42,228
have families, or what?

377
00:17:42,353 --> 00:17:43,688
‐ No, we're single.
We're looking forward

378
00:17:43,813 --> 00:17:45,147
to meeting
all those pretty girls.

379
00:17:45,273 --> 00:17:46,732
‐ You're both single?
‐ Yeah. We're single.

380
00:17:46,816 --> 00:17:47,900
‐ You hear that, girls?
They're both single here.

381
00:17:48,025 --> 00:17:49,193
I want to get that right.

382
00:17:49,277 --> 00:17:51,696
[cheers and applause]

383
00:17:51,821 --> 00:17:55,157
‐ My first reaction was, "Wow."
I saw two good‐looking guys

384
00:17:55,283 --> 00:17:57,159
that were gonna draw the girls
into the matches,

385
00:17:57,243 --> 00:17:58,786
and that's what it was
all about for us back then.

386
00:17:58,869 --> 00:18:01,497
Back in the day, we never told
anybody they were married

387
00:18:01,581 --> 00:18:03,416
or you were engaged
or anything else,

388
00:18:03,541 --> 00:18:05,918
because it would hurt the girls
from coming to the building.

389
00:18:06,002 --> 00:18:09,171
‐ They're young. They still got
a lot to learn in wrestling.

390
00:18:09,255 --> 00:18:12,425
But boy, they sure got
the physical attributes, baby.

391
00:18:12,508 --> 00:18:15,177
‐ There was no sort
of gracefulness.

392
00:18:15,303 --> 00:18:19,015
There was no slow
and poetic storytelling.

393
00:18:19,140 --> 00:18:21,225
It was just boom, energy,
and "I'm coming,

394
00:18:21,309 --> 00:18:23,227
and I'm hitting you as hard
as I can, and I'm leaving."

395
00:18:23,311 --> 00:18:25,479
‐ It doesn't necessarily
connect with the audience.

396
00:18:25,563 --> 00:18:27,773
Like, "Why are we cheering
for these good guys

397
00:18:27,857 --> 00:18:31,235
just beating the snot out
of these much smaller guys?"

398
00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:32,987
And so they had
to make a shift,

399
00:18:33,070 --> 00:18:34,655
because it wasn't working.

400
00:18:34,739 --> 00:18:37,325
‐ Our thought was, "Yeah.
Let's change. Let's go heel.

401
00:18:37,450 --> 00:18:39,493
Let's change our look.
And let's come up

402
00:18:39,577 --> 00:18:41,621
with something real, you know,
kind of freaky looking."

403
00:18:41,704 --> 00:18:43,664
‐ Ladies and gentlemen,
the most awesome tag team

404
00:18:43,748 --> 00:18:46,667
in professional wrestling,
the Blade Runners!

405
00:18:46,751 --> 00:18:47,460
♪ ♪

406
00:18:51,922 --> 00:18:53,132
‐ The greatest,
most [inaudible]

407
00:18:53,215 --> 00:18:55,718
tag team in professional
wrestling today,

408
00:18:55,801 --> 00:18:59,263
the Blade Runners!

409
00:18:59,347 --> 00:19:01,557
‐ Before long, Steve Borden
and Jim Hellwig

410
00:19:01,682 --> 00:19:04,560
were repackaged
into the Blade Runners.

411
00:19:04,685 --> 00:19:05,853
♪ ♪

412
00:19:05,936 --> 00:19:07,313
‐ I think that they realized

413
00:19:07,396 --> 00:19:09,273
that intensity
was what they had to offer.

414
00:19:09,357 --> 00:19:12,985
So the promos that you would
see were just guys working out.

415
00:19:13,069 --> 00:19:14,445
They weren't saying anything.

416
00:19:14,528 --> 00:19:17,239
But it was just,
"We're super intense dudes,

417
00:19:17,365 --> 00:19:19,283
and we can lift
super heavy things.

418
00:19:19,367 --> 00:19:21,160
And sometimes we wear mascara."

419
00:19:21,285 --> 00:19:23,996
[cheers and applause]

420
00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:26,999
‐ Blade Runners. Uh‐oh.

421
00:19:27,083 --> 00:19:29,585
‐ The matches were horrible
with those guys.

422
00:19:29,669 --> 00:19:32,546
And it was one of those
situations where, at the time,

423
00:19:32,672 --> 00:19:35,091
we could have taken them
and maybe spent a lot of time

424
00:19:35,174 --> 00:19:37,134
and, you know,
put them in opening matches

425
00:19:37,218 --> 00:19:39,387
and tried to train them,
but these guys already thought

426
00:19:39,512 --> 00:19:40,971
that they were ready
for the big time,

427
00:19:41,055 --> 00:19:42,515
just because of their look.

428
00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:47,561
‐ As Hellwig and Borden
working on Phil Hickerson,

429
00:19:47,645 --> 00:19:52,400
and now, Buddy Wayne
slugs him with that shoe.

430
00:19:52,525 --> 00:19:54,735
‐ Jill Hellwig has sort of
reached this peak

431
00:19:54,860 --> 00:19:56,487
of physical perfection, right?

432
00:19:56,612 --> 00:20:00,449
He goes to pro wrestling
in search of fame and fortune.

433
00:20:00,533 --> 00:20:03,327
And then he sort of
has to start over, right?

434
00:20:03,411 --> 00:20:04,745
He has to start
paying his dues.

435
00:20:04,870 --> 00:20:06,330
He's not making any money.
He's traveling.

436
00:20:06,414 --> 00:20:07,748
He's on the road all the time.

437
00:20:07,873 --> 00:20:09,709
‐ Ladies and gentlemen,
the most awesome tag team

438
00:20:09,834 --> 00:20:14,296
in professional wrestling,
the Blade Runners!

439
00:20:14,338 --> 00:20:17,675
‐ We were on, you know,
the 4th of July, you know,

440
00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:20,886
matinee show, evening show,
New Year's Eve, New Year's Day,

441
00:20:20,970 --> 00:20:22,138
Christmas Eve, Christmas Day,

442
00:20:22,263 --> 00:20:23,305
Easter Sunday‐‐
it didn't matter,

443
00:20:23,389 --> 00:20:25,474
we were doing two shows a day.

444
00:20:25,558 --> 00:20:30,229
‐ This man is just so powerful.
Punishing kicks.

445
00:20:30,354 --> 00:20:33,357
‐ Things we're so bad,
I was driving used taxi cabs

446
00:20:33,441 --> 00:20:36,068
that had, like, 400,000
or 500,000 miles on them.

447
00:20:36,193 --> 00:20:37,319
It was just incredible.

448
00:20:37,445 --> 00:20:40,865
‐ Nice move by Brett. Dropkick.

449
00:20:40,990 --> 00:20:44,952
‐ He was very much so,
you know,

450
00:20:45,035 --> 00:20:46,704
opiniated kind of a guy.

451
00:20:46,829 --> 00:20:50,791
And, you know‐‐and he was not
shy about sharing his opinion.

452
00:20:50,875 --> 00:20:53,043
Didn't matter
what the topic was, you know?

453
00:20:53,169 --> 00:20:54,920
We actually walked away
at one time.

454
00:20:55,004 --> 00:20:56,964
We walked out on‐‐we
were main event.

455
00:20:57,047 --> 00:20:59,175
And the next day,
I got a phone call.

456
00:20:59,300 --> 00:21:00,718
"You need to come up
to Little Rock tonight.

457
00:21:00,843 --> 00:21:02,470
Bill's holding a couple
of your paychecks.

458
00:21:02,595 --> 00:21:03,929
You'll never get them
unless you come

459
00:21:04,013 --> 00:21:05,639
and put a notice in
and finish out."

460
00:21:05,723 --> 00:21:08,684
So I said okay. You know,
"Let me try to get ahold of Jim

461
00:21:08,809 --> 00:21:10,519
and see if we can
make this happen."

462
00:21:10,644 --> 00:21:13,898
I couldn't get Jim anywhere.
So I went and did the show.

463
00:21:14,023 --> 00:21:15,274
And came back.

464
00:21:15,357 --> 00:21:16,817
And the next day,
Jim was pretty hot.

465
00:21:16,901 --> 00:21:19,361
You know, "What'd you do?
What are you doing?

466
00:21:19,445 --> 00:21:20,821
How could you do that to me?"

467
00:21:20,946 --> 00:21:22,156
I said, "Jim,
what are you talking about?"

468
00:21:22,239 --> 00:21:23,783
He was real pissed.

469
00:21:23,866 --> 00:21:25,701
And that ultimately ended up,
you know,

470
00:21:25,826 --> 00:21:29,789
leading to, you know,
us parting ways as well.

471
00:21:29,872 --> 00:21:32,166
[cheers and applause]

472
00:21:32,291 --> 00:21:33,334
‐ Blade Runners,
no doubt about it,

473
00:21:33,459 --> 00:21:35,252
are big, strong individuals.

474
00:21:35,336 --> 00:21:37,588
But I don't think they've got
what it takes inside.

475
00:21:37,671 --> 00:21:40,925
I'm speaking
of intestinal fortitude.

476
00:21:41,008 --> 00:21:44,428
‐ I think he just wanted
to kind of go off on his own.

477
00:21:44,512 --> 00:21:46,722
And it ended up
he was probably right.

478
00:21:46,847 --> 00:21:49,683
♪ ♪

479
00:21:49,767 --> 00:21:51,685
‐ Hellwig decides
he's going to leave.

480
00:21:51,811 --> 00:21:57,191
And he has an opening with WCCW
over in the Dallas area.

481
00:21:57,316 --> 00:22:00,569
‐ Welcome to World Class
Championship Wrestling,

482
00:22:00,694 --> 00:22:02,822
the Major League
of Professional Wrestling

483
00:22:02,905 --> 00:22:06,325
seen around the world
and across this great nation.

484
00:22:06,408 --> 00:22:11,163
‐ WCCW had really
an international

485
00:22:11,247 --> 00:22:14,583
following of sorts,
because the Von Erichs

486
00:22:14,708 --> 00:22:16,919
were like
a first family of wrestling.

487
00:22:17,002 --> 00:22:19,255
[rock music]

488
00:22:19,338 --> 00:22:20,965
‐ They had an audience
that was very unique

489
00:22:21,048 --> 00:22:22,591
in the history of wrestling,

490
00:22:22,675 --> 00:22:24,885
and a large percentage
of the audience was women,

491
00:22:25,010 --> 00:22:28,138
and it was all about
really good‐looking guys

492
00:22:28,264 --> 00:22:29,306
with great bodies.

493
00:22:29,431 --> 00:22:30,891
So Jim comes in, and I mean,

494
00:22:31,016 --> 00:22:36,105
Jim is, like, perfect
for that specific audience.

495
00:22:36,188 --> 00:22:37,356
[cheers and applause]

496
00:22:37,481 --> 00:22:38,858
‐ I remember the first night,

497
00:22:38,983 --> 00:22:40,901
I drove in there,
they came up to me and said,

498
00:22:40,985 --> 00:22:42,820
"Warrior. He's got
a warrior thing about him,"

499
00:22:42,903 --> 00:22:44,488
or something like that.

500
00:22:44,613 --> 00:22:47,366
Then somebody came in. He had
a little puppy, a new puppy.

501
00:22:47,449 --> 00:22:48,993
And they were asking him
what kind of dog it was.

502
00:22:49,076 --> 00:22:50,661
He says, "A dingo."

503
00:22:50,744 --> 00:22:53,789
And somebody just‐‐you know,
somebody that was, you know,

504
00:22:53,873 --> 00:22:56,750
not quite sober yet, said,
"Dingo‐Dingo Warrior.

505
00:22:56,876 --> 00:22:58,961
That'll work.
We'll do that tonight."

506
00:22:59,086 --> 00:23:01,755
So, that was the beginning
of the Dingo Warrior thing.

507
00:23:01,839 --> 00:23:07,094
‐ From Queens, New York,
287 pounds, the Dingo Warrior.

508
00:23:07,177 --> 00:23:08,762
[cheers and applause]

509
00:23:08,846 --> 00:23:11,432
‐ He was billed as being
from Queens, New York.

510
00:23:11,515 --> 00:23:13,100
So, there's no dingoes
in Queens.

511
00:23:13,183 --> 00:23:14,643
Dingoes are Australian.

512
00:23:14,768 --> 00:23:19,690
And the word "dingo" is just
a ridiculous, silly word.

513
00:23:19,815 --> 00:23:23,152
It just sounds hilarious
and not intimidating.

514
00:23:23,277 --> 00:23:25,070
[cheers and applause]

515
00:23:25,195 --> 00:23:30,910
‐ Look at the awesome physical
beauty of the Dingo Warrior.

516
00:23:31,035 --> 00:23:32,578
‐ I'll tell you, Brian,

517
00:23:32,661 --> 00:23:34,747
this crowd's behind him,
too, 100 percent.

518
00:23:34,872 --> 00:23:37,708
‐ So, you bring any freak of
nature you want to World Class,

519
00:23:37,791 --> 00:23:39,335
because believe me, brother,

520
00:23:39,460 --> 00:23:41,921
I've looked in the eyes
of darkness before.

521
00:23:42,004 --> 00:23:44,131
And I'm not scared of it,
and I never will be,

522
00:23:44,256 --> 00:23:46,216
with the warriors
behind my back.

523
00:23:46,342 --> 00:23:49,678
‐ As the Dingo Warrior,
Jim Hellwig

524
00:23:49,803 --> 00:23:54,141
gets a noticeable
following in WCCW.

525
00:23:54,224 --> 00:23:56,018
all: Dingo. Dingo. Dingo.

526
00:23:56,143 --> 00:23:58,896
‐ Listen to the crowd,
wound up for the Dingo man.

527
00:23:58,979 --> 00:24:01,982
all: Dingo. Dingo. Dingo.

528
00:24:02,024 --> 00:24:04,902
‐ It was very obvious to me
that the business‐‐

529
00:24:05,027 --> 00:24:07,529
it was going a direction
where it wasn't so much like

530
00:24:07,655 --> 00:24:09,114
Dick the Bruiser
and the Crusher,

531
00:24:09,198 --> 00:24:11,200
those kind of wrestlers
that I remember as a kid,

532
00:24:11,283 --> 00:24:13,452
growing up with, in Indiana,

533
00:24:13,535 --> 00:24:15,996
and that something different
was going on with it.

534
00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:18,540
You know, I was painting
the logo on my face.

535
00:24:18,666 --> 00:24:19,959
Dingo Warrior, to me,

536
00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:21,961
was the poor version
of the Ultimate Warrior.

537
00:24:22,044 --> 00:24:25,047
I didn't really have much money
to spend on that kind of stuff.

538
00:24:25,172 --> 00:24:26,715
But it just grew, man.

539
00:24:26,799 --> 00:24:28,926
It really turned into something
really fantastic.

540
00:24:29,009 --> 00:24:31,971
‐ And here's a man
of awesome proportions,

541
00:24:32,054 --> 00:24:34,598
who has to be counted on
to be one of the major

542
00:24:34,682 --> 00:24:37,351
influences in professional
wrestling today.

543
00:24:37,434 --> 00:24:38,769
‐ [inaudible] Dingo!

544
00:24:38,852 --> 00:24:41,772
[tense music]

545
00:24:41,855 --> 00:24:48,320
♪ ♪

546
00:24:48,404 --> 00:24:49,905
‐ So, Jim returns

547
00:24:49,989 --> 00:24:54,451
to the Fountain Central
Ten‐Year Reunion.

548
00:24:54,535 --> 00:24:56,662
He has not only
won Mr. Georgia,

549
00:24:56,745 --> 00:24:58,872
but he has also become
the Dingo Warrior.

550
00:24:58,998 --> 00:25:05,546
He's enormous.
280 pounds, solid muscle.

551
00:25:06,964 --> 00:25:09,508
This was not a coming back
to sort of mend fences

552
00:25:09,633 --> 00:25:11,885
or to connect with people
he didn't connect with.

553
00:25:12,011 --> 00:25:15,931
His whole take was, if you had
been his friend in his youth,

554
00:25:16,015 --> 00:25:17,891
"Come sit with me.
We're gonna hang out."

555
00:25:17,975 --> 00:25:20,644
And for those people who tried
to be more chummy with him,

556
00:25:20,728 --> 00:25:22,980
that had not given him
the time of day in his youth,

557
00:25:23,063 --> 00:25:24,565
he had no interest.

558
00:25:24,690 --> 00:25:27,985
‐ He won a couple bottles
of champagne for the person

559
00:25:28,068 --> 00:25:29,737
that had changed the most

560
00:25:29,862 --> 00:25:32,406
and the person
that drove the furthest.

561
00:25:32,531 --> 00:25:34,658
And I remember him
opening the champagne

562
00:25:34,742 --> 00:25:36,660
and having us all drink
a little bit of it,

563
00:25:36,785 --> 00:25:41,457
you know, celebrating just our
reunion together as friends.

564
00:25:41,540 --> 00:25:44,376
‐ He didn't forget
where he came from. Okay?

565
00:25:44,501 --> 00:25:46,628
Jim was a loyal friend.

566
00:25:46,754 --> 00:25:50,758
If you hung in there with him,
he hung in there with you.

567
00:25:50,841 --> 00:25:52,885
‐ Now, with a pin. Two. Three.

568
00:25:53,010 --> 00:25:57,806
The Dingo Warrior
subdues Jack Victory.

569
00:25:57,890 --> 00:26:01,101
‐ Jim Hellwig was a remarkably
creative human being.

570
00:26:01,185 --> 00:26:03,812
Part of it is the look,
and I think part of it,

571
00:26:03,896 --> 00:26:08,817
as well, is the fact
that he's just different.

572
00:26:08,901 --> 00:26:11,653
‐ When Vince McMahon sees
Jim Hellwig in 1987,

573
00:26:11,737 --> 00:26:13,822
he sees
the picture‐perfect mold

574
00:26:13,947 --> 00:26:15,616
for what he's
putting out there.

575
00:26:15,699 --> 00:26:17,701
He sees, "There's definitely
something there.

576
00:26:17,826 --> 00:26:19,995
But I'm gonna make
this thing my own."

577
00:26:20,079 --> 00:26:22,623
‐ And look at the power
of the Ultimate Warrior.

578
00:26:26,919 --> 00:26:29,379
[upbeat music]

579
00:26:29,505 --> 00:26:31,090
♪ ♪

580
00:26:31,173 --> 00:26:32,549
‐ In the territory days,

581
00:26:32,674 --> 00:26:35,719
the WWE was just
the New York territory .

582
00:26:35,803 --> 00:26:36,970
‐ The recognized symbol

583
00:26:37,054 --> 00:26:39,181
of excellence
in sports entertainment.

584
00:26:39,264 --> 00:26:40,808
[cheers and applause]

585
00:26:40,933 --> 00:26:44,645
‐ By the time people of my age
bracket were invested,

586
00:26:44,770 --> 00:26:47,940
the WWE had
become the territory.

587
00:26:48,023 --> 00:26:49,733
[dramatic music]

588
00:26:49,858 --> 00:26:53,987
‐ They were hitting cable TV,
being seen all over the world.

589
00:26:54,113 --> 00:26:55,656
♪ ♪

590
00:26:55,739 --> 00:26:57,324
‐ Vince McMahon
is as responsible

591
00:26:57,449 --> 00:26:59,118
for the success of the WWE

592
00:26:59,201 --> 00:27:03,330
as anyone
is for the success of anything.

593
00:27:03,455 --> 00:27:06,333
This is this guy who took
everything his father started

594
00:27:06,458 --> 00:27:09,128
and said, "That's great.
I like what you're doing here.

595
00:27:09,169 --> 00:27:12,089
But what if we took
over the world with it?"

596
00:27:12,172 --> 00:27:16,009
‐ And Dingo is the winner.
‐ So, Jim Hellwig,

597
00:27:16,135 --> 00:27:18,428
as the Dingo Warrior,
is in WCCW,

598
00:27:18,512 --> 00:27:20,764
and Vince McMahon
takes one look at him

599
00:27:20,848 --> 00:27:23,559
and he says, "Okay,
I'll give that guy a shot."

600
00:27:23,684 --> 00:27:27,604
‐ The Ultimate Warrior.

601
00:27:27,688 --> 00:27:31,942
‐ The Ultimate Warrior
was a Vince McMahon creation.

602
00:27:32,025 --> 00:27:36,113
His first attempt
to create a star,

603
00:27:36,196 --> 00:27:39,491
once he already had all
the eyeballs on his company.

604
00:27:39,575 --> 00:27:41,869
‐ He's a strong, powerful man.

605
00:27:41,994 --> 00:27:43,203
‐ There's something Vince
told me at one time,

606
00:27:43,328 --> 00:27:44,830
and I'll always remember this.

607
00:27:44,872 --> 00:27:46,582
But he sat down with me
and he said, "You know,

608
00:27:46,707 --> 00:27:48,292
Jimmy, I'm looking
for my next attraction.

609
00:27:48,375 --> 00:27:49,835
Somebody bigger than life.

610
00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:51,962
Somebody that can walk through
any airport in the world,

611
00:27:52,045 --> 00:27:54,173
and even a casual
wrestling fan would go,

612
00:27:54,298 --> 00:27:56,175
"Oh my God. Look who it is.'"

613
00:27:56,300 --> 00:27:58,468
‐ The power of the warrior
flowing through those veins.

614
00:27:58,552 --> 00:27:59,720
‐ Oh!

615
00:27:59,845 --> 00:28:02,097
‐ Oh! What a clothesline!

616
00:28:02,181 --> 00:28:03,849
‐ He was the only person
that would run‐‐and I mean

617
00:28:03,974 --> 00:28:07,060
top speed‐‐all
the way to the ring.

618
00:28:07,186 --> 00:28:11,732
‐ Introducing first,
weighing 275 pounds,

619
00:28:11,857 --> 00:28:16,153
from parts unknown,
the Ultimate Warrior.

620
00:28:16,195 --> 00:28:17,821
[rock music]

621
00:28:17,905 --> 00:28:20,782
‐ You had the Hulkamania,
with the red and yellow,

622
00:28:20,866 --> 00:28:22,159
the bright colors, the tee,

623
00:28:22,284 --> 00:28:23,827
and all of a sudden
you got a guy come in,

624
00:28:23,911 --> 00:28:26,038
but instead of red and yellow,
he's got neon on.

625
00:28:26,163 --> 00:28:29,208
‐ Look at this.
‐ What a display of strength

626
00:28:29,291 --> 00:28:32,044
as the Warrior has him
high over his head.

627
00:28:32,169 --> 00:28:34,630
‐ Except for Hulk Hogan, he was
the most popular guy they had.

628
00:28:34,713 --> 00:28:36,340
Very quickly.

629
00:28:36,465 --> 00:28:37,674
‐ The audience
would react to him.

630
00:28:37,758 --> 00:28:38,884
They started
reacting very well.

631
00:28:39,009 --> 00:28:40,552
And I thought, "Hmm. Okay then.

632
00:28:40,677 --> 00:28:42,221
Maybe we do have
something here."

633
00:28:42,304 --> 00:28:47,059
‐ What an impressive showing
here by the Ultimate Warrior.

634
00:28:47,184 --> 00:28:49,811
‐ You can see that he's on
a clear trajectory.

635
00:28:49,895 --> 00:28:51,563
That Vince is, like,
writing this script

636
00:28:51,688 --> 00:28:54,816
that will put him following
in the footsteps of Hulk Hogan.

637
00:28:54,942 --> 00:28:56,235
[cheers and applause]

638
00:28:56,318 --> 00:28:57,819
‐ Ladies and gentlemen,

639
00:28:57,903 --> 00:29:03,533
this contest is for the
Intercontinental Championship.

640
00:29:03,659 --> 00:29:05,160
‐ Honky Tonk Man is gonna

641
00:29:05,244 --> 00:29:07,537
defend the Intercontinental
Championship...

642
00:29:07,663 --> 00:29:09,498
‐ Get me somebody out here
to wrestle.

643
00:29:09,539 --> 00:29:10,999
I don't care who it is.

644
00:29:11,083 --> 00:29:14,127
‐ Against an unnamed opponent.

645
00:29:14,211 --> 00:29:16,630
And you're waiting to hear
who it's gonna be.

646
00:29:16,755 --> 00:29:19,216
And that music hits.

647
00:29:19,299 --> 00:29:20,467
[rock music]

648
00:29:20,509 --> 00:29:22,594
‐ Wait a minute. Wait a minute.

649
00:29:22,678 --> 00:29:24,263
Somebody's music.

650
00:29:24,346 --> 00:29:29,142
‐ I mean, as Gorilla Monsoon
says, pandemonium.

651
00:29:29,268 --> 00:29:31,937
‐ Here's is the challenger
[inaudible].

652
00:29:32,020 --> 00:29:34,314
‐ It's the Ultimate Warrior!

653
00:29:34,439 --> 00:29:38,443
[cheers and applause]

654
00:29:38,527 --> 00:29:41,029
This place has gone bananas!

655
00:29:41,154 --> 00:29:44,825
‐ I remember what it felt
like, man.

656
00:29:44,908 --> 00:29:46,994
It was [bleep]
awesome, you know.

657
00:29:47,035 --> 00:29:48,954
It...

658
00:29:49,037 --> 00:29:52,207
‐ Ultimate Warrior exploding
here on Honky Tonk Man.

659
00:29:52,332 --> 00:29:53,792
Beautiful flying tackle.

660
00:29:53,875 --> 00:29:58,171
‐ It was just nonstop energy
for less than 30 seconds,

661
00:29:58,255 --> 00:30:00,090
and there was a new
Intercontinental Champion.

662
00:30:00,173 --> 00:30:01,466
‐ [inaudible] hooks the leg!

663
00:30:01,550 --> 00:30:03,969
‐ That's it!
‐ He's got it!

664
00:30:04,052 --> 00:30:07,139
History has been made here!

665
00:30:07,222 --> 00:30:08,640
‐ Just shocked
the wrestling world.

666
00:30:08,765 --> 00:30:09,933
Nobody expected it, right?

667
00:30:10,017 --> 00:30:11,768
He had the belt
for over a year.

668
00:30:11,852 --> 00:30:12,978
And I think that's
what really gave him

669
00:30:13,061 --> 00:30:14,479
the little rocket
that he needed.

670
00:30:14,604 --> 00:30:16,648
‐ It is unbelievable.

671
00:30:16,732 --> 00:30:20,027
A newly‐crowned
Intercontinental Champion.

672
00:30:20,152 --> 00:30:23,155
‐ It was just another
critical step

673
00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:28,910
in him becoming
the biggest wrestler in WWE.

674
00:30:29,036 --> 00:30:34,499
[indistinct chatter]

675
00:30:34,624 --> 00:30:37,169
‐ There you go.
Thanks a lot, man.

676
00:30:37,294 --> 00:30:42,799
‐ This is WWE
letting the world know

677
00:30:42,841 --> 00:30:44,593
this is the next guy.

678
00:30:44,676 --> 00:30:49,264
This guy that you think might
be a star, he is a superstar.

679
00:30:49,348 --> 00:30:53,393
‐ Please welcome the man known
as the Ultimate Warrior.

680
00:30:53,518 --> 00:30:55,520
[cheers and applause]

681
00:30:55,645 --> 00:30:56,813
‐ I think the Ultimate Warrior

682
00:30:56,897 --> 00:30:58,607
was a great match
for the late '80s,

683
00:30:58,690 --> 00:31:00,233
early '90s.

684
00:31:00,317 --> 00:31:03,362
Everything was about being
as big and strong and bombastic

685
00:31:03,487 --> 00:31:05,155
as a character as possible.

686
00:31:05,197 --> 00:31:07,407
He was a cartoon character
come to life.

687
00:31:07,532 --> 00:31:11,370
So, my earliest memories of the
Ultimate Warrior are of this,

688
00:31:11,495 --> 00:31:15,165
like, mad man covered
in tassels and of a doll

689
00:31:15,248 --> 00:31:18,210
that I wanted to cuddle
and take to bed with me.

690
00:31:18,335 --> 00:31:20,670
♪ ♪

691
00:31:20,796 --> 00:31:25,008
‐ Hey. Yo. Yo.

692
00:31:25,133 --> 00:31:28,804
‐ Now, because he
is successful,

693
00:31:28,929 --> 00:31:32,474
now he's got that target
on his back.

694
00:31:32,599 --> 00:31:34,518
‐ Ah!
‐ Ah. Ah.

695
00:31:34,643 --> 00:31:36,978
‐ "This guy's only been
in the business for five years.

696
00:31:37,062 --> 00:31:39,481
I've been in this business
for 20 years.

697
00:31:39,523 --> 00:31:41,441
What dues did he pay?"

698
00:31:41,525 --> 00:31:43,985
There's all that going on
in the locker room.

699
00:31:44,069 --> 00:31:47,322
I got the sense
that he really was a loner.

700
00:31:47,406 --> 00:31:50,742
‐ Warrior was very much,
at times, an overgrown kid.

701
00:31:50,867 --> 00:31:53,537
Having known a lot
of his personal life,

702
00:31:53,662 --> 00:31:55,539
he never really
got to be a kid.

703
00:31:55,664 --> 00:31:57,374
You know?
Came from a broken home.

704
00:31:57,499 --> 00:31:59,584
Had to grow him
and mature quickly.

705
00:31:59,668 --> 00:32:03,839
So, I do think that the Warrior
character‐‐that's why he fell

706
00:32:03,964 --> 00:32:05,132
in love with it so much,

707
00:32:05,215 --> 00:32:07,217
because it was
an extension of him,

708
00:32:07,342 --> 00:32:09,302
and he got to escape
and do those things

709
00:32:09,386 --> 00:32:12,806
and live probably a lot
of things he never got to do.

710
00:32:12,848 --> 00:32:16,268
‐ The Ultimate Warrior.

711
00:32:16,351 --> 00:32:18,437
If we were in town, I mean,
it only made sense to say,

712
00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:22,023
"Look, you know, come home
and let's have dinner,"

713
00:32:22,149 --> 00:32:23,650
you know,
and my wife would fix dinner.

714
00:32:23,775 --> 00:32:26,862
And it was a breath
of fresh air to have him there.

715
00:32:26,987 --> 00:32:28,864
He was so different, you know,

716
00:32:28,989 --> 00:32:31,324
and he really wanted
that environment.

717
00:32:31,408 --> 00:32:34,286
You could tell he was attracted
to that environment.

718
00:32:38,707 --> 00:32:42,461
‐ There was very few people
that were invited to come over

719
00:32:42,586 --> 00:32:44,421
to my parents' house.

720
00:32:46,506 --> 00:32:48,467
[both laughing]

721
00:32:48,550 --> 00:32:51,261
‐ You know what,
if he was asked, he would have.

722
00:32:51,344 --> 00:32:52,804
He would definitely
do the dishes.

723
00:32:52,888 --> 00:32:55,307
He was just that type of guy.

724
00:32:55,432 --> 00:32:58,185
My dad was a father
figure to many,

725
00:32:58,268 --> 00:33:00,479
and definitely was to Warrior.

726
00:33:00,562 --> 00:33:03,106
I think it was just
that family dynamic

727
00:33:03,190 --> 00:33:06,401
that Jim always
aspired to have.

728
00:33:06,526 --> 00:33:08,487
[cheers and applause]

729
00:33:08,612 --> 00:33:11,490
‐ Coming up from behind.
Look out from behind.

730
00:33:11,615 --> 00:33:14,993
‐ Ah!

731
00:33:15,118 --> 00:33:19,372
‐ They end up having Warrior
feud with Andre the Giant,

732
00:33:19,498 --> 00:33:21,833
who had previously been
the most beloved wrestler

733
00:33:21,958 --> 00:33:24,336
maybe on the planet.

734
00:33:24,461 --> 00:33:29,424
‐ You see the ultimate maniac
has felt these large hands

735
00:33:29,508 --> 00:33:31,176
around his neck.

736
00:33:31,301 --> 00:33:35,472
He is feeling, right now, the
Intercontinental Championship

737
00:33:35,514 --> 00:33:37,807
slipping off his waist.

738
00:33:37,891 --> 00:33:40,810
‐ One of the big values
of Andre the Giant

739
00:33:40,894 --> 00:33:44,856
was that if somebody beats him,
or somebody can slam him,

740
00:33:44,981 --> 00:33:47,442
they're a household name,
and Hulk Hogan

741
00:33:47,526 --> 00:33:49,986
body slamming Andre the Giant
at WrestleMania III

742
00:33:50,111 --> 00:33:53,490
is the thing that set
Hulkamania in motion.

743
00:33:53,573 --> 00:33:58,328
‐ Look at this. He slammed him!
‐ And you, Andre the Giant,

744
00:33:58,370 --> 00:34:00,789
will realize that the power
will become

745
00:34:00,872 --> 00:34:05,669
the Eighth Wonder of the World,
as we eat you alive!

746
00:34:05,794 --> 00:34:09,422
[cheers and applause]

747
00:34:09,506 --> 00:34:12,300
‐ Andre never did anything
he didn't want to do.

748
00:34:12,384 --> 00:34:14,719
It was frightening the first
time he told me to slam him.

749
00:34:14,844 --> 00:34:17,722
[dramatic music]

750
00:34:17,847 --> 00:34:21,726
♪ ♪

751
00:34:21,851 --> 00:34:25,313
I knew what it meant to
the character Ultimate Warrior,

752
00:34:25,397 --> 00:34:27,107
and how much over
that character would be

753
00:34:27,190 --> 00:34:28,942
by being allowed to do that.

754
00:34:29,025 --> 00:34:32,779
‐ Is he gonna pick him up? Wow.

755
00:34:32,862 --> 00:34:35,865
‐ So now, you're able

756
00:34:35,991 --> 00:34:38,034
to really think
of like Ultimate Warrior.

757
00:34:38,159 --> 00:34:39,786
He's on the same level
as Hulk Hogan.

758
00:34:39,869 --> 00:34:42,163
Because up until that moment,
the greatest thing Hulk Hogan

759
00:34:42,289 --> 00:34:44,165
had ever achieved
was beating Andre the Giant.

760
00:34:44,291 --> 00:34:46,793
Well now, Ultimate Warrior's
beaten Andre the Giant.

761
00:34:46,876 --> 00:34:51,131
"You slammed Andre.
I slammed Andre."

762
00:34:51,256 --> 00:34:53,967
‐ You can beat everybody else
on the roster.

763
00:34:54,092 --> 00:34:56,428
But after you slam
Andre the Giant,

764
00:34:56,511 --> 00:34:58,054
there's only one place
left to go,

765
00:34:58,138 --> 00:35:00,140
and that's Hulk Hogan.

766
00:35:00,265 --> 00:35:03,560
[indistinct shouting]

767
00:35:03,685 --> 00:35:05,687
♪ ♪

768
00:35:09,941 --> 00:35:13,570
[birds chirping]

769
00:35:16,072 --> 00:35:18,825
‐ There, you didn't cry
for Santa.

770
00:35:18,950 --> 00:35:20,327
You were too little.

771
00:35:20,452 --> 00:35:23,747
It's been seven years
since we lost Warrior,

772
00:35:23,872 --> 00:35:27,167
and now we're actually able
to look at the memories

773
00:35:27,250 --> 00:35:30,629
and enjoy them
and revel in them and laugh.

774
00:35:30,670 --> 00:35:33,340
Warrior's role at Christmastime
was, like,

775
00:35:33,465 --> 00:35:35,842
the biggest elf
you've ever met.

776
00:35:35,925 --> 00:35:37,177
And he'd negotiate.

777
00:35:37,302 --> 00:35:38,762
‐ Negotiate‐‐
he would negotiate.

778
00:35:38,845 --> 00:35:40,472
‐ There was a lot
of negotiation on Christmas.

779
00:35:40,597 --> 00:35:42,599
‐ Absolutely.
‐ About what you guys deserved.

780
00:35:42,682 --> 00:35:43,683
‐ Yes.
‐ Yeah.

781
00:35:43,767 --> 00:35:45,477
‐ Every morning, on Christmas,

782
00:35:45,602 --> 00:35:46,978
we'd wake up with a note about
what we should improve on...

783
00:35:47,062 --> 00:35:48,063
‐ Yeah.

784
00:35:48,188 --> 00:35:49,356
‐ For the next year.
‐ Yep.

785
00:35:49,481 --> 00:35:50,732
‐ 'Cause next year,
it might be coal.

786
00:35:50,815 --> 00:35:51,775
‐ And it was detailed.

787
00:35:51,858 --> 00:35:53,652
‐ It was scary.

788
00:35:53,777 --> 00:35:55,320
But then you had to get over it
and you'd get presents.

789
00:35:55,403 --> 00:35:56,988
‐ Like, "Wait, this is
Dad's handwriting."

790
00:35:57,072 --> 00:35:59,407
[laughter]

791
00:35:59,491 --> 00:36:04,663
‐ For me and the girls, it's
about his legacy as a father.

792
00:36:04,788 --> 00:36:08,249
But for millions of fans,
it will always be about

793
00:36:08,375 --> 00:36:11,211
what he did in the ring
with Hulk Hogan.

794
00:36:11,336 --> 00:36:14,422
I think it's pretty incredible
to imagine he only had

795
00:36:14,506 --> 00:36:17,133
five years in the business,
and he was tasked

796
00:36:17,217 --> 00:36:22,472
with the job of replacing
a veritable legend.

797
00:36:22,597 --> 00:36:25,767
‐ Hulk Hogan in the '80s
literally was wrestling.

798
00:36:25,850 --> 00:36:27,686
[rock music]

799
00:36:27,811 --> 00:36:29,604
‐ And just remember,
Hulkamania is running wild.

800
00:36:29,688 --> 00:36:32,649
‐ Crazy. Thank you, Hulk.

801
00:36:32,774 --> 00:36:36,486
‐ He ushered in a new,
larger‐than‐life,

802
00:36:36,528 --> 00:36:41,116
almost cartoonish era
of professional wrestling.

803
00:36:41,199 --> 00:36:43,326
‐ Hulk Hogan,
over the six years

804
00:36:43,410 --> 00:36:45,704
leading to WrestleMania VI,

805
00:36:45,829 --> 00:36:48,832
had turned Hulkamania
into a phenomenal.

806
00:36:48,915 --> 00:36:52,669
♪ ♪

807
00:36:52,794 --> 00:36:54,587
‐ Remember what's going on
in the ring.

808
00:36:54,671 --> 00:36:57,382
Hulk is posing.
We're in the celebration mood.

809
00:36:57,507 --> 00:36:59,050
We want the opposite of that.

810
00:36:59,134 --> 00:37:00,635
‐ Okay.
‐ Okay?

811
00:37:00,719 --> 00:37:02,470
Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate
Warrior‐‐at the time,

812
00:37:02,512 --> 00:37:05,473
they're you're
top good guys in the WWE.

813
00:37:05,598 --> 00:37:08,476
So, when they start to flirt
with this idea

814
00:37:08,560 --> 00:37:10,019
that there may be
some animosity

815
00:37:10,103 --> 00:37:12,313
between Hulk Hogan
and the Ultimate Warrior,

816
00:37:12,397 --> 00:37:15,316
you're going, "Wait a minute."

817
00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:19,446
‐ Bollea and Hellwig had
a rivalry with one another,

818
00:37:19,529 --> 00:37:22,824
and they had
a mutual professional jealousy.

819
00:37:22,907 --> 00:37:24,325
Which made sense.

820
00:37:24,451 --> 00:37:27,328
[cheers and applause]

821
00:37:27,454 --> 00:37:29,831
‐ How could there not be
professional envy

822
00:37:29,956 --> 00:37:33,710
and jealousy between Hulk Hogan
and the Ultimate Warrior?

823
00:37:33,835 --> 00:37:36,588
‐ Another elbow
into the Hulkster's chest.

824
00:37:36,671 --> 00:37:41,176
‐ Ultimate Warrior was designed
to replace Hulk Hogan.

825
00:37:41,301 --> 00:37:43,595
How could Hulk Hogan
not resent that?

826
00:37:43,678 --> 00:37:46,097
‐ [inaudible]
the Ultimate Warrior

827
00:37:46,181 --> 00:37:50,769
[inaudible].

828
00:37:50,852 --> 00:37:54,481
‐ I don't understand
the Warrior's thinking on this.

829
00:37:54,606 --> 00:37:58,359
Why should he run
to the ring and save Hogan?

830
00:37:58,443 --> 00:38:01,070
‐ How could Warrior not resent
Hulk Hogan?

831
00:38:01,196 --> 00:38:02,655
If you're gonna compete
with somebody

832
00:38:02,739 --> 00:38:05,074
for the number one spot,
by design, you have to think,

833
00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:07,035
"Here's why I'm better
than that person."

834
00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:10,205
‐ Wait a minute. Clothesline.
Here it comes from behind.

835
00:38:10,330 --> 00:38:12,332
He stopped.
Wait. What's going on?

836
00:38:12,415 --> 00:38:15,126
‐ Very nature of that
competition between the two

837
00:38:15,168 --> 00:38:17,504
is going to breed envy

838
00:38:17,629 --> 00:38:19,547
and jealousy
between the two of them.

839
00:38:19,672 --> 00:38:22,509
‐ Both champions, Hulk Hogan
and the Ultimate Warrior,

840
00:38:22,634 --> 00:38:24,385
want to be sure
the other is healthy

841
00:38:24,469 --> 00:38:26,429
for Sunday afternoon, April 1.

842
00:38:26,513 --> 00:38:28,515
The World Wrestling
Entertainment champion

843
00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:31,643
against the
Intercontinental Champion.

844
00:38:31,768 --> 00:38:33,978
‐ This was a big topic
of conversation

845
00:38:34,103 --> 00:38:35,814
among 11‐year‐olds:

846
00:38:35,939 --> 00:38:38,608
who's gonna win,
Ultimate Warrior or Hulk Hogan?

847
00:38:38,691 --> 00:38:41,611
I mean, for us, this was, like,
you know, Magic versus Bird.

848
00:38:41,694 --> 00:38:44,155
‐ At the end of WrestleMania,
it'll be the Hulkster.

849
00:38:44,239 --> 00:38:46,825
In God, they still trust.

850
00:38:53,331 --> 00:38:56,459
‐ Look into my eyes,
Hulk Hogan.

851
00:38:56,543 --> 00:39:00,755
You see nothingness.

852
00:39:10,056 --> 00:39:12,475
‐ Warrior not only has to step
into the ring with Hogan,

853
00:39:12,517 --> 00:39:14,644
has to carry the main event
with Hogan,

854
00:39:14,769 --> 00:39:19,399
has to live up to the box
office expectations with Hogan.

855
00:39:19,524 --> 00:39:22,652
Is he gonna beat Hogan?

856
00:39:22,735 --> 00:39:28,616
The pressure on Warrior
to deliver‐‐it's mind‐boggling

857
00:39:28,700 --> 00:39:31,870
to think
that pressure didn't crush him.

858
00:39:31,995 --> 00:39:36,833
‐ The Ultimate Warrior!

859
00:39:36,958 --> 00:39:39,586
‐ Listen to the ovation
[inaudible]

860
00:39:39,669 --> 00:39:44,716
for the Ultimate Warrior!
Here he comes! He's running.

861
00:39:44,841 --> 00:39:48,887
‐ You can't build to a match
like this

862
00:39:49,012 --> 00:39:50,638
and then go for five minutes.

863
00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:52,765
So this became a test of,
"Okay, now that

864
00:39:52,849 --> 00:39:57,604
we've got Hulk Hogan and
the Ultimate Warrior together,

865
00:39:57,687 --> 00:40:00,815
can we have these go do
a 25‐minute match?

866
00:40:00,857 --> 00:40:04,819
Can we do a match where
a real story is being told?"

867
00:40:04,903 --> 00:40:07,071
‐ You can be the adrenaline
is already flowing...

868
00:40:07,196 --> 00:40:09,490
‐ And here we go [inaudible].

869
00:40:09,616 --> 00:40:12,660
‐ In those bodies.

870
00:40:12,785 --> 00:40:15,580
It's deafening
here in the Skydome.

871
00:40:15,705 --> 00:40:17,665
‐ Warrior learned
a lot from Hulk.

872
00:40:17,749 --> 00:40:19,500
But there's always
that little piece‐‐you

873
00:40:19,626 --> 00:40:23,755
want to be the top dog.
And Warrior was hungry for it.

874
00:40:23,838 --> 00:40:27,884
‐ Look at that!
A slam by the Warrior!

875
00:40:28,009 --> 00:40:29,135
‐ They both get
their time to shine.

876
00:40:29,218 --> 00:40:30,637
‐ Unbelievable!

877
00:40:30,762 --> 00:40:32,805
Hogan has never had
anyone do that!

878
00:40:32,931 --> 00:40:35,183
‐ And they both get that moment
where, as a fan, you're like,

879
00:40:35,308 --> 00:40:37,852
"Well, this is the moment
where Hulk wins."

880
00:40:37,977 --> 00:40:40,313
‐ Got him with the [inaudible].
‐ Oh, [inaudible].

881
00:40:40,355 --> 00:40:42,482
‐ That moment that
we've all seen before.

882
00:40:42,523 --> 00:40:45,860
Hulk Hogan
is hitting the ropes.

883
00:40:45,985 --> 00:40:47,403
He's dropping a leg.

884
00:40:47,528 --> 00:40:49,656
‐ Here it is.
‐ Oh!

885
00:40:49,781 --> 00:40:52,450
He moved out of the way!
Look out [inaudible].

886
00:40:52,533 --> 00:40:54,243
‐ Two.
‐ It's over!

887
00:40:54,369 --> 00:41:01,042
‐ It's over!
‐ Unbelievable!

888
00:41:01,167 --> 00:41:04,003
‐ The Warrior has
won the title!

889
00:41:04,128 --> 00:41:07,924
‐ Hulk Hogan was still hot
[inaudible]. Okay?

890
00:41:08,007 --> 00:41:09,926
When he takes that Warrior pin
right in the middle fill out

891
00:41:10,009 --> 00:41:12,136
the ring‐‐no funny
business‐‐and loses,

892
00:41:12,178 --> 00:41:18,601
outright, to the Warrior,
and makes Warrior king‐‐this

893
00:41:18,685 --> 00:41:21,312
is not the same
as doing that for someone

894
00:41:21,396 --> 00:41:23,982
when you are clearly
on the way down.

895
00:41:24,107 --> 00:41:25,775
‐ Oh, look at this!

896
00:41:25,858 --> 00:41:29,988
Hulk presented the belt and
raised the hand of the Warrior!

897
00:41:30,071 --> 00:41:36,160
‐ That was both Hogan and the
company anointing somebody new.

898
00:41:36,285 --> 00:41:40,581
And it was a major deal
to be able to beat Hulk Hogan.

899
00:41:40,707 --> 00:41:43,126
[cheers and applause]

900
00:41:43,209 --> 00:41:45,712
‐ I think Jim was idolized.

901
00:41:45,837 --> 00:41:50,717
That filled something up
inside of him that he needed.

902
00:41:50,842 --> 00:41:54,012
‐ Other people, you know,
that have said,

903
00:41:54,095 --> 00:41:56,973
you know, Warrior
never respected the business,

904
00:41:57,056 --> 00:41:58,516
you know, he just wanted
to get in, make a paycheck,

905
00:41:58,641 --> 00:42:02,270
get out‐‐that was not true.

906
00:42:02,353 --> 00:42:03,479
Warrior came back
to the curtain

907
00:42:03,604 --> 00:42:05,064
after that match with Hogan,

908
00:42:05,148 --> 00:42:08,943
and completely broke down,
you know, emotionally.

909
00:42:09,027 --> 00:42:12,447
He was finally at the
very pinnacle of the business

910
00:42:12,530 --> 00:42:16,034
that he worked
so hard to get to.

911
00:42:16,159 --> 00:42:19,954
‐ The fact that I took the belt
from Hulk

912
00:42:20,038 --> 00:42:21,205
in the way that I did,

913
00:42:21,330 --> 00:42:24,208
with the clean finish‐‐I mean,

914
00:42:24,333 --> 00:42:28,796
the weight of that‐‐you know,

915
00:42:28,838 --> 00:42:30,882
that saying about
"It's not the designation.

916
00:42:31,007 --> 00:42:33,634
It's the journey"‐‐it's true
for me.

917
00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:36,137
I was so emotional
after it happened,

918
00:42:36,262 --> 00:42:38,973
but within a day or two,
I was thinking, "What's next?"

919
00:42:39,015 --> 00:42:42,268
[cheers and applause]

920
00:42:47,023 --> 00:42:48,483
‐ At WrestleMania, Warrior,
you lived up

921
00:42:48,608 --> 00:42:50,234
the ultimate challenge,
and then some.

922
00:42:50,318 --> 00:42:52,820
But now, you face a challenge
of a different kind.

923
00:42:52,904 --> 00:42:57,158
‐ The Ultimate Warrior title
reign as World Champion

924
00:42:57,283 --> 00:43:00,912
was in some ways actually
the beginning of the end.

925
00:43:01,037 --> 00:43:04,582
‐ I can feel it!

926
00:43:04,707 --> 00:43:09,962
I can feel
that I have been chosen.

927
00:43:10,046 --> 00:43:12,465
‐ He was pure kinetic energy,
right?

928
00:43:12,590 --> 00:43:15,426
And the story that they told
was a missile

929
00:43:15,510 --> 00:43:17,136
being shot into space.

930
00:43:17,261 --> 00:43:20,139
The climb is exhilarating.

931
00:43:20,264 --> 00:43:22,975
But once you get there,
the story just sort of fizzles.

932
00:43:23,059 --> 00:43:25,186
‐ They didn't set up
the right guys for him.

933
00:43:25,311 --> 00:43:27,647
And it did not get him off
on the right foot.

934
00:43:27,772 --> 00:43:29,649
The first thing they do
is they brought in Rick Rude.

935
00:43:29,690 --> 00:43:31,025
He was a retread.

936
00:43:31,109 --> 00:43:32,985
Warrior had already
beaten him before.

937
00:43:33,111 --> 00:43:35,154
‐ He had matches
with the Undertaker.

938
00:43:35,238 --> 00:43:37,990
‐ You're scared,
and you're going to be scared.

939
00:43:38,074 --> 00:43:41,744
‐ Wait a minute.
‐ Not in there.

940
00:43:41,869 --> 00:43:43,329
Not in‐‐not in a casket.

941
00:43:43,454 --> 00:43:47,083
‐ And it ends up going into
Jake the Snake Roberts.

942
00:43:47,208 --> 00:43:49,293
‐ Huh? What do you think
about that, Warrior?

943
00:43:49,418 --> 00:43:52,296
Just a few friends
of mine, huh?

944
00:43:52,338 --> 00:43:54,799
‐ What if I tap the plexiglass?
‐ Here comes a strike.

945
00:43:54,841 --> 00:43:56,676
Here it comes. [inaudible].

946
00:44:00,847 --> 00:44:03,015
‐ Warrior's walking around
in that locker room

947
00:44:03,141 --> 00:44:04,600
with eyes
in the back of his head.

948
00:44:04,684 --> 00:44:07,687
You got guys
that are jealous of him.

949
00:44:07,812 --> 00:44:10,898
In front of the cameras,
in front of the fans,

950
00:44:10,982 --> 00:44:14,193
that was Warrior's safe haven.
That was never the issue.

951
00:44:14,318 --> 00:44:18,906
But when he had to walk back
into that locker room,

952
00:44:19,031 --> 00:44:21,826
he knew exactly
what he was dealing with.

953
00:44:21,951 --> 00:44:23,494
That's where the pressure came.

954
00:44:23,578 --> 00:44:24,537
‐ Hang on. Hang on.
‐ Keep your attention.

955
00:44:24,620 --> 00:44:26,080
Keep his attention.

956
00:44:26,205 --> 00:44:28,040
‐ Keep his attention.
Here we go. We see him now.

957
00:44:28,166 --> 00:44:30,126
‐ I don't think you really know
if somebody's up to the job

958
00:44:30,251 --> 00:44:31,627
until they get there, right?

959
00:44:31,711 --> 00:44:33,713
I don't know what expectations
Vince had set,

960
00:44:33,838 --> 00:44:36,090
and what the Ultimate Warrior
wasn't living up to.

961
00:44:36,174 --> 00:44:37,842
Something had to be
telling Vince McMahon

962
00:44:37,967 --> 00:44:41,053
that this project
wasn't succeeding to the degree

963
00:44:41,179 --> 00:44:42,513
that he had hoped
that it would.

964
00:44:42,597 --> 00:44:45,975
[cheers and applause]

965
00:44:46,058 --> 00:44:49,395
‐ With the scepter
right between the eyes!

966
00:44:49,520 --> 00:44:50,646
‐ Come on!

967
00:44:50,771 --> 00:44:52,607
‐ Everyone in the entire
building saw

968
00:44:52,690 --> 00:44:54,609
what the Macho King did.

969
00:44:54,692 --> 00:44:56,194
‐ Immediately, it was like,

970
00:44:56,277 --> 00:44:58,571
okay the decision is to get
the belt back on Hogan,

971
00:44:58,654 --> 00:44:59,697
because Warrior didn't
draw good enough.

972
00:44:59,822 --> 00:45:01,073
But at the time, I‐‐you know,

973
00:45:01,199 --> 00:45:03,159
I think everybody figured
that Warrior

974
00:45:03,201 --> 00:45:04,952
was gonna be champion
for three or four years,

975
00:45:05,036 --> 00:45:06,662
and it was, you know,
less than a full year

976
00:45:06,746 --> 00:45:08,080
before they took it away
from him.

977
00:45:08,206 --> 00:45:13,544
[crowd chanting]

978
00:45:13,669 --> 00:45:17,798
‐ Warrior is not going
to fall into line.

979
00:45:17,882 --> 00:45:21,677
This is not somebody
you are going to control,

980
00:45:21,761 --> 00:45:23,221
and they have to know this.

981
00:45:23,304 --> 00:45:27,433
‐ Jim Hellwig went to the beat
of his own drum.

982
00:45:27,516 --> 00:45:29,310
Whatever that beat
was telling him,

983
00:45:29,393 --> 00:45:33,648
whether it was good for him
or detrimental to him,

984
00:45:33,731 --> 00:45:36,567
he went and walked
to the beat of his own drum.

985
00:45:36,692 --> 00:45:37,818
‐ There were times where,

986
00:45:37,944 --> 00:45:40,988
you know,
he was completely isolated.

987
00:45:41,072 --> 00:45:43,866
Sometimes he was
just really on edge.

988
00:45:43,950 --> 00:45:45,952
‐ So, there's a story
that a kid approaches

989
00:45:46,035 --> 00:45:48,496
Ultimate Warrior in an airport,
as most people do.

990
00:45:48,579 --> 00:45:50,039
You know,
that's half the reason

991
00:45:50,164 --> 00:45:51,958
Vince grabs these guys,
is 'cause when they walk

992
00:45:52,041 --> 00:45:53,960
through an airport,
you can't look away from him.

993
00:45:54,043 --> 00:45:55,461
‐ He's got his sunglasses on,

994
00:45:55,503 --> 00:45:57,213
and this little kid
comes up to him,

995
00:45:57,338 --> 00:46:00,633
and he asks, you know,
if he's the Ultimate Warrior.

996
00:46:00,716 --> 00:46:03,719
And, like, he snaps
on this little kid.

997
00:46:03,844 --> 00:46:07,056
I was like, "Whoa."

998
00:46:07,181 --> 00:46:10,309
‐ This kid's parents were
pretty connected to the WWE.

999
00:46:10,393 --> 00:46:14,021
That posed a problem for Jim
when Vince heard about this.

1000
00:46:14,146 --> 00:46:18,359
So, Vince is so upset that
he makes Jim actually record

1001
00:46:18,442 --> 00:46:20,403
a video apology to the kid.

1002
00:46:20,528 --> 00:46:22,488
‐ It's Vince Apology.

1003
00:46:26,659 --> 00:46:28,494
‐ What‐‐I mean,
I'm humbly apologizing,

1004
00:46:28,536 --> 00:46:30,454
but I'm not saying what
I'm humbly apologizing for.

1005
00:46:30,538 --> 00:46:31,914
‐ That's right.
‐ We know what

1006
00:46:31,998 --> 00:46:34,333
the gimmick's for,
but I mean, what's it for?

1007
00:46:34,458 --> 00:46:37,461
‐ In three, two...

1008
00:46:37,503 --> 00:46:40,923
‐ I understand that there
comes times in everyone's life

1009
00:46:41,007 --> 00:46:43,467
when they may regret
certain things‐‐[bleep].

1010
00:46:43,509 --> 00:46:45,678
Regret certain things that
they should‐‐this [bleep]‐‐

1011
00:46:45,803 --> 00:46:47,972
Yeah, I know. I don't know
what the [bleep] to say.

1012
00:46:48,055 --> 00:46:49,974
I didn't say nothing
to the goddamn kid.

1013
00:46:50,099 --> 00:46:51,726
‐ Well, no you don't,

1014
00:46:51,851 --> 00:46:53,644
because I'm [bleep] making
a videotape to some kid

1015
00:46:53,728 --> 00:46:55,855
about an apology.

1016
00:47:00,860 --> 00:47:02,611
‐ I'm working here.
There's two matches left.

1017
00:47:02,695 --> 00:47:04,488
I'm [bleep] working here,
making an apology for something

1018
00:47:04,572 --> 00:47:06,157
I didn't [bleep] do.

1019
00:47:06,240 --> 00:47:07,825
This guy's really‐‐whatever
I should have‐‐whatever

1020
00:47:07,950 --> 00:47:09,869
I‐‐supposed
to have said to the guy,

1021
00:47:09,994 --> 00:47:11,829
I wish I had said to the guy.

1022
00:47:11,912 --> 00:47:15,499
‐ Me too.
‐ Three. Two.

1023
00:47:15,624 --> 00:47:20,129
‐ There shall never come a time
that any one of the WWF‐‐

1024
00:47:20,212 --> 00:47:22,006
[sighs] Go again.

1025
00:47:22,131 --> 00:47:24,842
That I shall take revenge
upon that person,

1026
00:47:24,925 --> 00:47:27,511
and vanquish them
from this universe.

1027
00:47:27,595 --> 00:47:32,058
And you‐‐[bleep]. Me. [sighs]

1028
00:47:32,183 --> 00:47:35,561
No one that walks within
the World Wrestling Federation

1029
00:47:35,644 --> 00:47:38,856
shall ever‐‐never offend you

1030
00:47:38,939 --> 00:47:44,820
without answering to the power
of the Ultimate Warrior.

1031
00:47:49,033 --> 00:47:50,409
‐ But then the very next day,

1032
00:47:50,493 --> 00:47:53,412
he sits down,
and he writes Vince a letter.

1033
00:47:53,537 --> 00:47:55,873
♪ ♪

1034
00:47:55,998 --> 00:48:00,378
‐ It's as if years
of frustration and anger

1035
00:48:00,503 --> 00:48:03,339
have just boiled over,
and he can't take it anymore.

1036
00:48:08,177 --> 00:48:12,681
‐ 1991 was a definitive moment
in Jim Hellwig's life.

1037
00:48:12,807 --> 00:48:14,517
[solemn music]

1038
00:48:14,642 --> 00:48:19,814
Around January of 1991, he and
his wife filed divorce papers.

1039
00:48:19,897 --> 00:48:22,983
At the same time,
the WWE decided

1040
00:48:23,067 --> 00:48:25,486
that they were going to go
in a different direction.

1041
00:48:25,569 --> 00:48:29,198
And so that same month that
he's filing divorce papers,

1042
00:48:29,281 --> 00:48:32,076
he also loses
his status as champion.

1043
00:48:32,201 --> 00:48:33,828
[cheers and applause]

1044
00:48:33,911 --> 00:48:36,914
‐ Where's he going?

1045
00:48:37,039 --> 00:48:39,041
‐ Going through the divorce,
needing the money,

1046
00:48:39,125 --> 00:48:40,960
all of those things
sort of worked together

1047
00:48:41,043 --> 00:48:43,796
to reignite some of
that financial anxiety

1048
00:48:43,879 --> 00:48:45,339
that he had as a child.

1049
00:48:45,464 --> 00:48:48,926
A lot of the scars throughout
Jim Hellwig's life

1050
00:48:49,009 --> 00:48:50,970
are definitely, like,
coming to the surface now.

1051
00:48:51,053 --> 00:48:56,517
‐ The Ultimate Warrior!

1052
00:48:56,642 --> 00:48:58,102
‐ You realize that, sure,

1053
00:48:58,185 --> 00:49:00,104
Ultimate Warrior looked like
he had never been better,

1054
00:49:00,187 --> 00:49:02,731
but Jim is going through
a divorce,

1055
00:49:02,857 --> 00:49:05,192
and Jim is having arguments
with Vince,

1056
00:49:05,276 --> 00:49:07,236
and he's blowing up on fans
at the airport.

1057
00:49:07,361 --> 00:49:09,905
And you realize that
there's more to it than that.

1058
00:49:10,030 --> 00:49:11,824
‐ Ultimate Warrior seemed like
he was just sort of

1059
00:49:11,907 --> 00:49:13,242
at his wit's end
with Vince, right?

1060
00:49:13,367 --> 00:49:14,785
He's, like,
"I've tried to talk to you.

1061
00:49:14,869 --> 00:49:16,328
I've tried to bring
this stuff up.

1062
00:49:16,412 --> 00:49:19,415
Let me try something else.
I'm gonna write a letter."

1063
00:49:19,540 --> 00:49:22,460
"Vince, writing this
is a different approach.

1064
00:49:22,543 --> 00:49:26,046
I have been, from day one,
different from the others.

1065
00:49:26,130 --> 00:49:29,008
I have sacrificed myself enough
both in personal life

1066
00:49:29,133 --> 00:49:31,969
and physical well‐being."

1067
00:49:32,052 --> 00:49:35,055
‐ What Hellwig says
to McMahon is,

1068
00:49:35,181 --> 00:49:39,852
"I know what Hogan has gotten,
and that's what I want."

1069
00:49:39,977 --> 00:49:41,979
‐ "I have sacrificed more
than $500,000,

1070
00:49:42,021 --> 00:49:43,981
more than a million dollars,
even,

1071
00:49:44,064 --> 00:49:46,066
in monies that I should
have been paid to me

1072
00:49:46,192 --> 00:49:49,403
in receiving
equal treatment as Hulk."

1073
00:49:49,528 --> 00:49:51,697
‐ And he proceeds to give
a list of demands

1074
00:49:51,822 --> 00:49:54,158
about the things that he wants,

1075
00:49:54,200 --> 00:49:57,328
about equal pay for Hogan,
equal royalties for Hogan.

1076
00:49:57,453 --> 00:50:02,166
He wants all of the same
benefits that Hulk Hogan gets.

1077
00:50:02,249 --> 00:50:05,586
‐ "The videotaped apology
was the icing on the cake.

1078
00:50:05,669 --> 00:50:08,130
You see it as a business,
so whether I like it or not,

1079
00:50:08,255 --> 00:50:10,090
I must do the same.

1080
00:50:10,174 --> 00:50:13,010
Whatever your decision,
I can and will live with it.

1081
00:50:13,135 --> 00:50:17,389
Till then, I remain at home
with one who cares."

1082
00:50:17,515 --> 00:50:20,226
‐ Hellwig appears to be saying
to Vince,

1083
00:50:20,351 --> 00:50:21,894
"I'm not going to show up

1084
00:50:22,019 --> 00:50:24,647
until you meet these demands."

1085
00:50:24,772 --> 00:50:26,273
That's a cardinal sin

1086
00:50:26,357 --> 00:50:29,944
in the world
of professional wrestling.

1087
00:50:30,027 --> 00:50:33,822
‐ WWE have not only,
in the micro‐sense,

1088
00:50:33,948 --> 00:50:36,450
spent all this time
marketing SummerSlam,

1089
00:50:36,534 --> 00:50:38,494
but in the macro‐sense,
all this time,

1090
00:50:38,577 --> 00:50:40,579
marketing
the Ultimate Warrior character.

1091
00:50:40,704 --> 00:50:41,997
Like, they can't just say,
"All right, we'll go home.

1092
00:50:42,081 --> 00:50:44,124
We'll just do it without you."

1093
00:50:44,208 --> 00:50:46,126
‐ No one would take kindly
to that.

1094
00:50:46,252 --> 00:50:48,671
But of all the people
in the world

1095
00:50:48,754 --> 00:50:53,133
who would not take kindly
to essentially being bullied,

1096
00:50:53,217 --> 00:50:56,387
it would be Vince McMahon.

1097
00:50:56,512 --> 00:50:58,722
‐ When I get this letter,
it's‐it's a shock.

1098
00:50:58,847 --> 00:51:00,724
It's like, oh.
It's a kick in the guts.

1099
00:51:00,849 --> 00:51:04,019
Felt like I was burned,
to so speak.

1100
00:51:04,103 --> 00:51:05,896
I told Jim
we would work it out,

1101
00:51:06,021 --> 00:51:07,565
indicating
that we might do this deal

1102
00:51:07,690 --> 00:51:08,899
that he was looking for.

1103
00:51:09,024 --> 00:51:10,442
"Oh, okay.
We'll talk at the Garden."

1104
00:51:10,526 --> 00:51:13,320
And I couldn't wait
to fire him.

1105
00:51:13,404 --> 00:51:16,740
‐ What an ovation
for the Ultimate Warrior!

1106
00:51:16,865 --> 00:51:18,200
Is he ready? Yes.

1107
00:51:18,325 --> 00:51:21,287
‐ Yes, but can he be trusted?

1108
00:51:21,370 --> 00:51:24,623
‐ Vince McMahon came into
my locker room, and he said,

1109
00:51:24,707 --> 00:51:29,628
"Well, the Ultimate Warrior
is holding me up for $500,000,

1110
00:51:29,670 --> 00:51:33,090
and he wants to be paid
before he wrestles."

1111
00:51:33,173 --> 00:51:35,301
[cheers and applause]

1112
00:51:35,384 --> 00:51:39,179
Then, through the locker
room door comes Hulk Hogan,

1113
00:51:39,305 --> 00:51:42,516
and he said, "Sarge, you throw
the Warrior out on the floor,

1114
00:51:42,641 --> 00:51:44,893
and I'll come into the ring,
and I'll jump on you,

1115
00:51:45,019 --> 00:51:47,271
and you and I
will head off to the corner.

1116
00:51:47,354 --> 00:51:50,232
And while we're doing
that cheeky, you jump down,

1117
00:51:50,357 --> 00:51:52,443
and you break his leg."

1118
00:51:52,526 --> 00:51:55,946
And Vince went, "No. Whoa.
Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.

1119
00:51:56,030 --> 00:51:59,158
I don't need a lawsuit
on top of all this."

1120
00:51:59,241 --> 00:52:02,161
‐ There's a spot at the end
of the match

1121
00:52:02,244 --> 00:52:06,874
where Hellwig grabs a chair
and chases Mustafa

1122
00:52:06,999 --> 00:52:10,502
and Adnan out of the ring
and backstage.

1123
00:52:10,628 --> 00:52:16,467
‐ Warrior's got a chair.
‐ As he comes back through,

1124
00:52:16,550 --> 00:52:18,886
he's told,
"Vince wants to see you,"

1125
00:52:19,011 --> 00:52:23,432
at which point Vince gives him
a several‐page letter,

1126
00:52:23,515 --> 00:52:29,313
talking about how Hulk Hogan
is a living legend.

1127
00:52:29,396 --> 00:52:33,025
"He is more popular than you,
has more years in the ring

1128
00:52:33,150 --> 00:52:35,152
than you,
is in greater demand than you."

1129
00:52:35,194 --> 00:52:37,529
And then he hits Jim
very personally.

1130
00:52:37,655 --> 00:52:39,907
He says, "You have become
a living legend

1131
00:52:40,032 --> 00:52:44,411
in your own mind."
Probably everything

1132
00:52:44,495 --> 00:52:47,998
that Jim Hellwig
would not have wanted to hear.

1133
00:52:48,123 --> 00:52:51,126
He then details
the fact that‐‐"Jim,

1134
00:52:51,210 --> 00:52:56,048
you are suspended
for no fewer than 90 days."

1135
00:52:56,173 --> 00:52:59,301
‐ I think that Vince wrote
something that cutting

1136
00:52:59,385 --> 00:53:02,137
because I think
Vince felt insulted.

1137
00:53:02,221 --> 00:53:05,140
‐ It was so, you know,
outrageous‐‐

1138
00:53:05,224 --> 00:53:07,851
the demand was,
and just so far overreached,

1139
00:53:07,976 --> 00:53:13,565
it told me, obviously,
he really didn't understand.

1140
00:53:13,691 --> 00:53:16,694
Often, our performers will
start believing in themselves

1141
00:53:16,819 --> 00:53:18,153
more than they should,

1142
00:53:18,237 --> 00:53:19,822
and just can't
separate Jim Hellwig

1143
00:53:19,905 --> 00:53:21,240
from the Ultimate Warrior,

1144
00:53:21,365 --> 00:53:24,368
and that happens
to a lot of our performers.

1145
00:53:24,493 --> 00:53:27,329
‐ A lot of superstars
want his approval,

1146
00:53:27,454 --> 00:53:30,999
and they want to please him,
and they want to be his guy,

1147
00:53:31,125 --> 00:53:34,670
the way you want your father
to accept you.

1148
00:53:34,795 --> 00:53:37,506
‐ That's what I feel, I guess,
with Vince McMahon.

1149
00:53:37,631 --> 00:53:40,592
It's like, when he tells you
you did a good job,

1150
00:53:40,676 --> 00:53:44,304
it's the greatest feeling
in the world.

1151
00:53:44,388 --> 00:53:46,724
‐ Jim and I had this unusual
relationship,

1152
00:53:46,849 --> 00:53:48,267
you know, personally.

1153
00:53:48,350 --> 00:53:50,060
And we both were on
the same wavelength.

1154
00:53:50,144 --> 00:53:51,937
He was nuts,
and I was at the time.

1155
00:53:52,020 --> 00:53:56,358
I'm not now. But there was
this great relationship we had.

1156
00:53:56,442 --> 00:53:58,944
No one really knew that.

1157
00:53:59,027 --> 00:54:01,530
‐ I'm sure he was out there
looking for acceptance.

1158
00:54:01,655 --> 00:54:03,323
And he might have looked at him

1159
00:54:03,449 --> 00:54:06,326
as a mother
and a father figure.

1160
00:54:06,410 --> 00:54:08,579
And there's nothing
wrong with that.

1161
00:54:13,625 --> 00:54:18,797
‐ Not as a son.
I have only one son.

1162
00:54:18,881 --> 00:54:20,716
You know, I can see how someone
would look at me

1163
00:54:20,841 --> 00:54:22,843
as a father figure.

1164
00:54:22,926 --> 00:54:25,262
But I don't look
at him as a son.

1165
00:54:25,345 --> 00:54:27,765
You know, I've never done that,
you know.

1166
00:54:27,848 --> 00:54:30,976
But I've looked at him
as a relationship that would be

1167
00:54:31,059 --> 00:54:36,231
sort of mirroring somewhat,
you know, of father‐son.

1168
00:54:36,356 --> 00:54:38,859
‐ If you look at somebody
like the Warrior,

1169
00:54:38,984 --> 00:54:41,236
that maybe was missing
some male role models early

1170
00:54:41,320 --> 00:54:43,113
in his life,
I think Vince McMahon

1171
00:54:43,197 --> 00:54:45,908
could have easily filled
that role for him.

1172
00:54:46,033 --> 00:54:49,536
And I don't know if Vince
realized when he wrote that

1173
00:54:49,620 --> 00:54:52,915
that the Ultimate Warrior
would not take that

1174
00:54:53,040 --> 00:54:56,376
as his boss being mad at him.

1175
00:54:56,460 --> 00:54:59,463
He may take that
as a paternal figure

1176
00:54:59,588 --> 00:55:03,383
being disappointed in him.

1177
00:55:03,509 --> 00:55:07,471
Your boss being mad at you,
you get over.

1178
00:55:07,513 --> 00:55:10,140
Somebody that you look
at like a father saying,

1179
00:55:10,224 --> 00:55:13,185
"I like him more than
I like you,"

1180
00:55:13,310 --> 00:55:15,604
you don't get over that.

1181
00:55:15,687 --> 00:55:17,397
♪ ♪

1182
00:55:21,902 --> 00:55:23,153
‐ Good morning, guys.
‐ The entire world of wrestling

1183
00:55:23,195 --> 00:55:24,738
changed in 1992.

1184
00:55:24,863 --> 00:55:26,657
‐ The federal government
has leveled charges

1185
00:55:26,740 --> 00:55:30,327
against the leader
of the WWF, Vince McMahon.

1186
00:55:30,369 --> 00:55:32,579
‐ Steroid use,
steroid distribution

1187
00:55:32,704 --> 00:55:35,374
is now deemed not only illegal,

1188
00:55:35,499 --> 00:55:39,711
but is being presented
as inauthentic and immoral.

1189
00:55:39,795 --> 00:55:42,923
‐ A hulk of a hero named Hogan
is the biggest

1190
00:55:43,006 --> 00:55:44,925
to take a fall.

1191
00:55:45,008 --> 00:55:47,135
‐ First queue up.

1192
00:55:47,261 --> 00:55:49,221
This is take one.

1193
00:55:49,304 --> 00:55:50,806
‐ It makes a certain
sort of sense that,

1194
00:55:50,889 --> 00:55:53,183
when Hulk Hogan
has to take some time off,

1195
00:55:53,308 --> 00:55:56,311
you go back in the well
and find the guy

1196
00:55:56,436 --> 00:55:57,896
who used to be the next
Hulk Hogan.

1197
00:55:58,021 --> 00:55:59,147
‐ There have been those

1198
00:55:59,273 --> 00:56:01,567
that have sit
upon many a throne

1199
00:56:01,692 --> 00:56:06,488
and promised to rule the entire
universe, the entire world.

1200
00:56:06,613 --> 00:56:10,701
‐ McMahon decides to bring
the Ultimate Warrior

1201
00:56:10,826 --> 00:56:12,995
back into the WWE,

1202
00:56:13,120 --> 00:56:18,125
and they begin the process
of trying to mend the fences.

1203
00:56:18,208 --> 00:56:22,421
‐ Look at this!
Hulk, Hulk, Hulk!

1204
00:56:22,504 --> 00:56:25,716
The insane Sid Justice‐‐
Hulkamania

1205
00:56:25,841 --> 00:56:28,510
could all end here today
in the Hoosier Dome.

1206
00:56:28,594 --> 00:56:29,928
‐ And when that music hit...

1207
00:56:30,012 --> 00:56:32,014
‐ He don't have a friend left.

1208
00:56:32,139 --> 00:56:33,807
‐ Wait a minute!

1209
00:56:33,932 --> 00:56:35,642
‐ You could hear that stadium
full of people

1210
00:56:35,726 --> 00:56:38,020
going forward nuts for it;
they couldn't believe it.

1211
00:56:38,145 --> 00:56:40,314
‐ Can you believe this?

1212
00:56:40,397 --> 00:56:45,527
The Ultimate Warrior
has [inaudible].

1213
00:56:45,652 --> 00:56:47,029
‐ It was still a moment,
and you were still, like,

1214
00:56:47,154 --> 00:56:48,405
"Oh my God, Warrior's back."

1215
00:56:48,530 --> 00:56:52,618
[cheers and applause]

1216
00:56:52,701 --> 00:56:54,244
But when he comes back,

1217
00:56:54,369 --> 00:56:56,413
right in the midst
of the steroid scandal,

1218
00:56:56,496 --> 00:56:58,832
he looks noticeably smaller.
He's still jacked.

1219
00:56:58,957 --> 00:57:01,460
I mean, he's still‐‐by normal
standards, he's still‐‐like,

1220
00:57:01,585 --> 00:57:04,212
I'm never gonna get a body
like 1992 Ultimate Warrior.

1221
00:57:04,296 --> 00:57:06,548
But he‐‐1992 Ultimate Warrior

1222
00:57:06,673 --> 00:57:09,051
does not have a body
like 1990 Ultimate Warrior.

1223
00:57:09,176 --> 00:57:12,095
[tense music]

1224
00:57:12,179 --> 00:57:14,556
‐ He had not been quite
as dedicated, as he was,

1225
00:57:14,681 --> 00:57:16,475
to the gym,
probably because he's coping

1226
00:57:16,558 --> 00:57:18,560
with an extraordinary amount
of loss,

1227
00:57:18,644 --> 00:57:21,271
and going through a divorce.

1228
00:57:21,355 --> 00:57:26,652
‐ Ahh!

1229
00:57:29,696 --> 00:57:31,198
And I remember thinking,
"Man, you gotta get

1230
00:57:31,323 --> 00:57:33,075
your [bleep]
together real quick here."

1231
00:57:33,200 --> 00:57:36,828
[cheers and applause]

1232
00:57:36,912 --> 00:57:40,999
♪ ♪

1233
00:57:41,083 --> 00:57:46,505
Ahh!

1234
00:57:48,840 --> 00:57:50,300
‐ Okay.

1235
00:57:50,425 --> 00:57:53,387
‐ In 1992, a package
is intercepted addressed

1236
00:57:53,512 --> 00:57:56,056
to the Ultimate Warrior's
driver,

1237
00:57:56,181 --> 00:58:00,435
and it contains HGH,
human growth hormone.

1238
00:58:00,519 --> 00:58:05,649
‐ Explosiveness that can never,
ever be recreated.

1239
00:58:05,732 --> 00:58:10,529
A chemical combustion that
forms a bond forever and ever.

1240
00:58:11,863 --> 00:58:13,532
‐ Yep. Hellwig did fail tests.

1241
00:58:13,657 --> 00:58:17,244
And Hellwig also admitted
to it, to taking steroids.

1242
00:58:17,369 --> 00:58:19,371
♪ ♪

1243
00:58:19,496 --> 00:58:22,749
I think it was, more than
anything, in his head,

1244
00:58:22,874 --> 00:58:25,794
that "If I don't have this,
I'll never be the same guy."

1245
00:58:25,919 --> 00:58:28,797
♪ ♪

1246
00:58:28,922 --> 00:58:30,340
‐ Every time he takes
a drug test,

1247
00:58:30,424 --> 00:58:33,051
he has to list
the kinds of medications

1248
00:58:33,176 --> 00:58:34,803
that he's taking already.

1249
00:58:34,928 --> 00:58:37,472
And at the beginning
of this process,

1250
00:58:37,597 --> 00:58:43,395
in May, he writes Motrin.
Pretty simple.

1251
00:58:43,520 --> 00:58:47,315
The next test, it's Tylenol
with codeine and a nasal spray.

1252
00:58:47,441 --> 00:58:49,943
By the time we get
to late October,

1253
00:58:50,027 --> 00:58:53,530
he's taking multiple medicines
for anxiety,

1254
00:58:53,655 --> 00:58:56,324
for depression, for insomnia.

1255
00:58:56,408 --> 00:59:01,288
♪ ♪

1256
00:59:01,371 --> 00:59:04,124
[upbeat rock music]

1257
00:59:04,207 --> 00:59:09,671
♪ ♪

1258
00:59:09,796 --> 00:59:15,302
‐ Slam, jam,
the Ultimate Warrior.

1259
00:59:15,427 --> 00:59:20,557
‐ In November of that year,
the WWE will fire him again,

1260
00:59:20,682 --> 00:59:23,977
on the grounds that he has
violated the drug policy.

1261
00:59:24,061 --> 00:59:25,479
♪ ♪

1262
00:59:25,604 --> 00:59:27,314
‐ [bleep], I don't know.

1263
00:59:27,439 --> 00:59:29,274
It just sort of unraveled,
in a way,

1264
00:59:29,357 --> 00:59:31,485
where I remember having
a conversation with Vince,

1265
00:59:31,568 --> 00:59:32,819
and he was afraid
of certain things

1266
00:59:32,903 --> 00:59:34,654
that were gonna happen to him.

1267
00:59:34,780 --> 00:59:38,116
It just got so bad that
he needed a couple scapegoats.

1268
00:59:38,200 --> 00:59:40,327
‐ Was it implied that you
should use steroids

1269
00:59:40,410 --> 00:59:41,745
to make yourself‐‐
‐ No. Never to me.

1270
00:59:41,828 --> 00:59:43,497
I think the whole
thing is weak.

1271
00:59:43,622 --> 00:59:46,166
‐ It was a bad optic
to have huge,

1272
00:59:46,249 --> 00:59:48,668
muscle‐bound guys on top,

1273
00:59:48,794 --> 00:59:52,089
as you're fighting off these
accusations of steroid use.

1274
00:59:52,172 --> 00:59:54,424
People like Hulk Hogan
and the Ultimate Warrior

1275
00:59:54,508 --> 00:59:56,718
faded to the background.

1276
00:59:56,843 --> 00:59:59,221
And Bret Hart
and Shawn Michaels

1277
00:59:59,304 --> 01:00:01,973
and other guys sort of stepped
into the spotlight,

1278
01:00:02,057 --> 01:00:05,811
because their look
didn't sort of remind people

1279
01:00:05,936 --> 01:00:09,022
of what was going on
behind the scenes.

1280
01:00:09,106 --> 01:00:11,733
‐ He arrives
in Scottsdale, Arizona.

1281
01:00:11,858 --> 01:00:15,987
Hellwig will legally change
his name to Warrior.

1282
01:00:16,071 --> 01:00:17,489
‐ He lived the
Ultimate Warrior,

1283
01:00:17,531 --> 01:00:18,949
he breathed
the Ultimate Warrior,

1284
01:00:19,032 --> 01:00:21,743
so he believed
he owned Ultimate Warrior.

1285
01:00:21,868 --> 01:00:24,955
So, all you can really do
is try to come up with ways

1286
01:00:25,038 --> 01:00:27,332
to stick it
to your former employer.

1287
01:00:27,415 --> 01:00:29,709
‐ [inaudible]
the mad man's back.

1288
01:00:29,835 --> 01:00:32,254
I'm the Warrior.
You know who I am.

1289
01:00:32,337 --> 01:00:33,839
The rumor has it,

1290
01:00:33,964 --> 01:00:37,134
you think you've got what
it takes to be a pro wrestler.

1291
01:00:37,217 --> 01:00:38,635
‐ He launched a gym

1292
01:00:38,718 --> 01:00:41,680
and wrestling school
called Warrior University.

1293
01:00:41,805 --> 01:00:44,933
‐ Warrior University.

1294
01:00:45,016 --> 01:00:47,561
‐ He wanted to do
workout videos

1295
01:00:47,686 --> 01:00:50,981
and Warrior workout kits.

1296
01:00:51,064 --> 01:00:54,734
‐ And I saw a new gym
was coming to town,

1297
01:00:54,860 --> 01:00:58,071
and it was owned
by the Ultimate Warrior.

1298
01:00:58,196 --> 01:01:00,907
I had a pink résumé
before Elle Woods ever did.

1299
01:01:01,032 --> 01:01:04,786
And when I walked in the door,
all I could see

1300
01:01:04,870 --> 01:01:10,208
was the eyeline
to this huge, giant man.

1301
01:01:10,333 --> 01:01:11,793
And I walked with purpose,
straight up to him,

1302
01:01:11,835 --> 01:01:14,462
and put the resume down,
and I said,

1303
01:01:14,588 --> 01:01:15,881
"I need to run
your aerobics program."

1304
01:01:16,006 --> 01:01:17,883
And he said,
"You need to marry me."

1305
01:01:17,966 --> 01:01:20,385
And I said,
"I won't even date you."

1306
01:01:20,468 --> 01:01:23,221
[soft music]

1307
01:01:23,346 --> 01:01:25,932
And that man followed me
around like a puppy,

1308
01:01:26,016 --> 01:01:28,476
until I finally broke down
and I dated him,

1309
01:01:28,602 --> 01:01:30,270
and then, you know,
I married him.

1310
01:01:30,353 --> 01:01:33,315
So it worked out okay.

1311
01:01:33,440 --> 01:01:37,235
I had my own demons that‐‐from
a difficult childhood.

1312
01:01:37,360 --> 01:01:39,821
And so my husband used
to always say to me,

1313
01:01:39,905 --> 01:01:43,825
like, "You tamed the beast."

1314
01:01:43,950 --> 01:01:45,952
I met my counterpart
and met the person

1315
01:01:46,036 --> 01:01:47,829
that I was able to do that for,

1316
01:01:47,913 --> 01:01:49,581
and he was able
to do it for me.

1317
01:01:49,706 --> 01:01:53,460
‐ Ah!
‐ Ultimate Warrior!

1318
01:01:53,543 --> 01:01:57,172
‐ Warrior.
‐ Warrior!

1319
01:01:57,297 --> 01:02:02,552
[cheers and applause]

1320
01:02:02,636 --> 01:02:03,803
‐ I look back at the innocence

1321
01:02:03,887 --> 01:02:05,847
of who we were
when we first met,

1322
01:02:05,972 --> 01:02:11,269
and what my husband really
wanted was to be successful.

1323
01:02:12,520 --> 01:02:13,855
‐ 6:30.
6:30.

1324
01:02:13,980 --> 01:02:15,857
‐ 6:30 in the morning?

1325
01:02:15,941 --> 01:02:18,068
‐ Where are the pens?

1326
01:02:18,193 --> 01:02:19,945
‐ Right there.

1327
01:02:20,028 --> 01:02:22,489
‐ What's up, buddy?
How you doing?

1328
01:02:22,572 --> 01:02:25,700
‐ He had all these goals
and aspirations.

1329
01:02:25,825 --> 01:02:29,162
And what success was

1330
01:02:29,287 --> 01:02:32,749
was, in his mind,
what Vince McMahon had created.

1331
01:02:32,874 --> 01:02:35,126
[indistinct chatter]

1332
01:02:35,168 --> 01:02:36,836
‐ He wanted to make
the Ultimate Warrior

1333
01:02:36,962 --> 01:02:39,714
into a full‐blown
comic book venture,

1334
01:02:39,839 --> 01:02:42,884
to launch
the Warrior mainstream.

1335
01:02:42,968 --> 01:02:47,472
But he seems to realize
that it's not going to happen

1336
01:02:47,597 --> 01:02:49,057
without a bigger platform.

1337
01:02:49,182 --> 01:02:52,686
And because of that,
once again,

1338
01:02:52,811 --> 01:02:55,063
Vince McMahon and Jim Hellwig

1339
01:02:55,188 --> 01:02:57,107
somehow find their way
back to one another.

1340
01:02:57,190 --> 01:03:00,068
[rock music]

1341
01:03:00,193 --> 01:03:02,904
♪ ♪

1342
01:03:03,029 --> 01:03:05,448
‐ When you look back now,

1343
01:03:05,532 --> 01:03:08,034
the Warrior's career
is sort of more about, like,

1344
01:03:08,159 --> 01:03:10,787
returns than it is
about the matches.

1345
01:03:10,870 --> 01:03:14,499
[cheers and applause]

1346
01:03:14,624 --> 01:03:16,293
♪ ♪

1347
01:03:16,376 --> 01:03:21,047
‐ Around June of 1996,
Hellwig's father, Thomas, dies.

1348
01:03:21,131 --> 01:03:25,010
The two had not had
much of a relationship at all.

1349
01:03:25,093 --> 01:03:29,472
But it seems to have
hit him hard.

1350
01:03:29,556 --> 01:03:33,435
In this period of time,
he doesn't attend a few shows.

1351
01:03:33,518 --> 01:03:39,482
But of course, with the WWE,
you don't miss shows.

1352
01:03:39,566 --> 01:03:42,652
‐ As I recall, he had not seen
his dad in over ten years,

1353
01:03:42,736 --> 01:03:44,571
and could care less about him.

1354
01:03:44,654 --> 01:03:46,573
And that was, like,
"Wait a minute.

1355
01:03:46,656 --> 01:03:48,992
You're gonna use this
as an excuse?"

1356
01:03:49,117 --> 01:03:51,119
That's the straw that breaks
the camel's back with me.

1357
01:03:51,202 --> 01:03:54,331
I can't deal
with anybody like that.

1358
01:03:54,372 --> 01:03:56,499
He was terminated.

1359
01:03:56,624 --> 01:03:58,335
[cheers and applause]

1360
01:03:58,418 --> 01:04:01,546
‐ The audience that
was 5, 10, 15 years old

1361
01:04:01,671 --> 01:04:05,842
when Warrior was at his hottest
had moved on to be obsessed

1362
01:04:05,925 --> 01:04:09,387
with other things
besides the Ultimate Warrior.

1363
01:04:09,512 --> 01:04:15,268
So, when that love and
that adulation wasn't there,

1364
01:04:15,352 --> 01:04:18,271
he went back to being
an 11‐year‐old boy

1365
01:04:18,355 --> 01:04:21,441
in the trailer in Indiana,
whose father just left him.

1366
01:04:21,524 --> 01:04:23,276
[solemn music]

1367
01:04:23,360 --> 01:04:27,572
‐ He starts traveling around
to college campuses.

1368
01:04:27,697 --> 01:04:30,700
One that really stood out‐‐
it made major headlines

1369
01:04:30,825 --> 01:04:32,994
at the time‐‐was a speech

1370
01:04:33,078 --> 01:04:37,832
he gave at the University
of Connecticut.

1371
01:04:47,509 --> 01:04:53,098
‐ I knew something was wrong.
‐ Hey, guys. How you doing?

1372
01:04:53,181 --> 01:04:56,726
‐ And I said,
"What did you say?"

1373
01:04:56,851 --> 01:04:59,104
"We'll talk when you get home."

1374
01:05:03,566 --> 01:05:04,859
[indistinct chatter]

1375
01:05:04,984 --> 01:05:06,069
‐ You know, young kids,

1376
01:05:06,194 --> 01:05:07,737
they get
their philosophy of life

1377
01:05:07,821 --> 01:05:10,448
from people that
are older than them.

1378
01:05:10,532 --> 01:05:13,326
And today, that's just
not happening in any place.

1379
01:05:13,410 --> 01:05:16,204
‐ He's accepted the fact
that the Ultimate Warrior

1380
01:05:16,329 --> 01:05:18,415
is not going to be mainstream.

1381
01:05:18,540 --> 01:05:22,210
But it's almost like he needed
something to fill the void.

1382
01:05:34,222 --> 01:05:39,727
‐ He finds this new identity
in conservative ideology.

1383
01:05:39,853 --> 01:05:43,523
And he becomes
a conservative blogger.

1384
01:05:43,648 --> 01:05:47,527
‐ I would argue,
for the Warrior, in his career,

1385
01:05:47,610 --> 01:05:49,487
his persona, his business,

1386
01:05:49,571 --> 01:05:53,575
it was not good that we got
to see behind the curtain.

1387
01:05:53,700 --> 01:05:55,952
Every few weeks or whatever
is like another thing

1388
01:05:56,035 --> 01:06:00,331
that Warrior is saying
that is offensive.

1389
01:06:00,457 --> 01:06:04,544
♪ ♪

1390
01:06:09,299 --> 01:06:12,302
‐ Most people think I'm
heavy metal or something.

1391
01:06:12,427 --> 01:06:18,892
On the radio, typically,
I do talk radio.

1392
01:06:19,017 --> 01:06:20,602
And that's it.

1393
01:06:20,685 --> 01:06:24,439
‐ Turning on talk radio was
a really big thing at the time.

1394
01:06:24,522 --> 01:06:28,234
And, you know something, Rush
Limbaugh is a great showman.

1395
01:06:28,359 --> 01:06:31,821
So my husband's like,
"Kindreds‐‐we get each other.

1396
01:06:31,946 --> 01:06:34,657
You know"‐‐so, like,

1397
01:06:34,741 --> 01:06:38,369
the talk radio thing became
a big thing in our house.

1398
01:06:38,453 --> 01:06:43,208
And, you know, certain news
channels on all the time.

1399
01:06:43,333 --> 01:06:47,921
I think he was just looking
for a new brotherhood.

1400
01:06:48,004 --> 01:06:49,464
‐ It's never been the vision

1401
01:06:49,589 --> 01:06:51,090
that people have
in their heads‐‐is that

1402
01:06:51,174 --> 01:06:53,218
it's just Ultimate Warrior
as an identity,

1403
01:06:53,343 --> 01:06:55,386
a painted face pro wrestler
with strings

1404
01:06:55,512 --> 01:06:57,847
around his arms
and colorful characters

1405
01:06:57,972 --> 01:07:00,558
and a physique
and the body and stuff.

1406
01:07:00,683 --> 01:07:04,437
It's about‐‐it represents more,
on a fundamental level,

1407
01:07:04,521 --> 01:07:07,815
something or somebody
that's willing to stand up

1408
01:07:07,941 --> 01:07:13,571
and fight for what they believe
in, even if they die doing so.

1409
01:07:13,696 --> 01:07:17,158
‐ And when he came back
from that speech,

1410
01:07:17,242 --> 01:07:23,081
I knew something was wrong.
And I said, "What did you say?"

1411
01:07:23,206 --> 01:07:25,833
‐ Now, I'm conservative.

1412
01:07:25,959 --> 01:07:28,753
Liberals believe
in a utopian society,

1413
01:07:28,836 --> 01:07:31,256
where everything is equal.

1414
01:07:31,339 --> 01:07:34,551
That Kwanzaa
is just as legitimate

1415
01:07:34,676 --> 01:07:36,719
as Santa Claus and Christmas.

1416
01:07:36,844 --> 01:07:40,014
[audience exclaiming]

1417
01:07:40,098 --> 01:07:41,599
That a terrorist‐‐
that a terrorist

1418
01:07:41,683 --> 01:07:43,184
is just as legitimate

1419
01:07:43,268 --> 01:07:46,479
as what of this country's
revolution freedom fighters.

1420
01:07:51,234 --> 01:07:53,611
‐ How are they not?
‐ That the anarchists‐‐

1421
01:07:57,448 --> 01:07:59,325
[laughter]

1422
01:07:59,409 --> 01:08:01,160
‐ What's wrong
with homosexuality?

1423
01:08:01,286 --> 01:08:02,537
‐ What are you talking about?

1424
01:08:02,662 --> 01:08:04,414
‐ And from this moment,

1425
01:08:04,539 --> 01:08:07,959
the speech has just become
a straight dogfight.

1426
01:08:08,084 --> 01:08:10,295
‐ [bleep] you. No. No.

1427
01:08:10,378 --> 01:08:14,465
Apologize for that right now,
you [bleep] piece of [bleep].

1428
01:08:14,549 --> 01:08:16,634
No. Apologize.

1429
01:08:16,759 --> 01:08:20,096
‐ As an Ultimate Warrior fan,
you're like, "Bro, like,

1430
01:08:20,179 --> 01:08:22,390
I didn't‐I didn't
sign up for that.

1431
01:08:22,515 --> 01:08:25,226
Like, you're starting
to make me think

1432
01:08:25,351 --> 01:08:26,769
that the Warrior
might believe in some stuff

1433
01:08:26,853 --> 01:08:30,481
that I don't necessarily
believe in."

1434
01:08:30,565 --> 01:08:33,067
‐ There's all people of all
different type of races

1435
01:08:33,192 --> 01:08:34,652
and colors that look up to you,

1436
01:08:34,736 --> 01:08:37,447
because I‐‐you know, I grew up,
and my dad wasn't there.

1437
01:08:37,530 --> 01:08:40,783
Well, the Warrior's telling me,
"Just don't worry about things.

1438
01:08:40,867 --> 01:08:45,246
Just be that little Warrior
that you are inside."

1439
01:08:45,371 --> 01:08:49,542
So, when you are acting
that way and you believe

1440
01:08:49,626 --> 01:08:51,961
that in your heart,
it can do a lot of damage

1441
01:08:52,045 --> 01:08:54,297
to those people
that looked up for you.

1442
01:08:54,422 --> 01:08:56,341
‐ Has anything like UConn
ever happened before?

1443
01:08:56,466 --> 01:09:00,303
‐ No. Mm‐mm.

1444
01:09:00,428 --> 01:09:04,307
‐ I was really disappointed.
I was really disappointed.

1445
01:09:04,432 --> 01:09:06,184
And I let him know that.

1446
01:09:06,309 --> 01:09:12,482
And he knew it was different,
and he knew he'd messed up.

1447
01:09:12,565 --> 01:09:15,151
And I don't even think‐‐
he didn't understand

1448
01:09:15,276 --> 01:09:19,781
the breadth of it
until later on.

1449
01:09:19,864 --> 01:09:21,658
But he knew it was bad.

1450
01:09:21,783 --> 01:09:25,036
‐ "The Self‐Destruction
of the Ultimate Warrior."

1451
01:09:25,161 --> 01:09:27,372
‐ So, WWE puts out this DVD,

1452
01:09:27,497 --> 01:09:30,166
"The Self‐Destruction
of the Ultimate Warrior."

1453
01:09:30,291 --> 01:09:33,961
And this, I think, was kind of
a self‐serving mission.

1454
01:09:34,087 --> 01:09:35,463
"We're done making money off
this guy,

1455
01:09:35,546 --> 01:09:36,756
or from this guy,

1456
01:09:36,839 --> 01:09:39,092
and he's off hurting himself,
his own brand,

1457
01:09:39,175 --> 01:09:40,510
and by extension, our brand.

1458
01:09:40,635 --> 01:09:43,513
If we can limit
his importance in our legacy,

1459
01:09:43,638 --> 01:09:45,181
that's a win for us.

1460
01:09:45,306 --> 01:09:47,642
If we can charge $30 for it
and put a cool title on it,

1461
01:09:47,725 --> 01:09:49,310
and essentially, you know,
make as much money

1462
01:09:49,394 --> 01:09:51,521
as we would off of
a WrestleMania, off of Jim,

1463
01:09:51,646 --> 01:09:54,273
without even having
his consent, even better."

1464
01:09:54,357 --> 01:09:56,818
‐ And Vince wants these to kind

1465
01:09:56,943 --> 01:09:58,069
of be a shoot deals, right?

1466
01:09:58,152 --> 01:09:59,821
‐ Yeah, he really does.

1467
01:09:59,946 --> 01:10:00,822
He wants to tell the truth.

1468
01:10:00,947 --> 01:10:02,657
He wants everybody to know.

1469
01:10:02,740 --> 01:10:03,658
‐ A little controversy?

1470
01:10:03,700 --> 01:10:08,329
[dramatic music]

1471
01:10:08,413 --> 01:10:10,498
‐ "Self‐Destruction
of Ultimate Warrior"

1472
01:10:10,623 --> 01:10:12,959
was not so much a documentary.

1473
01:10:13,042 --> 01:10:16,254
It was more of a hit piece.

1474
01:10:16,337 --> 01:10:17,964
You watched it and thought,

1475
01:10:18,005 --> 01:10:19,549
at the very least,

1476
01:10:19,674 --> 01:10:22,385
this guy is not beloved
by his peers.

1477
01:10:22,510 --> 01:10:24,053
‐ I don't know that he was
really born

1478
01:10:24,178 --> 01:10:25,471
to be in this business.

1479
01:10:25,555 --> 01:10:28,599
‐ To me, the man had no idea
about wrestling.

1480
01:10:28,683 --> 01:10:32,979
‐ Do I think Ultimate Warrior
was merely a flash in the pan?

1481
01:10:33,104 --> 01:10:34,689
Enough said.

1482
01:10:34,814 --> 01:10:37,859
‐ I knew, when the Ultimate
Warrior won the match,

1483
01:10:37,984 --> 01:10:41,279
and 68,000 people watched me
leave the building

1484
01:10:41,362 --> 01:10:44,157
instead of watching
the new champ in the ring‐‐

1485
01:10:44,240 --> 01:10:48,786
I knew that‐‐okay, you know.

1486
01:10:48,870 --> 01:10:51,164
I don't want to be the one
to say "I told you so."

1487
01:10:51,205 --> 01:10:56,210
‐ I never watched that DVD.

1488
01:10:56,294 --> 01:10:58,838
People would not be alive
if I had watched that DVD.

1489
01:10:58,963 --> 01:11:02,091
My husband wanted to watch it,
and I said, "You shouldn't."

1490
01:11:02,175 --> 01:11:05,678
‐ He has‐‐doesn't trust
anyone in life.

1491
01:11:05,803 --> 01:11:09,432
And look, if you don't enjoy
coming to work,

1492
01:11:09,515 --> 01:11:11,100
and then you're gonna‐‐bound
to self‐destruct

1493
01:11:11,184 --> 01:11:12,810
somewhere along the line.

1494
01:11:12,894 --> 01:11:15,813
[solemn music]

1495
01:11:15,897 --> 01:11:18,107
♪ ♪

1496
01:11:18,191 --> 01:11:23,780
‐ He watched that DVD,
and that‐that broke

1497
01:11:23,863 --> 01:11:27,533
a part of my husband
that I was never able to fix.

1498
01:11:27,617 --> 01:11:33,372
‐ Nobody is gonna hand you

1499
01:11:33,498 --> 01:11:35,666
the fulfillment of the dream
you have in your mind

1500
01:11:35,750 --> 01:11:39,045
about a great live
you want to [bleep] live.

1501
01:11:39,170 --> 01:11:40,379
‐ In later years, it's almost

1502
01:11:40,505 --> 01:11:42,507
as if he will be
frustrated with himself.

1503
01:11:42,632 --> 01:11:45,092
But he will project out on
to others the frustration

1504
01:11:45,176 --> 01:11:47,053
he feels with his own life.

1505
01:11:47,136 --> 01:11:49,388
‐ I think you're [bleep]
pathetic.

1506
01:11:49,514 --> 01:11:55,645
Don't fail. Take back yourself.

1507
01:11:55,728 --> 01:11:58,981
And don't take any backtalk
from yourself.

1508
01:11:59,065 --> 01:12:04,153
‐ I think he was trying to
reinvigorate his own identity,

1509
01:12:04,237 --> 01:12:07,323
because when we fall
down a hole,

1510
01:12:07,406 --> 01:12:09,826
nobody can really
get you back out.

1511
01:12:09,909 --> 01:12:12,954
You have to climb,
rung by rung, yourself.

1512
01:12:13,037 --> 01:12:15,164
And he did that.

1513
01:12:15,248 --> 01:12:18,793
♪ ♪

1514
01:12:18,876 --> 01:12:22,171
That's so inspiring,
because he wasn't perfect.

1515
01:12:22,296 --> 01:12:24,298
Other people in the world
aren't perfect.

1516
01:12:24,382 --> 01:12:26,509
We all mess up.

1517
01:12:26,634 --> 01:12:28,803
And sometimes we're ignorant.

1518
01:12:28,886 --> 01:12:31,639
But it's ignorance is educable,
and we can change,

1519
01:12:31,722 --> 01:12:34,725
and we can grow,
and we can evolve.

1520
01:12:34,851 --> 01:12:40,481
♪ ♪

1521
01:12:40,523 --> 01:12:42,817
‐ I was very oblivious
to his life

1522
01:12:42,900 --> 01:12:44,318
before he was a father.

1523
01:12:44,402 --> 01:12:46,654
He was my dad.
I was daddy's little girl.

1524
01:12:46,779 --> 01:12:51,117
And he doted on my sister and I
like any other dad that I knew.

1525
01:12:51,200 --> 01:12:52,827
♪ ♪

1526
01:12:52,910 --> 01:12:55,454
‐ He was so gentle
with his Warrior babies.

1527
01:12:55,538 --> 01:12:57,498
That's what he'd call us.

1528
01:12:57,582 --> 01:12:59,250
I know that his father wasn't

1529
01:12:59,375 --> 01:13:00,710
incredibly involved
in his life,

1530
01:13:00,835 --> 01:13:03,254
and so he didn't really
have that figure there.

1531
01:13:03,337 --> 01:13:06,340
But you don't necessarily need
a role model

1532
01:13:06,465 --> 01:13:09,886
to become the man
you want to become.

1533
01:13:09,969 --> 01:13:14,640
‐ Very few people can overcome
what they lived through

1534
01:13:14,765 --> 01:13:19,645
and not feel victimized by it,
but instead chart a new course.

1535
01:13:19,729 --> 01:13:21,480
And that's what we did
with our family.

1536
01:13:21,606 --> 01:13:24,984
We charted a new course.

1537
01:13:25,109 --> 01:13:28,321
‐ What you saw in his character
used to translate

1538
01:13:28,446 --> 01:13:29,864
a lot into his workouts.

1539
01:13:29,989 --> 01:13:32,325
But, you know,
most of the time here,

1540
01:13:32,450 --> 01:13:35,536
we got to know
a different character.

1541
01:13:35,661 --> 01:13:37,330
We got to know Warrior.

1542
01:13:37,455 --> 01:13:41,167
And Warrior was a complete
different personality.

1543
01:13:41,292 --> 01:13:45,630
He made everybody feel special.
He made me feel special.

1544
01:13:45,755 --> 01:13:48,716
‐ I think that Warrior found
himself in Santa Fe.

1545
01:13:48,841 --> 01:13:52,887
I think he found a calmer
setting for him

1546
01:13:53,012 --> 01:13:55,389
to really think, to paint.

1547
01:13:55,514 --> 01:13:57,892
‐ Art became a really big part
of his life.

1548
01:13:58,017 --> 01:14:00,353
When he wasn't putting
on his face paint every day,

1549
01:14:00,478 --> 01:14:02,188
you know, the face paint

1550
01:14:02,313 --> 01:14:05,024
became the paint
on the canvas instead.

1551
01:14:05,149 --> 01:14:08,069
[soft music]

1552
01:14:08,194 --> 01:14:14,200
♪ ♪

1553
01:14:14,325 --> 01:14:16,535
‐ He had his daughters.
He had Dana.

1554
01:14:16,661 --> 01:14:20,414
‐ Oh my gosh,
it's so good to see you.

1555
01:14:20,539 --> 01:14:24,669
‐ You're our first hug
since all this started.

1556
01:14:24,794 --> 01:14:27,630
‐ Our friendship was about
just enjoying life.

1557
01:14:27,755 --> 01:14:31,467
Have fun. You are who you are.

1558
01:14:31,592 --> 01:14:36,222
‐ I think that my husband
needed hypermasculinity

1559
01:14:36,347 --> 01:14:37,974
in order to feel safe.

1560
01:14:38,057 --> 01:14:41,727
But, with the friends that he
made in our town of Santa Fe,

1561
01:14:41,852 --> 01:14:45,314
he was able to experience
grown, adult men,

1562
01:14:45,398 --> 01:14:47,817
who had no vendetta
against him.

1563
01:14:47,942 --> 01:14:51,654
And so I think when my husband
was finally ready to be

1564
01:14:51,696 --> 01:14:54,740
inducted in the Hall of Fame,
he was becoming somebody

1565
01:14:54,865 --> 01:14:58,285
that was actually worthy
of that honor in his own mind,

1566
01:14:58,369 --> 01:14:59,954
but also for the fans.

1567
01:15:00,037 --> 01:15:03,416
♪ ♪

1568
01:15:03,541 --> 01:15:05,459
‐ Ladies and gentlemen,
accompanied to the ring

1569
01:15:05,543 --> 01:15:09,213
by two yeah ladies
who are special in his life,

1570
01:15:09,338 --> 01:15:12,299
may I present: Warrior.

1571
01:15:12,425 --> 01:15:15,636
[cheers and applause]

1572
01:15:15,720 --> 01:15:19,056
♪ ♪

1573
01:15:23,144 --> 01:15:25,813
[soft music]

1574
01:15:25,896 --> 01:15:29,233
♪ ♪

1575
01:15:29,358 --> 01:15:31,068
‐ For several years,

1576
01:15:31,152 --> 01:15:36,741
the WWE had tried
to find ways of getting Warrior

1577
01:15:36,866 --> 01:15:42,496
into the Hall of Fame,
and he had repeatedly said no.

1578
01:15:42,621 --> 01:15:45,249
‐ This particular year,
for whatever reason,

1579
01:15:45,374 --> 01:15:48,461
Warrior was able to trust.

1580
01:15:48,544 --> 01:15:51,964
And I said, "I apologize
for anything I've ever said,

1581
01:15:52,006 --> 01:15:53,674
anything I've ever done.

1582
01:15:53,758 --> 01:15:56,927
That was then. Let's just bury
the hatchet and move on."

1583
01:15:57,011 --> 01:16:00,556
‐ I just can't believe it's
been as long as it has been.

1584
01:16:00,681 --> 01:16:03,225
‐ He enters into an agreement
with the WWE

1585
01:16:03,309 --> 01:16:05,936
to become an ambassador
for a period of several years.

1586
01:16:06,020 --> 01:16:08,647
‐ Obviously, there
was some tension

1587
01:16:08,773 --> 01:16:11,108
with the relationship with WWE
through the years, you know.

1588
01:16:11,192 --> 01:16:13,069
I mean, what does it mean
to kind of be back

1589
01:16:13,194 --> 01:16:17,740
into the fold
and kind of repair those?

1590
01:16:17,823 --> 01:16:24,205
‐ Well, it means a‐‐well,
it means a lot.

1591
01:16:24,330 --> 01:16:27,166
You know, it was purposeful
that they put the DVD out.

1592
01:16:27,249 --> 01:16:32,379
It hurt my feelings a lot, man.
It hurt me that they did that.

1593
01:16:32,505 --> 01:16:37,301
♪ ♪

1594
01:16:37,426 --> 01:16:41,305
You know, I have a lot
of emotion about coming back.

1595
01:16:41,388 --> 01:16:44,141
‐ It's well‐known
that the Hellwig men

1596
01:16:44,266 --> 01:16:45,893
had a short life span.

1597
01:16:46,018 --> 01:16:48,646
His grandfather died
in his 50s.

1598
01:16:48,729 --> 01:16:51,273
His father died in his 50s.

1599
01:16:51,357 --> 01:16:56,028
And knowing that most of the
Hellwig boys died a young age

1600
01:16:56,112 --> 01:16:59,824
definitely has to color
how you live your life.

1601
01:16:59,949 --> 01:17:03,619
You either face it
or you live in fear of it.

1602
01:17:03,702 --> 01:17:08,749
‐ Great. Get that down...
[indistinct]

1603
01:17:08,874 --> 01:17:12,962
‐ I think it was calculated,
on his part, because he knew

1604
01:17:13,045 --> 01:17:17,967
that by reigniting
this relationship with the WWE,

1605
01:17:18,092 --> 01:17:21,720
he can be the man that
his father never was for him.

1606
01:17:21,846 --> 01:17:26,517
This was his moment
to set aside the hurt,

1607
01:17:26,600 --> 01:17:28,686
the ego, the pride,

1608
01:17:28,811 --> 01:17:32,898
all of the things that had
kept him estranged, and to say,

1609
01:17:33,023 --> 01:17:35,901
"I'm going to do this
for my family."

1610
01:17:36,026 --> 01:17:38,487
♪ ♪

1611
01:17:38,612 --> 01:17:39,905
‐ You built a brand.

1612
01:17:40,030 --> 01:17:42,741
These are the graphics
that support the brand.

1613
01:17:42,867 --> 01:17:46,954
‐ There are few legitimately
tough guys in our business.

1614
01:17:47,037 --> 01:17:49,957
Most of us aren't.
So we get to go out there

1615
01:17:50,040 --> 01:17:52,877
and we get to act
like tough guys.

1616
01:17:53,002 --> 01:17:55,921
And people look to you,
and you're larger than life.

1617
01:17:56,005 --> 01:17:57,923
There's responsibility
that comes with that.

1618
01:17:58,007 --> 01:18:01,302
Responsibility is that,
if you get to do that,

1619
01:18:01,427 --> 01:18:03,304
you get that opportunity
to do that,

1620
01:18:03,387 --> 01:18:05,806
then you should be able
to go out in the real world

1621
01:18:05,848 --> 01:18:09,101
and handle
a simple thing like life.

1622
01:18:25,201 --> 01:18:26,785
‐ Yeah.

1623
01:18:30,998 --> 01:18:33,500
‐ Really want you to know
I've been dying to see you.

1624
01:18:33,584 --> 01:18:37,838
I really do. I really do.
No matter what.

1625
01:18:37,922 --> 01:18:41,175
‐ I think he was just really
excited to go home.

1626
01:18:41,300 --> 01:18:45,346
And absolutely, he wanted
that reconciliation with Vince,

1627
01:18:45,471 --> 01:18:47,640
because Vince mattered to him.

1628
01:18:47,765 --> 01:18:50,267
But he also wanted
to show Vince,

1629
01:18:50,351 --> 01:18:54,813
"I have family now, too.
And now you're part of it.

1630
01:18:54,897 --> 01:18:58,275
I don't need you
to be all of it."

1631
01:18:58,359 --> 01:19:01,737
‐ Ladies and gentlemen,
accompanied to the ring

1632
01:19:01,862 --> 01:19:04,740
by two young ladies
who are so special in his life,

1633
01:19:04,865 --> 01:19:07,868
may I present: Warrior.

1634
01:19:07,952 --> 01:19:11,622
[cheers and applause]

1635
01:19:11,705 --> 01:19:14,583
[soft music]

1636
01:19:14,708 --> 01:19:19,922
♪ ♪

1637
01:19:20,005 --> 01:19:23,509
‐ In 1991,
Vince wrote me a letter.

1638
01:19:23,634 --> 01:19:27,805
He said, "You think you're
a legend in your own mind."

1639
01:19:27,888 --> 01:19:30,099
But I didn't think
that I was a legend in my mind.

1640
01:19:30,182 --> 01:19:32,017
But I will tell you this,
Vince,

1641
01:19:32,101 --> 01:19:35,062
the Ultimate Warrior
is a legend today,

1642
01:19:35,187 --> 01:19:38,023
and he will continue
to run into the hearts

1643
01:19:38,148 --> 01:19:42,194
and minds of fans
throughout generations to come.

1644
01:19:42,319 --> 01:19:43,654
And I'm proud of that.

1645
01:19:43,737 --> 01:19:45,614
I'm proud of you
for supporting me

1646
01:19:45,698 --> 01:19:47,491
and fighting
for the Ultimate Warrior

1647
01:19:47,616 --> 01:19:49,451
to be inducted
into the Hall of Fame.

1648
01:19:49,535 --> 01:19:52,955
[cheers and applause]

1649
01:19:53,038 --> 01:19:55,624
♪ ♪

1650
01:19:55,708 --> 01:19:57,418
‐ Regardless of personal stuff,

1651
01:19:57,501 --> 01:19:59,169
regardless of what you see
on the internet of anything,

1652
01:19:59,253 --> 01:20:00,963
just, like,
we're now all grownups.

1653
01:20:01,088 --> 01:20:03,299
We're nostalgically
looking at this guy like, "Yes.

1654
01:20:03,382 --> 01:20:05,759
This is‐‐when I was six,
this is the guy I was watching.

1655
01:20:05,843 --> 01:20:08,304
I'm so happy he's back."

1656
01:20:08,387 --> 01:20:10,889
‐ From the moment he ran on
to WWE television

1657
01:20:11,015 --> 01:20:13,809
till he, you know,
took the belt from Hogan,

1658
01:20:13,934 --> 01:20:16,020
hold that up against
any wrestler

1659
01:20:16,145 --> 01:20:17,438
in the history of wrestling.

1660
01:20:17,521 --> 01:20:19,189
That's what
we were celebrating.

1661
01:20:19,273 --> 01:20:21,859
I mean, I was there on Monday
Night Raw, when he came out.

1662
01:20:21,984 --> 01:20:25,487
And I've never been in a crowd
that felt like that.

1663
01:20:25,571 --> 01:20:27,948
♪ ♪

1664
01:20:28,032 --> 01:20:30,951
‐ There you go.
There's the Warrior.

1665
01:20:31,035 --> 01:20:35,247
[cheers and applause]

1666
01:20:35,331 --> 01:20:40,252
all: Warrior! Warrior! Warrior!
Warrior! Warrior!

1667
01:20:40,336 --> 01:20:41,920
‐ This is gonna be great.

1668
01:20:42,004 --> 01:20:47,634
[cheers and applause]

1669
01:20:47,760 --> 01:20:50,387
‐ Every man's heart one day

1670
01:20:50,471 --> 01:20:52,556
beats its final beat.

1671
01:20:52,639 --> 01:20:55,059
His lungs breathe
their final breath.

1672
01:20:55,184 --> 01:20:57,895
And if what that man
did in his life

1673
01:20:58,020 --> 01:21:00,981
makes the blood pulse
through the body of others,

1674
01:21:01,065 --> 01:21:03,776
it makes them believe deeper

1675
01:21:03,859 --> 01:21:06,320
in something than larger
than life,

1676
01:21:06,445 --> 01:21:11,825
then his essence, his spirit,
will be immortalized.

1677
01:21:11,909 --> 01:21:14,328
You. You. You.

1678
01:21:14,411 --> 01:21:19,041
You are the legend‐makers
of Ultimate Warrior.

1679
01:21:19,166 --> 01:21:21,126
[cheers and applause]

1680
01:21:21,210 --> 01:21:26,632
‐ Finally, Jim had understood
how it all worked then.

1681
01:21:26,673 --> 01:21:28,926
And that may be,
as far as I know,

1682
01:21:29,009 --> 01:21:31,720
about the only time he's ever
been peace with himself.

1683
01:21:31,845 --> 01:21:33,680
He so appreciated the honor,
and what have you.

1684
01:21:33,806 --> 01:21:35,599
And unfortunately, uh...

1685
01:21:35,682 --> 01:21:38,727
[solemn music]

1686
01:21:38,852 --> 01:21:40,646
A couple days later, he died.

1687
01:21:40,771 --> 01:21:47,945
♪ ♪

1688
01:21:52,866 --> 01:21:55,619
‐ Just, everything
felt so good.

1689
01:21:55,702 --> 01:21:58,956
My kids are so proud
of their dad.

1690
01:21:59,039 --> 01:22:02,876
We were gonna go to Arizona
and have spring break.

1691
01:22:03,001 --> 01:22:05,796
And we got on a plane
to go to Phoenix,

1692
01:22:05,921 --> 01:22:10,134
and we get to the hotel,
and he said,

1693
01:22:10,259 --> 01:22:12,177
"I don't‐I don't
feel‐I don't feel good."

1694
01:22:12,261 --> 01:22:13,804
I said, "I know, babe.
Neither do I.

1695
01:22:13,929 --> 01:22:15,806
Like, it's been
a‐‐this is hectic.

1696
01:22:15,931 --> 01:22:17,808
It's gonna be fine.
You just rest.

1697
01:22:17,933 --> 01:22:19,393
What do you need?
I'll go get it for you?"

1698
01:22:19,518 --> 01:22:21,562
Like, he's like, "No.
I don't feel good."

1699
01:22:21,687 --> 01:22:23,897
And he said, "I think I need
to go to the hospital."

1700
01:22:23,981 --> 01:22:28,610
And that's where I was like,
"Oh no."

1701
01:22:28,694 --> 01:22:31,196
♪ ♪

1702
01:22:31,280 --> 01:22:33,198
And I didn't‐‐I didn't want
the girls to come,

1703
01:22:33,323 --> 01:22:36,076
'cause I didn't want them
to be scared.

1704
01:22:36,201 --> 01:22:38,495
So, they were old enough
to lock the door.

1705
01:22:38,579 --> 01:22:42,833
♪ ♪

1706
01:22:42,916 --> 01:22:47,129
It was one second before
we were out the door.

1707
01:22:47,254 --> 01:22:48,630
♪ ♪

1708
01:22:48,714 --> 01:22:51,425
And he just...

1709
01:22:51,508 --> 01:22:52,509
[sighs]

1710
01:22:52,634 --> 01:22:57,556
Like‐‐like an oak tree.

1711
01:22:57,639 --> 01:22:59,641
[somber music]

1712
01:22:59,725 --> 01:23:01,894
And I couldn't catch him.

1713
01:23:02,019 --> 01:23:04,521
♪ ♪

1714
01:23:04,646 --> 01:23:08,150
So, we get to the hospital,
and they wheel him back there.

1715
01:23:08,275 --> 01:23:11,820
And they said,
"He didn't make it."

1716
01:23:11,945 --> 01:23:16,408
♪ ♪

1717
01:23:16,533 --> 01:23:21,246
And I also knew, like, I was
gonna have to tell my kids.

1718
01:23:21,330 --> 01:23:24,500
And I left them at the hotel,

1719
01:23:24,625 --> 01:23:28,170
at the last‐‐thinking
I was protecting them.

1720
01:23:28,295 --> 01:23:32,299
But then, did I rob them of
the last moment with their dad?

1721
01:23:32,382 --> 01:23:36,261
[sobbing]

1722
01:23:36,345 --> 01:23:43,268
♪ ♪

1723
01:23:45,187 --> 01:23:49,483
‐ What he built at home
was far greater

1724
01:23:49,566 --> 01:23:52,903
than anything
the Ultimate Warrior

1725
01:23:53,028 --> 01:23:57,908
achieved in front
of the television cameras.

1726
01:23:57,991 --> 01:23:59,993
That's the tragedy
of the man's life.

1727
01:24:00,077 --> 01:24:02,371
When he finally found the love

1728
01:24:02,496 --> 01:24:05,332
that he couldn't find
as a child,

1729
01:24:05,457 --> 01:24:08,585
and he had nothing
left to hate,

1730
01:24:08,669 --> 01:24:12,589
that's when his heart gave up.

1731
01:24:12,673 --> 01:24:13,840
‐ You know, I mean,
I can remember back

1732
01:24:13,966 --> 01:24:15,717
when I was a young kid,

1733
01:24:15,801 --> 01:24:17,427
being the kid in the wrong
place at the wrong time,

1734
01:24:17,511 --> 01:24:19,972
my dad leaving when I was 12,
13 years old,

1735
01:24:20,055 --> 01:24:21,640
having self‐doubts
about myself,

1736
01:24:21,765 --> 01:24:23,475
like any young kid does.

1737
01:24:23,600 --> 01:24:29,022
You create your own sort
of fantasy‐‐protector,

1738
01:24:29,106 --> 01:24:30,649
in a sense, you know?

1739
01:24:30,732 --> 01:24:32,484
The thing that you connect with
to make you strong,

1740
01:24:32,609 --> 01:24:38,657
to‐to get you through
the self‐doubts that you have.

1741
01:24:38,740 --> 01:24:42,494
‐ His daughters are definitely
his lasting legacy.

1742
01:24:42,536 --> 01:24:45,831
He was never more proud
of anything in his life

1743
01:24:45,914 --> 01:24:47,958
than his girls.

1744
01:24:48,041 --> 01:24:50,252
And he wanted
both of them‐‐which they do‐‐

1745
01:24:50,335 --> 01:24:52,963
to have that warrior spirit.

1746
01:24:53,046 --> 01:24:56,258
‐ There's nothing simple
about Jim Hellwig.

1747
01:24:56,341 --> 01:24:59,469
He was a flawed
and complicated human being,

1748
01:24:59,553 --> 01:25:02,389
who made some serious
mistakes in his life.

1749
01:25:02,514 --> 01:25:04,600
♪ ♪

1750
01:25:04,683 --> 01:25:07,352
But it's a human story.

1751
01:25:07,477 --> 01:25:08,979
‐ Having done Ultimate Warrior

1752
01:25:09,104 --> 01:25:11,189
as a sports entertainment
identity,

1753
01:25:11,315 --> 01:25:14,109
why I think the way I do,
it's built into us.

1754
01:25:14,192 --> 01:25:16,194
It's a part of our nature.

1755
01:25:16,320 --> 01:25:20,824
It's a part of our human nature
to grow.

1756
01:25:20,949 --> 01:25:22,826
[soft music]

1757
01:25:22,951 --> 01:25:24,953
‐ I think redemption
is a heavy burden

1758
01:25:25,037 --> 01:25:27,331
to place
on any one human being,

1759
01:25:27,456 --> 01:25:29,625
because we're all on a journey
to find out

1760
01:25:29,708 --> 01:25:34,129
who it is that we are.

1761
01:25:34,171 --> 01:25:36,548
I don't believe
that my husband's story

1762
01:25:36,632 --> 01:25:39,551
ends with his passing.

1763
01:25:39,676 --> 01:25:43,472
I believe that that spirit
of the warrior lives on

1764
01:25:43,597 --> 01:25:48,310
in each and every one of us
who decides to do better.

1765
01:25:48,435 --> 01:25:51,438
♪ ♪