forgive the long post, but as a lifelong wrestling nerd, I thought i'd share my
feelings on Warrior passing:
Sometimes being a wrestling fan is hard. Wrestlers are like comic book characters - larger than life personalities in colorful costumes locked in the eternal struggle between good and evil, fighting for the entertainment of their fans.
Being a comic geek, I come to expect heroes and villains to die on the
printed page, then come back within the next year to boost sales. When a
wrestler dies, they don't get to be written back into existence. They
don't just leave behind their fans, they leave behind real friends and
family who have to deal with their loss like the rest of us do when we
lose someone we love. I'm guilty of being one of those "Oh, that guy
died? That sucks. I remember when he had that feud with so-and-so. Oh
well, happens to all of us eventually." guys.
This one feels WAY more tragic though, not because of the notoriety of
Ultimate Warrior, but because over the last few days he retook center
stage of fans' attention. A man we hadn't seen on TV in YEARS was making
a heartfelt (if rambling) speech to an arena full of chanting fans at
the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on Saturday night while we were all introduced to his mother, his wife, and his two young daughters. He appeared at
Wrestlemania Sunday night in front of a stadium packed with 75,000
people cheering for him. Monday night he was on Raw for the
first time in almost 20 years to make another speech, thanking the fans
for their support, doing his classic Warrior snarl and shaking the rings
ropes like he used to, telling everybody their childhood hero would
live forever in the hearts and minds of the fans. Then last night, he
just dropped dead. Some people say he knew it was going to happen and
this was his chance to say his final goodbyes in a 3 day tour de force
befitting of his legacy as a performer, while putting his infamous
behind-the-scenes conflicts to rest. That he wanted to make his peace
with everyone, tell his side of the story, and show his appreciation to
his supports before he left on his rocket ship and returned to his home
on the dark side of the moon... that last bit was for the fans.
I'm happy if Jim Hellwig was able to die with happiness and love and peace
in his heart. Most of all, after he introduced us to his beautiful
family, they're the ones I truly feel sad for. While we lost our
Superman, they lost their Clark Kent - their son, their husband, their
father. Thank you and goodbye, Warrior. Rest In Destrucity. One Warrior
Nation.
He comes back and buries the hatchet with Vince, Hogan, Jake, Nash etc.
He thanked his mother for giving him the work ethic that made him the man he was.
He declared his love to his wife and told his two beautiful daughters the most awesome thing he's ever done in his life was being their father.
He goes out on RAW and delivers the deepest speech in wrestling that there will ever be.
He dies a Warrior.
