From the Bowery: Warrior: Always Believe (DVD: Disc Three)

From the Bowery: Warrior: Always Believe (DVD: Disc Three)

-Last disc of the set and this one is nearly 3 hours worth of promos. The Rock didn’t even get a disc dedicated solely to his promos, so this is breaking new ground.

-WCCW first as he gets interviewed as they recap Sawyer and Matt Bourne turning on him in a 6 Man Tag to set off his face turn. Warrior promises revenge and basically about it.

-Short Warrior promo on Hercules to hype their WrestleMania IV Match: “Nightmares are the best part of my day.”

-Another short one that was probably shot right after last one as Warrior again hypes the Hercules match at Mania IV: “I live for anger and frustration.”

-Different background this time, but again Hercules is the target. Nothing exciting to this one.

-Same globe background as Warrior promises not to let his fans down and starting to get a little crazier now which is a good thing.

-I remember the next one as again we are with the globe background: “The Power of the Warrior is something you want to feel, you want to taste….” He closes by hyping more matches with Hercules.

-Something a little different this time as we get an in arena with Warrior. This is just after winning the IC Title from the Honky Tony Man at SummerSlam. Jimmy Hart interrupts and that leads to Honky attacking from behind with the guitar. I remember watching this as it happened as well.

-Now up to the era of guy’s having personalized backgrounds which I always loved as a kid. I spent many a days in grade school drawing pictures of each guy’s background. Warrior is the still IC Champ and he tells the Warriors to jump on his back and they will swim across the Atlantic if needed. Maybe a little too Hogan from Mania IV like there.

-Back to just a gray background and Warrior hypes a pose down with Rude. He talks about feeling an injection from the Gods and my best guess is whatever injections he received didn’t come from there.

-Personalized background again and Warrior is speaking to the Gods, and they told him he won’t feel weakness that others feel.

-Another promo on Rude as Warrior says he will get the IC Title back because Rude can’t handle the responsibility. He threatens Andre and outdoes Hogan by saying Andre is 10 feet and 15,000 pounds. Damn that is some high quality exaggerating.

-Okerlund gets honors of doing an in arena interview and Rude is still the focus. They hype the IC Title rematch at SummerSlam. Apparently the Warriors are attached to Warrior like the plague. How can you not love these promos?

-Warrior has the IC belt back and talks about a hypodermic needle and promises to become the 8th Wonder of the World.

-Okerlund again back inside the arena as this is before Survivor Series and Warrior’s team gets interviewed. The team is Warrior, The Rockers, and Neidhart. Warrior paces around as Shawn cuts a generic babyface promo showing how far the man came. Warrior compares Neidhart to a tank and The Rockers to stealth bombers while Andre is bringing nuts and bolts to the fight. Awesome!

-Yes! Brother Love Show and Warrior (still IC Champ) is his guest. This is just before the Royal Rumble so we are getting close to Warrior/Hogan showdown. We see Warrior getting his ass kicked by Bravo and Earthquake the week prior and Brother Love rubs it in his face. The blood that flows through Warrior represents the destiny of the Ultimate Warrior. Brother Love calls him crazy and Warrior then promises to win the Rumble.

-Now to the Hogan program and Warrior says Hogan has run interference on communication with the Warriors and the gods. Hogan apparently has a force field around him and Warrior now understands. He recaps the Rumble moment with Hogan and shit just gets crazy from there. He paints his face to give his Warriors more area to hang on and brings to Hogan The Ultimate Challenge.

-Warrior is introduced as the New WWF Champion to a crazed crowd and then he leaves without saying a word.

-More Brother Love as Warrior is wearing a teal WWF Title. Love brings up how Rude beat Warrior for the IC Title and will do the same for the WWF Title. Warrior will tear scar tissue and poison will drain and it will leave him with Ultimate Power. Warrior brings up a little girl and tells Brother Love that this is what love is all about. Apparently the girls name is Amanda Ultimate Warrior and she shows off her muscles before doing a cartwheel. No clue what that was all about, but the little girl totally stole the show.

-Hell Yeah! Love backstage taped promos like this as Warrior stands behind the old school blue bar cage and hypes the SummerSlam match with Rude. He says he will step into Rude’s normal world and will bring all his anger and frustration.

-More blue bar cage goodness and Warrior says he will walk in with visions of the unknown.

-Still more behind the blue bars as this Monday Night (forgot SummerSlam was on Monday Night) Warrior will stop Rude from taking his title. He knows nothing of dreams, but only knows of nightmares. He promises to leave as Champion and leave Rude with nightmares.

-Brother Love Show again and Queen Sherri gets introduced as Piper and McMahon laugh about what she is wearing. She threatens Warrior and calls him a common peasant. Warrior interrupts and to her credit, Sherri doesn’t back down as she wants Warrior to put the title on the line against Savage. Warrior tears up the contract and wants to know where Savage is. Sherri says he’s not there and Warrior says he is hiding behind Sherri’s skirt. Sherri slaps the taste out of his mouth and calls him a coward. Damn! Sherri was fantastic here as she slaps Warrior for a second time. Warrior destroys the set and leaves rather than put his hands on Sherri or Love.

-Brother Love is getting some major screen time on this set as he brings out Warrior. He claims Warrior is afraid of Savage, Sherri, and his own shadow. Love reminds him of Sherri slapping him in the face and Warrior brings a present. He gives Love a blonde wig and makes him put it on. Next he has him put on a dress and asks him if he can feel the love. That got rather disturbing! He closes by saying Savage can now hide behind the skirt of Sister Love.

-Warrior hypes the WWF Title Match with Slaughter at the Royal Rumble.

-Another promo on Slaughter with analogies to war.

-Sit down interview in the locker room with Okerlund as he talks about the pressure Warrior is under. He has Savage breathing down his neck and has to defend America’s honor at The Royal Rumble. Warrior will only accept total surrender.

-More Slaughter targeting with more war analogies.

-Now we get Sherri making a pubic challenge to Warrior at The Royal Rumble PPV. Sherri wants Warrior to agree to give Savage the next crack at the WWF Title if he beats Slaughter later. Warrior turns down her sexual advances even after Sherri plants a kiss on him and that sends her into a fit of rage. Big moment here as it set off Savage and led to him costing Warrior the WWF Title later that night.

-Warrior cuts a promo on Savage and promises to end his career.

-Iron plate background for this one as Warrior talks about having his head sewn with 15 stitches following the scepter shot and he again promises to pull the plug on Savage’s career.

-More iron plate background and this promo starts out same as the last one. Warrior says this match is more important than the WWF Title and he wants Savage to bring all his sickness and madness at Mania VII because it will be the last walk he ever takes to the ring.

-The run on Savage continues as Warrior says a piece of crystal is lodged in his head and sewed in with 15 sutures. If Savage wants the piece back he needs to take it.

-Back to the arena interviews as we are still hyping Mania VII with 2 weeks to go before the big show. He says Savage will still breath, but he will no longer rule. They also hint at the impending Undertaker feud as Okerlund mentions Paul Bearer and Taker have promised to sprinkle Warrior’s ashes. Warrior tells them to get a double plot: one for Savage and one for themselves.

-Another one on the Savage train to hype Mania: A more subdued Warrior in this one which shows he is getting serious with this match the closer it gets.

-Now onto the Taker feud and again reigning things in a bit with the screaming.

-Skip all the way to 1992 and Warrior says he heard the voice of Hulk Hogan and told him to head to WrestleMania VIII.

-Gene in the arena being flanked by a bunch of little kids painted like Warrior and I am just begging for a heel to show up to make one of the kids cry. They recap Warrior saving Hogan at Mania VIII and Warrior calls Hogan a great friend. He promises to make Sid pay an even higher price.

-Another one with Gene inside the arena and this is a rather famous one that freaked me out as a kid. Warrior cuts a promo on Papa Shango and then green fluid starts pouring out of his head and down his face. Warrior goes nuts and the reaction from the kids in the crowd is awesome as they look legit spooked. Great stuff!

-More Superstars interview time with Gene inside the arena. Now we are up to Savage/Warrior feud heading to SummerSlam 1992. Flair comes out to cut Warrior off and promises he is going to be WWF Champion again. He also drops the bombshell that Savage was on the phone with Perfect to have him in his corner. Flair was fantastic here! He tells Warrior it isn’t a done deal and Warrior can get in on the bidding. He notes Warrior has a house in Phoenix, so I guess we know where Parts Unknown is located now. Warrior says he will do anything and pay any price to win the WWF Title. All this was setting up the rumored Warrior heel turn that never came.

-Now Savage gets some interview time with Gene after losing the WWF Title to Flair at a house show in Hershey, PA. Savage says Razor Ramon and Flair are going to have to fight through Savage and through his friend The Ultimate Warrior. That brings Warrior out and they give each other gifts. Savage is awesome as he sells his damaged knee throughout the interview. They dub the team: The Ultimate Maniacs.

-The Ultimate Maniacs hype the Survivor Series tag match against Flair and Ramon that never happened. Great, crazy interview from both guys that made no real sense, but sounded awesome and threatening.

-Now we jump all the way to WCW and Warrior appears on Nitro at The United Center. This is a week after his debut and the crowd is pretty jacked to see him. Warrior puts Hogan over as the guy he tried to emulate and now he doesn’t see any of the virtues he remembers in Hogan’s eyes. Too many big words from Warrior here as the fans just want a crazy, coked out promo, but I kind of like that Warrior changed his style a little. Warrior wants to start a revolution of his own called One Warrior Nation.

-WCW again as the ring is filled up with smoke and as it leaves, The Disciple is out cold in the ring. The n.W.o come down to rescue his friend and we get more smoke and Disciple is gone. Warrior with his own version of the bat signal appears in the rafters and the crowd is loving all of this. Warrior hypes Halloween Havoc and promises they will all feel the power.

-We jump ahead again to last year’s WWE Hall of Fame. Linda McMahon gets the honors of inducting Warrior. She does a classy job as you would expect and you can tell it meant a lot to her. Warrior comes out with his daughters on his arms instead of a Diva like other inductees which is a great moment. Again, we all know Warrior had his issues and some have issue with his beliefs and words, but to his daughters he was a dad and to his wife he was a husband. Speaking of which Warrior thanks his wife first and then thanks his mom as we get to see what the mother of a Warrior looks like. We also find out Warrior had 2 brothers and sisters. Warrior tells his daughters that the most awesome thing he will ever do is be their father. A little levity as Warrior talks about how he thought he was watching a DDP Yoga infomercial. He says it is cool to see DDP is helping guys with their self destructing ways and that brings up the infamous DVD. He talks about how HHH said on the DVD that he only met Warrior for 5 minutes and knew he was an asshole. Warrior jokes that HHH must have learned a lot in those 5 minutes. Awesome! Naturally it was a joke all in good fun. The crowd chants for one more match and Warrior says they are being too kind and that another match won’t happen. He does promise bigger things will be coming though. Sad face! Warrior talks about his training with Sting (pop from the crowd). He goes through his career journey and gives a shout out to Ted Dibiase for stiffing him with clotheslines in the early days to test him. He thanks all the guys he worked with in WCCW and gets to how me arrived in the WWF. He thanks Jose Estrada for being the first guy he worked with and jokes he was blown up before the match started. He thanks Steve Lombardi and Terry Gibbs for dealing with him being green in working with them on a nightly basis. Warrior brings up how the DVD painted him as an asshole and that it broke his heart. You can tell in his voice that the DVD really did crush him. He mentions that a guy he had an all time classic match with said on the record that he was a good guy (didn’t say who it was but my best guess is Hogan because in one of the packages for Warrior leading up the HOF he did say Warrior is a good guy). Warrior thanks all the guys that did all the stuff behind the scenes and this is where he proposes the idea of having an award for the behind the scene guys that don’t always get credit. He jokes Vince will probably still be around come WrestleMania 75. He puts over Jimmy Miranda and thinks the award should be named after him to honor guys who work behind the scenes. Warrior then thanks the fans and calls them legendary. He thanks them for fighting for him for years and not letting them tear down the legacy of The Ultimate Warrior. The crowd starts a “Thank You Warrior” chant and he shouts back “no, no, no” and that leads to a “Yes” chant. Warrior jokes that just taught him something knew as he ha been out of the business way too long. Ha! He talks about how he and Sting survived even though they were greener than green because they were respectful. He then thanks Vince for giving him the chance to use his imagination and creativity. Thanking Vince at this event is usually forbidden, but more and more guys are starting to get away with it. He tells a story of Bad News Brown being frustrated with his pay and he felt Vince was going to get decked, but Vince was able to talk him down and make him feel good about what he was being paid. Warrior wanted to be prepared so he gave Vince a list of ideas in his first meeting and Vince liked the fact he was determined and preparing himself. Warrior talks about how the business has few legit tough guys so most get to play a tough guy and there is power in that. He singles out Cena for all his make a wish stuff he does and says he also knows Cena is an Ultimate Warrior mark. Nice! He talks about Ray Lewis calling himself The Ultimate Warrior and how ESPN put a graphic up on Lewis in Ultimate Warrior gear. He says that pro-wrestlers don’t put football gear on, or baseball gear. It’s the other sports stars that want to be pro-wrestlers and live out the fantasy that they all get to do in playing tough guys and heroes. Next he talks about how guys used to make fun of him for blowing up during his entrance and then during the match itself. He loved being able to push his body past the limits and that is the one thing he misses the most. He remembers blowing up so bad that all he could hear was the beating of his heart. Things get real uncomfortable and sad as he says he would give up a few of his final years of life to get the chance to experience that feeling inside the ring again. Again sad face! Warrior seems to get a little emotional and takes a moment to gather his thoughts. He talks about how his gimmick is his while others are just like him and working their gimmick on social media. He wanted to use The Ultimate Warrior gimmick to inspire people in real life. He says that nobody ever said anything negative to his face and bottom line is that the DVD was wrong and it made his angry. Some in the crowd start a “shoot” chant, but not the place here. Warrior says he is going to be an ambassador for the company and can’t wait to start in that role. Sad! Warrior then pulls out a check from Vince and makes a joke about it bouncing. He says he was only 30 when he wrestled Hogan and he was just trying to do his job and he did a damn good job. Vince told him when he fired him in 91 that he was a legend in his own mind and now Warrior will always be a legend in the minds of fans around the world. Warrior says that the company will always be around and that the current stars will need to help the next generation. He says to the younger guys they need to realize their time in the business is short and they need to find something in the real world to sustain them after their run ends. Warrior then ends by thanking everyone and telling them to enjoy WrestleMania.

-The RAW after WrestleMania XXX is next and this is the now infamous speech Warrior gave to the crowd about how all men will breathe their last breath. So sad again as 24 hours later the man was gone!

7.5

The final score: review Good

The 411

Fun set overall with The Documentary portion being one of the best the WWE has ever done, and Warrior's untimely passing making it haunting to watch at times. There were no classic matches on Disc 2, but you can find those matches on earlier Warrior DVDs. The final disc was interesting with all promos, and nice feature to fill in some of the work done leading to the various feuds throughout his career. The documentary carries this set though!