The Ultimate Warrior's standout career moments

When the Ultimate Warrior made his debut in 1987, no one could have predicted his ascension to the highest peaks of sports entertainment.

The former bodybuilder and would-be chiropractor turned to pro wrestling and never looked back. If you watched WWE in the late 80s, then you probably have memories of being seriously pumped whenever the Warrior ran to the ring and shook the ropes like a crazed animal. His over the top, larger than life persona was just perfect for the world of sports entertainment.

The Warrior may not be with us any longer, but he left a lot of great career moments for fans to treasure. Here are ten of the best.

#10 The Beginning: Powerteam USA

Jim Hellwig was invited by Rick Bassman to join a team of body-builders turned pro wrestlers while still attending college. The future warrior jumped at the chance and was quickly booked for matches with little training.

Unfortunately, Powerteam USA didn't last long, as the members were all still clumsy and inexperienced in the ring. Only Hellwig and Steve Borden would continue their career after this minor fiasco ended.

#9 Next evolution: The Freedom Fighters

Borden and Hellwig sans makeup as the Freedom Fighters

After the collapse of Powerteam USA, Steve Borden and Hellwig decided to continue to pursue wrestling careers. Getting in more experience and training, they formed a tag team meant to tap into the rampant patriotism--or was it nationalism?--of 1980s America and the Freedom Fighters were born.

The duo dropped their real names in favour of something more marketable. Borden became Flash while Hellwig became Justice. The Freedom Fighters didn't last long, but the tag team underwent another evolution.

#8 Birth of the facepaint: The Blade Runners

The Bladerunners. Borden remained Flash, but Justice became Rock.

Seeking new ways to get over with the always cynical wrestling fandom, the Freedom Fighters dropped their patriotic gimmick and decided to go heel. They became the Blade Runners, with edgy New Wave facepaint and evil personas.

The Blade Runners were created as a direct homage/rip off of the Road Warriors, who were arguably the most popular tag team of the era. The teams would never actually face each other, though Borden would later feud with the Road Warriors as Sting.

The tag team split up and went their separate ways, but without the bitterness that usually goes along with break ups and they remained friends until Warrior's death.

Rock/Justice was about to make another transformation...

#7 The Dingo Warrior

As the Dingo Warrior, Hellwig wrestled for as little as $50 a night.

While Steve Borden would join Jim Crockett productions and wrestle for the NWA, Hellwig went to WCCW. Upon seeing Hellwig's jacked up body, Ted Dibiase said he looked 'like a warrior.' Donning facepaint, Hellwig became the Dingo Warrior.

Looking at Dingo, you can see the touches that later became part of the Ultimate Warrior persona. He has the tassels, and the facepaint design is very similar.

The Dingo Warrior would capture tag team gold with Lance Von Erich, but then he made the biggest debut of all....

#6 The Debut of the Ultimate Warrior

When Hellwig signed with the WWE in 1987, Vince McMahon decided that he was nearly flawless, but required one tweak; He changed Hellwig's ring name from Dingo Warrior to the Ultimate Warrior.

The gimmick worked, and Warrior was a 'just add water' sensation. Hellwig would later claim that veterans like Greg Valentine tried to get him to change parts of his act. Allegedly, his running to the ring and shaking the ring ropes was considered 'weird' by his fellow wrestlers and would hurt both his and their careers.

Hellwig chose not to listen and had the backing of the WWE front office. He continued to dash to the ring and shake the ring ropes, and his metaphysical, meandering interviews are still considered classic entertainment nearly thirty years later.

But the Warrior was just getting started in WWE...

#5 Early Feud with Hercules Hernandez.

The Ultimate Warrior's first feud would be with another powerfully built man, Hercules Hernandez.

The feud started when Hernandez attacked warrior with his signature chain, which led to the two of them having a Chain Match. During the tug of war between the two titans, the chain snapped. Though both superstars were pulling on the chain at the same time, the announce team gave full credit to the Warrior for the destruction of the weapon.

Warrior would come out on top in the feud, and continue his climb up the card.

#4 Beating the Longest-reigning IC champion of all time.

After his scheduled opponent Brutus the Barber Beefcake was 'injured' by Outlaw Ron Bass, Honky Tonk Man found himself bereft of competition.

Saying that his fans deserved a chance to see him strut his stuff, Honky Tonk Man issued an open challenge to 'anyone in the back.'

Then the Ultimate Warrior's music hit, and Honky Tonk Man was full of regret. He shook his head and mouthed the words "NOT HIM! NOT HIM!"

The Ultimate Warrior would demolish Honky Tonk Man in under a minute, taking the Intercontinental title Honky had held for over a year in a squash that had the fans absolutely bonkers.

#3 Making history at Wrestlemania.

The Ultimate Warrior as double champion.

As Hulk Hogan felt a stronger and stronger pull toward an acting career, he was looking to wind down with wrestling. The only problem was he didn't have a clear successor. Macho Man Randy Savage was out of favour with WWE management, leaving only one true applicant for the position.

Ultimate Warrior was already the Intercontinental champion at the time, and his title match with Hogan was dubbed "the Ultimate Challenge." In the champion vs champion contest, Warrior came out victorious after a brutal slugfest that removed most of Hellwig's face paint.

Though he would be forced to vacate the IC title days later, for a brief period of time Ultimate Warrior was a double champion. In fact, he remains the only wrestler to ever hold both the IC strap and the world title at the same time.

#2 Hall of Fame induction.

Jim "Warrior" Hellwig at the HOF ceremony.

For years after he left the WWE, the Warrior and Vince McMahon were quite bitter toward each other.

The bitterness stemmed from an incident in which Warrior demanded equal pay to Hulk Hogan and threatened to no-show events if his demands weren't met. Initially, Vince caved in and even told Warrior how much he 'respected and admired' him.

However, as Warrior walked back to the locker room after his PPV contest, he was handed a letter detailing a suspension. While Warrior would work a few more dates for the WWE after, it led to a rift between the two men that lasted over a decade.

Eventually, time heals all wounds, and Vince offered Warrior a place in the WWE Hall of Fame as an olive branch. Hellwig accepted, and even signed a legends contract.

Sadly, this would be the penultimate highlight for the warrior...

#1 A Spine-tingling Swan Song.

The Ultimate Warrior's last television appearance.

After his induction into the HOF, Warrior would appear in a WWE ring for the first time in ten years.

During his speech, a clearly emotional Hellwig started to break down, until he donned a mask resembling his old face paint. Then he delivered an epic speech that ended up being tragically prophetic. Here is chilling, yet uplifting, quote from that interview;

"Every man's heart one day beats its final beat, his lungs breathe their final breath and if what that man did in his life makes the blood pulse through the body of others and makes them believe deeper in something larger than life, then his essence, his spirit will be immortalized."

The Ultimate Warrior would pass on just a day later, but his final words were prophetic; He indeed has been immortalized in the hearts of wrestling fans worldwide.

There you have it; ten of the Ultimate Warrior's top career moments!

Edited by anirudh.b