5 real-life rivals Vince McMahon welcomed back to WWE with open arms

#4 The Ultimate Warrior

The Ultimate Warrior and Vince McMahon had real-life heat

Vince McMahon once saw The Ultimate Warrior as Hulk Hogan's replacement to become the face of the company and it led to Warrior defeating Hogan at WrestleMania 6. Warrior's backstage issues with Vince prevented that from happening.

He was suspended by WWE immediately after the SummerSlam 1991 event, the reason being that he held Vince McMahon for money before the main event of the night. It was later revealed that Warrior had made these demands several weeks before the event and Vince had actually agreed to the same.

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Warrior was brought back soon after by Vince for a short-lived stint. He came back to WWE in 1996 and defeated Triple H in a squash match at WrestleMania 12.

This run was marred by backstage controversies as well. WWE produced a DVD specifically to slam Warrior years later. Titled "The Self Destruction of The Ultimate Warrior", the DVD saw Vince and several other WWE personnel bashing the former WWE Superstar.

Vince pays tribute to the fallen legend:

Ultimately, the two men managed to forget their differences, and Warrior was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2014, mere days before his untimely death. Vince was on the verge of tears while speaking about the WWE legend in a video that was posted on WWE's YouTube channel soon after.

About the author

Abhilash Mendhe is a pro wrestling journalist at Sportskeeda with nearly five years of experience. He completed his MBA from the Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management in 2016 and worked with multiple banking institutions, including Tech Mahindra. While he started writing WWE articles for Sportskeeda in 2019 as a hobby, it eventually became a significant part of his professional journey.

Abhilash checks his articles thrice before sending them to the editing team, ensuring his work is highly accurate and reliable.

He has interviewed prominent pro wrestling personalities like Noam Dar, Angry Miz Girl, Brendan Cobbina, and Jesse Lambert. Abhilash is a big fan of AEW star Orange Cassidy, as he believes the former International Champion’s on-screen gimmick of an extremely lazy guy resonates with him.

Given the opportunity to script WWE’s next big storyline, Abhilash would treat fans to the second installment of The Bloodline Civil War. He would book Roman Reigns to re-form The Bloodline with The Usos and Sami Zayn upon his comeback. The angle would see The Tribal Chief-led group go head-to-head with The Rock, Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, and Jacob Fatu in a blockbuster family feud.

When not reporting on pro wrestling, Abhilash likes to work out, go on walks, read, and explore new eateries.

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Edited by Zaid Khan