"They were worse than horrible" - Dutch Mantell criticizes two WWE Hall of Famers

Dutch Mantell recently recalled how Sting and The Ultimate Warrior were “horrible” in-ring performers when they debuted in the wrestling business.

Mantell worked as a manager for the rookie wrestlers in Memphis in the mid-1980s. Going by the name The Freedom Fighters, Flash (later known as Sting) and Justice (later known as Warrior) both possessed impressive physiques. However, they had hardly any wrestling experience at the time.

Speaking to WSI’s James Romero, Mantell said the WWE Hall of Famers should have been paying customers and not part of the show:

“I managed them for, I don’t know, three, four, five weeks or something. They were horrible. They weren’t that good… they were worse than horrible. Horrible would have been an upgrade… They should have still been buying a ticket, actually. They were still basically fans.” [0:09-1:09]

Sting and Warrior went on to change their name from The Freedom Fighters to The Blade Runners before embarking on successful singles careers. While Sting made his name in WCW, Warrior became one of WWE’s star attractions in the late 1980s.

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Why Dutch Mantell disliked Sting and The Ultimate Warrior’s debut

In the 1980s, wrestlers’ body types were often considered to be more important than their in-ring skills. For that reason, the likes of Sting and The Ultimate Warrior were given opportunities in wrestling before they were ready.

Dutch Mantell explained that both men struggled to last an entire match due to their poor conditioning:

“They couldn’t go 10 minutes in a single match. They would just be huffing and puffing. I mean, they looked great when they put their muscles up like this [flexes muscles], but if they had to do any kind of cardio work they couldn’t do it. That’s when you would get hurt.” [4:20-4:38]

According to Mantell, wrestlers disliked Sting and Warrior due to their lack of socializing behind the scenes. He added that Warrior also failed to endear himself to others due to his reckless in-ring style.

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