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Former wrestling booker and manager Dutch Mantell recently gave his reaction to Gunther's brutally honest opinion about WWE legend The Ultimate Warrior.
Gunther said on The Bump that Warrior was a "showman" who held the Intercontinental Championship during the title's "dark ages." The Austrian also claimed it was his responsibility to clean up the IC title's reputation and make people forget about the likes of Warrior.
Mantell managed Warrior in Memphis before the Hall of Famer joined WWE in 1987. On Story Time with Dutch Mantell, the 73-year-old said the controversial star failed to progress as a wrestler:
"I met the guy when he first started," Mantell stated. "But he never got much better, really (…) He didn't like wrestling. He was just miserable the whole time. He looked miserable. You'd say, 'How you doing?' He's always grumbling, so you imagine the guy if he was like 60 or 70 years old. He would be that old grouch that lives down the street who's never happy with anything." [28:44 – 29:45]
In 1990, Warrior defeated Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 6 to win the WWE Championship. Despite his success and popularity with fans, the former bodybuilder's WWE run is arguably best remembered for his alleged bad attitude behind the scenes.
Dutch Mantell agrees with WWE Intercontinental Champion Gunther
While today's top stars often compete in main events lasting 20+ minutes, that was not the case for The Ultimate Warrior.
Dutch Mantell believes Warrior's matches were so short because his cardio was not good enough to keep up with his opponents:
"I have to agree with Gunther. He's not a wrestler. He is a showman. He's a performer. But, actually, a short-time showman. None of his matches went more than 10 to 12 minutes, and that's a stretch because at that time he would be blown up, breathing heavy, because his cardio wasn't good." [30:21 – 30:42]
In 2014, Warrior passed away at the age of 54 after suffering a heart attack. Three days earlier, he received his Hall of Fame induction.
What are your thoughts on The Ultimate Warrior? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Story Time with Dutch Mantell and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
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