Superstar Series: The Ultimate Warrior

good read

I had high hopes for this book. Warrior fans have long been starved of new product since he has been on bad terms with WWE for a number of years. Hence the DVD WWE released on him, called 'The Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior' which was a hatchet job to make Warrior look bad to modern fans. On paper, this book looked a great idea, documenting all the televised matched of his all too brief but explosive career. Shame then, this book just constantly buries the Ultimate one at regular opportunities. It just reinforces the propaganda from the Self Destruction DVD that 'He couldn't work', 'He had to be carried to have a decent match' 'His promos made no sense'. These cynical armchair critics posing as writers think they know what it takes to work a '5 star match' when neither has ever stepped in a ring, just laughable. They constantly bag on Warrior for regularly using the same spots and repertoire of moves, but most guys did back then. Hulk Hogan used the same moves every match, so did Jake The Snake and the rest. It didn't matter because they had huge personalities and were great at story telling. Some pearls from 'writer' James Dixon: 'He is exciting but he cant work for shit', He's sloppy, timing sucks, spots make no sense and he cant hit simple things'. Referring to a match between Ultimate Warrior and Hercules as the 'Blind leading the blind' the latter quote was completely stolen from the Self Destruction DVD, just really lazy journalism spoon fed by the WWE machine. More complements include 'Warrior uses a spinning toe hold, which is a jarring sight'. 'Warrior is trying bless him, but he doesn't quite get how to do this properly'. And i suppose James Dixon does?!! In truth, NO ONE would have got the rub to go over Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania if they couldn't work a match. If you lived through the WWF at the time, you would be aware Ultimate Warrior was as big as Hulk Hogan, The Rock and Stone Cold in his day and deserves much better than this. I implore you, if you are actually a Warrior fan do not buy this book, a complete waste of breath and life.

What a challenge these guys took on with this book! To attempt to list and describe every available match featuring the same guy whilst at the same time trying to keep the book fresh and entertaining was a tough ask.Fortunately these guys manage to pull it off. It's at times funny, at times opinionated but always honest retrospective look at some of the biggest matches of all time.If you are a fan of the ultimate warrior of late 80's or early 90's WWF you will love it. A fun trip down memory lane.