The Ultimate Warrior

Warrior was born in 1959 as James Brian Hellwig, in Crawfordsville, Indiana, about 50 miles northwest of Indianapolis. He was the oldest of five children and was raised by his mother (along with, later, his stepfather) after his father left his family when he was 12. His father died at 57 and a grandfather died at 52. The family moved and he graduated from Veedersburg's Fountain Central High School and attended Indiana State University for a year.

Warrior married Shari Lynn Tyree on October 2, 1982. They remained together for the majority of Warrior's WWF career before divorcing on March 22, 1991, two days before WrestleMania VII. Warrior married for the second time to Dana Viale on January 31, 1999. They had two daughters, Indiana (2000) and Mattigan (December 16, 2002).

Prior to his career in professional wrestling Hellwig was an amateur bodybuilder, competing in a number of NPC contests and winning the 1984 NPC Mr. Georgia crown. Hellwig started training with weights when he was 11 years old and described himself as "the small, insecure kid who wasn't into any sports". He moved to California where, after seeing bodybuilder Robby Robinson, he decided to take up the sport. His first contest took place in Florida, where he placed 5th. Later, while he was attending Life University in Marietta, Georgia, he won the Junior Atlanta contest and placed 5th at the 1981 AAU Collegiate Mr. America. In 1983, he won the AAU Coastal USA, before taking the Mr. Georgia title the following year. His last bodybuilding contest was 1985's Junior USAs, which was won by future IFBB Pro, Ron Love. Hellwig finished 5th.

In 1985, after spending six weeks in California training for a bodybuilding contest, he was invited to join a group of bodybuilders – Garland Donoho, Mark Miller, and Steve Borden – to form a professional wrestling team. Warrior accepted the invitation and abandoned his bodybuilding career as well as his plans to become a chiropractor.

Later, they wrestled as The Blade Runners for the Mid-South Wrestling promotion, which became the Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) in 1986; Hellwig was "Blade Runner Rock" and Borden was "Blade Runner Sting". According to Joseph Laurinaitis (aka Road Warrior Animal), UWF owner Bill Watts created the Blade Runners and the intent was to make them a parody of The Road Warriors. They were part of Eddie Gilbert's Hotstuff International group, before disbanding in 1986 when Hellwig left the UWF.

In 1986, Warrior debuted in the Dallas, Texas-based World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) promotion, where he wrestled for $50 a night. He has stated that he adopted the ring name "Dingo Warrior" after a member of the WCCW locker room remarked that he looked like "a warrior". This stood in contrast with a claim made by Road Warrior Animal, who stated that the Dingo Warrior was a recreation of Warrior's Blade Runner gimmick and was an attempt to present himself as an offspring of The Road Warriors.

Initially, Warrior was still a heel in the territory, managed by Gary Hart, although he was cheered during a heel versus heel feud with WCWA World Heavyweight Champion Rick Rude after the two fell out during a tag match. After switching managers to Percival Pringle III, Warrior turned babyface permanently after a falling out with fellow Pringle proteges Buzz Sawyer and Matt Borne after a six-man tag match. Warrior formed a tag team with Lance Von Erich, and the duo began competing for the WCWA World Tag Team Championship. On November 17, 1986, Warrior and Von Erich defeated Master Gee (substituting for champion Buzz Sawyer) and Matt Borne to win the title. They held the Championship until December 1 of that year, when they lost to Al Madril and Brian Adias.

In 1987, Warrior began competing for the WCWA Texas Heavyweight Championship, losing to Bob Bradley in a tournament final on January 12. He won the title from Bradley on February 2 of that year. The title was held up in April 1987 after Warrior left the WCCW. He was reinstated as champion upon returning, but vacated it once more upon resigning from WCCW to join the World Wrestling Federation, where he adopted the ring name The Ultimate Warrior. Warrior began appearing on house shows in June and was initially billed as The Dingo Warrior in house card promos by Gene Okerlund, but soon had his name modified. There is a dispute over who created the full Ultimate Warrior name. Bruce Prichard stated that Vince McMahon did not know what a "Dingo" Warrior was, but because there was the "Modern Day Warrior" Kerry von Erich and The Road Warriors there should not be one more simple warrior, but the ultimate warrior. Warrior claims after one of his first matches, McMahon had him do a pretaped promo. It was there Vince said we want you to do Warrior, but we don't want Dingo. The Warrior then proceeded to cut the promo and stated that he was not this warrior or that warrior, he was The Ultimate Warrior.

Between 1987 and 1989, he appeared in several TV ads for Westway Ford, a car dealership in Irving, Texas. Warrior interacted in full wrestling costume with Westway's wacky character, "Mean Joe Greed."

Hellwig joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in June 1987. First competing on house shows under his Dingo Warrior moniker, he defeated a series of jobbers, including Steve Lombardi, Barry Horowitz and Mike Sharpe. He made his television debut as The Ultimate Warrior on the October 25 episode of Wrestling Challenge, where he defeated another jobber, Terry Gibbs. The Ultimate Warrior became known for his high-energy ring entrances, which featured him racing into the arena at full speed, bursting into the ring, and violently shaking the ropes up and down. He was also known for his distinctive pattern of face paint. After several months of defeating jobbers, he was pinned for the first time in the WWF by fellow WWF rookie/future rival Rick Rude on December 28, 1987. In early 1988, Warrior entered into his first real WWF feud with fellow strongman Hercules Hernandez. The two faced off on the February 7, 1988 airing of Wrestling Challenge, where Hercules was disqualified for using his steel chain. Warrior then grabbed a hold of the chain and in the midst of a tug of war over it, the chain snapped. This led to a match at WrestleMania IV, where Warrior was victorious in his pay-per-view debut. Warrior lost twice by pinfall shortly thereafter: cleanly to André the Giant in April in Italy, and to Dino Bravo, who put his feet on the ropes for leverage, in Montreal in June. In the summer of 1988, he wrestled Bobby Heenan in a series of weasel suit matches, in which Warrior won by sleeper hold.

Less than a year after his WWF television debut, Warrior, a surprise substitute for the injured Brutus Beefcake, won the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship, defeating The Honky Tonk Man in a 27-second squash match at the inaugural SummerSlam on August 29, 1988, and ending Honky Tonk's long reign at 454 days. As champion, he captained a team at Survivor Series '88, where he was the sole survivor, pinning Outlaw Ron Bass and Greg Valentine in succession to win the match for his team.

As 1989 began, Warrior entered a feud with Rick Rude over the Intercontinental title. The feud was sparked at the 1989 Royal Rumble, where the two met in a "super posedown". After Warrior drew the support of the live crowd in their judging of the contest, Rude attacked Warrior and choked him with a steel bar. This led to a championship match at WrestleMania V, where Rude pinned Warrior to win the title with the help of his manager Bobby Heenan, who held down Warrior's foot from outside the ring as he was being pinned. At SummerSlam, Warrior defeated Rude to regain the title and become a two-time Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion. Warrior then began a feud with André the Giant, leading to a number of house shows in which Warrior defeated Andre in short squash matches, establishing Warrior as a main event level talent. The feud culminated at Survivor Series where the two captained opposing teams. Warrior eliminated André by knocking him out of the ring, where he was counted out. Warrior was again the sole survivor, pinning Arn Anderson and Bobby Heenan to win the match.

In January 1991, Warrior faced Sgt. Slaughter at the Royal Rumble. Slaughter's gimmick at the time was a traitor who had betrayed America by aligning himself with an Iraqi (kayfabe) military general, General Adnan. In the context of the Gulf War, this made Slaughter one of the most hated heels at the time. After rejecting an earlier request to grant a title shot to Savage, Sensational Sherri interjected herself in the Warrior's championship match to distract him. Her interference eventually led to a Savage sneak attack, where he struck Warrior over the head with a metal scepter and allowed Slaughter to pin Warrior to win the title. Warrior went on to feud with Savage, and the rivalry culminated in a "Career-Ending" match at WrestleMania VII which Warrior won, forcing Savage to retire.

On July 10, 1991, Warrior sent a letter to Vince McMahon requesting inclusions in his new WWF contract. He wanted $550,000 for performing at WrestleMania VII, a guaranteed number of working days, travel accommodations and a higher percentage of merchandise sales. He remarked that $550,000 "was fair", and that "[Warrior] meant as much or more to the show than Hulk [Hogan]". He ended his letter with "Whatever your decision, I can and will live with it. Till then I remain home with one who cares".

Upon receiving the letter, Warrior refused the suspension and left the WWF. Warrior formally sent a letter of resignation to the WWF in October 1991. The WWF refused to accept the letter since Warrior was under contract until September 1992.

With Hulk Hogan about to leave WWF between mid-1992 and early-1993, McMahon contacted Warrior about returning. He made his comeback at WrestleMania VIII (to rescue Hulk Hogan from a beat down at the hands of Sid Justice and Papa Shango). Upon his return, he received a degree of creative control over his bookings. One storyline involved Papa Shango, a "witch doctor", casting a spell over Warrior, causing him to convulse and vomit in very odd colors, though Warrior says he hated that story and had no control over it. The Warrior was booked for a WWF World Heavyweight Championship match against then-champion, "Macho Man" Randy Savage at SummerSlam in August 1992. The Warrior won the match by count-out, but not the title. In November 1992, Warrior was scheduled to team with Savage (as The Ultimate Maniacs) to face Ric Flair and Razor Ramon at Survivor Series. Weeks before the event, Warrior was released for disputed reasons and replaced by Mr. Perfect.

The initial plan for Warrior's 1992 return was to eventually give him another run with the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. However, his return coincided with the government's crackdown on steroids in wrestling. Warrior was admittedly a heavy user of steroids during his professional wrestling career. In his book Sex, Lies and Headlocks, ESPN writer Shaun Assael stated that Canadian chemist Mauro Di Pasquale, who had been hired in June to monitor the WWF's new drug testing program and was known for being tough towards anyone who failed a drug test, nailed Warrior for steroid use in September and was able to successfully persuade McMahon, who was under federal scrutiny at the time for allegations of illegally supplying steroids to some of his wrestlers, to release Warrior from the company. However, in the Warrior: The Ultimate Legend documentary Vince McMahon claims that it was Warrior's experimenting with growth hormone which led to his departure; Warrior was suspended and, in return, skipped dates as he took offense to McMahon's actions. Warrior left the company on November 21, 1992.

Between November 1992 and July 1995, Warrior was semi-retired. During his time away from the WWF, Warrior opened the short-lived "Warrior University", a professional wrestling school based in Scottsdale, Arizona.

In January 1993, he wrestled as the Dingo Warrior he defeated Hercules Hernandez in Billerica, Massachusetts, for Killer Kowalski's International Wrestling Federation.

In April 1993, he toured Europe for World Wrestlings Superstars in Germany and that same year he also played the role of "the swordsman" in the action movie Firepower.

In 1993, Hellwig legally changed his name to the mononym Warrior. This one-word name appears on all legal documents pertaining to Warrior, and his children carry the Warrior name as their legal surname.

On July 22, 1995, he returned to the ring for the National Wrestling Conference (NWC) promotion in Las Vegas, defeating The Honky Tonk Man. He had also wrestled a tour of Europe for Otto Wanz's Catch Wrestling Association (CWA) promotion.

On February 10, 1996, he defeated Jimmy Garvin in an independent show in Princeton, West Virginia.

Warrior returned to the WWF on March 31, 1996, defeating Hunter Hearst Helmsley at WrestleMania XII. He made his first appearance on Monday Night Raw on April 8, where he gave an in-ring interview and credited the "voices" of the "warriors" (his name for members of the WWF audience) for his return; he was then interrupted by Goldust. Warrior challenged for Goldust's Intercontinental Championship at In Your House 7; Warrior won the match by countout, but did not win the title. The following night on Monday Night Raw, Warrior defeated Isaac Yankem, DDS. A rematch with Intercontinental Champion Goldust, on the May 27 episode of the show, ended in a double countout, thus eliminating both men from the tournament and eventually giving Vader a bye into the semi-finals. Warrior defeated Jerry Lawler at King of the Ring, and defeated Owen Hart by disqualification on the July 8 episode of Monday Night Raw.

Warrior and the WWF engaged in a series of lawsuits and legal actions in 1996 and 1998, where both parties sought a declaration that they owned the characters, Warrior and Ultimate Warrior, under both contract and copyright law. The court ruled that Warrior was legally entitled to use the gimmick, costuming, face paint designs, and mannerisms of the "Warrior" character.

In 1996, Warrior published a comic book titled Warrior, featuring himself as the main character. The series was co-written with Jim Callahan and illustrated by the Sharp Brothers.

WCW signed Warrior "at great expense" in May 1998. He formed a stable opposing Hollywood Hulk Hogan's New World Order (nWo): the "One Warrior Nation" using the initialism oWn as a play on the name nWo. Highlights of the storyline included Warrior kidnapping and "converting" The Disciple and frequent instances of "magic smoke" knocking out all of the nWo members except for Hollywood Hogan and covering Warrior's movement through a trapdoor in the ring. The trapdoor was responsible for nearly paralyzing Davey Boy Smith, when he awkwardly fell on it during a match at Fall Brawl 98.

After retiring in 1998, Warrior only wrestled one match after that in 2008, against Orlando Jordan in Barcelona, Spain. Warrior won the match and thus the Nu-Wrestling Evolution World Heavyweight Championship, but then immediately vacated the title.

Warrior formally retired from wrestling in 1999 and had a short-lived career as a conservative speaker and commentator, partnering with conservative spokesman Daniel Pinheiro, denouncing left-wing politics. In one instance, he mentioned that "queering doesn't make the world work" during a speech at the University of Connecticut. Warrior explained those comments on his website as meaning that the human race would die out if everyone were a homosexual.

During his April 2014 Hall of Fame speech shortly before his death, Warrior proposed that the "Jimmy Miranda Award" should be created to honour WWE's behind-the-scenes employees. Miranda, who died in 2002, was part of the WWE merchandise department for more than 20 years.

On September 27, 2005, WWE released a DVD documentary focusing on Warrior's wrestling career, titled The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior. The DVD featured clips of his more notable feuds and matches along with commentary from WWE stars past and present (most of which are unflattering), with Triple H (by this point one of WWE's top main eventers and the husband of Vince McMahon's daughter Stephanie McMahon) adding that his WrestleMania debut loss against Warrior at WrestleMania XII left him with mixed emotions, saying that Warrior "ruined the experience" for him and was "one of the most unprofessional guys" he's ever performed with. The DVD has provoked some controversy due to Warrior's own allegations of libel by WWE against him. Originally, Warrior was asked to help with the production of the DVD, but as he refused to work with WWE (citing he did not want to be associated with their promotion), there had been some resulting animosity between Warrior and WWE over the Warrior claiming bias on the part of WWE. In January 2006, Warrior filed another lawsuit against WWE in an Arizona court over the depiction of his wrestling career in The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior DVD. On September 18, 2009, Warrior's lawsuit in Arizona was dismissed.

Warrior appeared in the Mattel Legends figures line in both Series 4 and Series 6. He was also chosen as one of six legends to be included in the Defining Moments series of action figures. Most recently he was one of a number of figures in the WWE Superstars line of Mattel action figures in an assortment called "World Champions". Warrior further appears as a playable character in WWE All Stars, WWE Legends of WrestleMania, WWE 2K14, WWE 2K15, WWE 2K16, WWE 2K17, WWE 2K18, WWE 2K19, and WWE 2K20. In WWE All Stars, in which Ultimate Warrior appears as one of the "Legends", WWE stated that he was the "ultimate archetype of strength and intensity", and further stated that "without question, the Ultimate Warrior has etched his name in the pantheon of WWE greats". In 2005, WWE released The Self-Destruction of The Ultimate Warrior DVD, which portrayed Warrior in a negative light. Warrior claimed that if WWE wanted to induct him into the WWE Hall of Fame they would have "to tell the right story" opposite of the one depicted in the 2005 DVD. WWE released Ultimate Warrior: The Ultimate Collection, a 3-DVD, 540 minute-compilation of matches and stories, which portrayed Warrior far more positively, on April 1, 2014. Warrior was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 5, 2014, the night before WrestleMania XXX.

Although Warrior's relationship with WWE was strained at times, more recently WWE has recognized him as one of the legends of the company. WWE described him as being "As devastating and intense as any Superstar who stepped through the ropes...", further saying that "The Ultimate Warrior may be the most enigmatic man to ever hold the WWE Championship." In 2011, WWE called him "one of the most recognizable" wrestlers in WWE history, praising his ability to draw power from "the WWE Universe", and further spoke of his impact as having "brought Hulkamania to its knees" at WrestleMania VI, "retired the Madness at WrestleMania VII and press slammed a slew of the greatest legends of his era".

Warrior maintained a blog on his personal website titled "Warrior's Machete", where he discussed his personal life, his personal views on politics, sexuality, patriotism, and his legacy as a wrestler, amongst other topics. There were numerous instances where Warrior used his blog to address his viewpoint on members of his wrestling past (Vince McMahon, Road Warrior Animal, The British Bulldog, Owen Hart, Hulk Hogan, Lex Luger); historical (Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington) or religious figures (Jesus). Warrior depicted celebrities who were newsworthy at the time of his blog (Heath Ledger and Paris Hilton). Warrior occasionally referenced his respect for the Founding Fathers of the United States, and also enjoyed books like Homer's Odyssey and James Allen's As a Man Thinketh. In 2012, he started selling "Weapons of Wisdom", inspirational 6×9 pieces of watercolor paper with drawings, quotes, and doodles on them by the Warrior himself. He also used the blog to post replies to letters from fans.

On February 20, 2013, Warrior confirmed on his official YouTube channel that he would appear at “WrestleCon” on April 7, 2013. In the same clip he spoke positively about Vince McMahon for the first time on his channel. His appearance was so popular that a second print run of tickets had to be ordered.

On July 15, 2013, Warrior was featured in a WWE 2K14 game trailer and revealed he was in the roster as a pre-order bonus.

On April 5, 2014, The Ultimate Warrior was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2014. The next day, Warrior appeared at WrestleMania XXX, and the following night delivered a promo on Raw, his first appearance on the show since his final WWF TV match in 1996. During what turned out to be his final public appearance, Warrior gave a speech to the fans and wrestlers past and present as his Ultimate Warrior character.

Warrior died on April 8, 2014, in Scottsdale, Arizona. He had been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 5, appeared at WrestleMania XXX on April 6, and made his first Raw appearance in almost 18 years on April 7, the day before his death. According to reports, Warrior clutched his chest and collapsed at 5:50 p.m. while walking to his car with his wife outside of their hotel in Arizona. He was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead at age 54. Warrior's colleagues said Warrior appeared frail during WrestleMania weekend, and said that he was sweating profusely and breathing heavily backstage.

Warrior was awarded a posthumous Slammy Award for Return of the Year in December 2014. A WWE-sponsored biography, entitled Ultimate Warrior: A Life Lived Forever: The Legend of a WWE Hero, was released in 2015.

In 2015, WWE introduced the Warrior Award for those who have "exhibited unwavering strength and perseverance, and who lives life with the courage and compassion that embodies the indomitable spirit of the Ultimate Warrior." Former WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts expressed disappointment at how WWE used portions of Warrior's Hall of Fame speech to promote the award, but left out Warrior's intentions of honoring WWE's off-screen employees. WWE responded, "It is offensive to suggest that WWE and its executives had anything but altruistic intentions in honouring Connor and his legacy with the Warrior Award", adding that "moving forward the award will be given annually to acknowledge other unsung heroes among WWE's employees and fans." As Of 2019, Sue Aitchison would be the first WWE employee to be given the warrior award.

In 2017, WWE started promoting the "Unleash Your Warrior" breast cancer awareness campaign in partnership with the Susan G. Komen Foundation, where Warrior's likeness was promoted on television by WWE wrestlers and breast cancer survivors. WWE has been criticized for using Warrior as the inspirational "emblem" of the campaign. Pro Wrestling Torch described Warrior in real-life having made public "vile, bigoted, hateful, judgmental comments about a cancer victim, Hurricane Katrina victims, homosexual people, a woman defending a gay man, and even Martin Luther King Jr." For example, when Bobby Heenan contracted cancer, Warrior said, "Karma is just a beautiful thing to behold." Vice wrote that "completely whitewashing his past and elevating his likeness to a bland symbol of corporate altruism is shockingly tone-deaf, especially for a company that's at least outwardly trying to appear progressive, inclusive and diverse". In response, WWE said that the Unleash Your Warrior campaign and the Warrior Award "recognize individuals that exhibit the strength and courage of WWE's legendary character The Ultimate Warrior. Any attempt to distract from the mission of these initiatives and take the spotlight away from the honorees is unfortunately misguided."