Ultimate Warrior's Passing

[A Ghost in the Wind]

As mentioned here, The Ultimate Warrior has passed away. What are your thoughts?

[Eira]

I remember getting into watching wrestling. I was just a wee thing, maybe 5 years old, and my Dad was watching it. At first I was scared and upset that the people were hurting each other... then he explained that most of the hurt wasn't real, and they were acting, too. He even showed me how some of the moves worked on screen, and showed me to watch for their feet stomping the mat to make the noises and that kind of thing.

That became Our Thing.

For all but the last five years or so of my life, I've had an exceptionally difficult relationship with my father, exactly none of which I'll go into now being as this is neither the time nor the place. But wrestling, WWF (as it was Back In The Day) was the one thing that was actual Dad/Daughter time. The Ultimate Warrior was always one of my FAVORITES. I always liked Andre the Giant because he was so big, and seemed so ... gentle? Odd to say, being as he was bodily flinging men larger than my Dad around, but he still had that gentle giant vibe to him. Rowdy Roddy Piper was one of my favorites, I don't remember why, I might have just liked the kilt. Hulk Hogan was The Good Guy, so of course I liked him.

But the Ultimate Warrior... he was my favorite. I once got into The Biggest Trouble Ever for cutting up a couple of t-shirts, and tying the strips to rubber bands... then running around the house like a maniac with my own homemade Warrior tassles going on. He was just on TV the other night. Live. Two small daughters standing by his side, and telling the entire WORLD how honored he was to be in the Hall of Fame, and telling those little humans at his side that THEY were the most important thing he's ever been a part of.

And now he's gone.

When Murdoc told me over IM, I immediately googled it to see if I could find somewhere, ANYWHERE telling me that it was a hoax. It took a few minutes to sink in, and I felt like I'd been punched in the chest. I guess it doesn't mean something to some people, or even a lot of people. I'm one of the oldest people here, and I can definitely kinda get that he wasn't as big a thing to a lot of the younger members of the roster.

Like a magnified version of the Undertaker's streak being broken, it's like another part of my childhood has been closed away quietly. In this case, it's a part that is one of the only happy memories I have of time spent with my father.

I think everyone is sad to at least some degree when one of their childhood heroes passes away. The Ultimate Warrior was one of mine.

[Murdoc]

Well we all know NOW that the Thunder is when the Ultimate Warrior's tassles are tied too tight and he runs around spouting gibberish at the heavenly host. God Speed, Warrior.