An Infamous Suspension: The Ultimate Warrior Holds Vince McMahon & WWE Ransom At SummerSlam 1991

On April 1, 1990, The Ultimate Warrior did something that nobody had done in close to nine years by scoring a clean pinfall victory over the most omnipotent force in professional wrestling, Hulk Hogan. The WrestleMania VI main event of The Ultimate Challenge was set to be a changing of the guard with Hogan passing the torch to Warrior, the wrestler six years Hogan’s junior. 

At SummerSlam 1990, The Ultimate Warrior would defend the WWF Championship against Rick Rude, marking the first world title match on any WWF pay-per-view that Hulk Hogan neither wrestled in, nor was at ringside for. With Hogan playing second fiddle in the main event slot, the plan was there for everyone to see of Warrior as WWF’s new top star. 

Just one year later at SummerSlam 1991, however, right after he had wrestled in the main event, The Ultimate Warrior was suspended by the World Wrestling Federation. It would be more than seven months before fans saw him again.

Issues In The WWF Main Event Scene

In the SummerSlam 1991 main event, The Ultimate Warrior teamed with his WrestleMania VI opponent in Hulk Hogan against the Triangle of Terror, an anti-American/pro-Iraqi Sgt. Slaughter and his two cohorts in General Adnan and Colonel Mustafa.

Putting aside the expected, "Can Hogan and Warrior co-exist?" melodrama, and the x-factor that was the debuting Sid Justice as special guest referee, the result of the match was hardly in doubt.

Dubbed The Match Made in Hell, the handicap contest shared co-billing with the storybook wedding of “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth as the contrasting Match Made in Heaven. Ultimately, SummerSlam 1991 was a night of positive blow-offs, where the babyfaces stood tall - the sort of feel-good show that closes one book before flipping open the cover of a new one. All was not so rosy within the WWF, however, particularly in the main event scene. 

By the time SummerSlam 1991 rolled around, Hulk Hogan was WWF Champion once more, having defeated Sgt. Slaughter at WrestleMania VII, with Slaughter having dethroned Warrior at the Royal Rumble. 

The torch passing from Hogan to Warrior didn't work out the way that the WWF had hoped. Business had taken a downturn with Warrior on top, and his lone reign as champion came to an end at Slaughter's hands, with a copious assist from a still-heel Savage.

There are different opinions about what went wrong with The Ultimate Warrior’s failure of a title reign. Some believe that a lack of well-built heel challengers diminished his prospects as defending champion. Others, like Bruce Prichard, felt that Warrior's character and presentation lacked the tangible humanity of Hogan, as while Hogan was over the top and larger than life, he could still kind of exist in the real world, unlike Warrior who spent his time raving about distant galaxies, forsaken skeletons, and the fallibility of false prophets.

While Warrior had relinquished his spot as a top star, he was still a vital piece of the WWF main event scene to the point he defeated Randy Savage in a Loser Must Retire Match at WrestleMania 7. 

There were also issues for Hulk Hogan. As the pieces were falling into place for the 1991 SummerSlam, Dr. George Zahorian, a Pennsylvania-based urologist, was convicted on eight counts of illegally distributing steroids and four counts of illegally distributing painkillers. It was through his nominal role as ringside physician for WWF events in the state that Zahorian could ply pro wrestlers with drugs, and for doing so, he was sentenced to three years in prison. 

Understandably, this cast more than a few sideways glances at the wrestling giant. Worse for the WWF, Hogan's name appeared in Zahorian's documents, and the indisputable face of American professional wrestling was subpoenaed to testify in the trial that summer. However, the judge later excused him from testifying, probably sparing the WWF potential embarrassment.

Yet, just weeks after Zahorian’s conviction, Hogan appeared on Arsenio Hall and claimed to have only taken steroids on three occasions, all under a doctor's care, and solely to rehab injuries. To have lied in such transparent fashion dealt a crushing blow to Hogan's public image.

The Ultimate Warrior’s Note

On July 10, 1991, the man then legally known as Jim Hellwig penned a letter to Vince McMahon expressing discontent and frustration, in particular when it came to money and his standing in the World Wrestling Federation. 

Warrior attested that his attempts to hash out his issues with McMahon previously had not yielded definitive answers and the former WWF Champion felt like he was being blown off by his boss. At one juncture, Warrior contended that he was as responsible for WrestleMania VII's success as Hogan was, and felt he wasn't being properly compensated for a performer of his value.

Amid the written venting, Warrior penned: "I paid my goddamn dues long ago. I need not pay anymore. I have given everything and never once was there a knock on my f*cking door."

Hellwig then laid out the terms of what he sought from McMahon. First, he asked for $550,000 to pay off his mortgage, which he said would suffice as his WrestleMania VII payoff, though he still called it "not fair" in comparison to what he figured Hogan was being paid. Warrior also asked for four days off a week except for pay-per-view weeks and the same financial cut that Hogan earned for pay-per-views and other shows, along with other concessions, including the same percentage cut Hogan made from merchandise. 

In closing, Warrior made statements such as, "I have tried to speak as a friend, but maybe I don't have the qualities you require to seek me out as a friend" and "Whatever your decision I can and will live with it. Till then I remain home with one who cares."

Three days after the letter was dated, McMahon responded to Warrior with a conciliatory missive. He agreed to shell out the $550,000 for his performance at WrestleMania VII, agreed to the four days off a week, made a promise that no wrestler would ever make a higher percentage from house shows and pay-per-views than him, and offered a higher royalty rate on both merchandise and Warrior's 900 number.

McMahon closed out the letter by writing, "I regret the turmoil you've put yourself through and your agonizing over what you feel is fair compensation. And even though we have a difference of opinion over some of these matters, I am resolved to work with you in the same honest and equitable way that I always have. Furthermore, I would like to express to you my deepest appreciation and admiration for you as a performer, as a member of the WWF family, as a man and as my friend."

A Pointless Match

Aside from The Ultimate Warrior missing a slew of shows at the end of July, including two TV tapings, due to what The Wrestling Observer Newsletter termed "a problem at home," the face-painted do-gooder rejoined the touring roster in time for the final push toward SummerSlam, where he and Hogan would do battle with the Triangle of Terror.

For a main event match on pay-per-view, the heel trio couldn't have been more inconsequential. The Gulf War had functionally been over since even before WrestleMania, and here was Slaughter, still kicking around in the role of hard-nosed American turncoat. He, Adnan, and Mustafa collectively wielded no forward momentum and could have been swapped out for any other three individuals.

To make the match even more irrelevant, Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior were already lined up for feuds coming out of SummerSlam. WWF-bound Ric Flair was being set up to work with Hogan to fulfill the ultimate dream match, while Warrior found himself squabbling with the unholy union of The Undertaker and Jake Roberts following a vignette in which Warrior was left to die in a den of snakes.

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, with Jake still recovering from a neck injury, Warrior was to continue wrestling The Undertaker at house shows into the early autumn, giving Roberts time to heal up before he and Warrior would take to the ring for their matches together.

SummerSlam 1991

The main event of SummerSlam 1991 was the typical low-exertion house show main event, even though it was on pay-per-view. On a night in which Bret Hart won his first-ever singles title by defeating Intercontinental Champion Mr Perfect, Virgil avenged years of abuse from Ted DiBiase, The Big Boss Man defeated The Mountie in a match where the loser had to spend the night in a jail cell, and The Legion of Doom achieved tag team immortality, the main event wasn't going to deviate from all those good vibes.

One last ditch effort was taken to make the presence of Sgt. Slaughter’s faction mean something when Slaughter and company were caught on camera trying to influence guest referee Sid Justice earlier in the night, but that was pretty much it.

In the latter stages of the bout, Warrior chased Adnan and Mustafa up the aisle and through the curtain with a chair, allowing for Hogan to vanquish Slaughter, first with powder to the face, and then the time-honoured leg drop.

Following the bout, Hulk gave Sid a bit of a rub by sharing his post-match pose-down with him. As the fans enjoyed Hogan and Sid's moment, they had no clue whatsoever that when Warrior ran out of their frame of vision, he had also, effectively, run out of the World Wrestling Federation.

WWF Suspend The Ultimate Warrior

Sometime after arriving back through the curtain, Warrior was handed a letter, apparently written that day by Vince McMahon himself. According to the letter, Warrior was suspended indefinitely from the World Wrestling Federation, effective immediately.

The letter said, in part: "You threatened to stay at home thereby not even appearing at Titan's major summer pay-per-view event SummerSlam. I had no choice but to accede to your exorbitant demands. This was a serious mistake on your part."

Throughout the letter, McMahon dressed Warrior down for becoming, "impossible to work with", and told Warrior he was, "a legend in your own mind", while explaining just how much bigger of a star Hogan was by comparison.

Miffed by the letter and the suspension, Warrior tried to quit the company, going so far as to send a letter of resignation that October. The WWF refused to accept Warrior's letter and felt inclined to keep Warrior under contract until its expiration one year later.

Trouble In The Main Event Scene Leads To The Ultimate Warrior’s Return

With Warrior's absence came the sudden need for reconfiguration. The Undertaker and Jake Roberts were both left without a rival for the months ahead, and to remedy that, McMahon tried coaxing Randy Savage out of retirement. Though wrestling retirements are somewhat of a joke, Savage was apparently insistent that he wasn't returning to the ring, determined to serve as a colour commentator and nothing more going forward.

Dave Meltzer wrote of the McMahon/Savage impasse that there was an apparent threat of removing Savage from commentary if he didn't return to the ring. However, that situation ultimately played out and Savage did return to wrestling before the end of the year, engaging in a deeply personal feud with Roberts. The rivalry actually began at the SummerSlam wedding reception, with Roberts and Undertaker violently crashing the party shortly after a horrified Miss Elizabeth opened a gift box to find a live cobra inside.

As for Hogan, his star continued to fade amid the negative headlines, and business wasn't exactly strong with him on top for his third go-around as champion. When he lost the title to The Undertaker at that year's Survivor Series, the crowd was roughly split 60/40 in favour of his younger opponent, and the pop for The Undertaker's victory was a little louder than maybe some would have liked.

Hogan's house show series against Flair began running out of steam, too, and plans for a match between the two wrestlers at WrestleMania VIII were scuppered altogether. Instead, Hulk would work with a post-heel turn Sid Justice in what was half-promoted as Hogan's farewell match. With the WWF and Hogan both under intense scrutiny due to a handful of scandals, the red and yellow was going to fade from the palette for a while.

To everyone's surprise, however, Hogan's sunset was a new dawn for The Ultimate Warrior, as the face-painted powerhouse made a shocking return at WrestleMania's end to save Hogan from both Sid and Papa Shango. Warrior had just signed a new contract three days earlier, being brought back to try and anchor the babyface side of the roster alongside new WWF Champion Randy Savage.

The Ultimate Warrior’s 1992 wouldn’t reach the heights of his previous WWF run, though, and although he was featured in the main event picture, including with a WWF Title match at SummerSlam 1992 against Randy Savage, he would be out of the company by the end of the year as the PR-conscious WWF determined Warrior had used human growth hormone, violating the organisation’s new wellness policy.

The Ultimate Warrior would have one more WWF run after that in 1996, and an infamous 1998 run in WCW, but his full-time pro wrestling career was basically over by the end of 1992.