Shortly after his April 2014 death, Deadspin published an article showcasing a few of the remarks The Ultimate Warrior had made regarding homosexuality, the death of Heath Ledger, and other topics over the years, all of which go beyond being described as reprehensible. And as troublesome as The Ultimate Warrior was in the ring, those transgressions pale in comparison to the comments he made on college speaking tours long after his wrestling career had ended.
But the ego and of the late Jim Hellwig, who legally changed his name to Warrior in 1993, got the best of the former WWF World Champion and the one-time superstar quickly faded away into obscurity and was seen as damaged goods in professional wrestling. On the 20th anniversary of the unprecedented event, Sports Illustrated published an oral history (which is totally worth a read) where WWE 2021 Hall of Fame inductee Eric Bischoff, Scott Norton, Flair, and others, shared stories about the drama behind the scenes and the bizarre nature of the event itself.Īt one point, The Ultimate Warrior was one of the biggest things going in professional wrestling. While the show was remarkable for featuring two of the biggest names in the business squaring off - Ric Flair and Antonio Inoki - what happened behind the scenes is even more fascinating. Held at May Day Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea, Collision in Korea was a two-day wrestling extravaganza that still has the largest combined attendance for a show of its kind: 355,000 (though the number is disputed as are all attendance figures in professional wrestling).
In April 1995 the rosters of World Championship Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling, as well as Muhammad Ali, did something wrestling had never done before nor has it done since: travel to North Korea for a jointly-promoted presenting show.