Table of Biography
The Ultimate Warrior was a professional American wrestler. The Ultimate Warrior is best known for wrestling in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE).
Early Life
James Brian Hellwig is the real full birth name of The Ultimate Warrior. He was born on June 16, 1959. Born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, United States, James held American citizenship. Similarly, his birth sign is Gemini.
Talking about his family members, Warrior was the oldest child of five children. His father died when he was only 12 years old. However, his mother and his step-father raised him and his siblings. However, he had never disclosed his parent’s and siblings’ names.
Moving towards his educational background, he did his schooling at Veedersburg’s Fountain Central High School. Later, he joined Indiana State University for only a year.
Death
James died at the age of 54 on April 8, 2014, while walking to his car with his wife. According to the reports, he clutched his chest and died at 5:50 P.M. He was soon rushed into the hospital but was declared dead when he reached the hospital. He had been in the WWE matches even just a day before his death. The post-mortem report revealed that he died of a heart attack.
The Ultimate Warrior – Professional Life and Career
Bodybuilding Career
The Ultimate Warrior had a harsh childhood. So he focused on football and weightlifting in his school days. After building muscles, he shifted to Georgia to pursue his bodybuilding career. During it, he won multiple events along with the Mr. Georgia crown.
Wrestling career
The warrior entered WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) in 1987. He transformed into the tasseled, face-painted, and soon gained a huge fan following from his physique and high-energy performances.
In 1988, Warrior defeated The Honky Tonk Man in 30 seconds and claimed the Intercontinental championship. In April 1990, his popularity skyrocketed when he won the match against heavyweight champion Hogan at Wrestlemania VI. This challenge was named “The Ultimate Challenge”.
Warrior soon lost the title when Randy Savage and Sgt. Slaughter defeated him at the January 1991 Royal Rumble. However, he took revenge on Randy after a few months. In 1991, he had a contract dispute with WWE chief Vince which led him to suspension from the organization.
Warrior returned to WWE in April 1992’s WrestleMania VII. Moreover, he was again suspended after he failed multiple drug tests. Similarly, Warrior made another grand return with a victory over Triple H at WrestleMania XII in 1996.
James legally changed his name to Warrior in the early 1990s. Warrior retired in 1998. On February 20, 2013, he revealed that he would be appearing at WrestleCon. He featured in WWE 2k14. Also, he was recruited into the WWE Wall of Fame on April 5, 2014.
Caption: Warrior winning against Randy (source: tjwrestling.net)
Net Worth 2024
The Ultimate Warrior had earned a decent amount of money throughout his career. According to online sources, he had an estimated net worth of $1.5 million US dollars at the time of death. He earned most of his wealth from his wrestling profession.
Talking about his awards and achievements, he has won several championships and awards in his wrestling career. Not only this but WWE has also named the award “The Warrior Award” in memory of him.
The Ultimate Warrior – Relationship Status
Reflecting on his relationship status, The Ultimate Warrior had been married two times. He married his first wife Shari Lynn Tyre on October 2, 1982. The couple stayed together for the majority of his WWF career. However, they got divorced on March 2, 1991. This couple had no children together.
Warrior married his second wife Dana Viale on January 31, 1999. Dana Viale is also a professional wrestler, model, and bodybuilder. The couple had two daughters named Indiana (2000), and Mattigan (December 16, 2002).
Caption: Warrior with his daughters (source: abcnews.go.com)
Body Measurements
The Ultimate Warrior had a strong and muscular body like a wrestler regarding his physical statistics. He had a height of 6 feet 2 inches (1.88m) and a body weight of 127 kg (280 lbs.). Similarly, his actual body measurements are not available as of now. In addition, the Warrior had brown eyes and white hair at the time of death.
Caption: Warrior in his pose (source: express.co.uk)
Social media
When it comes to his social media handle, The Ultimate Warrior was active on Facebook and Twitter. He had a Facebook page under his name with a huge 132k followers. Similarly, he also used Twitter where he had over 233.9k followers. However, these accounts are inactive as of now.