Why Konnan Says Ultimate Warrior Must Have Made WWE's Vince McMahon Lots Of Money
The unusual relationship that existed between Vince McMahon and the Ultimate Warrior has been well documented over the years, most notably in the 2005 WWE-produced documentary, "The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior." During a recent episode of the "K100" podcast, Konnan theorized why McMahon kept Warrior around for so long despite all of the internal issues and, as most things in business, he believes it was all about money. Konnan recalled an verbal altercation that took place between Warrior and McMahon, yet Warrior continued to be placed in main event programs.
"In WWE at that time, they had the same things we had in WCW — those soundproof rooms you would go into to cut regional promos for house shows and s*** like that," Konnan remembered. "So it was really late at night, they'd cut these promos after the show, so we're talking like one in the morning."
"I remember Ultimate Warrior coming out of the thing and he was like, 'F*** this, f*** that' and Vince was like, 'Calm down, Warrior, it's okay. You can do it tomorrow if you want to. Calm down.' He was basically kissing the guy's ass," he continued, "while the guy was cutting a promo on him in front of everybody. And I was thinking to myself, 'Wow, this guy must make Vince a lot of money for him to let him talk to him like that in front of everybody else.'"
The Ultimate Warrior's backstage antics came to a head with the infamous incident at 1991's Summerslam where McMahon terminated Warrior following the event after Warrior demanded more compensation to perform. Prior to his dismissal, Ultimate Warrior was positioned as one of the top stars in the company, even defeating Hulk Hogan for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania VI.
Despite his antics, Warrior was brought back twice to the company by McMahon — first for a failed run in 1996, and again shortly before Warrior's death in 2014 to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "K100" with a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.