Dana Warrior Talks Ultimate Warrior's Reconciliation With WWE, Triple H's Role, Warrior's Passing

Recently on Talk Is Jericho, Chris Jericho interviewed the Ultimate Warrior's widow, Dana Warrior. Mrs. Warrior talked about her husband's reconciliation with WWE, her husband's untimely passing, and the importance of Warrior Award.

With respect to the reconciliation between Warrior and WWE, Mrs. Warrior said that it was a long process of two or three years, as Warrior was really hurt by the Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior DVD. According to Mrs. Warrior, Triple H's persistence played a major role in bringing the parties back together.

"I think Paul [Levesque] reached out a hand and I think Paul kept reaching out the hand, and reaching out the hand, and reaching out the hand, until finally my husband couldn't deny that he wanted to reach back." She added, "that bridge, I feel like was built in big part by Paul. I do. Between Vince [McMahon] and my husband, and then Paul just kind of remedying the hurt and the trust issues that had to go on, but it took a couple of years".

When Jericho suggested that Triple H has been able to play good cop to Vince McMahon's bad cop, as Triple H is often credited for getting Bruno Sammartino and "Macho Man" Randy Savage into the WWE Hall of Fame, Mrs. Warrior said that Warrior's relationships with Vince McMahon and Triple H were more like father/son and older/younger brothers. Mrs. Warrior claimed that her husband missed Vince McMahon even when they were embroiled in litigation with WWE and even wanted to call Vince McMahon after the birth of the couple's first daughter.

"No matter how mad my husband was at Vince, no matter how much it broke his heart with the [Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior] DVD, no matter what else, he always had such a respect for him and a love, like a genuine love," Mrs. Warrior added, "my husband was like the errant teenager who had to go off and prove himself."

Mrs. Warrior claimed that her husband had a hole in his heart and that it was only going to be filled by returning home to WWE. Warrior passed away on April 8, 2014, after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame over WrestleMania weekend and appearing on the April 7, 2014 edition of RAW.

"I believe he was always meant to go home and take his rightful place and I don't think he could have rested had he not," she added, "that hole that I know that he had must have been filled or he wouldn't have left this place."

Mrs. Warrior recalled leaving New Orleans the morning following RAW. Apparently, Warrior had an impromptu autograph signing at the airport terminal before their flight and all of the fans at the airport stood and cheered for Warrior as the couple boarded the airplane. After taking his seat on the plane, fans would pass by, pat Warrior on the shoulder, and tell him how much he meant to them.

"All those people patted him [on the shoulder] and cheered him and told him how much he meant to them on the day that we lost him. I mean, how good that must have felt." She continued, "he made his way home and the people who loved him got to tell him that they loved him and he got to say the same thing in return."

Warrior passed away later that day and Mrs. Warrior stated that her husband was a warrior even in his death.

"When he died, he died like a warrior. I mean, he didn't crumble. He died like a warrior and I knew he was gone."

As for the Warrior Award, Mrs. Warrior said that the award breathed new life into her and it gave her a cause that was greater than her own grief and heartache.

"I was so overwhelmed by what that would mean to remember my husband like that and, like, so honored to have that named for him because that is something that will go down in tradition, like when Mattie, my younger [daughter] claws her way to the top in the wrestling world, there will still be the Warrior Award. That will be for her daddy, like, when you talk about cool legacies, that's something that you leave behind because it means something, not just for my husband, it's not an ego thing, it's a heart thing."

Mrs. Warrior said the award will be given annually and that Connor 'the Crusher' Michalek being the first recipient has special meaning for her. Mrs. Warrior indicated that inducting Michalek into WWE Hall of Fame was a meaningful moment for her like her wedding day and having her two children.

"As much hurt and devastation as it is to lose my 'happily ever after' that I had with my husband, and to know Steve [Connor's father] and Connor, and for him to lose his 'once upon a time', that broke my heart and made me want to step up and do something as best as I could for that little boy and for that little boy's legacy."

Mrs. Warrior said that she has struck up a friendship with Steve Michalek and that they check up on each other from time to time. She also indicated that Stephanie McMahon has been a great support system for her.

"I mean, holy mackerel. I wish my husband had known her because he, for all of his craziness, he was raised by a single mom, he's surrounded by women in our house, Linda McMahon, the reason he chose her [to induct him into the WWE Hall of Fame] was because he had so much reverence for her. That was sincerely who he wanted to induct him and I wish that he knew Stephanie because he would have just loved her."

In addition to these topics, Mrs. Warrior discussed Warrior's relationship with 'Macho Man' Randy Savage, her daughter wanting to become a WWE Diva, and much more. Click here to check out the entire podcast.

Source: Talk Is Jericho