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When The Ultimate Warrior ended his long-time animosity against World Wrestling Entertainment, fans were shocked. There had been years of bad blood, angry comments and deep feelings of anguish on Warrior's side.
When he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, at least part of the fascination with watching his acceptance speech was whether Warrior, never one to bite his tongue, would use his platform to "right the wrongs." Instead, while Warrior indeed took some shots, they were more of a playful, as opposed to a hateful, nature.
Warrior's acceptance back into the WWE fraternity was one of those "only in wrestling" stories as he went from being ridiculed on a WWE DVD release to one of their most celebrated performers. The first man to conquer Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania was back on the Wrestlemania stage, taking in the fruits of the seeds he had planted over the course of his, well, unique career.
24 hours later, he returned to Raw for the first time since 1996. 48 hours later, Warrior was dead. It was a twist that not even the greatest scriptwriter would have conceived, because it would have ripped the heart out of the audience. Life, however, is not scripted and make no doubt about it, hearts were broken.
The new book "Ultimate Warrior: A Life Lived "Forever": The Legend of a WWE Hero", which was officially released this past Tuesday, is a worthy remembrance of not just the performer but the man who eventually took Warrior and blueprinted it onto his own life.
With a coffee table sized hardcover book, "A Life Lived Forever" is one of the better books WWE has released in recent years. Completely full color, the book allows for the complete vibrancy of the Warrior's look and wildness to step forth in a way that words alone simply could not convey.
In a nice inclusion and a way to reward Warrior fans, the book also features a number of recreations of artifacts from Warrior's career that can be removed and held by fans, including a reprint of the original Wrestlemania 6 lineup as it was hand-written on paper, Warrior's wrestling license, and of course, Warrior's facepaint as a pop out mask to be worn.
The majority of the book is a long essay by Jon Robinson, who has written several WWE-related books, featuring a look at Warrior's life and career. It goes far deeper than your usual WWE publication that are not autobiographies, even taking the rare (for WWE) stance of diving into the personal and professional issues that Warrior and Vince McMahon had in 1991 and 1996 that led to Warrior's quick disappearances from the promotion.
The book also doesn't ignore the "Self-Destruction of Ultimate Warrior" DVD release, which infuriated Warrior personally and for the first time, features Vince McMahon discussing the conversation he and Warrior had about the DVD when Warrior made the return over Wrestlemania 30 weekend.
The book traces Warrior and all his ups and downs, from before he was involved in professional wrestling, to Memphis and World Class and Mid-South, to WWF and WCW, to his return over Wrestlemania 30 weekend.
The book was obviously given access to lots of personal Warrior journals and archives of interviews done over the years as in many ways, Warrior's own words move the essay along and provide insight into what he was thinking over different periods of his career. This book features as much of Warrior's voice as possible without him actually being personally involved.
During the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, Warrior spoke that his daughters were his greatest accomplishments and it's only fitting that his family is greatly represented in "A Life Lived Forever." Warrior's wife Dana has both a foreword and (as a wife should) the last word to Warrior and his fans in the book. Warrior's daughters, Madison and Indiana, have also each penned letters to their father that are also included. It's hard not to feel their loss and hope for their personal closure after reading them.
"A Live Lived Forever" features an introduction from Triple H, which is fitting as he was the one who brought Warrior back into the WWE family and includes a lot of quotes and remembrances from different talents and those who worked with Warrior, including his manager Steve Wilton, Sting and even current WWE talents like Cesaro and Daniel Bryan. You get a number of comments from Vince McMahon discussing Warrior and his time with him.
One would be hard-pressed on a way to improve the presentation. I can see some being critical of some of Warrior's more hateful and controversial moments from the lecture circuit not being addressed, but the reality is something like that would never be addressed in the same publication that is designed to celebrate his life and legacy. The book isn't about critical analysis. It's celebration and if you were ever a Warrior fan, it's worth your time to explore his career in this book.
Insight Editions' "Ultimate Warrior - A Life Lived Forever" can be ordered at this link.
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