WM XII - Ultimate warrior vs HHH ....

[mikey1974]

having just watched the ppv today,i was curious about something ( and this may very well have been answered already,but if so i missed it) ,and was wondering:

Triple h has said that the Warrior "ruined" his first WrestleManai experience...but i guess i wonder why? i mean,it couldn't have been that he was going to lose cause,obviously,that was planned in advance,and no way was was Vince gonna let his "newest" hot wrestler lose his first match back at the biggest event of the year....only 2 thing i can think of are:

1) Warrior no selling the pedigree,which,really,shouldn't have been that big a deal if so,since he was gonna have to kick out of it anyway...

2) Warrior's kneeling on him pinfall...i guess that maybe could've been considered disrespectful in a way,but at the same point i have seen Warrior do similar pinfall's against opponents in the past....

so,anyone know what Warrior specifically did to piss HHH off so much?

[Deleted]

I'm sure it was just Ultimate Warrior's attitude in general.

[Deleted]

I think you just covered it, HHH was sqaushed out to the warroir and mad to look horrible against him '

[Nivro™]

Id figure that it was suppose to be a natural match with Warrior winning and not so much a squash but something warrior said or did got Vince to turn it into a complete squash. I think I remember HHH saying Warrior was "hard to do business with". I dont think the pin should be much to be upset about though. Savage, who IMO is far superior to HHH, took 3 shoulder blocks and lost his career with a foot on his chest. That was a joke!

[punksnotdead]

Triple H got Brodus Clayed at WrestleMania, imagine if that had been his only Mania moment. Given that wasn't the case, Triple H can look back at Warrior with even more disdain because he has done it all. Plus, I highly doubt Warrior was too concerned about giving Triple H any kind of rub. The Pedigree pop up was incredibly disrespectful to Triple H imo.

[jason1980s]

Hunter was the S.D. Jones of Wrestlemania XII used to get over the major talent in short time. It could have been 123 Kid, Tatanka, Isaac Yankem or any other low to mid card losing wrestler of the time, Hunter wasn't special. Not only was he loser to Warrior, he was behind Sable and Marc Mero in importance that night.

[Deleted]

Wasn't H still being punished for MSG Kliq hug?

[punksnotdead]

Feb 26, 2012 23:20:13 GMT -5 @bashcrashwiley said:

Wasn't H still being punished for MSG Kliq hug?

No, Mania 12 was before the Curtain Call. He was actually punished after Mania, which really puts his career during 1996 in perspective if you ask me.

[Deleted]

simply put its like this

1)Vinces business was in the toilet in 96.he thought bringing back Warrior for the nostalgia factor and to feud with guys he had never faced like Vader,King,Goldust and maybe Mankind would yield dividends

2)HHH was a midcarder at this point that fans hated.it was perfect to have Warrior return and flatten him.his snobby superior character was a perfect fit for this return.

3)many say that he willingly agreed to the squash because Vinnie told him he would be looked after for it......and he would have been.he got a high profile feud with Mero and would have been KOTR too if he hadnt been in the clique.

although I bet Vince thanks the "wrasslin Gods"daily that Austin(the man who saved his company)won KOTR 96 instead of HHH.truly pivotal moment.

[jason1980s]

It really surprises me that Hunter got in hot water for the curtain call considering how it seemed Michaels had so much pull.
I have a hard time seeing Hunter as a King of the Ring finalist given that bringing in a newcomer like Mero would have to get the better of Hunter and the feud would go on for about two PPVs with Hunter losing. From past KOTRs there was at least someone positive buildup of the wrestler with Bret having been champion (I wonder if KOTR was created to make Bret happy after dropping the belt to Yokozuna and having Hogan win it) and Owen had months of buildup as a breakout heel. Mabel seemed a lot quicker with a PPV win over Adam Bomb but he had been heel for about two to three months. Hunter had been stuck in fueds with "dirty" gimmick wrestlers and I just don't see that they had any type of plans for him, Michaels friend or not.

[Deleted]

Let's put it this way: Triple H was a low-midcarder in 95/96, was the returning WARRIOR really expected to have a lengthy match against him? The fact that he became a main eventer doesn't mean that he didn't have to pay his dues.

It's IMO the most memorable moment of HHH's career, and probably the only time in his life that Triple H had a more memorable match than Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels while they are on the same card.

To answer your question about him ruining his moment, I think it's just the fact that he's a big star now, and losing to the warrior in a squash match is still humiliating for him. Instead of being thankful that he got to be the guy Warrior faced for his return at WRESTLEMANIA.

[Deleted]

Feb 27, 2012 8:57:36 GMT -5 jason1980s said:

It really surprises me that Hunter got in hot water for the curtain call considering how it seemed Michaels had so much pull.
I have a hard time seeing Hunter as a King of the Ring finalist given that bringing in a newcomer like Mero would have to get the better of Hunter and the feud would go on for about two PPVs with Hunter losing. From past KOTRs there was at least someone positive buildup of the wrestler with Bret having been champion (I wonder if KOTR was created to make Bret happy after dropping the belt to Yokozuna and having Hogan win it) and Owen had months of buildup as a breakout heel. Mabel seemed a lot quicker with a PPV win over Adam Bomb but he had been heel for about two to three months. Hunter had been stuck in fueds with "dirty" gimmick wrestlers and I just don't see that they had any type of plans for him, Michaels friend or not.

The KOTR used to be an untelevised tournament, hence why there was King Haku, King Harley Race, Macho King etc. Bret actually won the tournament in 1991 too.

Mr Perfect was scheduled to win the KOTR in 93 originally and Hogan was going to drop the title to BRET, passing the torch, I'm pretty sure they even did promo pictures for this. But Hogan got worried that Bret was going to be an even bigger star than he was, and by passing the torch he would be recognizing this. So he instead wanted to lose to Yoko. To soften the blow to Bret, they had him win the KOTR.

[punksnotdead]

Feb 27, 2012 5:34:27 GMT -5 JokerFC said:

simply put its like this

1)Vinces business was in the toilet in 96.he thought bringing back Warrior for the nostalgia factor and to feud with guys he had never faced like Vader,King,Goldust and maybe Mankind would yield dividends

2)HHH was a midcarder at this point that fans hated.it was perfect to have Warrior return and flatten him.his snobby superior character was a perfect fit for this return.

3)many say that he willingly agreed to the squash because Vinnie told him he would be looked after for it......and he would have been.he got a high profile feud with Mero and would have been KOTR too if he hadnt been in the clique.

although I bet Vince thanks the "wrasslin Gods"daily that Austin(the man who saved his company)won KOTR 96 instead of HHH.truly pivotal moment.

Had Triple H never been in the Kliq, he would never be where he is today. Had Austin not won KOTR 96, he would have never been where he is today. I'd say it worked out exactly how it was supposed to, at least imo.

[kenlarchtin]

Warrior was a huge star returning and HHH was not. Warrior gets the win to boost his return.

[Bartman]

Feb 27, 2012 9:17:22 GMT -5 @cabbageconkers said:

Feb 27, 2012 8:57:36 GMT -5 jason1980s said:

It really surprises me that Hunter got in hot water for the curtain call considering how it seemed Michaels had so much pull.
I have a hard time seeing Hunter as a King of the Ring finalist given that bringing in a newcomer like Mero would have to get the better of Hunter and the feud would go on for about two PPVs with Hunter losing. From past KOTRs there was at least someone positive buildup of the wrestler with Bret having been champion (I wonder if KOTR was created to make Bret happy after dropping the belt to Yokozuna and having Hogan win it) and Owen had months of buildup as a breakout heel. Mabel seemed a lot quicker with a PPV win over Adam Bomb but he had been heel for about two to three months. Hunter had been stuck in fueds with "dirty" gimmick wrestlers and I just don't see that they had any type of plans for him, Michaels friend or not.

Mr Perfect was scheduled to win the KOTR in 93 originally and Hogan was going to drop the title to BRET, passing the torch, I'm pretty sure they even did promo pictures for this. But Hogan got worried that Bret was going to be an even bigger star than he was, and by passing the torch he would be recognizing this. So he instead wanted to lose to Yoko. To soften the blow to Bret, they had him win the KOTR.

Not sure how much truth there is to that because the Hogan/Hart match was supposed to take place at Summerslam 1993, not the King of the Ring.

[Deleted]

Feb 27, 2012 5:34:27 GMT -5 JokerFC said:

simply put its like this

1)Vinces business was in the toilet in 96.he thought bringing back Warrior for the nostalgia factor and to feud with guys he had never faced like Vader,King,Goldust and maybe Mankind would yield dividends

2)HHH was a midcarder at this point that fans hated.it was perfect to have Warrior return and flatten him.his snobby superior character was a perfect fit for this return.

3)many say that he willingly agreed to the squash because Vinnie told him he would be looked after for it......and he would have been.he got a high profile feud with Mero and would have been KOTR too if he hadnt been in the clique.

although I bet Vince thanks the "wrasslin Gods"daily that Austin(the man who saved his company)won KOTR 96 instead of HHH.truly pivotal moment.

Yep and if HHH won the KOTR, WWE would prolly be bankrupt

[wolfpac]

During the Wm 2000 preshow, HHH said it was such a special night for him and he was pumped then warrior just acted like an bunghole and ruined his experience.

[HuskerTornado]

Just to set the stage for this match...

This was Ultimate Warrior's long awaited return match - a former WWF champion and second only to Hulk Hogan in terms of merch sales for the company.

HHH was not a top guy in early 1996, not even close. He was feuding with Duke "the Dumpster" Droese in January.

The return needed to be a squash, to show that he was back and as good as ever. It wouldn't have made sense to have him come back and struggle with a mid-carder of HHH's ilk at the time. The excitement just wouldn't have been there afterwards.

There were ideas to eventually put the strap back on Warrior's waist at some point (not exactly sure how realistic this was, though, given Shawn Michaels' backstage power), but McMahon and Warrior's relationship went sour when the WWF broke contract terms in relation to % of sales on merchandise and Warrior began no-showing events in protest.

[Deleted]

Feb 27, 2012 9:17:22 GMT -5 @cabbageconkers said:

Feb 27, 2012 8:57:36 GMT -5 jason1980s said:

It really surprises me that Hunter got in hot water for the curtain call considering how it seemed Michaels had so much pull.
I have a hard time seeing Hunter as a King of the Ring finalist given that bringing in a newcomer like Mero would have to get the better of Hunter and the feud would go on for about two PPVs with Hunter losing. From past KOTRs there was at least someone positive buildup of the wrestler with Bret having been champion (I wonder if KOTR was created to make Bret happy after dropping the belt to Yokozuna and having Hogan win it) and Owen had months of buildup as a breakout heel. Mabel seemed a lot quicker with a PPV win over Adam Bomb but he had been heel for about two to three months. Hunter had been stuck in fueds with "dirty" gimmick wrestlers and I just don't see that they had any type of plans for him, Michaels friend or not.

The KOTR used to be an untelevised tournament, hence why there was King Haku, King Harley Race, Macho King etc. Bret actually won the tournament in 1991 too.

Mr Perfect was scheduled to win the KOTR in 93 originally and Hogan was going to drop the title to BRET, passing the torch, I'm pretty sure they even did promo pictures for this. But Hogan got worried that Bret was going to be an even bigger star than he was, and by passing the torch he would be recognizing this. So he instead wanted to lose to Yoko. To soften the blow to Bret, they had him win the KOTR.

at KOTR 93 the plan was always for Hogan to defend sucessfully against Yoko and Bret to win the tourney.Bret was given KOTR to soften the blow of what happened at WM9 and to present him as "the guy"

Summerslam 93 was where the showdown was intended to be.awful pity it didnt happen IMO.

[Cammi Oh]

Yeah, Triple H was barely over at this point. The match was a good Warrior match. HHH can crap on Warrior all he wants but a casual fan watching Warrior matches would see nothing different between this and the Warrior Vs Honkey Tonk Man or any other mid card guy fighting Warrior in his WWF career.

OWN!