Farewell To A Legend: The Ultimate Warrior- R.I.P. 1959-2014

Don't you just hate waking up to find another piece of your childhood has passed on?

So it began yesterday when I woke up to find that WWE Superstar and Hall of Famer, The Ultimate Warrior had passed away.

The timing of it was surreal, as the world had just watched him get inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Saturday night, come out during WrestleMania on Sunday, and then finally address the fans one last time on Monday at Raw.

And now he's gone.

Crazy.

But in a business like professional wrestling, unfortunately, we've had to bid farewell all too often and soon to the superstars that make us cheer on a weekly basis.

The loss of the Warrior, who legally changed his name to Warrior because... well, because the man was crazy and loved what he did for a living, is another moment of loss to the WWE.

The Warrior and the WWE weren't exactly on speaking terms with each other over the last decade.  The animosity was so great that the WWE put out a DVD in 2005 called "The Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior" which basically was 90 minutes of everyone trashing The Warrior for being a selfish, spoiled tool.

Ouch.

It's rare that Vince will publicly go after someone like that.

Usually, he'll just change his opening logos and make you disappear as if you'd never been a part of WWE history (see the current Monday Night Raw opening and wonder openly...where is that Hulk Hogan fellow?).

But no, this time he spent money to create a product that openly criticized one of the 80s/90s biggest superstars.

Then, 2K sports made an agreement with the Ultimate Warrior to bring him in as a playable character in the video games.  The thaw had begun, the Cold War was ending, and much like he did with bringing Bruno Sammartino back to the company, Triple H worked on getting the Warrior back with the WWE where he belonged.

The rumors began to circulate that this year would be the year to bring the Warrior into the Hall of Fame... and then those rumors turned to reality.

Then the weekend of WWE triumph turned to tragedy, as his family is left behind, and the condolences of the millions of fans are sent to the Warriors' wife and daughters.

:(

However, the silver lining in this, such as it is, was that the fence that was destroyed between the Warrior and the WWE was repaired in time so that the Warrior  and WWE will be able to rest in peace.

Too often, like when Macho Man Randy Savage passed away, there wasn't that moment of closure that would have capped a career of entertaining the millions of fans.

For both the fans, and the wrestlers who entertained us.

I'm very glad that the Ultimate Warrior was able to take one more trip to the center ring and be acknowledged for the accomplishments that he brought to the business and the memories he gave wrestling fans everywhere.

He may not have been the best wrestler...

But he was a literal force of nature that was one of a kind.

Rest well Warrior, you will be missed.