Vince McMahon has booked and produced some of the company’s best moments. The WrestleMania main event is considered the pinnacle of the wrestling industry, but it hasn’t always gone according to plan. Former WWE Champion Sgt. Slaughter revealed the iconic main event that McMahon hated.
It was WrestleMania 6 in 1990, and Hulk Hogan opened the show against The Ultimate Warrior in Toronto.
As the then Intercontinental Champion, known as “The Ultimate Challenge”, The Ultimate Warrior defeated Hulk Hogan in the main event to become a double champion as well as win his only WWE Championship. However, Warrior was never known to be a skilled wrestler.
Former WWE Champion Sgt. Slaughter revealed that he was so impressed with the production of WrestleMania 6 that he wrote a letter to Vince McMahon. Speaking to Bill Apter of Sportskeeda Wrestling, he called the main event between Warrior and Hogan a “PU” (pronounced pay-you – to indicate that something terrible is about to happen):
“The last time I saw a [WWE] show six years ago, they probably had three or four cameras. Now there’s a 16-20 character pay-per-view shoot here. I put a pencil to paper and wrote ‘ Dear Private McMahon – Just saw WrestleMania 6, saw everything. Your production is incredible. Your production is better than everyone else’s. Nothing comes close to what I just saw. Hollywood doesn’t even come close.’ So I did ‘Sergeant Slaughter. PS – The Match Between the Ultimate Puke’ and ‘[Hulk Hogan] Was P.U.’ Done. Done. Done. Done. Signed. Shipped. (4:25–5:21)
He would receive a call back, where the person on the other line would simply say “Vince!” Shouted and he understood who it was. He also admitted that the WrestleMania 6 main event was terrible:
“There’s only one Vince [McMahon]. So he said ‘I got the note. Appreciate the feedback on the production. And I appreciate someone like you. And you’re right, the match was a PU.’ So are you ready to go back to work? You’re with Hasbro, aren’t you?’ And I went ‘How do you know that?’ And he says ‘I’m Vince McMahon, this is what I do.'” (5:42–6:12).
You can watch the full video below:
Vince McMahon’s relationship with The Ultimate Warrior will last through 2014
While The Ultimate Warrior was the man chosen by Vince McMahon as Hulk Hogan’s successor, the former would not experience the same success in terms of the crowds he could draw.
While Warrior’s initial issues came with contract and pay issues, he was eventually fired when the government investigated WWE for steroid use.
Even his much-hyped 1996 comeback would be marred by issues as he reportedly wanted time off to mourn the death of his father – an excuse that Vince McMahon didn’t buy. However, Warrior claimed that he had a dispute with WWE without paying him a percentage for selling merchandise.
He would eventually accomplish this before being inducted into the Warriors Hall of Fame and later tragically dying.