Sounds like a kick ass title huh? Well hate to disappoint you but this isn’t such a positive one. This is mainly a comparison of an 80’s wrestler that took the world by storm but led a series of downfalls and how that’s like with a lot of guys in the fitness industry today. Back in the mid-late 80’s a mighty wrestler full of muscle, charisma and drawing ability captivated crowds and was even thought to be a successor of Hulk Hogan. The man’s name was Jim Helwig better known as The Ultimate Warrior.
Like anything in business, sports, entertainment you want to make an impact, being different and having a unique look. Warrior certainly had that impact as his ability to draw a crowd was only matched closely to the likes of Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and a few others of that era. The way he would run to the ring and shake the ropes, clothesline his opponents and press them up overhead and toss them like rag dolls. The last time I ever saw him wrestle was during his last run in the mid 90’s in the WWE. Warrior certainly was cool looking and was built like he was carved from granite.
Charisma can be a powerful tool and it captivates someone’s attention and draws them in. That’s a lot like the fitness experts and bodybuilders of today, you’re drawn to their look and how they present a presence that you can’t help but notice. This is where looks can be deceiving and no matter how much you’re drawn to their presence, there’s a dark cloud hanging over them, not all but quite a few.
One of the things you will learn about Warrior was that as much as he was a crowd favorite, the fact of the matter is he was a horrible wrestler, didn’t know any good holds, had the reputation for not making too many moves look good and didn’t really care at all for wrestling. Money and Fame was his primary goal and I would find it hard to believe he had any history of the business and just wanted to be a crowd pleaser, take his check and just go to the next town. A lot of trainers today are like that too, they’ll show you a few things then leave you in the dust just to get a large check. If you took on at minimum of 10 trainers in gold’s or spa fitness gym, how many actually know their history? Truth is less than one most likely and the only two people they would ever really know of are Jack Lalanne and Arnold Schwarzenegger, maybe Lou Ferrigno but that’s about it. It’s really sad to say the least.
It pisses me off so much at times that you have an expert in the field of fitness and they hardly have any history background on the world of Physical Culture. Go to a modern gym just about anywhere today and mention names like
Otto Arco, John Grimek,
Maxick, Martin “Farmer” Burns, Bernarr MacFadden,
Karl Gotch, Fred Grubmeyer, The French Apollon,
Arthur Saxon and quite possibly the original Hulk George Hackenshmidt. You’d be lucky to find one trainer that knows two of those names, if any higher; he’s not your typical modern trainer.
Another unique and quite frankly a bizarre trait of the Ultimate Warrior is the way he did promos and interviews. 80% of the time you wouldn’t know a damn thing of what he just said, it sounded cool but it was confusing the rest of the time. He almost like he spoke in tongues and was high as a kite for some of the things he talked about, like the planets or some evil warlock on a distant earthly place and the gods in the heavens it was just breathtakingly awful. Some guys today have that same concept, they try to tell you an exercise and some of the time you wouldn’t have a clue of they’re actually saying. The way they hype themselves up like on the cover of a magazine or bring out a fresh new product on the infomercials that looks great at some point but in the end when you get the product it looks like crap and you thought it would great to get because of what was advertised. It’s one thing to believe in what you’re doing is right, it’s another thing when you show no signs of any life when you keep going in different directions and people won’t know where you’re coming from.
It’s really deceiving when someone believes in their own hype. Warrior is no exception when his ego reached a brink when he actually changed his name to Warrior and got rid of his original name Jim Helwig. Why he did it, no one knows but one thing is for sure, that spotlight will always have a glare in his eye and never wants to let go of it. Fitness gurus have some of those same problems and never realize it is a problem till it’s too late. One bodybuilder who I won’t mention was a semi big star in his time and had muscles everywhere and had 23 inch arms and can pull off the best poses of his competition, after doing so much steroids and drugs over the years the guy can’t even curl a 45 pound barbell anymore because of the overbearing muscle he has and his tendons are shot to hell.
It’s never a good idea to let fame get to your head no matter how famous you are because it will take a toll on you physically, emotionally and psychologically. Once that light goes out, it’s very difficult to get that back. Money and Fame are just words but people take it beyond levels of bad nature and just lose sight of what’s really important. Never lose sight of who you truly are and although you can be quite a character, don’t ever turn into that character. Find who you are and stick with it, be your own person and not some outlandish figure with a thirst for power. Make use of who you are and don’t ever forget where you came from good or bad because in the end, somewhere in your heart there’s good in you and you have the power to make that happen.
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