Sad news to report from the world of professional wrestling, as former WWF champion The Ultimate Warrior suddenly passed away at the age of 54 on Tuesday (April 8). The wrestling legend had just made a triumphant return to the WWE with a series of high profile appearances over the past few days.

The Ultimate Warrior, who was born James Brian Hellwig but legally changed his name to Warrior, was a popular WWF figure in the late '80s and early '90s, defeating Hulk Hogan to win the WWF championship in 1990. But he parted ways with the WWF (now WWE) in 1996, briefly wrestling in the WCW in 1998.

He largely remained out of the spotlight until this past weekend, when he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on April 5. He then appeared at Wrestlemania XXX the next day and WWE Raw on Monday. He then died a day after that, on Tuesday, after collapsing outside an Arizona hotel. No cause of death has been revealed as of yet.

While we don't normally report on news outside of the rock and metal world, Ultimate Warrior had some recent ties to the scene, appearing in a pair of episodes for a web series as a bootcamp motivator of sorts for the metalcore band Asking Alexandria and electronicore act I See Stars. Those videos can be seen below, along with his speech at Monday night's WWE Raw event.

A statement on the WWE website reads as follows:

WWE is shocked and deeply saddened to learn of the passing of one of the most iconic WWE Superstars ever, The Ultimate Warrior. Warrior began his WWE career in 1987 and quickly went on to become one of the biggest stars in WWE history. Warrior became WWE Champion at WrestleMania VI, defeating Hulk Hogan in an epic encounter.

We are grateful that just days ago, Warrior had the opportunity to take his rightful place in the WWE Hall of Fame and was also able to appear at WrestleMania 30 and Monday Night Raw to address his legions of fans.

WWE sends its sincere condolences to Warrior’s family, friends and fans. Warrior was 54 and is survived by his wife Dana and his two daughters.

The Ultimate Warrior Speaks at WWE Raw the Night Before His Death:

The Warrior Show With Asking Alexandria

The Warrior Show With I See Stars

 

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