Gorilla Monsoon – mywarriorwritings.com

“Warrior’s Winnin’ It!” 🤼‍♀️🥇💪🏻

“ Warrior’s winnin’ it, Warrior’s winnin’ it Monsoon!”

That line was spoken by none other than Jesse “ The Body” Ventura during the first few minutes of WrestleManiaVI~ “ The Ultimate Challenge” match between Heavyweight champ, Hulk Hogan and Intercontinental champ, The Ultimate Warrior. It came to me a few weeks ago actually as a possible title with the WWE Universe celebrating the 3️⃣5️⃣th anniversary of their very first WM outside of the US yesterday. Toronto Canada in the Skydome (now the Rogers Centre) was set to host the 6th largest PPV event by the then WWF where lots of other exciting things happened. We had the 1st ever Mixed tag team match, Demolition 3-peating as Tag team champs, and so much more! I will stick to that title for title final match between HH and UW of course. Like I’ve said before~~~April 1 is no Fool’s joke for me and hasn’t been for 35 years!

Before getting into more on that, once again~~~we have a part 2 of sorts. Just like last week to end March, we have another to begin April. These remaining WM’s UW were part of are as follows: April 1, 2nd, and 5th. 1st was WMVI in ‘90, 2nd was WMV in ‘89, and 5th was WMVIII in ‘92. Today, marks WMV’s exact date. Fans of UW won’t like to remember WMV when Bobby Hennan (that weasel) held onto Warrior’s leg behind the ring so the ref couldn’t see. That way “Ravishing” Rick Rude could get the pin and capture the IC belt. Not to worry, though as UW got it back that same year at SummerSlam!

WMVIII was when we got a short glimpse of UW coming to the aid of Hulk near the end of his match with Sid Justice. Most fans know Papa Shango missed his cue, but Hulk was getting beat up by both guys so here comes UW to the rescue. He also did a brief press conference afterwards, which I believe was another first. It counts as UW being part of WMVIII but not technically a match like the other 5. So, the dates are 33 for WMVIII and 36 for WMV this year.

Let’s go with that date of April 5 as I recall a few other events. Newbies~ this is always for you but loyalists~well, read on if you wish. April 5, 2014 also brought Ultimate Warrior’s HOF induction as my family attended our first Cavs basketball 🏀 game together in Cleveland that night. 11 years ago this week if you recall how the dates are the same for 2025. 2 signs fell in my home 2 years later in 2016, which are in my book: “Spirit and Belief” as stories but always remembered fondly by me every year. 2018 brought a book event as I chose that date of April 5 on purpose! Close to the library, I spotted “Sherri Apartments.” Another beautiful moment which brought a chuckle my way and still does. Warrior had two women named Sherri (Shari) , spelled differently in his life.

Here’s something *NEW * for ALL of you to read. I told myself a few weeks ago that this year, I was gonna do it. Despite possible comments, it was going to happen on the big 3-5 of The Ultimate Challenge. Every year, I DO watch as a tribute on its anniversary AND my birthday, which I started decades ago with the VHS tape. I’m usually alone but early April would typically fall on the kids Spring break. I shared my daughter’s comment on Hulk once as I laughed so hard 🤭 but this year was set to be different. Instead of it being my possible lunchtime entertainment~ it could be watched after dinner in the evening or when the dog had been walked. My husband would be around and I did not care. I would LOVE for him to watch with me if he chooses, but either way~ it was time. I did watch it then warriors!!! There were a few topics not to be discussed if he watched with me. No mention of it being “fake” and no talk of steroids. Nope, that didn’t matter. He DID watch and we saw a few other things on my DVD as well. I said more about Warrior ( even outside of wrestling), but then let it go as I didn’t want to overwhelm him! He was super impressed with UW lifting guys up to press… 😌 So, a perfect lead into the next part of the DVD when Warrior discusses lifting Hulk… He totally stayed in the room to watch! A win for me too to FINALLY view it with him…

“ Warrior’s winnin’ it!”~ just like that pic below after their “ Greco-Roman knuckle lock.” That was Jesse once more. On my end, I promised not to echo the commentary I know all too well or not to get a little emotional near the end starting with that hug as I tend to do. First time also the WWF used pyrotechnics as UW got that awesome fireworks display. New decade, new year, new champ, a great 3 count!

Regardless of naysayers or even HH’s “take” on how it all went down specifically, it still was an epic match unprecedented between two true icons in the business. Two good guys for the title~~ another first. I was grateful to hear how emotional Warrior was after that match as many may have just thought he felt entitled only. He wanted to get to that level and did. Very few had that chance back then and despite him always saying: “ I didn’t get him all the way up…” ( meaning pressing Hulk) in interviews, true fans didn’t care. Our hero became the new champ, which in turn made “ Hulkamania” live forever, although it died a little that night.

I was a senior in high school- going on 18 with a big history term paper coming up. How could I concentrate on that? That’s been written and now Warrior’s kids AND mine have passed that age. My daughter ended all 4 of them last year. After viewing it for the first time on “The Ultimate Collection” DVD years ago, I cried~ HARD… I had to pause it and walk away…That totally surprised me as of course I had seen it tons of times. Not on DVD though but outbursts came and went back then. A combo of many things rolled into one. 🥺

There ya have it warriors~~~the remaining 3WM‘s of April for UW‘s career in the WWF with a 35th in “ The Ultimate Challenge” of VI being yesterday. Next week brings more memories for this time of year as we approach 11 with Warrior in “parts unknown.” Until then~~~ always believe as I remember the NEWWWW World Wrestling Federation Champion, The Ultimate Warrior!!!

P.S. 2 Tuesday dates a week apart, just like 11 years ago… 🥹

Ultimate Family Nuances

Happy 2020 warriors! 🎉🎊 A New Year and decade… I wish you all health, happiness, and humor as always! Hey, that’s WWE’s HHH( not on purpose!😉) This story has plenty of that humor so get your gear on and let’s start running.

As you can see with that photo, Helwig Whistle Stop is nearby my town. I know it’s missing an l warriors and across the street is Helwig Industrial Park. One of the founders of this neighboring city had that as his last name. I found very little as to why some areas were named after him but he must’ve been prominent back then. This street is one of the main roads that connects towns so I have seen this “tag team” for years now. The Whistle Stop is newer though but always a reminder of Jim Hellwig (Warrior’s birth name.) Also, I had to use the Whistle Stop Sign because of the train. Vince McMahon had referred to the Ultimate Warrior as “a runaway locomotive!”

There’s those literal SIGNS once again. Also, on that same road sits a chiropractor’s office on the corner of Daisy Street. Warrior was almost that profession and had a beloved dog named Daisy who is now with him in spirit. At least I believe that anyway. I still smile and maybe giggle every time I pass that corner. There are a few Daisy references in my book Spirit and Belief that will always warm my heart along with another train reference from a vacation.

Now, I’ll move on to more family stories. Two involve my husband and one is with my daughter ( yes, again!) I rarely mention my husband and then these little nuances got me thinking. 🤔 A few Christmas Eves ago, we were in our church parking lot and saw my daughter’s 5th grade PSR teacher. This was a little over 3 years ago when many other sillies surfaced. My son also had this teacher and his name is Mr. HOGAN. That’s right… Well, my kids still don’t acknowledge teachers what with all the embarrassment. My husband says in a loud enough voice for me to hear: “HOGAN!” Thankfully, Mr. Hogan didn’t hear him. I’m not kidding here when I say he sounded like the Ultimate Warrior during WMVI after Hogan’s knee “went out.” Warrior yells: “Hogan!” for him to get back into the ring. I wondered if my husband had ever seen WMVI as that does remain a mystery…

The second nuance occurred several months ago as I was working on my website in another room. My husband was watching a YouTube video and I immediately heard Gorilla Monsoon’s voice announcing during a match with the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase and some other opponent. I couldn’t hear it all but it was for sure an old WWF match! What the heck? He doesn’t watch that and it was playing at least a minute or more before I walked in. I didn’t want to freak him out by saying something absurd but just: “Hey, I know that voice, that’s Gorilla Monsoon!” He stopped it right away and said nothing. Hmmm…

The last little family nuance came when studying health with my daughter last year. They were learning different muscles of the body with diagrams. We all know the basics right– like gluteus maximus, (our glutes or rear!) biceps, triceps, and some others. Then, I was amused with a fun memory. Next came trapezius which is part of the neck and shoulder “area.” I thought of SummerSlam’89 between the Ultimate Warrior and Ravishing Rick Rude. Those commentators used the medical terms since we have to be serious when describing the body! I always loved when they’d say “area” after a word. Did you ever notice that back then? The kidney “area,” the frontal “area,” etc. Well, I started laughing when going over her muscle body parts vocabulary.

Guess which part she kept forgetting? Trapezius. That sounds about right, doesn’t it? That match between U.W. and R.R. resulted in Warrior getting the Intercontinental Title Belt back and started with a sign I’ve mentioned before in the audience that read: “Hi Kathy.”

Ultimate Family Nuances are always around giving me humor and memories. Some signs are new while some remain. I love them all and am humbled as my purpose is a warrior who always believes. 💙💪🏻🏋🏻‍♂️🤼‍♀️🙏🏻

www.spiritandbelief.com

Kid Warrior-isms

Kids do indeed say the darndest things. These fun stories popped in my head as I remembered this date of November 14 and my Toys R Us connection. So sad how those stores closed but grateful my kids enjoyed memories… 🥺 I even had a personal one with Warrior blogged about and also in my book Spirit and Belief. I’ll get to the photo above in a bit..,, Too funny!

So, onto my kids and these sillies that didn’t make it into the book. LOVED writing them all down so I wouldn’t forget and then another one came into memory. I’ll share the ones that REALLY got to me and some more than others.

Remember, most of these occurred shortly after Warrior’s passing and ALL made me laugh. Kids are messengers too and I do believe Warrior sent his energy to them. Way too many to doubt. What to start with? Well, my daughter had much more in her than my son and she is a Gemini like Warrior (remember last week’s post?) Warrior has two daughters so who knows?

She is quite the character herself and not long after Warrior was gone, she started thumping her chest and doing a similar snarl out of the blue. I KNOW– crazy!! I asked her so many times as to why and all she would say is: “Because it’s funny!” It was a brief time but I remembered.

When I was watching the 25th anniversary of WMVI in 2015, my daughter came into the room. It always falls on Spring Break so the kids are home from school then. I fully expected some unusual comments as I had never watched this in front of anyone. I was ready– bring it on girlie! After a few minutes, she asked: “Who’s the old guy with the mustache?” I could’ve answered another way but nicely I said: “Neither of them are old, he just looks that way.” I then was ready yet again for another comment but she didn’t say anything about Warrior. I did tell her how Mommy likes the other guy while chuckling to myself about the “old guy.”

Another time she was on the couch playing with her dolls and then I heard her say in the EXACT way Brother Love did: “I LOOOVE YOU!” (insert accent, he was a spoof of the 80’s televangelists, aka Jim Baker) I couldn’t believe that voice was coming out of her. When I asked about it, she just sorta denied the whole thing and laughed….

Oh this girl. Another funny (some are wrestling related and not necessarily Warrior) was when we attended her Literacy Night together at the elementary school. We were in the cafeteria and they were showing a power point on labeling a diagram. The picture was a gorilla and I whispered while elbowing her: “Hey, it’s your soccer team name!” She looked so confused and scoffed saying: “Um, no–we were the Monsoons, not the Gorillas!” I just started laughing so incredibly hard, she did too and we almost fell off our chairs! People were looking and we pretended to notice something outside. I’m laughing now, such bonding and we weren’t home for this one! Gorilla Monsoon was with the WWE back in the day….

I’ll move on to my son and a few of his moments that made the cut. A few times this happened and it wasn’t wrestling related but very Warrior related. Here’s the photo story….

My boy would just walk into the room where I was sitting and sing: “Firepower!” Whaaaaat??? He’d keep walking like no big deal. Was I imagining? It was inquisition time for sure. The poor kid got so annoyed with Mom’s constant questions! It went something like this:

“Why are you saying that?”

“Where do you know it from?”

“Are kids saying it?”

“Is it in a new video game?”

“Did something go on in school, the bus, a cartoon?”

— You name it, I asked it. Finally, he said it would pop in his head and he just knows it. That’s all I ever got out of him and had to accept his answer. Sure, kids say things but this expression was NOT my kid and if he had a logical answer, he’d tell me. For all you confused out there, Firepower was the name of a movie Warrior starred in 1993 in which he was a bad guy named the Swordsman. That photo is of him on the set.

It was just the WAY my son said it in a loud voice and then leaving.., bizarre, funny, and yet totally made me amazed.

He also had this water gun called “Warrior Web Ultimate Outlaws” (I think that was it) and hard to believe both words on that. Ah, kids toys. It was always very temperamental and I seemed to be the only one who could get it to work. Kinda ironic, isn’t it?

Both kids would sing: “Macho Man” randomly sometimes around the house while walking around or playing. I might’ve egged them on a bit after playing my Disco 70’s CD one day but this continued for months! I have always loved the Warrior and Randy moments and the Ultimate Maniacs~~ great date today! More are in my book…

The word “ultimate” seemed to appear in both kids vocabulary and believe me when I say they NEVER ever used that word before and now rarely do. For my girl, it was a “grand finale” jumping off the swing set as the “ultimate” ending. For my boy, he used it to describe the biggest water balloon he was saving for last. He threw it at the garage while shouting: “the Ultimate!” It burst everywhere as he ran away inside. I was left to pick up the pieces. What a funny little twist of fate that was but it’s all good.

There you have it. My kids and their weird yet comical behavior mostly being in the spring and summer of 2014. If you knew them, you’d know their vocabulary or behavior. This stuff was not that at all. My girl has more little sillies but these experiences left me wondering and yet without feeling naive, I believed.

They might not sound funny to you but they were to me as I still laugh today!!! Kids REALLY do say the darndest things but they act the darndest too. Look for those constant signs and you’ll be a believer too. After all, kids are honest (well, most of the time) and Warrior’s beliefs revolve around honesty. They were funny and Warrior IS funny! That too, I will always believe…

#alwaysbelieve#firepower

#ultimatewarrior#wwe

#ultimatemaniacs

#gorillamonsoon

#randysavage#wrestlemaniaVI