Pro wrestling legend Ultimate Warrior has died just days after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, and one day after appearing in the ring after many years away.
TMZ reports that the Warrior, James Hellwig, collapsed Tuesday evening outside an Arizona hotel while he and his wife Dana were walking to the car. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was 54 years old, and is survived by his wife and two daughters.
Warrior had been away from the WWE for 18 years, and his induction to the Hall of Fame on Saturday marked a long-overdue return for many fans. It was announced at the ceremony that he had signed a new contract with the company to serve as an ambassador.
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At the ceremony, Warrior thanked his fans for their loyal support throughout the years, saying he owed it all to them.
"You, you, you, you, you," he said, pointing to fans in the crowd, "are the legend-makers of Ultimate Warrior."
"No WWE talent becomes a legend on their own. Every man's heart one day beats its final beat. His lungs breathe their final breath. And if what that man did in his life makes the blood pulse through the body of others and makes them bleed deeper in something that's larger than life, then his essence, his spirit, will be immortalized by the storytellers — by the loyalty, by the memory of those who honor him, and make the running the man did live forever."
Upon the news of his death, fans — including his late-80s colleagues and current wrestling superstars — took to social media to voice their grief and celebrate the legend of Ultimate Warrior.
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