3. Ultimate Warrior Ominously Suggested An Early Death

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"Every man's heart one day beats its final beat. His lungs breathe its final breath. And if what that man did in his life makes the blood pulse through the bodies of others; If it makes them believe deeper in something larger than life; than 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." - Ultimate Warrior on Monday Night Raw, 7 April 2014

With the myriad of lawsuits, there were numerous depositions of Ultimate Warrior and Vince McMahon over the years. After the Ultimate Warrior's father died in July 1996, Warrior missed several house shows and was removed from appearing at the In Your House 9 PPV in Vancouver (International Incident).

Warrior insisted his absence was due to grieving for his father. Vince McMahon didn't believe that was Warrior's real excuse since Hellwig and his father had allegedly been estranged for more than a decade. On 19 February 1996, Warrior had signed an 18-month contract guaranteeing him at least a million dollars in composition. When WWF suspended/fired him later that year, Warrior filed suit in August 1996.

In one deposition, Jim Hellwig (who had already legally changed his name to Warrior) talked about his family. He noted that his father died at 57 and his "grandfathers die at 52". At only 37 years old, Warrior said, "I got 20 years left in my life maybe".

As the years went on, Warrior saw wrestler after wrestler from his era pass away prematurely. Those included top opponents, his partners and others from the locker room. He was a pallbearer at Kerry Von Erich's 1993 funeral. One of his closest friends in WWF, especially before the Texas Tornado became his travelling partner, was Owen Hart, who senselessly died in an accident in 1999. While only a portion of these deaths were drug-related, no doubt they contributed to an overwhelming feeling of eminent morality.