The Ultimate Warrior was a superstar in WWE. He was the Goldberg before Goldberg, mysterious and inhumanly strong, and in the old days, that was enough to propel him to the top of the company. However, given his gimmick, Warrior was not very good at cutting promos, especially segments that were longer than five minutes. And he was a significantly worse fighter, limited and only brought into a good match by the best workers in the ring.
In addition to his limitations in the ring, the Ultimate Warrior was a very rigid worker. His strikes were hard and his lariats brutal, and no matter what he faced, Warrior stood by his hard-hitting style, no matter how many times his contemporaries told him to tone it down. Rick Rude hit him for this behavior, but before him, André the Giant, The Eighth Wonder of the World, had to humiliate him inside the ring.
The Ultimate Warrior often crushed Andre The Giant during his rise to the top
When Warrior arrived on the main event scene, Andre was in the twilight of his career. He could barely move due to his deteriorating health, but he was a huge star and WWE kept him around, usually to annoy people. Early in his main event career, Warrior would regularly crush Andre as a means of outclassing him. Warrior beat him a total of 48 times, often in non-televised events, and he was as stiff as ever, even against a legend like Andre.
Andre repeatedly warned Warrior not to work as hard in the ring, but Warrior did the same spot, the clothesline, with just as much intensity. This was a normal spot during his matches, with Andre on the ropes and Warrior running at him with a clothesline.
Andre The Giant defended himself against The Ultimate Warrior
One day, after getting another stiff noose on his head, Andre decided enough was enough. During the next match, in the middle of the same spot, Andre brought out his gigantic fist at him and Warrior ran head first into his knuckles. The Ultimate Warrior was knocked unconscious in the middle of the ring.
Andre then went out without scoring a pinfall. Warrior was the superstar, so Andre couldn’t pin him, but he did humble him. The next night, Warrior was much, much less rigid in his bond. Bobby Heenan, who witnessed all of this, was told by Andre that night that Warrior was finally starting to learn.
The Ultimate Warrior was much nicer and more respectful to Andre The Giant after the spot
After this incident, the Warrior became unusually humble towards Andre, often bringing him gifts backstage and praising him for the legend he was. Jacques Rougeau, known as The Mountie in WWE, recalled the interactions between Warrior and Andre after the latter knocked him out inside the ring.
Rougeau mentioned that Warrior was very hot around a lot of people, as he considered himself the top wrestler in the business, but when Andre was around, Warrior was much nicer. From what Mountie said during his appearance on the Jim Ross podcast, it’s safe to assume that Warrior had a habit of taking on his co-workers and trying to start the fight. On the contrary, he never did that to Andre because he was “so afraid” that the Giant would make a move.
Years later, Warrior himself gave his opinion on Andre the Giant, saying that he liked working with him and had the utmost respect for him. He also mentioned that Andre liked him because he was always very respectful and hard-working. Warrior dismissed reports that Andre hated working with him, stating that Andre had no problem refusing to work with guys he didn’t like.
Regardless, the lariat incident did occur, and it’s one of the most infamous snippets of age-old wrestling lore. Hulk Hogan and many other professional wrestlers of that era have said that Andre was the leader of the locker room and kept the most rigid workers at bay by giving them a taste of their own medicine. He once taught the Iron Sheik a lesson in ring etiquette and The Ultimate Warrior had to learn that lesson as well.