WWE ‘SmackDown’ Star Dolph Ziggler Receives Backlash For Mocking Ultimate Warrior, Warrior’s Widow Responds

On Tuesday night’s episode of WWE SmackDown Live, Dolph Ziggler continued mocking various superstars, including The Ultimate Warrior, which raised a heated response on social media. Ahead of that segment, Ziggler did a mock entrance at the top of the show to parody SmackDown Live boss Shane McMahon. He also parodied Bayley’s entrance with her inflatable “Wacky Wavy Tubemen” that appear at the top of the ramp. However, he may have gone a bit too far with his imitation of former WWE Champion The Ultimate Warrior, as Warrior’s widow was watching live and in person.

According to Pro Wrestling in their SmackDown episode recap, Ziggler made an entrance at one point during the show using Bayley’s entrance and mocking her movements with arm raises to excite the fans. He would then take a different superstar, as he rushed into the ring and hit the ropes like Ultimate Warrior used to do. During that segment in the ring on SmackDown Live, Ultimate Warrior’s widow, Dana Warrior just happened to have a front row seat. Dana was in attendance to witness the finals of the Mae Young Classic Tournament, which came to a conclusion on Tuesday night after SmackDown Live had ended.

She was also none too pleased with how Ziggler referred to her late, great wrestling superstar husband and took to her Twitter account to fire back at Dolph.

.@HEELZiggler Disrespect my husband again while I'm watching front row you'll see this Warrior Girl make an entrance… #wwe #smackdown pic.twitter.com/Al0CHoO4pA

— Dana Warrior (@DanaWarriorWWE) September 13, 2017

While it seems like Dana Warrior might be upset over the blatant mocking of her husband’s entrance, it most likely is just a part of the business to help with Ziggler’s gimmick. Over the past several weeks, Ziggler has been trying to show that he must need something more for the fans to really appreciate what he brings to the ring. He’s not only mocked Bayley, Shane, and Warrior, but also Naomi, Bobby Roode, and Macho Man.

The belief is that the latest gimmick from Ziggler is leading up to a feud with Bobby Roode. The two have yet to participate in any televised matches but may have worked several house show events. Ziggler was also the first real feud for another former NXT Champion in Shinsuke Nakamura, so it seems like that is currently his main function on the roster. Those who missed his parodying of the Ultimate Warrior and comments about how easy it is to do can see the video below.

Some fans may find the mocking of WWE superstars entertaining, and it’s been used quite a bit over the history of WWF. Examples include D-Generation mocking “The Nation of Domination” and Shawn Michaels mocking “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan. As far as “going there” with deceased wrestlers or personalities as part of a segment, CM Punk resorted to that right after another legend had passed.

Punk and WWE creative brought up the whole idea of Paul Bearer’s death and even teased the idea of spilling his cremated ashes from The Undertaker’s urn. The urn came into play as a weapon against Taker as well. In terms of “death stories,” one would probably argue the whole Katie Vick, Kane, and Triple H intercourse gimmick with a fake dead person may have been the worst of the bunch. That was all prior to the PG or “PG-13” era that WWE works under now.

Dolph Ziggler’s reference to Ultimate Warrior wasn’t quite as bad as that. If anything, he’s paying homage to one of the legends of the professional wrestling ring by imitating his entrance. Based on their previous history, WWE probably won’t shy away from Dolph mocking other late, great legends as they try to get this gimmick and feud with Bobby Roode in place.

[Featured Image by WWE]