The Ultimate Warrior: A conservative remembered

(Image credit: WWE The Ultimate Warrior/Facebook)

I've often mocked conservatives for embracing any celebrity who'll pay them any attention (see my criticism of Ted Nugent). But according to National Review's Michael Taube, the man born James Brian Hellwig, and known to his fans as The Ultimate Warrior, was a sincere, if rough around the edges, conservative:

He appeared at CPAC in 2004 and gave a rousing speech about his personal views on conservatism to an eager audience. He toured university campuses, discussing everything from politics to human sexuality.

I have no reason to believe that Warrior didn’t study politics, economics, and philosophy. His recommendations to [Dan] Flynn of books for young conservatives to read, including Russell Kirk’s The Conservative Mind, Barry Goldwater’s Conscience of a Conservative, and Dinesh D’Souza’s Letters to a Young Conservative, seem legitimate. His views on political and economic issues appeared to be genuine. [National Review]

There is, of course, another political connection. Linda McMahon, wife of WWE boss Vince McMahon, twice ran for the Senate as a Republican.

Like so many of his contemporaries who worked for McMahon (and on the heels of his having been inducted into the WWE's Hall of Fame), The Ultimate Warrior died far too young.

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Matt K. Lewis is a contributing editor at TheWeek.com and a senior contributor for The Daily Caller. He has written for outlets including GQ Politics, The Guardian, and Politico, and has been cited or quoted by outlets including New York Magazine, the Washington Post, and The New York Times. Matt co-hosts The DMZ on Bloggingheads.TV, and also hosts his own podcast. In 2011, Business Insider listed him as one of the 50 "Pundits You Need To Pay Attention To Between Now And The Election." And in 2012, the American Conservative Union honored Matt as their CPAC "Blogger of the Year." He currently lives in Alexandria, Va.