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James Brian Hellwig was once known as the Dingo Warrior. He had been wrestling under that name well before his WWE days, and upon his WWE debut he kept the name, until one day, during his routine promo, Dingo Warrior rambled on about how he would be victorious for he was the Ultimate Warrior. His boss, Vince McMahon, was nearby, and he liked the sound of Ultimate Warrior. From that point on, Dingo Warrior was rebranded as the Ultimate Warrior and that name, character and style carried Hellwig to the very top of the company.
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Unfortunately, Hellwig and McMahon had a bad falling out and Warrior was released from the company. Following his departure, Hellwig and WWE got into a series of lawsuits regarding the ownership of the Ultimate Warrior, as a trademark and a copyright. Hellwig wanted to bring the character to other promotions, but as per the contract he had signed with Vince McMahon, the company and the promoter owned all rights attached to the character. During all this, Hellwig actually, legally changed his name to Warrior. Not the Ultimate Warrior but just Warrior.
Warrior And WWE Went To Court Over The Use Of His Name In WCW
When Warrior tried to make the jump to WCW, WWE attempted to block him, citing that they owned the Ultimate Warrior as per the terms of the contract. Warrior then sued WWE, alleging trademark infringement, and he sought a declaratory order that he owned the Ultimate Warrior trademark. This was the first battle, but it is pertinent to mention here that the first lawsuit only concerned the trademark.
The court in Arizona ultimately ruled in favor of Warrior, declaring him the owner of the trademark but again, this was the very first battle. The ownership of the Ultimate Warrior as a character was rooted in copyright law and that remained a point of contention between WWE and Warrior for the next couple of years.
Warrior was set to make his WCW debut but with WWE claiming copyright over the character, Warrior was not entitled to play the character of the Ultimate Warrior. This led to WWE versus WCW in the court of law and the question pertained to the ownership of the Ultimate Warrior’s wrestling character.
James Hellwig Officially Changed His Name Simply To 'Warrior' In 1993
Previously, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, former WWE employees, were restricted from using their WWE characters on WCW television as per the contracts they had signed. Warrior was in a similar situation. He had signed the contract, and with the precedent in place, it seemed certain that the court would rule in favor of WWE and Warrior would not be Ultimate Warrior on WCW television.
However, since James Brian Hellwig had changed his name to Warrior in 1993, the right of publicity was brought up and that was Warrior’s ticket to winning the lawsuit. The right of publicity refers to a person’s right to prevent unauthorized exploitation of their name, likeness, and appearance.
RELATED: 9 Lawsuits You Didn't Know The WWE FacedSince Hellwig had changed his name to Warrior years ago, he was able to argue about his right of publicity as he was actually named Warrior. Granting WWE a copyright on the Ultimate Warrior would infringe his right of publicity. In a nutshell, if WWE was declared the copyright owner, Warrior would not be allowed to appear as himself. By changing his name to Warrior, Hellwig became the character. That’s basically why he changed his legal name.
Warrior Outsmarted Vince McMahon When It Came To Protecting His Character
In TheSelf-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior, McMahon himself said that he believed that Hellwig had changed his name to Warrior as it would aid him in intellectual property lawsuits. Warrior, however, stated on his blog that he changed his name to Warrior as he lived by a warrior philosophy.
It was another promo basically, only this time it was in text. In that blog entry, Warrior said that he was shaped by his unique life experiences and the many years of self-introspection and self-study. He also mentioned that he was created with naturally high testosterone levels, unusual self-disciple, and the refusal to compromise right with wrong. He was truly living the gimmick.
There have been wrestlers who changed their legal names in accordance with their wrestling characters but Warrior likely calculated the name change. In the end, it helped him secure the trademark and the copyright to his character.
