The Ultimate Warrior had a relatively short career in professional wrestling, but that didn't stop him from leaving a mark on the business. While he was never one of the greatest technical wrestlers around, he had some notable and memorable matches throughout his illustrious WWE career.

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As one of the top draws of his generation, The Ultimate Warrior rarely worked matches on weekly television, and when he did those were extremely short. Therefore, most of his greatest matches took place on WWE's Big Four pay-per-view events, against some of the biggest stars in wrestling history.

10 Vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley - WrestleMania XII

In 1996, The Ultimate Warrior made his return to WWE after a four-year absence. His first night back was at that year's WrestleMania, taking on newcomer Hunter Hearst Helmsley.

The fans were excited to have Warrior back, but the match was incredibly short. Warrior no-sold a Pedigree from the future Triple H, before easily winning what essentially was a glorified squash match.

9 Vs. Hercules - WrestleMania IV

WrestleMania IV marked the WWE PPV debut of The Ultimate Warrior, just a few months into his run with the promotion. Across the ring from him in Trump Plaza was a long-time Heenan Family member, Hercules Hernandez.

Their confrontation was all about power, with their feud literally starting once Hercules' chain got broken by Warrior's own hands. The bout itself wasn't exactly good, but it was kept short at just under five minutes. Warrior winning was no surprise, but doing so by barely managing to get a shoulder up during a double-pin was. Not exactly the strongest way to start a monster push.

8 Vs. The Honky Tonk Man, WWE Intercontinental Championship - SummerSlam 1988

This, on the other hand, was the absolute perfect way to start his monster push. By the time SummerSlam 1988 rolled around, The Honky Tonk Man had been the reigning Intercontinental Champion for 454 days, taking the easy way out in every challenge he got in order to keep the once-prestigious belt around his waist.

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Honky Tonk Man's scheduled challenger for the inaugural SummerSlam event, Brutus Beefcake, was ruled unable to compete. Instead, the overconfident champion went to the ring and issued an open challenge to anyone on the roster.

It turned out to be the ultimate mistake in his long title reign, as The Ultimate Warrior famously ran down to the ring and ended the reign of the self-proclaimed "greatest Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion of all time" in 31 seconds.

7 Vs. Sgt. Slaughter, WWE Championship - Royal Rumble 1991

While Ultimate Warrior had one of the most memorable title wins of all time, the same can be said for his World Championship loss, which happened at the hands of Sgt. Slaughter at the fourth annual Royal Rumble event.

The heat for this match was off the charts, with Warrior destroying the turncoat at first and the fans loving every second of it. However, his arch-rival Randy Savage interfered in the bout, alongside his valet Sensational Sherri, assisting Slaughter in usurping the strap from Warrior, to the disdain of an entire viewing audience across the globe.

6 Steel Cage Match Vs. Rick Rude, WWE Championship - SummerSlam 1990

Throughout Warrior's short career, Rick Rude was one of the wrestlers who had the strongest chemistry with him. Rude always brought the best from Warrior when they worked together, and Bobby Heenan's perfect managerial role at ringside was the cherry on top.

After feuding over the Intercontinental Championship the previous year, the two battled inside a steel cage for Warrior's WWE Championship at SummerSlam 1990. The highly entertaining bout ended with Warrior climbing out of the cage first to retain the belt, while also putting a definitive end to one of his best feuds in the process.

5 Vs. Rick Rude, WWE Intercontinental Championship - WrestleMania V

The Ultimate Warrior walked into WrestleMania V as the Intercontinental Champion, and still undefeated. He was booked against a member of Bobby Heenan's group for the second year in a row, as The Weasel was desperate to finally have a champion in the Family.

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His desperation was especially evident in the closing moments of the bout. Warrior was dominant as usual, and just as he was about to suplex Rude from the apron to the middle of the ring, Heenan grabbed Warrior's ankle and Rude fell on top of him, controversially handing Warrior his first defeat.

4 Vs. Rick Rude, WWE Intercontinental Championship - SummerSlam 1989

The shenanigans from the end of the WrestleMania bout led to a rematch between the two for the title at that year's SummerSlam. This time, The Ultimate Warrior was the one walking in as the challenger, leaving the champion's advantage on Rick Rude's side.

The match went back and forth up until the very end, at which point Bobby Heenan tried to make his presence felt once more. Fortunately for Warrior, the returning Roddy Piper came out to even the odds after butting heads with Heenan on recent episodes of Prime Time Wrestling, and Warrior was able to defeat Rude and recapture the strap.

3 Vs. Randy Savage, WWE Championship - SummerSlam 1992

At WrestleMania VIII, Randy Savage won the WWE Championship from Ric Flair. Later that night, The Ultimate Warrior returned to WWE. Flair's ego couldn't accept Warrior being named number one contender for Macho Man's prize over him, so he orchestrated a whole plan in which one of the wrestlers was allegedly secretly working with him and Mr. Perfect.

That caused dissension between Warrior and Savage, as both were expecting to get inevitably stabbed in the back by the other, and it added a lot of drama to their match. Flair and Perfect eventually came down to ringside, attacking both guys and revealing there was no partnership.

Savage chose not to put a vulnerable Warrior away after a chair shot from Flair, going after the latter instead and getting counted-out in the process. Warrior and Savage earned each other's respect, and would briefly team up as the Ultimate Maniacs.

2 Vs. Hulk Hogan, WWE & Intercontinental Championships - WrestleMania VI

The world literally stopped during the Royal Rumble match in 1990, when Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior first met in the same ring. Warrior later challenged Hogan to an unforgettable match with both championships up for grabs at WrestleMania, famously billed as the "ultimate challenge".

The fans in attendance were on the edge of their seats for the entire time, as they witnessed their favorites clashing in a bout for the ages. Warrior managed to splash Hogan and win in the end, handing The Hulkster his first clean loss in years and winning the WWE Championship.

1 Retirement Match Vs. Randy Savage - WrestleMania VII

While still WWE Champion, Ultimate Warrior refused Sensational Sherri's requests to hand Randy Savage a free title shot, which caused Savage to interfere and cost Warrior the title at Royal Rumble. As a result, Savage and Warrior went at it in a rare career vs. career match at WrestleMania VII.

Warrior was able to overcome Savage, as well as Sherri constantly interfering, keeping his career intact. Having lost her meal ticket, Sherri attacked the defeated Savage afterward, until Miss Elizabeth jumped the barricade and reunited with Macho Man. It remains one of the most emotional matches of all time, and the best that The Ultimate Warrior ever had.