Hip-Hop Reacts To Ultimate Warrior's Death: 'It's Like A Piece Of Your Childhood Gone'

Tuesday night, when news broke that professional wrestler Ultimate Warrior had passed away, fan reactions across social media were immediate. Some notable hip-hop names were among the many who took to Twitter to memorialize the fallen wrestler. Artists including Wale, Action Bronson, Joell Ortiz, Mack Maine and Pill sent out messages regarding the news. "R.I.P The Ultimate Warrior. One of the greatest wrestling champs EVER," Ortiz wrote. Mack Maine echoed those feelings: "Dammmmm R.I.P. to the Ultimate Warrior!!!!" So why was Ultimate Warrior such an important figure to the wrestling community? And why did he seem to connect with hip-hop in particular? "If you was born in the '80s and you followed wrestling in the '90s as a kid, then you knew who the Ultimate Warrior was," Smoke DZA, who remains an unabashed wrestling fan to this day, told MTV News. "A lot of people didn't like him; a lot of people loved him. He did a lot for the sport at the time. It's a piece of your childhood gone watching him die." To many, DZA said, the late wrestler represented more than your average wrestler. "People really know Ultimate Warrior for the energy he had, running down to the ring and shaking the ropes, just being erratic, and with the face paint and the colorful tassels," he explained. "He was the first wrestler with the colorful belts. He beat Hulk Hogan and had different color world titles; he had a white one, a red one, a blue one, a yellow one. He was on his hip-hop sh-- in that fashion." "He was always different because he put on a show," Mack Maine said when reached by MTV News. "That was our entertainment as kids; we all wanted to be like the wrestlers. We treated them like the Michael Jordan of their sport. We had the cards, posters; we sat down and talked about it at school. It was just part of our culture." Born Jim Hellwig, the Warrior joined the WWE (then known as WWF) in 1987. He competed there on and off until 1996, and won multiple belts along the way. He was 54.
Dammmmm R.I.P. to the Ultimate Warrior!!!!
— Mack Maine (@mackmaine) April 9, 2014
Warrior .. Bittersweet
— Wale Folarin (@Wale) April 8, 2014
R.I.P The Ultimate Warrior. One of the greatest wrestling champs EVER. http://t.co/1Ke703L8KM
— Joell Ortiz (@JoellOrtiz) April 9, 2014
R.I.P. WARRIOR.
— Mr. BAKLAVA (@ActionBronson) April 9, 2014
#RIP to one of my favorite wrestlers growing up @UltimateWarrior True #Legend
— Travis Barker (@travisbarker) April 9, 2014
R.I.P Ultimate Warrior.... I think that was the first action I got as a kid.. One of the best to ever do it...
— Pill (@Pill4180) April 9, 2014
Definitely a sad day for anybody who ever liked wrestling in life..
— Smoke DZA (@smokedza) April 9, 2014