Professional wrestler the Ultimate Warrior is one of the big names in the history of the sport – even people who have never willingly watched a wrestling match probably recognize his name. Unfortunately, that name recognition shouldn't translate to implicit trust in business transactions, at least if the accusations made by sports memorabilia dealer Christopher Elias are to be believed.
In a police report filed by Elias, he claims that he had an agreement with Ultimate Warrior to purchase $28,000 worth of items from Warrior's private collection. In addition, Elias says he sent Warrior a bunch of his own merchandise to be autographed as part of the deal. Instead, Elias says the Warrior disappeared after getting the money, and hasn't sent him any of the stuff that was agreed upon.
Elias is understandably fighting mad about what happened, so he filed a fraud report with the Sante Fe County Sheriff's Department in New Mexico. In it, he asks for criminal charges to be placed against the Ultimate Warrior and for the immediate return of both the $28,000 and the twenty wrestling belts and ten Wrestlemania posters that were supposed to be returned with the Ultimate Warrior's autograph.
As for the Warrior (who by the way legally changed his name to "Warrior" back in 1993), he has yet to respond publicly to the charges, so it's up in the air how this case is going to develop from here. Warrior is known for having a somewhat eccentric personality, but an accusation of theft would be beyond the pale, especially for someone who has always prided himself on his strong morals both in the ring and out. Hopefully, the whole thing amounts to a simple misunderstanding and both parties can settle their disagreement soon. Otherwise you might be seeing Ultimate Warrior facing arrest!
