Warrior rejects heel turn at SummerSlam 1992 reshaping main event

Vince McMahon considered turning The Ultimate Warrior into a villain for the planned WWF Championship main event at SummerSlam 1992 in London, but Warrior rejected the idea, prompting a late card reshuffle that put Bret Hart and The British Bulldog in the Wembley Stadium main event, author James Dixon said on a recent podcast. Dixon, whose book Titan Shrinking examines the WWF in 1992, said McMahon wanted Warrior to betray Randy Savage and align with Mr. Perfect and Ric Flair, a change that would have reshaped the promotion’s headline storyline at the July pay per view.

Dixon said McMahon’s motivation for the proposed heel turn came from slipping live-event drawing power for Warrior. "There was certainly talk and certainly thoughts in Vince’s mind that he could convince Warrior to turn," Dixon said. He described house show attendance as weak in some markets when Warrior was booked as the top babyface and said B-shows headlined by Savage were outperforming shows headlined by Warrior. According to Dixon, McMahon believed a character shift could re-energize Warrior’s appeal.

Warrior declined to abandon his babyface persona, telling company decision-makers he felt a heel turn would...