Wrestlemania 8

Wrestlemania 8 was going to have a main event “dream match” of Ric Flair Vs Hulk Hogan for the WWF title, but controversy did not stop for the WWF. After last year’s Wrestlemania brought on the first death threats, leading into Wrestlemania 8 WWF gets accused of massive Steroid use. One of the main wrestlers on trial; Hulk Hogan had to testify to using steroids, and WWF would have a nation-wide court-case on their hands. Vince McMahon had no other choice but to change the main event match. After the court-case McMahon wanted to focus the attention on guys that didn’t look like they had been taking steroids, so a storyline was created to lead to a championship match between Flair and The “Macho Man” Randy Savage. It would be two years till wrestling fans finally see Flair and Hogan wrestle and it’s not even for the same company. WCW from Atlanta, Georgia, was now competition for the WWF and would begin to buy up all of the WWF’s talent. Ric Flair had come from WCW and every fan wanted to see him face Hogan, but instead this debacle happens, and Wrestlemania 8 almost becomes a flop of a PPV.



Wrestlemania 8 came from Indianapolis, Indiana from their Hoosier Dome. April 5, 1992 saw Bret “The Hitman” Hart become Intercontinental champion, we see an old master manipulator fall to a new one, and Randy Savage win the WWF title for the 3rd time. Not too many celebrities were on hand for this event, but Reba McEntire welcomed us with her rendition of “America the Beautiful”. Let me now tell you about the next chapter in the legendary book of the Hitman; Bret Hart.

Since 1986, Bret Hart had been wrestling as a tag team wrestler, but those times were soon put behind him. Bret Hart had won the tag team titles, so now he wanted a singles belt. Bret Hart had already won the Intercontinental championship once but his title reign wasn't memorable. This match would be the second time going for this championship, but this time without his tag team partner in his corner. The “Hot Rod” Roddy Piper was Intercontinental Champion, and Hart set his sights on winning the middle-weight championship back. The Intercontinental championship had lead to the rise of The “Macho Man” Randy Savage, The Ultimate Warrior and now it would be the next stepping stone for the Hitman. Wrestlemania would be a passing of the torch for Hart, as this would be the last Wrestlemania Piper would wrestle for the company. “The Excellence of Execution” showed why he was truly the best at the time, showing his technical mastery and his ring general mentality. Hart would go on to beat Piper and reclaim the Intercontinental championship; this time leading to a feature WWF championship match. Hart goes on to headline the next Wrestlemania, but I’ll keep that for the next post, for now let’s just witness the beginnings of the "'Best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be".



In the next match I will talk about the next victim of The Undertaker’s Wrestlemania undefeated streak. For years the fans and superstars feared Jake “The Snake” Robert’s pet python Damian, but now the WWF had a new threat; The Undertaker. A few months back, Undertaker would play a major role in Ric Flair winning the WWF title; by giving his finisher "The Tombstone" to Hulk Hogan and putting the first “nail in the coffin” on Hulkamania. Later a match would be held to determine a new WWF champion, that person would be Ric Flair; which would lead to our changed WWF championship match. The Undertaker however had his sights set on domination; target: Roberts. The Undertaker would sit-up from two of Robert’s devastating DDTs, but would eventually tombstone Jake “The Snake” and receive another notch on his forming Wrestlemania streak. Robert’s days of scarring the WWF fan-base and it’s wrestlers was over, now there was a new darkness overhead; “The Deadman” The Undertaker.



Then we have the catastrophe that was the WWF championship match, between Ric Flair and The “Macho Man” Randy Savage. Aforementioned this title match was supposed to be the main event and a professional wrestling “dream match”, but instead we get a (first time ever) mid-card WWF championship match that would see Savage regain the title for the 3rd time. Nobody saw this coming, as everyone thought Hulk Hogan would face Ric Flair at the next big PPV; SummerSlam. Ric Flair would never end up facing Hogan until they finally meet in WCW, and would leave the WWF after only a year of being there. This title win would be the last for Randy Savage, as he later goes on to become a WWF commentator; than leaves the company for WCW. This match had no hype, and was a big let-down from the match expected, but to see Savage win was a surprise no-one saw coming. My final words for Wrestlemania 8; Welcome the “Pink and Black Attack”.