April 5th, 1992
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Venue: The Hoosier Dome
Attendance: 62,167
It's day 8 in the countdown, and the next step in our journey takes us to 1992 in Indianapolis as the WWF was once again getting ready for their biggest show of the year.
In another WrestleMania first, the company decided that there couldn't be just "one" main event. Instead, it was announced that there would be two main events for fans to enjoy.
The only problem was that one of them was a complete failure.
The Hoosier dome was selected to be the venue for WrestleMania 8 as the sight of a stadium filled with fans returned. It would be the final time that WrestleMania was held in a stadium until 2001. The reasoning attached to this was most likely due to the company's financial issues in the '90s.
Country star Reba McEntire was tasked to since the "Star-Spangled Banner" to open the show, rather than the traditional "America the Beautiful."
Over in the commentary booth, this would be the final time that Gorilla Monsoon would be calling the play-by-play at a WrestleMania. With Bobby "The Brain" Heenan also returning for color commentary, it was the end of an era as this duo was very short-lived. Despite that, they were one of the most charismatic pairings the WWF ever had.
Before I get into more significant details, some other minor notes to WrestleMania 8 should be mentioned.
Shawn Michaels made his first WrestleMania appearance as a solo competitor, defeating Tito Santana in the opening match. After turning his back on Marty Janetty to split up The Rockers, the "Heart Break Kid" made his presence known on the big stage. It would be the first stepping stone of a legacy that earned him the nickname "Mr. WrestleMania."
Finally, The Undertaker took down another victim at WrestleMania as he quickly took care of Jake "The Snake" Roberts. In another uneventful match, the streak improved to 2-0. It would take a while before fans started realizing a winning streak was forming. For now, it was just another quiet step in history.
Now, once again, to the three things that stood out to me from this pay-per-view.
Take a bow, Piper and Hart
At WrestleMania 8, Roddy Piper was scheduled to defend his Intercontinental Championship against "The Hitman" Bret Hart.
In what was really another "good guy" vs. 'good guy" match, the background was that Piper grew up with Bret and his family in the world of wrestling, and it would be a match of respect in Indianapolis.
As it would end up, Hart and Piper battled in one of the best technical matches WrestleMania had ever seen.
With blood spilling everywhere from Hart's head, the two continuously exchanged punches and submission holds in the hopes that one would crack first for the loss.
With the referee knocked down, Piper grabbed the ring bell and contemplated striking Hart for the upper hand.
Instead, Piper opted not to take the low road, threw the bell out of the ring, and try to finish the match with dignity. Piper immediately puts a sleeper on "The Hitman" to make him unconscious and pick up the win.
Hart worked his way to the corner, jumped up, and used the turnbuckle as a spring to lift himself over Piper and get the pinfall for the victory.
In continuing with the mutual respect, Piper stepped out of the ring to grab his title and wrap it around the waist of Hart to crown the new Intercontinental Championship.
To this day, it's considered to be one of the best WrestleMania matches in history after both gave memorable performances. The Intercontinental Championship match has had a habit of stealing the spotlight at WrestleManias. What are the odds?
Don't mess with Savage
As most know, Elizabeth and "Macho Man" Randy Savage's reunion proved to be one of the best feel-good moments in WrestleMania history. In fact, the two were actually married in real life. In the summer of 1991, Savage and Elizabeth held a television wedding, despite legitimately getting married months before. All was well in the world of Mr. and Mrs. Savage.
That was until a man by the name of Ric Flair joined the WWF.
At the 1991 Survivor Series, controversy arose with the WWF Championship when Flair helped The Undertaker win Hulk Hogan's title. A few weeks later, at the next pay-per-view titled "This Tuesday in Texas," a rematch was called for 'Taker and Hogan.
However, Flair, once again, interfered in the match. Having enough, WWF President Jack Tunney announced he would vacate the title after the back-to-back controversial endings and declared that the title was up for grabs in the 1992 Royal Rumble match.
In the final moments of the Rumble match, Sid Justice eliminated Hogan, leaving him and Flair in the last two after the "Nature Boy" entered at number three. Hogan, in anger, helped Flair eliminate Justice. In doing that, Flair was crowned the new WWF Champion with, as he said, "a tear in my eye."
Now, you're probably asking: "Jose, what on earth does that have to do with Randy Savage?" (Well, at least I hope you do. You need context in stories. It's journalism)
After Flair became champion, he started to get a bit too vocal and made claims that he had a previous relationship with Miss Elizabeth and had secret photos of her.
Yup. That was a thing. Do you think the subject's partner would like to hear that? Probably not.
And that [finally] takes us to WrestleMania 8! (See, context is worth it.) Savage challenged Flair for the title after Flair's comments and actions towards Elizabeth.
The first note to make of the match was that it happened in the middle of the pay-per-view. For the first time in WrestleMania history (excluding the first Mania), the WWF Championship did not close the flagship show. Was it a smart decision at the time? Definitely not. This point will be discussed later on.
As the "Macho Man" was making his entrance, he wasted no time getting his entrance gear off and run after Flair to start the match. After chasing him around the ring, he caught up to Flair and began the pounding of a lifetime.
After a series of punches from Savage, Flair got up and began to bleed profusely at one point in the match. However, this came to be a massive issue with Vince McMahon as when Flair was down. He was caught on camera cutting his own forehead with a blade to enhance the match. Flair was given a hefty fine (amount unknown) for the stunt.
Near the end of the match, Miss Elizabeth came running down the aisle to the ring to be at her husband's corner. Flair, who took notice, began to flirt and make an insane amount of comments towards her. But thanks to the distraction, Savage was able to roll him up and pick up the victory.
For the second time in his career, "Macho Man" Randy Savage was the WWF Champion. As Elizabeth came in the ring to congratulate him, Flair grabbed Savage's wife and kissed her. Elizabeth then began to attack Flair, who ran out of the ring and stood alone with her husband as the celebration began.
It would prove to be a bittersweet moment for all three. For Savage, his second stint as champion would be his last in the company as he would surprisingly move to the commentator's booth in the following years. As for Elizabeth, WrestleMania 8 would have been her last as just a few months later, she and Savage ended up divorcing in real life and quietly stepped away from the world of the WWF.
Ric Flair? It would also be his final WrestleMania (at least until WrestleMania 18 in Toronto) as, by February 1993, he departed the company and jumped ship to rival WCW.
This WWF Championship match once again stands as one of the best in WrestleMania history. I think there's a bit of irony knowing that the three would no longer have such a strong presence in the WWF within a year.
The storyline was edgy but provided a classic that is still spoken about today.
Wrong main event
In a stunning decision to not have the WWF Championship close WrestleMania, the WWF opted to have fan-favorite Hulk Hogan take on Sid Justice, instead.
Now, on the business side of things, especially with wrestling, you clearly want to put the full focus on the one thing that makes your company stand out. For the WWF, that would be Hulk Hogan. In the previous seven WrestleManias, Hogan closed out each of them and had the fans at their loudest.
To close out a show of this magnitude, you need to justify your reason as to why your company's top prize isn't wrapping up the event. That justification was Hogan's impending retirement. In an interview with Vince McMahon, Hogan told the whole world he wasn't sure if the match with Justice would be his last. However, there was a reasoning behind why Hogan suddenly began to think about retirement.
If you read my previous article on WrestleMania 7, you'll remember me saying that I'm not a fan of politics and sports mixing up. Unfortunately, this would be the case once again. In real life, the WWF came under fire when rumors circulated that McMahon was accepting steroids from a Pennsylvania doctor for his performers.
Hogan ended up being one of the biggest names involved with the scandal and used his match at WrestleMania 8 as a chance to take a hiatus in the company in the wake of it.
The match itself doesn't deserve to be brought up in full detail. In a very lackluster match, the match was very slow-paced and never really gave you a reason to get up from your seat. What should be brought up instead was the massive mistake in the ending to the match.
It was eventually known that when Hogan went for his leg drop on Justice in the final moments, Papa Shango was supposed to interfere and attack Hogan for a disqualification win. Shango missed his cue to come down to the ring, and Justice was forced to kick out of Hogan's pinfall attempt.
To reach the desired scripted result, Justice's manager, Harvey Whippleman, attacked Hogan, which caused referee Dave Hebner to ring the bell.
In what was already a mess watching Hogan and Justice look confused, Shango came down to the ring looking pointless and began striking Hogan.
However, the Ultimate Warrior's music hit as Hogan's former foe came charging down the aisle to back up his longtime buddy.
Hogan and Warrior stood tall in the ring and showed love to the crowd as WrestleMania 8 came to a close.
Final thoughts
Everything about WrestleMania 8 was great until it was time for Hogan and Justice. I think it's safe to say that the WWF dropped the ball not having their world title close the show.
The dark shadow looming over the company regarding the steroid trial also didn't help as it resulted in talent line Hogan and Piper leaving the company for a while.
Fans did pick up on the awkward ending that surrounded the main event as not even the improvisation Hogan and Justice were doing was working.
Had Hogan and Justice maybe went on earlier or even not be on the card at all, I think WrestleMania 8 would have been the better 'Mania until that point. The other big matches definitely carried their weight and thankfully left a lasting impact on the show.
You could even argue that Roddy Piper and Bret Hart outperformed everybody and had the best match of the night.
Just because Hogan is your top guy doesn't mean he should be closing the show. When it comes to writing about WrestleMania 33, you'll see that this issue definitely arises again.
After all, it's not like Hogan would come back a year later and suddenly pop back in the main event of WrestleMania 9, creating one of the worst WrestleMania moments in history, right?
Results:
- Shawn Michaels def. Tito Santana
- The Undertaker def. Jake Roberts
- Bret Hart def. Roddy Piper (c) - WWF Intercontinental Championship
- Big Moss Man, Jim Duggan, Sargent Slaughter and Virgil def. The Mountie, The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) and Repo Man - Eight-man tag team match
- Randy Savage def. Ric Flair (c) - WWF World Heavyweight Championship
- Tatanka def. Rick Martel
- The Natural Disasters def. Money Inc. (Irwin R. Schyster and Ted DiBiase) (c) via countout - WWF Tag Team Championship (Money Inc. retained)
- Owen Hart def. Skinner
- Hulk Hogan def. Sid Justice via disqualification
Rating: B
Thanks for reading. Look out tomorrow when I take a look at WrestleMania 9.
27 days away until WrestleMania 35.
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