Legacy Review
WrestleMania VIII
April 5, 1992 from the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, IN (the last large stadium WM until X7)Commentary: Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan
It's the first Double Main Event Wrestlemania! After originally scheduling the Hogan vs Flair dream match everyone knew was coming after Flair signed with WWF, they changed course and paired Hogan up with Sid Justice and moved Randy Savage over to challenge Flair for the WWF title, cutting his blood feud with Jake Roberts short. A lot of people are still unhappy about that, but to me instead of getting the two biggest stars of the '80s, we got the two best wrestlers of the '80s in a match for the WWF title at Wrestlemania, and I'll take that tradeoff. They also tried to drive the buyrate up by heavily teasing that this could possibly be Hogan's "farewell match". Yeah, and Roddy Piper retired after WM 3.
This is the last of the three WMs that have what I consider to be the best WM theme music ever. Reba McEntire opens and shockingly sings the National Anthem instead of America the Beautiful. Bobby Heenan gives us the classic "That's Tito's sister! It's Arriba McEntire! WOOOOOOO!".
Shawn Michaels (w/Sensational Sherri) def "El Matador" Tito Santana in 10:38- This is Shawn's PPV singles coming out party after showing Marty Janetty how bad he wanted to kiss that barber shop window. Santana's late career conversion to El Matador was a prime example of Vince's early/mid '90s crazy gimmick obsession. Stalling start. After some shoving and speed Santana hits a crossbody for 2. More shoving. Shawn tries to push out of a headlock but Santana holds on. Shawn sees a punch coming and grabs the rope to slam the brakes, but Santana clotheslines him 360 and out. While Shawn's on the apron Santana grabs another headlock and drags Shawn back in over the top rope. Shawn hits a couple of leapfrogs on corner whips, with Santana anticipating the second and going back to the headlock. Shawn tries some rollover pin attempts. Santana counters a Shawn backdrop attempt into a small package for 2. They get running again and Shawn uses momentum to send Santana to the floor. Sherri lurks but shockingly doesn't get involved. Back in Shawn hits a .3 tiltawhirl backbreaker for 2. Don't think that happened the way it was supposed to. Superkick! Shawn goes for the side suplex that was his original finisher but Santana punches out. Flying quesalupa! (hat tip to my good friend, former podcast partner and Taco Bell aficionado Cody Kahne for that one) Shawn rolls to the floor. Santana follows and gives him a stair shot. Santana with a slingshot tackle! Kneelift, ricochet into the top turnbuckle, and inverted atomic drop and now Shawn's putting on the selling clinic. Santana hits his new El Paso De whatever finisher but Shawn rolls out again. Santana scoops him up off the apron to slam him, but Shawn grabs the top rope and falls on top of him (Sherri might have also grabbed a boot, it's hard to tell from the angle) and gets the 3 count. This wasn't at the pace you'd expect from these two, it came in starts and stops and had some moments of sloppiness, but was still a serviceable opener. **1/2
Mean Gene is on the interview stage for surprise guests, the returning Legion of Doom, who had been away a few months, and the very returning Paul Ellering in his WWF debut. They give a great old school Road Warriors promo full of promise, including the killer Hawk line "You know what we've been? We've been a runaway train. Nobody driving it. Scary, huh? Yeah. Scarier now. Look who's driving the train!". Unfortunately, this would all be undone in weeks in typical early '90s WWF fashion by a ventriloquist dummy named Rocco. Don't ask.
The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) def Jake "The Snake" Roberts in 6:36- These guys teamed up to torment first the Ultimate Warrior, then Savage after Warrior's post-Summerslam disappearance, but after Savage got moved to the title match Taker turned face (he was getting a lot of cheers anyway) and replaced him in this match to put a bow on the whole thing. Roberts is sans reptile by order of President Tunney. Lots of stick and move from Roberts to start with slow stalking by Taker. A punch sends Taker 360 to the floor and he lands on his feet. He drags Roberts out and posts him. As Taker's getting back in Roberts hits him with a kneelift. Taker no sells a corner whip, reverses, and rolls through the usual slow zombie Taker throat shots, corner whips and chokes. He hits the leaping clothesline. Roberts slips out of a slam and hits a DDT outta nowhere! But he doesn't cover. Taker does the zombie situp. Roberts hits the short clothesline and another DDT! Again no cover. He goes out after Paul Bearer instead. Taker grabs him from behind and tombstones him on the floor! He's dead, Jim. Taker rolls Roberts' carcass back in the ring and good night. Taker goes to 2-0 at WM. The match likely would have been better with reversed roles, but long term wise both guys were where they should be. This would be Roberts' last match in WWF before taking some time off and heading to WCW for a short and hugely disappointing run later in the year, "highlighted" by his disaster of a match with Sting at Halloween Havoc. Meanwhile, Taker would move on to one of the longest runs of awful feuds (match quality wise) in wrestling history. 3/4*
This is the last of the three WMs that have what I consider to be the best WM theme music ever. Reba McEntire opens and shockingly sings the National Anthem instead of America the Beautiful. Bobby Heenan gives us the classic "That's Tito's sister! It's Arriba McEntire! WOOOOOOO!".
Shawn Michaels (w/Sensational Sherri) def "El Matador" Tito Santana in 10:38- This is Shawn's PPV singles coming out party after showing Marty Janetty how bad he wanted to kiss that barber shop window. Santana's late career conversion to El Matador was a prime example of Vince's early/mid '90s crazy gimmick obsession. Stalling start. After some shoving and speed Santana hits a crossbody for 2. More shoving. Shawn tries to push out of a headlock but Santana holds on. Shawn sees a punch coming and grabs the rope to slam the brakes, but Santana clotheslines him 360 and out. While Shawn's on the apron Santana grabs another headlock and drags Shawn back in over the top rope. Shawn hits a couple of leapfrogs on corner whips, with Santana anticipating the second and going back to the headlock. Shawn tries some rollover pin attempts. Santana counters a Shawn backdrop attempt into a small package for 2. They get running again and Shawn uses momentum to send Santana to the floor. Sherri lurks but shockingly doesn't get involved. Back in Shawn hits a .3 tiltawhirl backbreaker for 2. Don't think that happened the way it was supposed to. Superkick! Shawn goes for the side suplex that was his original finisher but Santana punches out. Flying quesalupa! (hat tip to my good friend, former podcast partner and Taco Bell aficionado Cody Kahne for that one) Shawn rolls to the floor. Santana follows and gives him a stair shot. Santana with a slingshot tackle! Kneelift, ricochet into the top turnbuckle, and inverted atomic drop and now Shawn's putting on the selling clinic. Santana hits his new El Paso De whatever finisher but Shawn rolls out again. Santana scoops him up off the apron to slam him, but Shawn grabs the top rope and falls on top of him (Sherri might have also grabbed a boot, it's hard to tell from the angle) and gets the 3 count. This wasn't at the pace you'd expect from these two, it came in starts and stops and had some moments of sloppiness, but was still a serviceable opener. **1/2
Mean Gene is on the interview stage for surprise guests, the returning Legion of Doom, who had been away a few months, and the very returning Paul Ellering in his WWF debut. They give a great old school Road Warriors promo full of promise, including the killer Hawk line "You know what we've been? We've been a runaway train. Nobody driving it. Scary, huh? Yeah. Scarier now. Look who's driving the train!". Unfortunately, this would all be undone in weeks in typical early '90s WWF fashion by a ventriloquist dummy named Rocco. Don't ask.
The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) def Jake "The Snake" Roberts in 6:36- These guys teamed up to torment first the Ultimate Warrior, then Savage after Warrior's post-Summerslam disappearance, but after Savage got moved to the title match Taker turned face (he was getting a lot of cheers anyway) and replaced him in this match to put a bow on the whole thing. Roberts is sans reptile by order of President Tunney. Lots of stick and move from Roberts to start with slow stalking by Taker. A punch sends Taker 360 to the floor and he lands on his feet. He drags Roberts out and posts him. As Taker's getting back in Roberts hits him with a kneelift. Taker no sells a corner whip, reverses, and rolls through the usual slow zombie Taker throat shots, corner whips and chokes. He hits the leaping clothesline. Roberts slips out of a slam and hits a DDT outta nowhere! But he doesn't cover. Taker does the zombie situp. Roberts hits the short clothesline and another DDT! Again no cover. He goes out after Paul Bearer instead. Taker grabs him from behind and tombstones him on the floor! He's dead, Jim. Taker rolls Roberts' carcass back in the ring and good night. Taker goes to 2-0 at WM. The match likely would have been better with reversed roles, but long term wise both guys were where they should be. This would be Roberts' last match in WWF before taking some time off and heading to WCW for a short and hugely disappointing run later in the year, "highlighted" by his disaster of a match with Sting at Halloween Havoc. Meanwhile, Taker would move on to one of the longest runs of awful feuds (match quality wise) in wrestling history. 3/4*
Mean Gene is in the back with Hart and Piper for an all-time classic promo. This was a very modern style feud, throwing normal face/heel associations out the window and just having two guys that both happened to be faces fighting over the title, and both showing willingness to cross the line and do whatever it took to keep or regain it, which plays perfectly into the match.
WWF Intercontinental Championship: Bret "Hitman" Hart def "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (c) in 13:51- Piper is all business heading to the ring. Nose to nose before the bell. They trade armdrags out of lockups, feeling each other out. Piper gets a takedown and does some mat wrestling. Bret leverages him through the ropes to the floor. Piper jumps back in pissed off, shoves Bret and spits on him! Test of strength. Piper breaks out into an arm wringer but Bret reverses it. Piper chops, gives Bret a buckle shot and spins him around but can't get out. Bret hits a dropkick, but hurts his shoulder on the way down. The ref stops Piper to check, but it's a RUSE. When Piper gets close Bret wraps him up in a small package for 2! Now Piper's really pissed and slaps Bret. Jawing. Bret goes for a crossbody. Piper catches him, but the momentum sends them both slowly flopping over the top and to the floor. All these years, I've never been 100% sure if that was planned or a happy accident. Bret backs off a bit and Piper invites him back into the ring. Bret gets a clean entry and things might be cooling down....until Piper tells Bret he has a boot untied and UNLOADS a straight right on him. Bret gets busted open. Piper with a bulldog for 2. He keeps working the cut. Kneelift. Bret gets a sunset flip for 2. Piper hits rapid fire jabs for a long 2 count. Bret comeback and slugfest. A running forearm sends Piper outside again. He runs back in and they hit a double clothesline! Piper's the first one up and he slowly climbs the top rope, not a usual place for him. But Bret was playing possum again, leaps up and crotches him! Five Moves of Doom! Bret goes for the Sharpshooter but Piper blocks it. Bret drops an elbow on him. He goes up to the second rope for another elbow but Piper gets a boot up. Slugfest on knees. Bret hits a headbutt. Piper pushes him, but Bret runs into the ref! They both go to the floor and Piper gives Bret a stair shot. Piper rolls Bret back in, detours and picks up the ring bell. He brings it into the ring, teases uses it and is egged on by Heenan. "Waffle him with it! What the hell, use the bell! Hit him! Give it to me, I'll hit him!" Piper realizes he's going to far and throws the bell away. Sleeper! Bret climbs up the corner, falls back, and gets the pin and the title! After the match Piper teases heelishness but eventually gives Bret the belt and they leave together. Absolutely amazing match, the best of Piper's career. Lots of guys had their best match with Bret Hart. ****1/2
WWF Intercontinental Championship: Bret "Hitman" Hart def "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (c) in 13:51- Piper is all business heading to the ring. Nose to nose before the bell. They trade armdrags out of lockups, feeling each other out. Piper gets a takedown and does some mat wrestling. Bret leverages him through the ropes to the floor. Piper jumps back in pissed off, shoves Bret and spits on him! Test of strength. Piper breaks out into an arm wringer but Bret reverses it. Piper chops, gives Bret a buckle shot and spins him around but can't get out. Bret hits a dropkick, but hurts his shoulder on the way down. The ref stops Piper to check, but it's a RUSE. When Piper gets close Bret wraps him up in a small package for 2! Now Piper's really pissed and slaps Bret. Jawing. Bret goes for a crossbody. Piper catches him, but the momentum sends them both slowly flopping over the top and to the floor. All these years, I've never been 100% sure if that was planned or a happy accident. Bret backs off a bit and Piper invites him back into the ring. Bret gets a clean entry and things might be cooling down....until Piper tells Bret he has a boot untied and UNLOADS a straight right on him. Bret gets busted open. Piper with a bulldog for 2. He keeps working the cut. Kneelift. Bret gets a sunset flip for 2. Piper hits rapid fire jabs for a long 2 count. Bret comeback and slugfest. A running forearm sends Piper outside again. He runs back in and they hit a double clothesline! Piper's the first one up and he slowly climbs the top rope, not a usual place for him. But Bret was playing possum again, leaps up and crotches him! Five Moves of Doom! Bret goes for the Sharpshooter but Piper blocks it. Bret drops an elbow on him. He goes up to the second rope for another elbow but Piper gets a boot up. Slugfest on knees. Bret hits a headbutt. Piper pushes him, but Bret runs into the ref! They both go to the floor and Piper gives Bret a stair shot. Piper rolls Bret back in, detours and picks up the ring bell. He brings it into the ring, teases uses it and is egged on by Heenan. "Waffle him with it! What the hell, use the bell! Hit him! Give it to me, I'll hit him!" Piper realizes he's going to far and throws the bell away. Sleeper! Bret climbs up the corner, falls back, and gets the pin and the title! After the match Piper teases heelishness but eventually gives Bret the belt and they leave together. Absolutely amazing match, the best of Piper's career. Lots of guys had their best match with Bret Hart. ****1/2
Lex Luger
makes his WWF debut in a remote interview from his home. He was coming
in to be the cornerstone and big star of Vince's short-lived World
Bodybuilding Federation. By '93 the WBF would be dead and Luger would be
wrestling again.
The Big Boss Man, Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Sgt. Slaughter and Virgil def The Nasty Boys, Repo Man and The Mountie (w/Jimmy Hart) in 6:33- This year had the shortest WM card since the first one so this is the "get a bunch of random midcarders a PPV payday" match. Virgil's wearing a basketball style faceguard for a broken nose that I can't remember if it was legit or not. Vince might have just thought the faceguard looked cool. Family Feud host Ray Combs guest ring announces, hitting the heels with some OKish jokes before the Nastys turn into Bad Luck Fale and run him off. We're donnybrooking! The faces take charge and hit a quadruple clothesline. Repo comes in to get beat around a bit and the heels regroup. Heenan has a very important announcement: "Shawn Michaels has left the building!". Monsoon is not impressed. Reset with Duggan and Saggs. Saggs manipulates Duggan to play to the crowd then hits him from behind. Duggan hits some big clotheslines and atomic drops Saggs into the face corner. Slaughter and Knobbs do some back and forth. Boss Man hits big helicopter uppercuts. Knobbs dodges a charge and Boss Man crashes hard in the corner. Boss Man and Repo do some back and forth. Repo gets crotched. Virgil hits a crossbody off the top. Knobbs breaks up the pin and Virgil is face in peril. Saggs pumphandle slam for 2. The Mountie jumps into a Boss Man spinebuster and everyone runs in. DONNYBROOK! Saggs tries to hit Virgil with the face guard but Knobbs gets it instead, and Virgil covers for the pin. Not much cohesion here, but it was a pacey and mostly inoffensive spotfest. **
SEMI-MAIN EVENT FEUD RECAP- WWF used some clever long term booking maneuvering to get the WWF title on Flair without having a straight match with Hogan. Two late '91 Hogan/Undertaker PPV title matches were marred with outside interference (usually Flair), so Jack Tunney held the belt up and said whoever won the '92 Royal Rumble would be the undisputed champion. That match was, of course, won by Flair from the #3 spot in the greatest Rumble match of all time. When Flair's opponent changed from Hogan to Savage they had to throw together a feud on the fly. Fortunately, it's Flair and Savage and the answer was obvious: Flair claimed Elizabeth was riding Space Mountain before she ever met Savage. Flair and Perfect even went so far to promise to post photos of Elizabeth on the jumbotrons in the stadium after winning. Artistic photos, tastefully done. You can barely see the staple holes in the stomach. Cue Savage's usual jealous rage, and it leaps from thrown together to classic feud.
WWF Championship: "Macho Man" Randy Savage def Ric Flair (w/Mr. Perfect) (c) in 18:04- Savage flips his jacket and hat off and goes right for Flair. Brawl on the entrance aisle! Perfect pulls Savage off Flair and drags him back to ringside. Back in, Flair hits the first chop. Savage counters with a clothesline and a knee to the back sends Flair into the corner. Pillar to post beating. Savage charges. Flair counters with a backdrop that sends Savage a mile high over the top rope and to the floor. Flair goes to work in his playground, ramming Savage's back into the ring apron. Flair chops and the big delayed suplex. Flair goes into beatdown mode. Kneedrop. They go back outside and Savage gets rammed into the apron again. Flair suplexes him back in for 2. Flair goes after Hebner like he's Tommy Young. After a bit more beatdown Savage starts to punch back in the corner. Flair tries to pin him down and chop, but Savage keeps coming back. He counters a Flair backdrop into a neckbreaker. Heenan starts panicking. Flair gets wobblelegged off punches but gets an eye poke in. He goes up top and as usual gets slammed off. Savage gave it some extra Wrestlemania world title match oomph by getting up on the bottom rope before throwing Flair. It's the little things. Savage hits some clotheslines and Flair begs off. Flair Flip! He gets across and comes off the top rope, but Savage counters and covers for a *long* 2 count! The crowd really bit on that. Flair gets clotheslined 360 and out. Savage double ax handle from the top to the floor. Flair bounces off the guardrail, blades and we've got a classic Ric Flair crimson mask going. Stair shot, posted, Flair Flop! Savage suplexes Flair on the floor! Double ax handle off the top in the ring for another long 2 count that got the crowd again. Slam, Savage goes up top....SAVAGE ELBOW! It's all over! He covers, but MR. PERFECT PULLS HIM OFF FLAIR THAT SON OF A BITCH! Savage chases Perfect around and through the ring. While Hebner's trying to separate them Perfect tosses Flair some knucks. Flair waffles Savage with them and covers. Savage kicks out! While Flair has Hebner distracted Perfect grabs a chair and nails Savage in the knee with it. Make sure you've got your homework kids, we're going to school! Elizabeth makes her way to the ring, with WWF officials (including young Shane McMahon) trying to stop her. Flair rolls through the knee work, hits a kneebreaker and slaps on the figure four. Savage fights it while Elizabeth cheers him on and refuses to leave. Flair slaps Savage but he keeps fighting....fighting....and reverses! Flair lets it go. He goes for a slam, but Savage reverses it into a small package for 2! He knows he's knee's gone, he's doing whatever he can to try to win. Flair props Savage up in the corner closest to Elizabeth, says "It's for you, baby!" and pummels Savage with chops. Another kneebreaker. Flair keeps hold of the leg, but Savage blocks a punch, spins Flair around, rolls him up with a very obvious handful of trunks and gets the pin and the title! MASSIVE, EXPLOSIVE pop! That was a roof buster. The crowd started out lukewarm, but by the end they were eating every last bit of it up. Savage continues selling the knee as he's awarded the belt and Elizabeth celebrates with him. Flair breaks it up, asks Elizabeth "What about me?" and kisses her! You thought Savage was mad before? No. He TEARS into Flair, trying to murder the man. The officials eventually get them separated. Savage continued selling the knee the whole time. This remains one of my absolute favorite matches of all time. The only thing I can say against it is in the first part of the match Flair was trying to work more the regular WWF main event style rather than his own and it came off a little square peg/round hole (for contrast check out the home video exclusive match where he drops the title to Bret Hart, which is a 100% NWA style match in a WWF ring). But once they really got rolling the drama and intensity were off the charts and the psychology was tight, especially Savage getting desperate for a win in any way possible after his knee was destroyed. ****3/4
Intermission time in the arena means promo time on TV. Flair and Savage give dueling postmatch promos. On Flair's side, Perfect and Heenan are apoplectic and complain about the tights holding, but Flair calms them down and gives the great line "You did it once, now let's see you do it again. One time means NOTHING to my career". Savage says he just got a piece of Flair and is coming for the rest. Savage, a man ever dedicated to his craft, sells the knee the entire promo. Flair would end up keeping his promise, continuing targeting Savage's hurt knee and slowly planning retribution, eventually winning the title back in the fall. Ironically, this would also be Elizabeth's last major WWF appearance. She and Savage divorced a few months later.
Tatanka def "The Model" Rick Martel in 4:33- Tatanka had just arrived in WWF and was undefeated. Martel pounds away in the corner. Tatanka hits a hiptoss and some slams. Martel ducks a chop and goes outside to regroup. Heenan absolutely loses his shit on commentary over Flair losing with Monsoon egging him on the whole time. "Don't jump! It's a long way down." Martel posts his shoulder and Tatanka works the arm. He blocks a hiptoss. Martel counters with a .4 chokeslam and throws Tatanka out. The usual Martel back work follows. He goes up top, but Tatanka shakes the ropes and he gets crotched. Big Tatanka chops. Martel counters a backdrop. Tatanka hits a crossbody for a shock pin. Meh. *1/2
WWF Tag Team Championship: The Natural Disasters def Money Inc (c) (w/Jimmy Hart) by countout in 8:38- The Disasters became the latest team to turn on Jimmy Hart when Hart snuck Money Inc into a title match with LOD that the Disasters were originally scheduled for, and worse they did what the Disasters hadn't done- win the titles. Earthquake and DiBiase start. No, IRS. No, DiBiase tags in. Make up your minds. Quake throws DiBiase around. Disaster clotheslines for both heels. After a double team noggin knocker the heels regroup. IRS's arm gets worked a bit. DiBiase ducks a Typhoon charge and the 'Phoon slowly works his way over the top and to the floor. IRS gives him a stair shot and Typhoon is disaster in peril. Money Inc hits double teams. IRS puts a facelock on. Typhoon powers him into the corner and they do the phantom tag spot. More double teams and a 2 count. DiBiase and Typhoon double clothesline. Tags on both sides. Quake works IRS over and the crowd almost wakes up. Donnybrook. The heels get whipped into each other. Typhoon splashes IRS and Quake loads up the Earthquake splash. Before he can hit it Hart drags IRS out, DiBiase grabs the belts and the heels walk while the Disasters stand there like a couple of loons and don't do anything to stop them. Now that's a shit finish. That's what you do in the build match, not at WM. Up until then Money Inc were carrying this to scratching borderline decent. *1/2
"The Rocket" Owen Hart def Skinner in 1:36- Owen's still in the awful New Foundation oversized pajama pants and suspenders. When he backflips into the ring Skinner spits chewing tobacco in his face. Disgusting. Skinner literally controls the entire match, not letting Owen do a thing, until Owen skins the cat and get a shock roll up to win. Next. DUD
The Big Boss Man, Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Sgt. Slaughter and Virgil def The Nasty Boys, Repo Man and The Mountie (w/Jimmy Hart) in 6:33- This year had the shortest WM card since the first one so this is the "get a bunch of random midcarders a PPV payday" match. Virgil's wearing a basketball style faceguard for a broken nose that I can't remember if it was legit or not. Vince might have just thought the faceguard looked cool. Family Feud host Ray Combs guest ring announces, hitting the heels with some OKish jokes before the Nastys turn into Bad Luck Fale and run him off. We're donnybrooking! The faces take charge and hit a quadruple clothesline. Repo comes in to get beat around a bit and the heels regroup. Heenan has a very important announcement: "Shawn Michaels has left the building!". Monsoon is not impressed. Reset with Duggan and Saggs. Saggs manipulates Duggan to play to the crowd then hits him from behind. Duggan hits some big clotheslines and atomic drops Saggs into the face corner. Slaughter and Knobbs do some back and forth. Boss Man hits big helicopter uppercuts. Knobbs dodges a charge and Boss Man crashes hard in the corner. Boss Man and Repo do some back and forth. Repo gets crotched. Virgil hits a crossbody off the top. Knobbs breaks up the pin and Virgil is face in peril. Saggs pumphandle slam for 2. The Mountie jumps into a Boss Man spinebuster and everyone runs in. DONNYBROOK! Saggs tries to hit Virgil with the face guard but Knobbs gets it instead, and Virgil covers for the pin. Not much cohesion here, but it was a pacey and mostly inoffensive spotfest. **
SEMI-MAIN EVENT FEUD RECAP- WWF used some clever long term booking maneuvering to get the WWF title on Flair without having a straight match with Hogan. Two late '91 Hogan/Undertaker PPV title matches were marred with outside interference (usually Flair), so Jack Tunney held the belt up and said whoever won the '92 Royal Rumble would be the undisputed champion. That match was, of course, won by Flair from the #3 spot in the greatest Rumble match of all time. When Flair's opponent changed from Hogan to Savage they had to throw together a feud on the fly. Fortunately, it's Flair and Savage and the answer was obvious: Flair claimed Elizabeth was riding Space Mountain before she ever met Savage. Flair and Perfect even went so far to promise to post photos of Elizabeth on the jumbotrons in the stadium after winning. Artistic photos, tastefully done. You can barely see the staple holes in the stomach. Cue Savage's usual jealous rage, and it leaps from thrown together to classic feud.
WWF Championship: "Macho Man" Randy Savage def Ric Flair (w/Mr. Perfect) (c) in 18:04- Savage flips his jacket and hat off and goes right for Flair. Brawl on the entrance aisle! Perfect pulls Savage off Flair and drags him back to ringside. Back in, Flair hits the first chop. Savage counters with a clothesline and a knee to the back sends Flair into the corner. Pillar to post beating. Savage charges. Flair counters with a backdrop that sends Savage a mile high over the top rope and to the floor. Flair goes to work in his playground, ramming Savage's back into the ring apron. Flair chops and the big delayed suplex. Flair goes into beatdown mode. Kneedrop. They go back outside and Savage gets rammed into the apron again. Flair suplexes him back in for 2. Flair goes after Hebner like he's Tommy Young. After a bit more beatdown Savage starts to punch back in the corner. Flair tries to pin him down and chop, but Savage keeps coming back. He counters a Flair backdrop into a neckbreaker. Heenan starts panicking. Flair gets wobblelegged off punches but gets an eye poke in. He goes up top and as usual gets slammed off. Savage gave it some extra Wrestlemania world title match oomph by getting up on the bottom rope before throwing Flair. It's the little things. Savage hits some clotheslines and Flair begs off. Flair Flip! He gets across and comes off the top rope, but Savage counters and covers for a *long* 2 count! The crowd really bit on that. Flair gets clotheslined 360 and out. Savage double ax handle from the top to the floor. Flair bounces off the guardrail, blades and we've got a classic Ric Flair crimson mask going. Stair shot, posted, Flair Flop! Savage suplexes Flair on the floor! Double ax handle off the top in the ring for another long 2 count that got the crowd again. Slam, Savage goes up top....SAVAGE ELBOW! It's all over! He covers, but MR. PERFECT PULLS HIM OFF FLAIR THAT SON OF A BITCH! Savage chases Perfect around and through the ring. While Hebner's trying to separate them Perfect tosses Flair some knucks. Flair waffles Savage with them and covers. Savage kicks out! While Flair has Hebner distracted Perfect grabs a chair and nails Savage in the knee with it. Make sure you've got your homework kids, we're going to school! Elizabeth makes her way to the ring, with WWF officials (including young Shane McMahon) trying to stop her. Flair rolls through the knee work, hits a kneebreaker and slaps on the figure four. Savage fights it while Elizabeth cheers him on and refuses to leave. Flair slaps Savage but he keeps fighting....fighting....and reverses! Flair lets it go. He goes for a slam, but Savage reverses it into a small package for 2! He knows he's knee's gone, he's doing whatever he can to try to win. Flair props Savage up in the corner closest to Elizabeth, says "It's for you, baby!" and pummels Savage with chops. Another kneebreaker. Flair keeps hold of the leg, but Savage blocks a punch, spins Flair around, rolls him up with a very obvious handful of trunks and gets the pin and the title! MASSIVE, EXPLOSIVE pop! That was a roof buster. The crowd started out lukewarm, but by the end they were eating every last bit of it up. Savage continues selling the knee as he's awarded the belt and Elizabeth celebrates with him. Flair breaks it up, asks Elizabeth "What about me?" and kisses her! You thought Savage was mad before? No. He TEARS into Flair, trying to murder the man. The officials eventually get them separated. Savage continued selling the knee the whole time. This remains one of my absolute favorite matches of all time. The only thing I can say against it is in the first part of the match Flair was trying to work more the regular WWF main event style rather than his own and it came off a little square peg/round hole (for contrast check out the home video exclusive match where he drops the title to Bret Hart, which is a 100% NWA style match in a WWF ring). But once they really got rolling the drama and intensity were off the charts and the psychology was tight, especially Savage getting desperate for a win in any way possible after his knee was destroyed. ****3/4
Intermission time in the arena means promo time on TV. Flair and Savage give dueling postmatch promos. On Flair's side, Perfect and Heenan are apoplectic and complain about the tights holding, but Flair calms them down and gives the great line "You did it once, now let's see you do it again. One time means NOTHING to my career". Savage says he just got a piece of Flair and is coming for the rest. Savage, a man ever dedicated to his craft, sells the knee the entire promo. Flair would end up keeping his promise, continuing targeting Savage's hurt knee and slowly planning retribution, eventually winning the title back in the fall. Ironically, this would also be Elizabeth's last major WWF appearance. She and Savage divorced a few months later.
Tatanka def "The Model" Rick Martel in 4:33- Tatanka had just arrived in WWF and was undefeated. Martel pounds away in the corner. Tatanka hits a hiptoss and some slams. Martel ducks a chop and goes outside to regroup. Heenan absolutely loses his shit on commentary over Flair losing with Monsoon egging him on the whole time. "Don't jump! It's a long way down." Martel posts his shoulder and Tatanka works the arm. He blocks a hiptoss. Martel counters with a .4 chokeslam and throws Tatanka out. The usual Martel back work follows. He goes up top, but Tatanka shakes the ropes and he gets crotched. Big Tatanka chops. Martel counters a backdrop. Tatanka hits a crossbody for a shock pin. Meh. *1/2
WWF Tag Team Championship: The Natural Disasters def Money Inc (c) (w/Jimmy Hart) by countout in 8:38- The Disasters became the latest team to turn on Jimmy Hart when Hart snuck Money Inc into a title match with LOD that the Disasters were originally scheduled for, and worse they did what the Disasters hadn't done- win the titles. Earthquake and DiBiase start. No, IRS. No, DiBiase tags in. Make up your minds. Quake throws DiBiase around. Disaster clotheslines for both heels. After a double team noggin knocker the heels regroup. IRS's arm gets worked a bit. DiBiase ducks a Typhoon charge and the 'Phoon slowly works his way over the top and to the floor. IRS gives him a stair shot and Typhoon is disaster in peril. Money Inc hits double teams. IRS puts a facelock on. Typhoon powers him into the corner and they do the phantom tag spot. More double teams and a 2 count. DiBiase and Typhoon double clothesline. Tags on both sides. Quake works IRS over and the crowd almost wakes up. Donnybrook. The heels get whipped into each other. Typhoon splashes IRS and Quake loads up the Earthquake splash. Before he can hit it Hart drags IRS out, DiBiase grabs the belts and the heels walk while the Disasters stand there like a couple of loons and don't do anything to stop them. Now that's a shit finish. That's what you do in the build match, not at WM. Up until then Money Inc were carrying this to scratching borderline decent. *1/2
"The Rocket" Owen Hart def Skinner in 1:36- Owen's still in the awful New Foundation oversized pajama pants and suspenders. When he backflips into the ring Skinner spits chewing tobacco in his face. Disgusting. Skinner literally controls the entire match, not letting Owen do a thing, until Owen skins the cat and get a shock roll up to win. Next. DUD
MAIN EVENT FEUD RECAP- Hogan and Sid had been circling each other ever since Sid debuted in WWF in mid-'91 and was the guest ref for the Summerslam main event. Sid eliminated Hogan in the Rumble, costing him the title (and getting a pretty big pop for doing it, Hogan's act was getting very stale by this time). Ever the gracious loser, Hogan helped Flair eliminate Sid out of spite and the two had a mid-ring standoff after the match. Sid's heel turn really started when Hogan was declared the challenger for WM, going off on a jealous fit. It was solidified on the pre-WM Saturday Night's Main Event, when he abandoned Hogan to die in a tag match. After turning Sid started carting out ambulance loads of jobbers on stretchers to get him over as a monster and his powerbomb over as a super finisher. Meanwhile, Hogan took up a whole episode of Prime Time Wrestling dedicated to his career highlights and didn't give a straight answer on whether he was retiring or not.
Hulk Hogan def Sid Justice (w/Harvey Whippleman) by DQ in 12:28- Hogan is announced at his usual 303 pounds but looks noticeably smaller due to the ongoing federal investigation into WWF's steroid use. As soon as he hits the ring Sid jumps him. Hogan comes back, punches Sid out, and clotheslines him off the apron, all while his music is still playing. Finally he does the shirt tear, the music stops and the bell rings. Sid takes his sweet time getting back in. Jawing at each other ends with a Sid knee to the gut. Slow beatdown. Hogan punches back and Sid falls to the floor again. More stalling. When he finally gets back in Sid wants a test of strength. Monsoon comes up with the name Psycho Sid, which would end up becoming Sid's real ring name a few years later. Sid gets the advantage. Hogan slowly works back up and Sid puts him down again. When Hogan gets up again Sid pushes him into the corner. Hogan reverses a whip and hits the corner clothesline. He takes a swing at Whippleman. Sid grabs a goozle and hits a chokeslam. Hogan starts the spasm selling. The crowd is mostly the usual pro Hogan, but there's definitely some people cheering Sid, just like at the Rumble. He slowly works Hogan's back a little. Hogan falls to the floor. Sid gives him a couple of shots with Whippleman's doctor bag. Back in Sid locks in the Nerve Pinch of Extreme Time Killing +4, as if this match hasn't crawled enough already. After a bit Hogan does the arm drops and comes back. Sid kills it with a side suplex. He calls for the powerbomb and hits it. Hulk Up. Punches, buckle shots, big boot, big man slam, legdrop. Hogan covers but the booked finish is running late so everyone has to improvise. Sid kicks out and Whippleman runs in, drawing the DQ. After the bell the guy that was supposed to cause the DQ but missed his cue, Papa Shango, finally comes to the ring. The heels beat Hogan down, until.....BAH GAWD THAT'S THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR'S MUSIC! Warrior makes his surprise return after being gone since Summerslam, also much smaller than he used to be. He's also got a different hairstyle, sparking the urban legend that the "original" Warrior died and this was his replacement. He and Hogan clear the ring and celebrate to end the show. Of course Hogan wouldn't fully retire yet, but he did end up taking nearly a year off, returning in early '93 for the build to WM 9. This match is one of the worst main events in WM history. I don't know if anyone's ever overpromised and underdelivered more in big matches than Sid, and Hogan didn't look very motivated either. 1/2*
Hulk Hogan def Sid Justice (w/Harvey Whippleman) by DQ in 12:28- Hogan is announced at his usual 303 pounds but looks noticeably smaller due to the ongoing federal investigation into WWF's steroid use. As soon as he hits the ring Sid jumps him. Hogan comes back, punches Sid out, and clotheslines him off the apron, all while his music is still playing. Finally he does the shirt tear, the music stops and the bell rings. Sid takes his sweet time getting back in. Jawing at each other ends with a Sid knee to the gut. Slow beatdown. Hogan punches back and Sid falls to the floor again. More stalling. When he finally gets back in Sid wants a test of strength. Monsoon comes up with the name Psycho Sid, which would end up becoming Sid's real ring name a few years later. Sid gets the advantage. Hogan slowly works back up and Sid puts him down again. When Hogan gets up again Sid pushes him into the corner. Hogan reverses a whip and hits the corner clothesline. He takes a swing at Whippleman. Sid grabs a goozle and hits a chokeslam. Hogan starts the spasm selling. The crowd is mostly the usual pro Hogan, but there's definitely some people cheering Sid, just like at the Rumble. He slowly works Hogan's back a little. Hogan falls to the floor. Sid gives him a couple of shots with Whippleman's doctor bag. Back in Sid locks in the Nerve Pinch of Extreme Time Killing +4, as if this match hasn't crawled enough already. After a bit Hogan does the arm drops and comes back. Sid kills it with a side suplex. He calls for the powerbomb and hits it. Hulk Up. Punches, buckle shots, big boot, big man slam, legdrop. Hogan covers but the booked finish is running late so everyone has to improvise. Sid kicks out and Whippleman runs in, drawing the DQ. After the bell the guy that was supposed to cause the DQ but missed his cue, Papa Shango, finally comes to the ring. The heels beat Hogan down, until.....BAH GAWD THAT'S THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR'S MUSIC! Warrior makes his surprise return after being gone since Summerslam, also much smaller than he used to be. He's also got a different hairstyle, sparking the urban legend that the "original" Warrior died and this was his replacement. He and Hogan clear the ring and celebrate to end the show. Of course Hogan wouldn't fully retire yet, but he did end up taking nearly a year off, returning in early '93 for the build to WM 9. This match is one of the worst main events in WM history. I don't know if anyone's ever overpromised and underdelivered more in big matches than Sid, and Hogan didn't look very motivated either. 1/2*
OVERALL SHOW
THOUGHTS- Definitely a tale of two halves. The first half is mind-blowing spectacular, Great American Bash '89 level stuff with two 4.5+ star title matches, a serviceable undercard and a great LOD return promo. The second half is utter trash, with no redeeming features other than Warrior's shock return and Monsoon and Heenan's continued awesomeness on commentary. Speaking of them, this and the '92 Rumble are the pinnacle of the legendary Monsoon/Heenan combo and the whole show is 100% worth watching just to listen to them. How many modern shows can you say that about?
OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B-
OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B-
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