1988-89 WWE MVP

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

As we move further back we are getting ready to enter into the first major boom period for the WWE and here in 88-89 we are just outside of that period in the time between the day after Mania IV up to Mania V.

For me this is an easy one as I give it to Macho Man. This was his time to show he could be the man as he held the title throughout the duration of this period. Now like Warrior he really wasn't allowed to be the man but in a different manner than Warrior. Where Warrior was never treated like the champ and main eventer from the jump, Macho had Hogan attached at the hip and really wasn't able to do his own thing on top until turning heel and feuding with Hogan which of course lead to there match at Mania V.

Even though Hogan and Macho really ran parallel during this time, the fact that Macho was the one holding the strap is why I give the edge to Randy.

 

[MMK]

Randy Savage is the MVP. Goes without saying.

But honorable mention should go to Demolition

Ax and Smash held the tag team titles from March 88 to July 89. Then won them back in October of 89. To remain on top for that long especially at a time when tag team wrestling was in its zenith with plenty of competition from the likes of The Harts, The Rockers, Powers of Pain, Bulldogs, The Rougeaus, and more is incredibly impressive. Any one of those teams would have made for great tag team champions yet none were able to rise to the level of popularity that Demolition attained.

The tag team division in the 80's was every bit as responsible for the WWF's success as the singles division was. And Demolition were the most successful and popular of the bunch.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I disagree...

This is the year Rick Rude cemented the midcard as something worth seeing and had 2 stellar feuds in that time, against Jake Roberts and The Ultimate Warrior. Demolition made the tag division interesting with their double turn angle with Powers of Pain but after the "failed promise" of Ricky Steamboats IC title and the seemingly endless Honky Tonk Man reign, it was quite a jarring moment when Rude upended Warrior after barely 6 months. Heenan got a big assist but look back at Rude's work in that year...

The Cheryl Roberts stuff was the most risque and arguably "fun" feud WWE had for a long long time... there was a "personal issue" there, two guys who could go and even though it never really got a true PPV pay off, it did it's job in moving both guys into that "just below main event" status where they thrived. It seemed a shame to throw the "ending" away on a double elimination in the tournament. The Warrior/Herc match could easily have done the same thing and let Rude and Jake play out their feud... but it did mean that come the Rumble when Rude attacked Warrior with the flexbar and won the "Jesse The Body" award the fans were baying for his blood. They had to wait until Summerslam to see that pay off but for a "mid card" guy with one year on the roster, Rude really was the most important part of that undercard in this period... his feuds got attention, he was that "workhorse" that could sell a B show AND he had a crucial hand in bringing Warrior along as a worker. It makes his leaving just 2 years later all the more galling.

Savage was important in this period but he was MEANT to be, they saw the potential, had the faith and it's one of the few times it paid off for them, but Hogan was still there, he didn't carry the company alone, they hung it on the Mega Powers... Rude in the meantime was providing the stuff you wanted to watch in that midcard section... cos everyone wanted to see him get his ass kicked and he never actually did...the true mark of a MVP heel character.


The reason it is far more important that someone like Rude did what he did, was that there was an oil change of talent that year prior... half the roster was basically gone from Mania 3 to 4 and replaced with new talent like Bam Bam, Big Bossman, Jim Duggan, Ted DiBiase, One Man Gang, Warrior and the tags with Demolition, Powers of Pain and the Rockers replacing the Bulldogs, Dream Team and Sheik and Orton and Muraco etc... That one of those "new" talents could move so far so quickly, anchor the mid-card and be helping newer talents along as well is a VERY valuable commodity... of that class only really DiBiase, Rude and Demolition achieved much in that period and Rude the most.

Translate that to the class of the last year or two with The Shield, Bray and the like... Rude not only grabbed the bull by the horns, got over quickly but his work in the ring and characterwise stood out. Demolition took another year to hit their full stride, Duggan blew it and Gang and Bam Bam were too ahead of their time. That Rude is considered the "best never to win the title" by many, mainly comes from this year and 1992-93 in WCW. For a "rookie" as he basically was he did a lot for WWF in a short space of time... so he gets my vote.

 

[Goldie]

These MVP threads run from Wrestlemania to Wrestlemania, so 1988-89 covers Rudes IC title win, but not his reign. In this timeframe Rude was working his way up the card, but he peaked in the 1989-90 MVP timeframe.

Though Hogan often claimed more of the limelight, my pick is Randy Savage. Champ for the exact MVP snapshot from WM4 to WM5.
The fact that business was still very strong with the belt on Savage is a testament to him... whereas the numbers would fall under future babyface champs such as Warrior, Bret and Shawn.
Savage was a worthy champion in the stopgap period between Hogan reigns.