1989-90 WWE MVP

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

As we continue to move back we enter the 80s beginning with 89-90. So for this MVP we are looking at the time between the day after WrestleMania V up till WrestleMania VI.

My pick for this time is Hulk Hogan. He begins the year as champ after winning the title against Macho at Mania V and really spends the next three quarters of the year defending against him as well as Zeus who crossed over from the movie he made with Hogan into the WWE and teamed with Hogan. By the time 90 hit Hogan was done with Macho, and would begin his program with Warrior setting up there Mania VI match with there epic moment at the Rumble which Hogan won.

I think there is a case for Warrior as this was the time period that he jumped from mid card to main event so I am interested to see if anyone will make that case. I could probably see a case for Macho as he was still firmly in the main event after Mania V but I think moving down the card post Survivor Series really hurts him here. I don't envision any other guys in the running but I have been wrong before in previous threads so I look forward to any mention as long as the poster can back it up.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

Hogan was the champion for a year but between Wrestlemanias V and VI there wasn't a single world title defence on ppv. After WMV, Hogan carried on his feud with Savage, including a decent rematch in the UK at the first UK 'super card', and then in a tag match at Summerslam. This included Brutus Beefcake and Zeus, who Hogan segued into a feud with; however I'm not sure they ever had a one-on-one encounter, as they were on opposing teams at Survivor Series, and the main event of No Holds Barred was a Summerslam rematch. After this, the Royal Rumble, which laid the ground work for Wrestlemania VI, before that famous match at the Skydome. Much like the Warrior the following year, WWE's lack of meaningful singles feuds for the champion hold them back from being the true MVP.

Randy Savage didn't really do much after losing his WWE title. A run of rematches and the aforementioned tag matches with Zeus versus Hogan and Beefcake, and a feud with the useless Hacksaw Jim Duggan, which ended at Survivor Series but at least gave Savage the 'Macho King' moniker. More promising was his early 1990 feud with Dusty Rhodes, but not a banner year compared to the previous season the Macho King had.

I really liked Demolition in this period, I think they are genuine nominees. Tag champions for about half of this season, trading the belts with the Brain Busters (a real shame they were done after Survivor Series) and the Colossal Connection, building their feud first at Summerslam then by eliminating Andre from the Royal Rumble. They also were part of Hogan's team at Survivor Series, a sign of how well-regarded they were in this period (side note: I really hope Ax and Smash get put in the Hall of Fame soon, they deserve it)

I was going to espout the virtues of Ravishing Rick Rude, but thinking about it, I would rather talk about his manager: Bobby the Brain Heenan. My runner-up for this year, Bobby Heenan in this season assembled what I feel is the greatest version of the Heenan Family. The Brain Busters, Andre the Giant, Haku, Rick Rude and Mr Perfect over the course of the year. He even mixed it up himself, a forced replacement for the fired Tully Blanchard at Survivor Series (which would have been Blanchard's farewell anyway). There's a reason so many in the business call Heenan the best manager of all time, and his 1989-90 season is as good a point as any to 'prove it' to anyone who isn't familiar with the Weasel.

However, there is one better in my opinion (boosted a LOT by the efforts of Heenan and his boys): the 1989-90 MVP must be the Ultimate Warrior. The Warrior may not have been well-respected (until his death, as is often the way); he may not have had the respect for the business that his peers did, etc, etc. But his banner year - perhaps his only true good year - was this one. Starting the day before this thread, Wrestlemania V was Warrior's best career match at that point, losing the Intercontinental Title to Rick Rude. Regaining it in another good match at Summerslam, and having an entertaining match v the Heenan Family at Survivor Series, with a mini-feud with Andre before the giant won the tag titles with Haku; next was another mini-feud with Dino Bravo, and eliminating him from the Royal Rumble, one of many mini-storylines that year's Rumble featured (they put a lot more thought into it back then); after Bravo, Warrior racked up several more eliminations before the showdown that everyone wanted to see: go back and watch the stare down between Hogan and the Warrior in that match. Just listen to the crowd, they are going mental!

The Ultimate Challenge then became a reality, and the Warrior won the title in the best match of his career. Indeed, over these twelve months he had the three best of his entire career. The very fact that WWE sold out the 67k seater SkyDome in Toronto for the Ultimate Challenge just shows how hot the guy's year was. It is clear to me the MVP of 1989-90, despite several valid challengers, was the Ultimate Warrior.

 

[SCrooked1]

Hogan was the champion for a year but between Wrestlemanias V and VI there wasn't a single world title defence on ppv. After WMV, Hogan carried on his feud with Savage, including a decent rematch in the UK at the first UK 'super card', and then in a tag match at Summerslam. This included Brutus Beefcake and Zeus, who Hogan segued into a feud with; however I'm not sure they ever had a one-on-one encounter, as they were on opposing teams at Survivor Series, and the main event of No Holds Barred was a Summerslam rematch. After this, the Royal Rumble, which laid the ground work for Wrestlemania VI, before that famous match at the Skydome. Much like the Warrior the following year, WWE's lack of meaningful singles feuds for the champion hold them back from being the true MVP.

Randy Savage didn't really do much after losing his WWE title. A run of rematches and the aforementioned tag matches with Zeus versus Hogan and Beefcake, and a feud with the useless Hacksaw Jim Duggan, which ended at Survivor Series but at least gave Savage the 'Macho King' moniker. More promising was his early 1990 feud with Dusty Rhodes, but not a banner year compared to the previous season the Macho King had.

I really liked Demolition in this period, I think they are genuine nominees. Tag champions for about half of this season, trading the belts with the Brain Busters (a real shame they were done after Survivor Series) and the Colossal Connection, building their feud first at Summerslam then by eliminating Andre from the Royal Rumble. They also were part of Hogan's team at Survivor Series, a sign of how well-regarded they were in this period (side note: I really hope Ax and Smash get put in the Hall of Fame soon, they deserve it)

I was going to espout the virtues of Ravishing Rick Rude, but thinking about it, I would rather talk about his manager: Bobby the Brain Heenan. My runner-up for this year, Bobby Heenan in this season assembled what I feel is the greatest version of the Heenan Family. The Brain Busters, Andre the Giant, Haku, Rick Rude and Mr Perfect over the course of the year. He even mixed it up himself, a forced replacement for the fired Tully Blanchard at Survivor Series (which would have been Blanchard's farewell anyway). There's a reason so many in the business call Heenan the best manager of all time, and his 1989-90 season is as good a point as any to 'prove it' to anyone who isn't familiar with the Weasel.

However, there is one better in my opinion (boosted a LOT by the efforts of Heenan and his boys): the 1989-90 MVP must be the Ultimate Warrior. The Warrior may not have been well-respected (until his death, as is often the way); he may not have had the respect for the business that his peers did, etc, etc. But his banner year - perhaps his only true good year - was this one. Starting the day before this thread, Wrestlemania V was Warrior's best career match at that point, losing the Intercontinental Title to Rick Rude. Regaining it in another good match at Summerslam, and having an entertaining match v the Heenan Family at Survivor Series, with a mini-feud with Andre before the giant won the tag titles with Haku; next was another mini-feud with Dino Bravo, and eliminating him from the Royal Rumble, one of many mini-storylines that year's Rumble featured (they put a lot more thought into it back then); after Bravo, Warrior racked up several more eliminations before the showdown that everyone wanted to see: go back and watch the stare down between Hogan and the Warrior in that match. Just listen to the crowd, they are going mental!

The Ultimate Challenge then became a reality, and the Warrior won the title in the best match of his career. Indeed, over these twelve months he had the three best of his entire career. The very fact that WWE sold out the 67k seater SkyDome in Toronto for the Ultimate Challenge just shows how hot the guy's year was. It is clear to me the MVP of 1989-90, despite several valid challengers, was the Ultimate Warrior.

Hogan did have big feuds that year, his feud with Savage lasted for almost the entire year. Unlike Warrior in 1990, Hogan's storylines in '89 had a lot of heat and were at the top of the card. He didn't defend the belt on PPV but there were only 4 PPVs then and he did defend it on every SNME that year. World Title matches on PPV back then was only common at Wrestlemania.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

THIS, IMO, was the Warrior's year. Not the year he won the belt, but the year of his IC title run, and lead up to WrestleMania 6. This time period was when Warrior truly established himself, and dominated opponents, had an amazing feud with Rick Rude that elevated both men, and put Warrior on the path to the World Title in a time where a face vs. face match seemed improbable. Warrior's popularity was at its peak, yet he also didn't have to be the #1 face of the company.

 

[SCrooked1]

THIS, IMO, was the Warrior's year. Not the year he won the belt, but the year of his IC title run, and lead up to WrestleMania 6. This time period was when Warrior truly established himself, and dominated opponents, had an amazing feud with Rick Rude that elevated both men, and put Warrior on the path to the World Title in a time where a face vs. face match seemed improbable. Warrior's popularity was at its peak, yet he also didn't have to be the #1 face of the company.

Yeah he did have a great year, too bad his title reign got ruined because of Hogan.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

Yeah he did have a great year, too bad his title reign got ruined because of Hogan.

Yeah, yeah, got it. Hogan bad, Warrior good. Warrior had no responsibility for his own inability to transition into being the face of the company.

 

[SCrooked1]

Yeah, yeah, got it. Hogan bad, Warrior good. Warrior had no responsibility for his own inability to transition into being the face of the company.

Kind've hard to do that when Hogan got the better storyline.

Warrior in 1990: "Feud" with Rude which only lasted 2 months and had no heat since it was one sided and then for 2 months was put in the LOD-Demolition feud for no reason other than he wore face paint like they did lol.

Hogan in 1990: Feud with Earthquake after dropping the belt, and he wasn't on the road for more than half of the period Warrior had the belt either.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Oh boy... here's where it gets REALLY interesting.

In 1989 Randy Savage WAS the WWF, for all your "never defended" arguments, box office was steady/the same... The fans BOUGHT Savage as the legit champ, where it went wrong was jobbing him to Hogan so quickly. Likewise, it wasn't his fault he got lumped with Zeus as a partner at Summerslam or Beefcack as an opponent. That was a pure Vince move and it rightly bombed. But Randy STILL made those events sell, it was only at the Rumble 1990 during the match you sensed the tide had changed, even his "Bet With Me/Bet Against Me" promo was top notch... just he was booked bad and it went from there to Duthty and Sthweet Shappire... and it went to hell for him. He's a contender for making it work in spite of Hogan.

Some claim "Rise of the Warrior" and he did rise enough for a nom here... but only because it was "preordained". The work was really done by Rick Rude, getting Warrior not just through a feud but making him look and in real terms better through doing so... Heenan deserves a nom on his own, but rightly or wrongly he was at his best with Rude in this period... he had his "crown jewel" of the Family and it was working well...

Demolition are an excellent shout, they did more in that year than LOD did in 5 years in NWA/WCW and they were supposedly the "rip offs"... Sure it took twists and turns and being fed a few better teams like the BrainBusters... but ultimately Demolition were the real deal in this period, prior to DX the last true "main event" tag team the WWE managed.

But as ever I go with a leftfield choice, no point in praising the obvious... we know it worked cos the WWE survived and thrived.

This time was a true "Undercard" time, where it got to the point that WM 6 & 7 could have 14 or so matches, all with a storyline, all meaningful if short... and it's where several guys stood out...

Jake - His BEST year by far, going from a feud with Andre to a feud with Ted DiBiase galvanised the mid card and him as a performer... WWF squandered it for sure, but Jake was a the peak of his powers at this time, he started not quite "beating" Andre but getting enough of a "victory" that not pinning him was irrelevant and then began the feud for the Million Dollar Belt and the now famed Mania promo.

Ted also is equal here, the concept for the Million Dollar Belt was perfect for the time and Jake was exactly the right guy to go against it... there were consequences in the mid card for the first time not involving the IC or tag titles... Fans were invested in whether Jake could manage it or Ted would prevail but it also leads into my winner...

Big Bossman

Ray Traylor was WWF's MVP that year without question in my eyes... he was able to move up and down the card as the vicious heel and manage at that time one of the true "leftfield" face turns we'd seen when he baulked at being a "bounty hunter" for Ted's belt... Think Ambrose being a pleasantly surprising face when it was against everything you thought... in 1989 people WANTED to cheer for Big Bossman but couldn't cos he was with Slick/Ted/Akeem... his turn was as close to a shock as face turns got and while the booking never quite paid off with a Bossman/Ted match, the proof is that at that time Traylor was SO well thought of that not only would they turn him face in their top midcard feud but then use him prominently for the next year as their 3rd top face, even ahead of Jake in real terms... He got to work with Hogan as partner/enforcer, he beat Akeem handily and became a massive merch seller. As good as Jake was, his star was waning in Vince's eyes... Bossman looked GREAT in both Vince's and the Fan's eyes... just so sad they botched some of the booking.

It's easy to get bogged down in in ring minutiae in these threads but in 1989-1990, Big Bossman WAS the next big thing and he made it stick for about a year... just as Sheamus did for a while or Booker T. He became that reliable, mid card guy who could not only work with everyone but get over doing so... even against OMG/Akeem, sell merch and be a guy a poster could have on it and get people in to an arena... they may have been rednecks/ "We wanna see some haaaard time" types... but they and Bossman did great business in that rocky "transitional" period while Hogan was deciding his future... Bossman is probably 3 years too early to be properly recognised as a World Champ... but skill wise, mic wise and popularity wise he was more than ready for it... I am sad Bossman isn't already in the HOF, I am sure it's an oversight that ends this year... like him don't like him... you watched Big Bossman in 1989-1990 and got involved...

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

I know we haven't got to the early years of Wrestlemania on these threads yet, but the simple fact that so many names have been nominated - and backed up - on this thread with six replies alone must surely stand 1989-90 as one of WWE's best ever for talent on the roster.

 

[80's_Wrestling_Fan]

Well with 1989 and 1990 being 2 complete years of WWF wresting, with seemingly always changing storylines and new talent debuting and feuds beginning and ending its difficult to choose only one MVP (or MVS: Most Valuable Superstar), 1989 had different match ups and different televised matches and feuds than 1990 did. Each year had its own handful of MVS's respectfully. But to keep it short and if I had to give one or 2 actual answers to the topic I wouldn't necessarily pick a single talent rather than I would say the MVP/MVS's of 89 & 90 in my opinion would go to both the heel talents (wrestlers and especially managers and their stables as a whole) and the entire tag team division of that time frame. The heels of that era were some of, if not THE best heels that wrestling has ever seen. And same could be said about a tag division that was once so deep that it could have an entire 10 TEAM survivor series match dedicated to just tag teams. Debate among yourselves on who the best heels and tag teams were of 1989 and 1990 and then, MAYBE then we might be able to narrow it down to one or 2 MVP/MVS's.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

Well with 1989 and 1990 being 2 complete years of WWF wresting, with seemingly always changing storylines and new talent debuting and feuds beginning and ending its difficult to choose only one MVP (or MVS: Most Valuable Superstar), 1989 had different match ups and different televised matches and feuds than 1990 did. Each year had its own handful of MVS's respectfully. But to keep it short and if I had to give one or 2 actual answers to the topic I wouldn't necessarily pick a single talent rather than I would say the MVP/MVS's of 89 & 90 in my opinion would go to both the heel talents (wrestlers and especially managers and their stables as a whole) and the entire tag team division of that time frame. The heels of that era were some of, if not THE best heels that wrestling has ever seen. And same could be said about a tag division that was once so deep that it could have an entire 10 TEAM survivor series match dedicated to just tag teams. Debate among yourselves on who the best heels and tag teams were of 1989 and 1990 and then, MAYBE then we might be able to narrow it down to one or 2 MVP/MVS's.

These threads are done on a 'seasonal' basis, from the day after Wrestlemania to the following year's Wrestlemania. It's not the two actual years.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

Hogan did have big feuds that year, his feud with Savage lasted for almost the entire year. Unlike Warrior in 1990, Hogan's storylines in '89 had a lot of heat and were at the top of the card. He didn't defend the belt on PPV but there were only 4 PPVs then and he did defend it on every SNME that year. World Title matches on PPV back then was only common at Wrestlemania.

The results suggest otherwise. In this 'season', there were 5 editions of SNME I believe. Hogan defended the title on 4 of them: against the Big Boss Man (a carry over from his pre-WM feud), the Honky Tonk Man (who never recovered from being squashed by the Warrior at Summerslam 1988), the Million Dollar Man and the Genius. The freaking Genius! At the 5th, around the time of the Royal Rumble, he was in a tag match with the Warrior against Perfect and the Genius. This was part of his mini feud with Mr Perfect that was of such importance that the commentators at Royal Rumble, when they were the last two in the ring, completely failed to mention it.

I didn't say Hogan didn't have feuds; I said the WWE (as with the Warrior a year later) failed to book their champion into any MEANINGFUL feuds; the SNME and ppv results support this assertion, and this I cannot vote for Hogan as MVP of this year, despite him holding the title for the full period.

 

[SCrooked1]

The results suggest otherwise. In this 'season', there were 5 editions of SNME I believe. Hogan defended the title on 4 of them: against the Big Boss Man (a carry over from his pre-WM feud), the Honky Tonk Man (who never recovered from being squashed by the Warrior at Summerslam 1988), the Million Dollar Man and the Genius. The freaking Genius! At the 5th, around the time of the Royal Rumble, he was in a tag match with the Warrior against Perfect and the Genius. This was part of his mini feud with Mr Perfect that was of such importance that the commentators at Royal Rumble, when they were the last two in the ring, completely failed to mention it.

I didn't say Hogan didn't have feuds; I said the WWE (as with the Warrior a year later) failed to book their champion into any MEANINGFUL feuds; the SNME and ppv results support this assertion, and this I cannot vote for Hogan as MVP of this year, despite him holding the title for the full period.

Perfect had an undefeated streak and Savage was the #1 heel, the 2 month period where Warrior was put in the LOD-Demoliton program for no reason, did they ever treat Hogan like that as champion? The match with the Genius was to set up the Perfect-Hogan feud, Hogan didn't even win that match. The match with the HTM wasn't Hogan's only appearance on that show, he came out later to build heat for the Summerslam main event.

Warrior in 1990 wasn't in the main angle for any SNME as champion. Warrior had a good 1989-90 and could see why some would vote for him as MVP, but Hogan is a stronger consideration for 1989-90 MVP than many considered him to be 1990-91 when he wasn't around for half of that timeframe.

 

[CalciferBoheme]

There are a lot of good choices, and for me it comes down to two guys.

Randy Savage- If 88 was included he'd be a shoe in as the mega powers storyline is one of the best in wrestling history. It really couldn't have been done any better. His stock with the company seemed to have fallen after he lost the title though. The king gimmick was good, but his feuds lacked the spark of years before, though he still had a lot of good matches. It was also apparent the had a lot of faith in him as they felt he was the guy the make Zeus' matches look good. Of course, that proved an impossible task, but Savage did better than anyone else would have.

Rick Rude- While a very talented talker most of his career, this is when he really started to shine in the ring. Over the course of these two years he didn't have a bad match with anyone, and took Warrior to some of the best matches of his career. If WWE was had more heel champions, he definitely would have held the world title during his time there, and perhaps should have. Of course, had it not been for his injuries, he would have eventually been WCW champion, but that's a different issue. To this day, I think Rude is among the most underrated in ring talents of all time.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The problem is Rude's best work was done the year prior during the feuds with Jake and Warrior ending at Mania V... He never really got much time as IC champ to shine with it as it was pre-ordained Warrior would get it back. But the period before Mania V, the next post in the series... That's where Rude was golden...

 

[Goldie]

For me its Hogan all the way from 1984 to 1991, with the possible exception of 1998-89 which would go to Randy Savage.

Warrior was always #2 to Hogans #1.. even during Warriors world title reign. Granted his fued with Rick Rude was red hot this year... but credit should go to Rude... he really helped build up Warriors popularity.
I would say Rude is a dark horse shot for MVP... he was definatley the rising heel in the midcards... but overall the central storylines were all built around Hogan.
Hogan vs Savage was a monster buy rate at WM5 (it would hold the WWE PPV record all the way up to Wrestlemania 14, an impressive record considering there were fewer homes with cable in the 80s).

Hogan was still box office Gold from 1989-90. Vince even made money from the flop film 'No Holds Barred' converting the film into the WWE storylines (with Zeus) and drawing big PPV numbers for Summerslam and Survivor Series. Even Hogan vs an actor drew money!