31 Manias in 31 Days: Rewriting Wrestlemania VIII

[LODemolition]

The eighth installment of my Rewriting WrestleMania series takes us back to 1992 where the Hoosier Dome hosted WrestleMania VIII. Now, to this point I've only changed 2 of the WM main events (WM1 and WM7). Well, consider this the 3rd and most important, as I believe this is the biggest missed opportunity in WrestleMania main event history. I'm sure many of you will agree, some might not, but this is one that there's nearly no excuse for. I think you all know who I'm talking about. Now let's look at the results.


April 5, 1992
Hoosier Dome (Indianapolis, IN)

Shawn Michaels w/ Sensational Sherri def. "El Matador" Tito Santana

Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer def. Jake "The Snake" Roberts

Intercontinental Championship:

Bret "Hit Man" Hart def. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper to become new champion

Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Sgt. Slaughter, Virgil & Big Boss Man def. The Mountie, Repo Man & Nasty Boys w/ Jimmy Hart

First Main Event for WWE Championship:

Randy "Macho Man" Savage w/ Elizabeth def. Ric Flair w/ Mr. Perfect to become new champion

Tatanka def. "The Model" Rick Martel

World Tag Team Championship:

Natural Disasters def. Money Inc. w/ Jimmy Hart by count-out

Owen Hart def. Skinner

Second Main Event:

Hulk Hogan def. Sycho Sid w/ Harvey Wippleman by DQ


*Rewriting WrestleMania VIII*

1. Intercontinental Championship: Bret "Hitman" Hart def. "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels (c) w/ "Sensational" Sherri

While Piper and Bret was an absolute classic, I've got some other plans for the Rowdy one at this WrestleMania. I personally would have never had The Mountie win the title from Bret Hart, who lost it to Piper. Shawn Michaels would have had that honor and this would have been the rematch, where Bret would regain the IC Title for the 2nd time. A big breakout match for both, who had spent so many years in the tag team scene.

2. Big Bossman def. The Repo Man

Their gimmicks were perfect for a feud. I'd put them 1 on 1 here and get rid of that awful 8-man tag.

3. Natural Disasters def. Nasty Boys w/ Jimmy Hart

We know the LOD were removed from the card because of wellness policy issues for Hawk, but if they were good enough to be featured in an interview, then they were good enough to be in a match. I replace Earthquake and Typhoon with the LOD in the title match and give them this match with the Nasty Boys.

4. Sid Justice w/ Harvey Wippleman def. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper

I absolutely hated seeing Sid in the main event with Hogan. I'd put him in the middle of the card and give him a decently convincing win over Piper, but main event status in his first Mania? Absolutely not.

5. WWF Tag Team Championship: Legion of Doom def. Money Inc. (c) w/ Jimmy Hart by disqualification

As I said above, if the LOD could be featured on the event in any way, shape, or form, then there's no excuse to not put them in a match. I wouldn't reward them with the titles, but I'd give the fans the match they wanted at least.

6. "Macho Man" Randy Savage w/ Elizabeth def. Jake "The Snake" Roberts

While I loved the Savage/Flair feud, I wanted to see Savage and Roberts wrap up their incredibly personal feud at WrestleMania. This one was great. Who didn't mark out as a kid when Jake let the cobra bite Savage's arm while he was tied in the ropes? One of the most memorable moments in WWF/E history.

7. "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith def. The Mountie w/ Jimmy Hart

The Bulldog's match with The Berzerker was scrapped due to time restraints at WM8, but I would've fed him The Mountie and given him some more credibility before he got his IC Title win in Wembley Stadium at SummerSlam '92.

8. The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer def. The Ultimate Warrior

That's right, I would not have waited til the very end of this event to have brought back the Warrior. If at all possible, I'd have brought him back sooner and then he could have been a part of the card. This would have been an incredible notch in the belt of Taker in the very early years of the streak, but this could have been considered one half of the double main event as well.

9. Tatanka def. Papa Shango

A match before the big one for the fans to get some energy back. Papa Shango was also not used in a match, only to gang up on Hogan at the end of his match with Sid before Warrior came out to even up the odds.

10. WWF Championship: "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair (c) w/ Mr. Perfect def. "The Immortal" Hulk Hogan

Yep, I'm sure most of you knew this was coming. It's so frustrating that they not only booked the last match wrong (should have been Flair/Savage), but that it also ended in a DQ. It boggles my mind. Hogan left the WWF for a while after WM8, so he couldn't have gone over as champ (unless he lost it back very quickly), so Flair is my winner with help from Mr. Perfect. He would then go on to defend against Savage at SummerSlam, where (again a baffling decision) he wasn't even used. So that's my WrestleMania VIII, a lot of mistakes, but easily fixed.


Feel free to post your comments and/or your rewritten WrestleMania VIII.

 

[HBKperfect23]

My first mania and my 2nd favorite ever. I'm definitely fine with the way out it went down but I'm going to re book it due to the obvious temptation of Hulk vs Flair.

Shawn Michaels vs Marty Jannetty. I'm pretty sure this was the the original plan and could have been a great match and a kickstart to Shawns singles push. The Tito match got Shawn a win over a veteran and was acceptable but this could have been great. Michaels gets the win.

Tatanka vs Martel. Same Match.

Bret vs Piper. I know it would be nice to have Bret/Michaels but I like the slow build of Michaels, we got this match closing Series, and Bret/Piper doesn't need to be touched.

The 8 man is fine as is.

Tag titles LOD vs Money Inc. not sure what happened with LOD and why they weren't wrestlingon the card.

Taker vs Sid. They still do the turns at SNME Feb. sid does his same domitive build. Taker victory is even bigger then his win over Jake(I hate changing Taker/Jake but I needed Jake elsewhere).

Savage vs Roberts in a cage. Needed a better blow off to a great feud. This would have been it. Savage goes over clean. The SNME Feb match never happens. All other build goes down the same.

Owen vs skinner stays the same.

WWF a Champion Hulk Hogan vs Real Worlds champion Ric Flair. Many consider this to be the biggest missed opportunity in history. It sure would have been a site to see. Hogan goes over holding the WWf and WCW titles before he's attacked by Flair Perfect and Ramon. Warrior makes the save. (If Ramon isn't avaialavle yet Shango is fine, razor just makes more sense). Flair still wins the rumble to go on to mania so nothing in the rumble changes-can't mess with that masterpiece, hogan is still in the rumble and flair makes his case to Tunney about coming in 3rd and winning and deserving a title shot. Tunney gives Flair his shot and announces for now on the rumble winner goes to mania. SNME is held in June with flair taking the title off Hulk setting up Warrior/Savage at Slam with the winner facing Flair later that night. Flair/Savage/Warrior/perfect build is almost identical but with flair as champion and who's corner is mr perfect in? Still the same. Savage goes over Warrior and we get savage flairs mania match at summerslam with savage pulling double dutie

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

Think Shawn wasn't ready as a singles star by this point. He was still learning the finer details and was about 2 years behind Bret in terms of singles ability (bret had been a solo performer for years before he came to WWF you see - I am talking in terms of experience not storyline- of course Bret went solo in April 1991 - HBK December 1991).

But I would have loved to See Mr Perfect v Bret Hart at WM 8 - that would have been epic.

 

[bioshock]

Your card is good, and I think Sid could of wrestled anyone to get a easy win. Like Sid vs Tito would of worked perfectly. Now I would of left Bret vs Piper alone, that match was just too good, plus its face vs face. I would of had HBK vs Marty Jannetty though. They had the breakup in December, but Marty was let go for what ever reason, would of made that match happen tho.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

To have this Mania play out differently one would need a different ending to the Rumble. If I could have it my way I would have had Flair still win, but would have done away with the Hogan/Sid stuff. Instead, have a final four of Flair/Hogan/Sid/Taker and have Taker eliminate Sid, then Hogan eliminate Taker and then instead of doing the final spot that Hogan and Sid did, do it with Hogan and Taker giving Flair the chance to eliminate Hogan. Sid then attacks Hogan and we have our double main event set.

Flair (c) vs Hogan
Sid vs Taker

Now that opens up Macho and Jake who just so happened to have a hot feud to end 91 and begin 92 with. It should have ended at Mania with some sort of grudge match between the two. Other than that everything else can stay the same.

 

[MMK]

1. Shawn Michaels def British Bulldog
(Too early for Shawn to get an IC title shot in my opinion. He'd only entered the singles scene in late January. Marty Jannetty would have been the ideal opponent but that was impossible after Marty was fired in March of 1992 for an altercation with the police. So the British Bulldog is a good backup plan as both he and Shawn were the next up and coming stars in the midcard.)

2. Undertaker def Sid Justice
(I would never have had Sid eliminate Hulk at The Rumble. To me that role should have been played by The Undertaker. Taker/Hulk/Flair as the final 3 would have made a lot more sense seeing as how it was Flair who interfered in their match at Survivor Series to start the title controversy in the first place. So with Sid/Hulk never crossing paths, Sid needs a new opponent.
I would do a double turn in the match. Taker comes in as the heel, Sid as the face, but they both switch places by the time the night is over.
Sid steals the Urn from Paul Bearer and dumps the ashes all over the ring.
At first the crowd might cheer, but as they see a more humanized Undertaker on his knees scrambling to put the ashes back in the urn, they'd hopefully realize what a horribly despicable thing it was for Sid to do. This turns the Undertaker into a more sympathetic figure. Sid is DQ'd and tombstoned by a furious Undertaker after the match.)

Intercontinental Championship:
3. Bret "Hit Man" Hart def. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
(Classic match. Only thing I'd change is that Bret never should have dropped the belt to begin with. And I would have turned Piper heel leading up to Mania. Go back to his classic heel persona. They can still shake hands out of respect when the match is over. But a heel Piper going up against Bret would have been similar to the Austin/Bret feud that worked so well a few years later.)

4. 20 MAN BATTLE ROYAL: Won by Tatanka
Tatanka, The Model, Hacksaw, Sgt.Slaughter, Virgil, Big BossMan, Mountie, Repo Man, El Matador, Papa Shango, Skinner, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, Kato, Tanaka, Berzerker, Col.Mustafa, Texas Tornado, Barbarian, Warlord

Steel Cage Match
5. Randy "Macho Man" Savage def Jake The Snake Roberts
(Best feud of 91-92, yet no match at Wrestlemania? Big mistake. The cage keeps Jake from being able to escape an irate Savage, and it also keeps Jake from being able to use the snake.)

World Tag Team Championship: 4 corners match
6. Money Inc def L.O.D, Natural Disasters, Nasty Boys
(The idea that the LOD were kept off this event due to a wellness policy violation is ridiculous. Look at all the roided up monsters at this event? What drug could Hawk have possibly taken that was any worse than whatever Hulkster, Sid and the other roidy magoo's were on? Put LOD on the PPV and punish them afterwards. LOD go into this match as champions and eventually return at Summerslam for a rematch with Money Inc.)

WWF CHAMPIONSHIP
7. Hulk Hogan def. Ric Flair via DQ
(Absolutely NO reason why this match couldn't have happened.
Simple solution: Hulk wins due to interference from Mr.Perfect. Ultimate Warrior still makes the save and we have the same ending but a different main event. No Shango screw up. No rushing Sid to the main event. No missing out on the dream match everyone was anticipating. Flair retains and faces Macho at Summerslam. Hogan leaves for hollywood.)

 

[roipdh123]

WrestleMania VIII:

Dark Match:
The Bushwhackers def. The Beverly Brothers.

1.Two Out Of Three Falls Match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Bret Hart def. Shawn Michaels {C}.

2.Singles match
Rick Martel def. Roddy "Rowdy" Piper.

3.Singles match
Owen Hart def. Skinner

4.WWF Tag Team Championship Match
The Natural Disasters def. Money Inc. {C} via a Disqualification.

5.Singles Match
Tatanka def. El Matador.

6.Singles Match
The Undertaker def. Sid Justice.

7.Eight Man Tag Team Match
Big Boss Man & Virgil & Jim Duggan & Sgt. Slaughter def. The Nasty Boyz & Repo Man & The Mountie.

8.Steel Cage Match
"Macho Man" Randy Savage def. Jake "The Snake" Roberts.

9.Singles match for the WWF Championship - and to decide who is the real world champion
Hulk Hogan {WWF Champion} def. Ric Flair {WCW Champion} {w\Sycho Sid and Papa Shango}.
After the match Flair & Sid & Shango attacked Hogan. Undertaker came out but the numbers were still in the heels favor. Then {like in reality} the Ultimate Warrior made his WWF return and took out the three heels and the show ended with Warrior & Hogan & Taker celebrating.

 

[FlairFan2003]

There is just no way Vince McMahon asks Hogan to lose to Flair at WrestleMania....basically saying that 10 years of fans saying the NWA Champ was better than the WWE Champ were right. Likewise, with Hogan on his way out thanks to the growing steroid investigation, Vince & WWE weren't going to have him win the belt when he wouldn't be around to defend it afterwards.

The only way this really could have clicked is if WWE had abandoned the whole "vacated title" storyline and had Flair-Hogan headline The Royal Rumble with Flair winning the title there, in a clean (or mostly clean fashion). Let Hogan disappear in shame for a while as Flair & Heenan goat to the heavens for a few weeks and terrorize other fan faves until Hogan comes back seeing revenge (you cant say your prayers and take your vitamins and then bail out as soon as the going gets a little tough). Flair would only grant the rematch at Mania if Hogan's career was on the line, WWE Title vs Career....Let Hogan win clean (leg drop in the middle of the ring) but announce afterwards that he is going to "retire"....that its time to go home and spend more time with his family but that he's proven that Hulka-Mania can still triumph over adversity. The Ultimate Warrior returning to celebrate the win would have a nice surprise for the audience and immediately set up interesting scenarios with Flair/Savage/UW all vying for the vacated title, which is essentially what we had anyway from spring to fall of 92 when Flair was injured, Warrior fired, and Brett Hart became champ. That also would have left the door open for Hogan's return and the potential (If WWE wanted to book it) for a rubber match between the 80s Icons.

 

[FlairFan2003]

1. Shawn Michaels def British Bulldog
(Too early for Shawn to get an IC title shot in my opinion. He'd only entered the singles scene in late January. Marty Jannetty would have been the ideal opponent but that was impossible after Marty was fired in March of 1992 for an altercation with the police. So the British Bulldog is a good backup plan as both he and Shawn were the next up and coming stars in the midcard.)

2. Undertaker def Sid Justice
(I would never have had Sid eliminate Hulk at The Rumble. To me that role should have been played by The Undertaker. Taker/Hulk/Flair as the final 3 would have made a lot more sense seeing as how it was Flair who interfered in their match at Survivor Series to start the title controversy in the first place. So with Sid/Hulk never crossing paths, Sid needs a new opponent.
I would do a double turn in the match. Taker comes in as the heel, Sid as the face, but they both switch places by the time the night is over.
Sid steals the Urn from Paul Bearer and dumps the ashes all over the ring.
At first the crowd might cheer, but as they see a more humanized Undertaker on his knees scrambling to put the ashes back in the urn, they'd hopefully realize what a horribly despicable thing it was for Sid to do. This turns the Undertaker into a more sympathetic figure. Sid is DQ'd and tombstoned by a furious Undertaker after the match.)

Intercontinental Championship:
3. Bret "Hit Man" Hart def. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
(Classic match. Only thing I'd change is that Bret never should have dropped the belt to begin with. And I would have turned Piper heel leading up to Mania. Go back to his classic heel persona. They can still shake hands out of respect when the match is over. But a heel Piper going up against Bret would have been similar to the Austin/Bret feud that worked so well a few years later.)

4. 20 MAN BATTLE ROYAL: Won by Tatanka
Tatanka, The Model, Hacksaw, Sgt.Slaughter, Virgil, Big BossMan, Mountie, Repo Man, El Matador, Papa Shango, Skinner, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, Kato, Tanaka, Berzerker, Col.Mustafa, Texas Tornado, Barbarian, Warlord

Steel Cage Match
5. Randy "Macho Man" Savage def Jake The Snake Roberts
(Best feud of 91-92, yet no match at Wrestlemania? Big mistake. The cage keeps Jake from being able to escape an irate Savage, and it also keeps Jake from being able to use the snake.)

World Tag Team Championship: 4 corners match
6. Money Inc def L.O.D, Natural Disasters, Nasty Boys
(The idea that the LOD were kept off this event due to a wellness policy violation is ridiculous. Look at all the roided up monsters at this event? What drug could Hawk have possibly taken that was any worse than whatever Hulkster, Sid and the other roidy magoo's were on? Put LOD on the PPV and punish them afterwards. LOD go into this match as champions and eventually return at Summerslam for a rematch with Money Inc.)

WWF CHAMPIONSHIP
7. Hulk Hogan def. Ric Flair via DQ
(Absolutely NO reason why this match couldn't have happened.
Simple solution: Hulk wins due to interference from Mr.Perfect. Ultimate Warrior still makes the save and we have the same ending but a different main event. No Shango screw up. No rushing Sid to the main event. No missing out on the dream match everyone was anticipating. Flair retains and faces Macho at Summerslam. Hogan leaves for hollywood.)

I thinks fans would have felt ripped off if Flair-Hogan ended in a crappy DQ and Hogan quietly disappeared afterwards. At least with Sid it was billed as Hogan's Retirement going in and no one was really that invested in Sid to begin with.

Also, the appeal of Piper vs Hart was the tease that EITHER of them could turn heel and was willing to do so to guarantee a win and get the title....without the tease of Hart turning heel to cheat Piper and vice versa the biggest marketing aspect that made this appealing is lost. It would have been like booking Flair vs Savage but eliminating the Liz Infidelity angle.

 

[MMK]

I thinks fans would have felt ripped off if Flair-Hogan ended in a crappy DQ and Hogan quietly disappeared afterwards. At least with Sid it was billed as Hogan's Retirement going in and no one was really that invested in Sid to begin with.

Also, the appeal of Piper vs Hart was the tease that EITHER of them could turn heel and was willing to do so to guarantee a win and get the title....without the tease of Hart turning heel to cheat Piper and vice versa the biggest marketing aspect that made this appealing is lost. It would have been like booking Flair vs Savage but eliminating the Liz Infidelity angle.

You say that fans would have felt ripped off with a DQ finish but that's what they got anyway. Hulk won by DQ when Harvey Wippelman (sid's manager) along with Papa Shango interfered. So as long as we're ending the ppv with a DQ finish we may as well give the people the match they really wanted.
And there's no way Hulk could beat Flair cleanly because then he'd have the belt. And with Hulk leaving WWF after this event, there was no way he could have the title. But there was also no way Hogan would ever put Flair over clean. So the event was always going to end with a DQ finish no matter which way you slice it. At least in my version we still get Hogan vs Flair.

 

[Cub McCallister]

I'm torn on the main events for this ppv tbh and as much as I would to keep it the same I just think that we should of had to see Flair Vs Hogan for the title & Savage Vs Sid with some sort of stipulation and I would have Hogan win the title at the Royal Rumble from Taker and have Flair win the Rumble tbh I would rebook the majority of the card here:

1) Shawn Michaels Vs Marty Janetty
Grudge Match. Opening Match to start of Wrestlemania with Michaels getting the victory, this match should of happened at Mania tbh.

2) The British Bulldog Vs The Berzerker
Singles Match. A test of the power houses with Bulldog going over and moving on towards the IC title.

3) Virgil, Owen Hart, Koko Beware & Big Bossman Vs Nasty Boys, Repo Man & Mountie.
Eight Man Tag Team Match. I would put Owen and Koko in this match because I heard they were supposed to be a tag team of sorts and I'd have Owen showcase his skills and get the deciding pin fall.

4) The Undertaker Vs Jake "The Snake" Roberts
Singles Match. Stays the same, I enjoyed this match tbh.

5) Money Inc. (C) Vs The Leigon of Doom
Tag Team Title Match. I'd add the LOD to this match instead of The Natural Disasters and have LOD walk out the champions.

6) The Ultimate Warrior Vs Papa Shango
Singles Match. I'd add this match to the card, it could be a decent one as well

7) Roddy Piper (C) Vs Bret Hart
Intercontinetal Title Match. Stays the same, can't change a classic.

8) Sid Justice Vs Randy Savage
Number 1 Contenders Grudge Match. I would make this match with the winner facing the winner of the Wwf title at SummerSlam with Savage getting the win.

9) Hulk Hogan (C) Vs Ric Flair
Wwf Title Match. This match needed to happen tbh with Flair being the winner of the Rumble and Hogan being the champion and it could of been a decent match with Flair getting the victory.