WrestleMania 8: Unfairly Underappreciated

[The Brain]

In my opinion WrestleMania VIII was an awesome event. Both the world and IC title matches were classics. The rest of the card was solid. The ending was one of the best in mania history with the surprise return of The Ultimate Warrior. Despite that a lot of people view WM8 as a disappointment. From what I’ve read people weren’t disappointed with what happened. They were disappointed with what didn’t happen.

As most of us know, the original main event was Ric Flair defending the WWF title against Hulk Hogan. Flair had only come in to the WWF about seven months earlier and it looked like the ultimate dream match was finally going to take place. I understand why people were disappointed when the main event was changed. I remember being disappointed as a twelve year old kid. One comment I always read is “why didn’t Vince go with Hogan vs. Flair at mania?” I’m surprised that question is asked so often as I feel the answer is obvious.

Apparently a lot of people have forgotten that Hulk Hogan left the WWF immediately following WM8. The steroid scandal blew up in 1992 and Hulk Hogan was the man with the bullseye on his back. With all the attention the steroid scandal was receiving Hogan could not stay in the WWF. But Hogan worked WM8 so why couldn’t he have wrestled Flair and then left? Well, if Flair was the defending champion and Hogan was leaving the company what would the result have to be? Flair would have had to beat Hogan to retain the title. That just wasn’t going to happen. For years Flair represented the NWA while Hogan represented the WWF. Even though Flair was now with the WWF him beating Hogan would be admitting the NWA had the superior wrestler all along. Plus having the heel Flair beat the face Hogan on “Hogan’s turf” would not have gone over very well with the fans. I think this is the obvious explanation of why Hogan vs. Flair didn’t happen, but I have a question for you.

Was the change of the main event really that bad? I perfectly understand the disappointment in not getting the marquee match; however I think we got a pretty damn good substitute. Savage vs. Flair was a great feud and a great match. There was a lot of drama and emotion in that match and the action was great. I think the greatness of Savage vs. Flair is tremendously overlooked because of the disappointment in not getting Hogan vs. Flair. I admit there are times when I wonder what Hogan vs. Flair at mania would have been like. There are times where I wish it would have happened. Given the circumstances I think we got the best scenario possible. Savage was still a big star and he gave us a great match. I think if you put Hogan vs. Flair out of your mind and view WM8 for what it was you’ll see that it really was a great mania.

 

[The Infant Finite]

I remember WM8 fairly well, and I remember it being a very good card right up until Hogan/Sid. Savage and Flair gave us a hell of a title match that was Immensely superior to any Hogan/Flair dick measuring contest that could have happened.


Add to that. the Bret Hart/ Roddy Piper classic Intercontinental title match, a clash of two legendary personas in The undertaker vs. Jake Roberts, and A vastly underrated match in Tito Santana vs. Shawn Michaels.


It may not have been the greatest 'mania card but it certainly was not a forgettable one just because we didn't get Hogan vs. Flair.

 

[Charismatic Enigma]

I love Mania VIII! It was always one of my favorites growing up. The IC and World title matches both kick serious ass, love the corner spot for the pin at the end of Hart/Piper, and the images of a bloody Flair fighting Savage are still as clear in my mind as they were 19 years ago. The undercard was stacked with solid matches at the time as well, and then ending was great with a returning Warrior and the fireworks pose-off at the end. I think it's one of the top 10 all time WMs for sure. Great venue too!

 

[I_got_bant_for_idiocy]

Wrestlemania 8 was the wrestlemania 17 of the golden age... It was sucha great wrestlemania..

undertaker vs jake the snake- the build up was wicked, a heel undertaker turned face. Roberts shuts the casket on the undertakers hand, and nailed him with so many chair shots and the undertaker kept coming, undertaker was unstoppable...

Bret vs pipper- wicked match thats all i gotta say

Flair vs macho man - wicked storyline, flair was claiming he was fucking elizabeth and he was gonna post the pictures on the jumbo tron hahaha, perfect,flair and bobby the brain what a team !!!!!

Hogan vs sid-- the return of the warrior

Wicked wrestlemania over all

 

[CuddleBuns84]

I don't think it's under appreciated. In fact, it was one of the best we had.

Hogan and Sid was a great match, even though Sid screwed up that match at the End. But that match broke back a sweet return of the Warrior. The fans went nuts.

Flair vs. Savage was one of the best World Title matches in a very long time. Everyone was on their feet. Good match.

Hart vs. Piper! That was for the IC belt! Where the hell haven't we had these matches for that belt. Hell, that build up for that belt. Great match. Might of been one of the best for the whole event.

You will never see a Wrestlemania like that again. Everything worked so well. The Fans loved it too.

 

[ncb619]

Hogan actually left after WrestleMania IX, so really if the match did happen, Hogan could still have won.

But overall, I do think you're right. It is more remembered notoriously for what was expected to happen, but didn't. I think that's sort of why 'Mania 27 will also be remembered poorly, even though I personally liked it.

After watching the True Story of WrestleMania, it pretty well known that Vince tried to top each and every WrestleMania after eachother, and this Hogan - Flair 'debacle' probably is what has contributed to its high level of being underrated.

 

[Steve001]

Hogan actually left after WrestleMania IX, so really if the match did happen, Hogan could still have won.

After watching the True Story of WrestleMania, it pretty well known that Vince tried to top each and every WrestleMania after eachother, and this Hogan - Flair 'debacle' probably is what has contributed to its high level of being underrated.

Oh no...Yet another warped set of opinions and facts based on WWE DVD releases! On a quick side note, Man...I truly despise Vinnie Macs production teams' absolute incompetence and mostly intentional distortion of facts on their official releases (Yes, I could list MANY! Over twenty on the 'Rise and Fall of WCW' release alone).

Anyway, Firstly the 'Hulkster' left the WWF immediately after 'Mania VIII due to the aforementioned high profile steroid and sex scandals of 1992. Hulk at this point really tried to cut it as a mainstream actor and failed miserably in every aspect.
By the time 'Mania IX rolled around, Vinnie Mac was so unsure of Bret Hart's then unproven drawing power that he felt forced to cut a deal with Hogan to return. Hogan did of course, sporting a substance free physique that less resembled the powerful, granite like appearance of years previous and more resembled a semi-deflated rubber dinghy!

Oh, and pissed all over the 'Hitmans' moment on the big show itself. However, back to the main topic at hand...Wrestlemania VIII.

Wrestlemania VIII has long been one of my favourite "Golden Era" (As someone else put it) events. Without rehashing most of what others have stated previously, the Savage/Flair and Piper/Hart matches totally reeked of high-octane coolosity then and still do now! I have more appreciation for those matches now with the knowledge that Flair and Hart both bladed WITHOUT Vinne Macs approval.

Apparently, Flair was caught by management in this claret free era right on camera doing the deed and copped a decent sized fine for the misdemeanor whereas Hart, managed to convince management that his blade job was purely accidental and happened when his head collided with the ringside guard rail! Anyway, both matches kicked serious ass. Also, the slow, episodic build-up to the Hart/Piper scrap was done masterfully by the WWF, with both men subtly playing Face and Heel in the lead-up to the big day which worked a treat.

I wholeheartedly agree about the HBK/Santana match being underrated, their match wasn't exactly a classic, But their timing and crowd working ability was certainly right on par on the night.

Also, I really don't think the fact that Hogan and Flair didn't face eachother on the night played as big of a part as others claim whilst judging the event. The WWF then, and even more so now was/is very much an isolationist promotion which never really acknowledged Flair's previous career with JCP/NWA on WWF TV, therefore Flair became just another headliner that never truly separated him from anyone else...at least in the eyes of the WWF fan base then.

Only since 'Honker' Hearst Helmsley mentioned what he felt was a big missed opportunity (Flair/Hogan) on recent WWE DVD releases has this even really stirred in fans' minds.

 

[ncb619]

Oh no...Yet another warped set of opinions and facts based on WWE DVD releases! On a quick side note, Man...I truly despise Vinnie Macs production teams' absolute incompetence and mostly intentional distortion of facts on their official releases (Yes, I could list MANY! Over twenty on the 'Rise and Fall of WCW' release alone).

Oh, so each WrestleMania wasn't trying to get bigger and bigger in the early days? I'm so sorry I mentioned a DVD and brought in something I knew before I watched it in the same statement.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

I'm not sure if WM 8 is underappreciated or not, but if it is, it shouldn't be. This is one of my two or three favorite WM's, and the card wasn't bad. I'll go match-by-match, as I have nothing better to do at the moment.

Shawn Michaels vs. Tito Santana
Not a classic, but a nice way to start the show. A lot of movement, and really the first big showcase of HBK as a singles wrestler.

The Undertaker vs. Jake The Snake Roberts
The only problem I had with this match was the amount of time it was given. The feud leading up to this match was brilliant, one of my favorites of that era, and I think Jake The Snake did a fantastic job of getting Taker over as the babyface. The Undertaker wasn't easy to root for, as a child, and Jake did the job. This match told a story, had great psychology, and it's probably the best 6-7 minute match WrestleMania could possibly produce.

Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper
Like so many Bret Hart matches, this told a story. The action was top-notch, but the promo before the contest was absolutely amazing, and during the match, you could tell this was friend vs. friend. As the match went on, the friendship deteriorated right before our eyes. Piper not being able to clock Hart with the ringbell is something I'll never forget, and in my opinion, this is one of the ten or fifteen greatest matches in WrestleMania history. It also helped prove Hart was much more than a mid-card wrestler.

Big Bossman/Virgil/Sgt. Slaughter/Jim Duggan vs. The Nasty Boys/Repo Man/The Mountie
Another in a long line of terrible 8-man tag matches. However, it served two purposes. 1. Gave the crowd a break after Hart/Piper. 2. Got these four guys onto the card. I wish it hadn't happened, at all, but I suppose it served a purpose.

Ric Flair (c) vs. Randy Savage - WWF Title
If there's a match on this card that's unfairly underappreciated, this is it. Out of the first eight WrestleMania's, this is probably the second best match (behind Savage/Steamboat at III). The feud was great, and the match told that story. See a theme with this event? These matches told stories, something that doesn't happen a lot today. These two always had great chemistry, even into the late 90's.

Some people didn't like Savage pulling the tights to win, but I thought it was a perfect Up Yours salute to Ric Flair. Flair had made Savage's life hell going into WrestleMania, and Savage was winning, no matter what. A great story leading in to this match really put it over the top.

Tatakna vs. Rick Martel
Craptastic match right here. The purpose was to introduce Tatanka on the biggest stage possible, as I'm pretty certain they had big plans for him. It failed, and he was never really a big deal.

Money Inc. (c) vs. The Natural Disasters - WWF Tag Team Titles
They didn't put on a wrestling clinic out there, that's for sure. But it worked, and it didn't eat up a lot of time. Some people absolutely hate this match, but I'm more indifferent to it.

Owen Hart vs. Skinner
Total filler. Another attempt to break up the action, but with the Tag Title match right before this, the action didn't need to be broken up.

Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice
This had a lot of potential, and was fine for the first ten minutes. You're not going to get a classic, mat-wrestling match out of either of these guys, but the psychology was good. At 7 years old, I legitimately bought into Sid as the biggest threat Hogan had faced, and the match played out like he was. Then came Papa Shango...

I wouldn't say the interference ruined the match, but it served almost no purpose. Hogan should have gone over clean, end of story. I don't care if he was leaving or not, Sid was the heel, and that's how it worked back then.

Warrior returning set that crowd on fire. Despite how some may spin it, Warrior was still a big deal. The ending didn't really bother me, but it's not the direction I would have gone in.


Outside of the actual wrestling, this was a 5-Star event, in my opinion. Over 60,000 people (a hot crowd as well), the commentary was the best it's ever been, and the pre/post-match promos were the best I've seen, to this day. Maybe it suffered a bit from not having Flair/Hogan as the main event, but I think Flair/Savage put on a much better show, and probably should have closed the event (given the finish of Hogan/Sid).

This event had great energy, great psychology, and most of all, provided a big event atmosphere. Great show.

 

[luxferre]

Another reason the Hogan/Flair didn't happen is because it was the star attraction on the house show market wwf were playing to in the US and Canada for the better part of 4 months and the crowds were getting smaller, so Vince reckoned that many wouldn't order a bout they'd already seen( even if it hadnt been televised) and so went with fresh matches for Mania

 

[wrestling89]

I don't get where this post is coming from. Who is saying that WM8 was a bad one? Clearly the only people saying that were not watching wrestling back then.

I gotta say that I was trully estatic when I saw that graphic for Flair vs Hogan. If you need to be reminded on how big that was back in 1992, you really shouldn't be on an "old school" message board.

But as quickly as I was excited, I was just as quickly pissed when they changed the main event. Even though I had just saw a Flair-Hogan house show match a few months before. Yes the attendance at that card was dissapointing, but I still wanted to see it at a Wresltemania.

Anyway, with the exception of Virgil, Tatanka (I never liked that guy or any other Indian gimmick, those just never worked, like Texas Cowboys) and Skinner, there were just solid performers on the entire card.

Although I gotta say that Rick Martel had a great promo talking about seeing Tatanka SCALPING tickets outside!!! I still laugh at that promo to this day.

The commentary was a solid as you would find on any WWF PPV. Monsoon and Heenan could make ANY show worth watching. From the begining when Bobby kept looking for pin up posters of Liz on the roof, to talking about Tito's sister Arriba McIntyre, to talking about Fair to Flair, this one as well as the 92 RR had better commentary than anything in the history of the WWF.

The Flair-Savage match and the build up was great.

That Jake-Taker build up was legendary. Honestly I was NEVER a big fan of Jake, until that feud began. When he made the Warrior puke and took it to the Undertaker, I finally saw Jake as the bad-ass psycological genius that he should have always been in the WWF. That match was cut short, but I will never forget the back story on that one.

The 8-Man tag was terrible, but had some of my all time favorite gimmicks in that one. The Mountie and Repo Man.

The ending was alright, Hogan should have gone over with a pin, he always ended it that way, and he should have ended his (then) WM career the same as the first 7 shows. The Warrior bit was a surprise and a good one at that.

The only part of the whole show was Papa Shango. He had ZERO business in that match. Had they did at least ONE thing with Shango and Hogan or Sid before the PPV, ok. But there was nothing. Shango was just doing his own shit, with nothing to do with ANYBODY in that match. That left a sour taste in my mouth as a 13 year old kid, and it still does till this day.

Bottom line: Had Flair-Hogan been the main event that night, that would have made WM8 in the top 5 WMs of all time. Without it, it was still a very good show.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Wrestlemania 8 was a decent show and yes it may be a tiny bit underrated, but I can see why it gets some negative attention. WWE should have given the fans what they wanted in Flair VS Hogan while they still could. Hogan losing if he HAD to leave would not have been as big of a deal, as he had already lost to Ultimate Warrior two years before that. While Savage VS Flair was a good match, it wasn't what the fans wanted. Plus, it didn't even main event the show. This was back when WWE had one world title instead of two. Hogan main evented without being champion, while the world title match went on 5th out of 8? That's not that great of a choice. Either give the fans the match they want, or put the world title on last. There are two possible changes I would have made if I was the booker.

Option 1:
1. Shawn Michaels VS El Matador

2. The Undertaker VS Jake Roberts

3. Bret Hart VS Roddy Piper for the Intercontinental Championship

4. The Big Boss Man, Virgil, Sgt. Slaughter, and Jim Duggan VS The Nasty Boys, Repo Man, and The Mountie

5. Tatanka VS Rick Martel

6. The Natural Disasters VS Money Inc for the Tag Team Championship

7. Owen Hart VS Skinner

8. Hulk Hogan VS Sid Justice

9. Randy Savage VS Ric Flair for the WWF Championship


Option 2:
1. Shawn Michaels VS El Matador

2. The Undertaker VS Jake Roberts

3. Bret Hart VS Roddy Piper for the Intercontinental Championship

4. The Big Boss Man, Virgil, Sgt. Slaughter, and Jim Duggan VS The Nasty Boys, Repo Man, and The Mountie

5. Tatanka VS Rick Martel

6. The Natural Disasters VS Money Inc for the Tag Team Championship

7. Owen Hart VS Skinner

8. Randy Savage VS Sid Justice

9. Hulk Hogan VS Ric Flair for the WWF Championship



Either option would have been better and made more sense. I prefer option 2 myself, but if they had to change the main events then the least they could do is have had the world title match go on last because at the time they only had one world title and it needed to be the most important match at the biggest show of the year. Or perhaps that's just me.

 

[The Crock]

It was a nice event. I've always enjoyed going back and watching it, just based on a few matches on the card. I absolutely loved the Flair/Savage match, both men did an awesome job. The match was action packed, but most importantly it kept the viewer glued to the screen. The emotion of that match alone sold the "big event feel" to me, two superstars at the level that Ric Flair and Randy Savage were going toe-to-toe, and having that good of a match instantly provides some credibility to the event.

The Bret Hart/Roddy Piper match was another good one. Hart elevated himself during this match, right before our eyes he was proving his critics wrong. Along with that, this match was another one that provided emotion. The fans were emotionally invested into this match, especially with how both men worked throughout it. Awesome, underrated match.

 

[god-soldier]

I agree with the Brain Wrestlemania is un appreciated by wrestling fans why I am just not sure. Maybe because everyone including myself wanted Hogan vs Flair but unfornately we didnt get it but i am not mad about it at all. Instead we got 2 dream matches Ric Flair vs Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice. Savage vs Flair was the match of the night but the ending of Hogan and Justice still gives me goosebumps till this day . The undercardsds were okay with Bret Hart vs Roddy Piper being the best oone of all them and Undertaker vs Jake Roberts being second to that match. The other matches were fill ins and waste of time like Skinner vs Owen Hart Hbk vs El Matador Tatanka vs Model Rick Martel and the four man tag and tag title match. The only thing I wish did happen is Legion of Doom got the shot @ Money Inc instead of the Natural Disaters but other than that its still in my top 3 wrestlemanias

 

[Chrome]

I was a kid when I saw this.. it was the FIRST PPV we ever ordered.. my parents and I were hooked on the Savage/Flair/Liz story line.. I was 11-12 at the time.. so I remember this like yesterday..

FIRST I loved Piper vs Hart.. one of the best matches in both their careers.. and the ONLY time Piper in the WWF got pinned with his shoulders down for the 1-2-3..

My mother likes Rick the Model martel.. so his storyline with Tatanka was pretty fun. (side note.. man they really knew how to push a storyline back then)

My Father and I were glued to Jake Roberts and undertaker,.. this all started with Macho man months before. Something tells me that the original set up was for Macho man to face Jack Roberts and Hogan was to Face Flair.. but was all scrapped.

I don't remember caring much for the tag matches or Skinner.. (I hated skinner back then)

HBK vs El matador Tito Santana was nothing special either.. I mean we all knew Tito was going to lose, HBK wasn't a big star yet.. this match was predictable and nothing special. But if i recall it opened the show I think??

Hogan vs Sid was cool.. and the hype before then was great.. I remember there was a retirement special for hogan with Vince there with him on a Monday night show thanking him for everything since they knew that was his last match. (So we thought LOL) it was funny to see Warrior appear again at the end of it all...

Macho vs Flair.. THIS was the match we all wanted to see in my household.. it didn't dissapoint, this match is classic.. the post interview was classic too..

Why kiddies trash this wrestlemania makes no sense to me.. it was great!