WrestleMania VIII

WrestleMania VIII
Promotional poster featuring event headliners. Clockwise from top left: Sid Justice, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and Randy Savage.
Tagline(s)	Friendship Torn Apart! / The Macho/Flair Affair!
Information
Promotion	World Wrestling Federation
Date	April 5, 1992
Attendance	62,167
Venue	Hoosier Dome
City	Indianapolis, Indiana
Pay-per-view chronology
Royal Rumble (1992) WrestleMania VIII SummerSlam (1992)
WrestleMania chronology
WrestleMania VII WrestleMania VIII WrestleMania IX

WrestleMania VIII was the eighth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on April 5, 1992 at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The only WrestleMania officially recognized by WWE.com to have featured more than one headlining match,^[1] its card included two equally-promoted main events. In the first, WWF Champion Ric Flair defended his title against Randy Savage, and in the second, Hulk Hogan faced Sid Justice. As a consequence of the double main event, WrestleMania VIII carried two taglines: "The Macho/Flair Affair!" and "Friendship Torn Apart!"

Notable matches on the undercard included WWF Intercontinental Champion Roddy Piper defending against Bret Hart, and WWF Tag Team Champions Money Inc. defending against The Natural Disasters.

Production

Country Singer Reba McEntire sang a rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" before the show. Family Feud host Ray Combs was a special guest ring announcer for the eight-man tag match.

A scheduled match between The British Bulldog and The Berzerker did not take place due to time constraints. The finish to the Justice-Hogan match actually did not occur as planned. The original plan was for Hogan to hit the leg drop on Justice and for Papa Shango to do a run in and break up the pin causing a disqualification. However, Papa Shango either missed or misjudged his cue and was late in getting down to the ring. Justice improvised by kicking out of the leg drop. From there, Earl Hebner would disqualify Justice when his manager, Harvey Wippleman, interfered. The Legion of Doom were originally supposed to be the challengers for the Tag Team Championships but Hawk was under suspension until after WrestleMania (LOD, with their long time manager Paul Ellering, appeared at WrestleMania for an interview with "Mean Gene" Gene Okerlund). The Legion of Doom were replaced in the Tag Team title match by The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon).

Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice

The original plan for the main event was the long awaited bout between Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship, the meeting between the two legends was even promoted on television in a mock press conference where WWF President Jack Tunney had announced Hogan as the number one contender to Flair's WWF Championship. Both Flair and Hogan had wrestled against each other in several house show matches and a televised tag match but never in a big money bout. WrestleMania VIII was changed to a double main event with Hogan wrestling Sid Justice, while Flair wrestled Randy Savage. For storyline purposes Sid Justice lobbied to wrestle Hulk Hogan due to tensions starting between the two at that year's Royal Rumble, where Hogan was eliminated by Sid Justice in the contest. This maneuver on Sid's part led Hogan to helping rival Ric Flair eliminate Justice and then win not only the Royal Rumble but the WWF World Championship in the process. This would make Ric Flair only the second man to win both the WWF and NWA Titles, the first being the original "Nature Boy", Buddy Rogers.

The Hulk Hogan-Sid Justice match was also billed as Hogan's "last match," when in actuality, Hogan was forced to take a hiatus, due to the steroid scandal was beginning to emerge in the news media.

At the time the company had a "no blood" policy. Nonetheless, Ric Flair was caught blading directly on camera and was fined several thousand dollars.^{[citation needed]} Although Bret Hart also bladed, he was discreet enough that it was considered an accident and no fine was levied.^{[citation needed]}

In one of his earlier appearances in the WWF, Shane McMahon was one of the backstage officials who attempted to keep Miss Elizabeth away from ringside during the Flair/Savage match. He then restrained Savage in the ensuing brawl after the contest.^{[citation needed]}

Reception

Critics praised the Intercontinental Championship match between Piper and Hart. Thomas Golianopoulos of Complex Sports ranked it at number 15 in his list of the 50 Greatest Matches in WrestleMania History, describing it as "A stiff match that veers from amateur wrestling to all-out street fight with a great finish."^[2] Golianopoulos also ranked the Flair vs. Savage match at number 19 on the same list, praising the in-ring psychology despite an abrupt finish.^[3]

Results

References

External links

• The Official Website of WrestleMania VIII