WrestleMania Retrospective – WrestleMania VIII (1992)

Here’s Part 8 of our WrestleMania Retrospective series, looking back at past WrestleMania events as we march towards WrestleMania 29 on April 7th

WrestleMania VIII (1992)
Taglines: “The Macho/Flair Affair!” and “Friendship Torn Apart!”
Date: April 5, 1992
Venue: Hoosier Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana
Attendance: 62,167
The Star-Spangled Banner: Reba McEntire
The Undertaker’s Streak: 2-0 (Jake “The Snake Roberts”)

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.

WM8-Crowd — Over 62,000 jam-packed the Hoosier Dome for WrestleMania VIII

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.

WM8-HBK — In his first pay-per-view singles match, Shawn Michaels, now calling himself “The HeartBreak Kid” defeated El Matador. Both men had simultaneously eliminated each other from that year’s Royal Rumble.

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 Ultimate Warrior would make his return to the WWF, saving Hulk Hogan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN-rUaGR_u0

WrestleMania VIII Results
• The Bushwhackers (Luke Williams and Butch Miller) defeated The Beverly Brothers (Blake and Beau) Dark Match
• Shawn Michaels (with Sensational Sherri) defeated El Matador Singles match
• The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated Jake Roberts

WM8-Undertaker — The Undertaker defeats Jake “The Snake” Roberts to become 2-0 at WrestleMania VIII

• Bret Hart defeated Roddy Piper (c) for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
• Big Boss Man, Virgil, Sgt. Slaughter, and Jim Duggan defeated The Nasty Boys, Repo Man, and The Mountie (with Jimmy Hart)
• Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated Ric Flair (c) (with Mr. Perfect) for the WWF Championship
• Tatanka defeated Rick Martel
• The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) defeated Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster) (c) by countout Tag team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship
• Owen Hart defeated Skinner
• Hulk Hogan defeated Sid Justice (with Harvey Wippleman) by disqualification