Welcome to the latest edition of our WrestleMania Rewind series, written by yours truly, exclusively for everyone here at SLTD Wrestling. The aim of WrestleMania Rewind is to review every WrestleMania in roughly 2,000 words. Click here to read the series so far.
WrestleMania 8 took place at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis in front of a crowd of just over 62,000 people, which is a mammoth crowd by anyone’s standards. Our commentary team were Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan, with the Fink handling things in-ring for the most part. For the first time in WrestleMania history, we had co main-events: Flair vs Savage and Hogan vs Justice.
Without any further ado, let’s get straight into the action.
Match 1: “El Matador” Tito Santana vs Shawn Michaels (w/Sensational Sherri)
Tito gets an early 2-count from a crossbody and clotheslines Michaels outside. Tito’s in control and gets a series of 2-counts from a side headlock. Michaels also gets a couple of 2-counts by rolling through said headlock. Michaels sends Tito to the outside.
Back in the ring, he gets a 2-count off a backbreaker. Tito fights out of a chinlock and heads straight into Sweet Chin Music. Tito fights back and lands his flying forearm, as well as a slingshot shouldertackle. Tito tries to slam Michaels back into the ring, but Michaels lands on top of him to get the win.
Opinion: A great opening match that got 10 minutes +, with two great workers in Santana and Michaels. This was just at the beginning of Michaels’ singles push, and his victory meant something because a) the match was competitive and b) how credible his opponent was in Santana.
Match 2: Jake Roberts vs The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer)
Jake clotheslines Taker outside early, lands a knee lift and some right hands. Taker’s movements are very slow and deliberate, and he puts a couple of chokeholds on Roberts in the corners. Taker lands a flying clothesline. Jake hits the DDT “from out of nowhere”, but Taker sits up. Jake lands a short-arm clothesline too before hitting a second DDT. Again, Taker sits up and Tombstones Jake on the floor. He rolls Jake back in to get the win.
Opinion: Again, a win for a rising singles star that meant something because of how credible his opponent was. Like I said in the match coverage, Taker’s movements were very slow and deliberate, and his presence, as ever, was awe-inspiring.
Match 3: WWF Intercontinental Championship – Rowdy Roddy Piper (c) vs Bret Hart
It’s an even start. Piper tries to chop his way out of an armwringer, but no dice. Bret feigns an injury and gets a 2-count off a small package. Bret crossbodies Piper over the top rope. Both men to the outside.
They get back in the ring and Piper gets the advantage with a sucker-punch, and gets a 2-count off a bulldog, then a knee-lift. Bret gets a 2-count of his own with a Sunset Flip. A flying forearm sends Piper to the outside. Back in the squared circle, a double clothesline sends both men down.
Hart lands an inverted Atomic Drop and a suplex for 2. He gets another from a side Russian leg-sweep. They jockey. There’s a ref bump. Piper teases using the ring bell, but doesn’t. He locks in a sleeper. Bret forces him to the corner, springs up and lands on top of Piper with a bridge to get the win.
Opinion: Probably one of the best Intercontinental Championship matches, not just at WrestleMania, but of all-time. Piper and Hart had great chemistry together and this match is one of both men’s best. Just outstanding and highly under-rated.
Match 4: Virgil, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Big Boss Man & Sgt Slaughter vs Repo Man, The Mountie & The Nasty Boys
There’s a brawl to kick off, with the babyfaces having the best of it. Duggan and Sags start off, with Duggan hitting a couple of clotheslines and an Atomic Drop. A series of tags leads to the heels isolating Virgil. Unsurprisingly, it leads to another brawl. Virgil scores the pin, and the win for his team, thanks to some miscommunication between the Nasty Boys.
Opinion: Filler, nothing more. A way to get these eight guys on the card, because they weren’t really doing anything else at the time. Harmless, but they could’ve given this time to the Hart/Piper match.
Match 5: WWF Championship Match – Ric Flair (c) (w/Mr Perfect) vs Randy Savage
I’m not even gonna try to describe this match. Two of the best ever, in their prime, going at it for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania, telling an AMAZING story. Best WWF Championship match ever? It could very well be. Go and find it on YouTube (other video services are available), sit back and enjoy it.
Match 6: Tatanka vs Rick Martel
Tatanka has the best of it early, but Martel gets back into it until Tatanka crotches him on the top rope. Martel tries to fight back, but Tatanka ultimately wins it with a crossbody.
Opinion: I think this is when Tatanka’s push was just starting, and although the match only went about 4-5 minutes, it did a good job of presenting him as an up-and-coming star. Martel played his role well too, as the crafty veteran trying to use his experience to show up the youngster.
Match 7: WWF Tag-Team Championship Match – Money Inc (w/Jimmy Hart) vs Natural Disasters
‘Quake uses his power early on both Ted and IRS. Typhoon comes in and does the same, but misses a splash on IRS. Ted comes in and it’s much the same story, until he sends Typhoon outside. Money Inc isolates Typhoon until Ted and Typhoon go down with a double clothesline. Tags to ‘Quake and IRS. ‘Quake sets up IRS for his finisher. Jimmy Hart pulls IRS out of the ring and the Disasters win by count-out.
Opinion: I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ted DiBiase win any form of match – singles, tag or multi-man – by pinfall or submission at WrestleMania. It’s either shitty count-out or DQ losses. It’s SO annoying because DiBiase was such a great worker.
Match 8: Owen Hart vs Skinner
Skinner’s on the attack early and gets a 2-count off a reverse DDT. Owen gets him in a waistlock and charges him towards the ropes. He hangs on and rolls Skinner up for the win.
Opinion: I’d be amazed if this match lasted longer than 90 seconds. I’ve had shits that lasted longer. Put in place to cool the crowd down before the second main-event, and final match of the night.
Match 9: Sid Justice (w/Harvey Wippleman) vs Hulk Hogan
Hogan whips the crowd into a frenzy before the match and gets the best of a brawl before the match even starts.
When things do get underway, Sid’s on the attack, but Hogan gets back into it. It’s a stalemate early doors. Hogan powers out of a test of strength and clotheslines Sid into the corner. There’s a distraction by Jimmy Hart, allowing Sid to land a thunderous chokeslam. Sid’s in TOTAL control. Hogan tries to power out of a nerve hold, but Sid’s able to side suplex him. Hogan “hulks” up out of Sid’s powerbomb and hits his legdrop, but Sid kicks out at 2. Harvey Wippleman interferes to cause the DQ.
Post-match, Papa Shango appears and helps Sid to beat up Hogan. Ultimate Warrior comes out to make the save and send the crowd home happy.
Opinion: A standard Hogan match. The heel dominates until Hogan makes his inevitable comeback. Give him his due though, that crowd went fucking insane when he came out. It’s unbelievable how over he was. If you’re a Hogan fan, you probably loved this. I’m not, but having said that, I enjoyed it.
Summary: This is probably one of the shortest WrestleManias in history. It lasted just over 2.5 hours. Two-thirds of the matches got at least 10 minutes, and the crowd were pretty hot for everything.
I’ve got to give a shout-out to Bobby Heenan. He had me laughing my ass off at various points, including when he called Reba McEntire “Arriba McEntire”, and implied that she was Tito Santana’s sister. He might not have been as good as Ventura was, but Heenan was still a top-drawer commentator.
I really enjoyed this event. Yes, some of the finishes annoyed me, but the show was a lot of fun. The commentary was great, the action was terrific to outstanding, and most importantly, there was (more or less) a point to the outcome of the matches. They didn’t feel like they were just thrown together. The matches/feuds were well-built, with a reason for us to care about who won/lost. More of this please!!!
Hopefully, you enjoyed that quick look back at WrestleMania 8. Leave your comments/feedback via the usual channels, and join me again tomorrow to revisit WrestleMania 9!
SLTD Wrestling's resident Scottish Nightmare. Some of my content may not be suitable for younger readers or those who are easily offended!
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