Wrestlemania VIII: A Double Main Event?

Wrestlemania VIII was held at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana, on April 5, 1992. It was hyped as having a double main event, and the matches that constituted these main events were the WWF Championship match between Ric Flair and Randy Savage. The other was the final match of the night, pitting Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice. Overall, this was a solid Wrestlemania.

Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan. This would be the second, and final Wrestlemania they would commentate together. Their banter with each other, and Heenan's comments throughout the night, were an added attraction to this event. Ray Combs is the celebrity guest host.

The show starts with Reba McEntire singing “The Star-Spangled Banner”.

“El Matador” Tito Santana vs. Shawn Michaels w/ Sensational Sherri

This was the first Wrestlemania match with Shawn competing as a singles competitor. This match showed the star potential he had. He played the cocky heel role to a T, and was an excellent athlete to boot. Tito, performed his role well here as well, putting over Shawn while making both competitors look good. Shawn wins this match, and Heenan made a prophetic comment. He said Shawn was going to be “the star of the 90s”.

Decent opener to get the show, and the crowd, going. **3/4

Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer

The background story to this was Undertaker had a feud with the Ultimate Warrior. Jake stepped in to help Warrior overcome his fears, only to turn on him. Undertaker turns face when Jake tries to hit Elizabeth with a chair. Undertaker stops him, hence Undertaker's face turn. Jake couldn't bring his snake Damien with him to the ring for this match, which made no sense as he was doing that for years as a face...

This match was a typical 'taker match of the time. Slow, methodical, no selling by 'taker. Makes sense as he was supposed to be a wrestling zombie...

Jake hits with a couple DDTs. Match goes outside the ring. Undertaker hits with a Tombstone piledriver, puts Jake back in the ring and gets the pin. ***

Mean Gene is backstage in the interview area with Bret Hart and Roddy Piper. The interview added a layer of tension between the two that would play out in the match.

Intercontinental Title Match: “Rowdy” Roddy Piper (champion) vs. Bret “Hitman” Hart

Hart had lost the IC title to The Mountie several months prior. Piper won the title at the 1992 Royal Rumble. This match was great for the in-ring psychology. All during the match, Piper was teasing a heel turn. Spitting at Bret, slapping him... It really seemed as if he would turn out for frustration for not being able to defeat Bret.

Towards the end of the match, Piper grabs the ring bell. Crowd enthusiastically boos, as it looks like Piper was going to hit him with it. Piper decides not to, much to the approval of the crowd. Piper gets his sleeper hold finisher on. Bret kicks off from a corner turnbuckle. Falling back on Piper for the pin, and the title.

Excellent match, one which has become overlooked with time. ****

8-Man Tag Match: Nasty Boys, Repo Man, and The Mountie vs. Sgt. Slaughter, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, Big Boss Man, and Virgil

What happens when you have a bunch of mid-carders with nothing really going on, and it's Wrestlemania? Bunch them all together in a match, of course! Ray Combs makes some jokes at the expense of the heels

This is an unremarkable match. It's not terrible, but there's no incentive to get behind any of the performers. The good guys win. A filler match, but not a exactly a dud either. *1/2

We're now at the first of the double main event.

WWF Championship match: Ric Flair (champion) w/ Mr. Perfect vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage

Just the fact you have two legends in the ring that have a history of great matches is incentive to watch this one. In addition, there was also a dramatic storyline. It's basically Savage defending the honor of Elizabeth against Flair, who claimed they had a relationship in the past, and had revealing pictures that him and Perfect were going to reveal.

This match is extremely well done, and Perfect gets into the picture multiple times, trying to aid Flair to a victory. It made Savage appear as if he were almost in a handicap match. We get excellent back and forth between the two. Towards the end of the match, Elizabeth comes down to the ring. A bunch of officials come down, one of them looks like, and probably is Shane McMahon, son of Vince.

Flair locks on the figure-four leglock on Savage. Savage sells an injured leg. Elizabeth looks concerned. Flair, distracted, is rolled up by Savage; who grabs the tights. Savage gets the 1-2-3, and the championship. Post-match Flair harasses Liz while Savage is recovering. He kisses Liz who slaps him.

Great match, between two all-time great performers, with great storytelling. This SHOULD have been the final match on the card. ****1/2

Tatanka vs. “The Model” Ric Martel

Nothing much to say about this match. Tatanka wins with a flying cross-body. Crowd was quiet for this one. Not sure if it was because this match followed the championship match, or they didn't care for the performers. *1/2

Tag Team Championship: Money Inc. w/ Jimmy Hart (Ted DiBiase and IRS – champions) vs. The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon)

Boring match here. Part of it has to do with the fact you have to technical wrestlers (Money Inc.), vs a brute power (Disasters). Add to that the fact that Typhoon wasn't, well... a good athlete.

Earthquake goes for his splash finisher on IRS. Jimmy Hart pulls IRS out of the ring. Money Inc. grabs their belts and walks off. Disasters win via count out, but titles don't change hands in that situation. *1/2

Owen Hart vs. Skinner

This match lasted about a minute. Owen wins. Not much to say about this one. No rating.

Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice w/ Harvey Whippleman

This is the second match of the double main event. Hogan should've been the heel in this match...but NO. This feud started at the Royal Rumble. Justice, a face at that point, eliminated Hogan. Hogan, being a bad sport, grabbed Sid from outside the ring, allowing Ric Flair to elimate Sid from the Rumble.

We get a recap of the events leading to this match, which unfortunately, would turn out to be the worst main event match outside of perhaps WM II. Two big men who can't wrestle outside a couple moves...

Sid powerbombs Hogan. Hogan, of course, no sells it and kicks out at 2. Hogan hulks up. He punches Sid, gives a body slam, and leg drop. Whippleman enters the ring to interfere. Hogan wins by DQ. Papa Shango comes down to the ring to attack Hogan. Then a familiar song plays...The Ultimate Warrior's theme song, as he runs down to the ring to assist Hogan, marking a short return for him.

This was a weak, and disappointing main event. **

Wrestlemania VIII is a very solid 'mania. It's fun to watch, with few dud matches, a giant crowd, and fantastic commentary from Bobby Heenan. While this Wrestlemania has an approximate run time compared to the previous year's, this one is an easier watch. You can sit through the whole thing and not realize that nearly 3 ½ hours passed. I'd highly recommend this Wrestlemania. It's one of my personal favorites, and you may find it will become one of yours too.

Overall rating: ****