WrestleMania VIII happened on April 5th, 1992. The original card was carried by essentially three matches. Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair for the WWF World Championships, Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper for the WWF Intercontinental Championship and Hulk Hogan taking on Sid Justice in the main event. I’ve always considered it to be one of my favorite Manias because it’s one of the first. However, I’ve looked at the card and the roster at that time and figured I could make a better show. So, here is my attempt at that. Of course, this is assuming everything went smooth and there weren’t any firings during the year.
Opening Contest: Shawn Michaels vs. Marty Jannetty
This would be a fantastic hot opener to kick off the biggest show of the year. Since Michaels turned on Jannetty, people would be wanting to see Jannetty get his revenge. This would hopefully set the stage for the rest of the show. I’d have Michaels win the bout and set him up for a big 1992 while Jannetty remains in the midcard, just like he would in real life, anyway.
Second Contest: Big Bossman vs. Repo Man
I don’t recall these two ever having a lengthy angle, which you would think would be a natural feud. Repo steals everything and Bossman is police officer of the WWF. So, you have Repo continually stealing things from wrestlers leading into Mania and Bossman takes care of business. I don’t know why, but a feud between them seems to rather interesting to me.
Third Contest: WWF Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart vs. Rick Martel
Rick Martel never got a high profile singles match at WrestleMania. Sure, you could say that his match with Roberts in 1991 was high profile but he didn’t do much in that match considering the stipulation. Considering the Model’s gimmick was someone who was obsessed with himself, I would go ahead and have Martel feel the desire of having gold around his waist and say how the championship hasn’t looked this good, ever. It’s a silly way to start an angle, but it’s 1992 and it’s the WWF. Anyway, Bret Hart would retain the championship but I feel like these two could put together a fine bout.
Fourth Contest: British Bulldog vs. Skinner
Every WrestleMania needs some filler and that is what this match would be. Bulldog squashes Skinner and he (just as Michaels) would have a bigger year, if I was booking it.
Fifth Contest: The Undertaker vs. Papa Shango
How do I turn Taker face if I don’t use the angle with Roberts? Simply, you have Papa Shango get control of the urn and make the Undertaker do incredibly heelish things. In the turning point, you’d have Taker refuse to strike a woman (perhaps play a part in the Savage/Roberts thing by having Taker refuse to strike Elizabeth…). Paul Bearer gets the urn back but Shango has a spell on Taker but Bearer is able to overcome the powers of Shango and they end up having a blow off at WrestleMania. Again, I’m kind of surprised these two never had a lengthy television program.
Sixth Contest: WWF World Tag Team Champions Money Inc. vs. Legion of Doom
Yes, I would keep the title change from the house show market because the babyface chasing after the heel makes sense leading into Mania. I probably wouldn’t even have the titles change here because this could be dragged out awhile and by having Money Inc. keep the championships by getting a cheap DQ or count-out keeps the heat on both teams. So, Money Inc. lose by a cheap DQ but keep the championships and surely meet with LOD in the summer.
Seventh Contest: Virgil, Jim Duggan & Sgt. Slaughter vs. Nasty Boys & The Mountie
I recall Virgil having his nose broken by the Mountie and felt a singles match between them wouldn’t be all that exciting. So, we just make it a three way match to fill out the card and get some of the guys a payday. Virgil pins Mountie to get his revenge and we move on from there.
Eighth Contest: Jake Roberts vs. Roddy Piper
I’d set this up by having Piper save Savage from an attack by Roberts on the SNME close to Mania. So, as Roberts pulls out the snake to bite Savage, Piper enters and attacks Roberts and maybe even tries to have the snake bite Roberts. So, now you have Roberts being embarrassed by Piper and Piper willing to fight for his friend and whatnot. Personally, these two could have a wild brawl and get the fans into the rest of the show. As for who goes over, I’d have Roberts go over if he were to somehow stay with the company to give him a re-push into the summer. Though, if he were to leave, Piper would prevail and hopefully remain on television to take advantage of the victory.
Ninth Contest: Randy Savage vs. Sid Justice
Yes, Sid would want to get his hands on Hogan but he would have to settle for Hogan’s best friend, Randy Savage. This could be seen as a way for Justice to prove that he should have a match with Hogan and a beating so severe to cause that to happen later on in the year. It wouldn’t be a squash, but it would make a statement for Justice. Savage tries his hardest but in the send, Justice is just too dominating.
Main Event: WWF World Champion Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan
This match should have happened no matter what. It’s a legend vs. a legend and it would’ve happened at a time where they could have probably put together a decent encounter compared to their later WCW matches. I don’t like screwy endings but I’d do just that here to keep everyone happy. It would be kind of silly to have Hogan win the championship nearly every year at Mania (V and VII) so I’d have the heels just cheap their way to victory. I’d bring out Mr. Perfect to viciously hit Hogan with brass knuckles and after a referee bump, I’d have Sid Justice come out to hit a huge powerbomb to set up a summer feud between Hogan. So, that would allow Flair to lock in the figure four right in the middle of the ring and a laid out Hogan is counted out by the referee.
Oh, and the Ultimate Warrior can return and clean house to maybe set up a program with Flair after Mania. That seems more appealing compared to feuding with Shango, right? I think so.
So, there you have it. That’s how I would have set up WrestleMania VIII. Would you have done anything differently? Feel free to let me know!
Thanks for reading.