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20 years ago today


wandshogun09

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I've always had a soft spot for this and it really sticks in my head from my early days as a fan. For some reason, as a kid, I remember thinking the arena looked really cool, I liked the tent roof and that you could see daylight. Can't believe it's been 20 years.

 

Like that nonce says in the shoot interviews

 

"What's your memories of....

 

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A few that I immediately think of when I think of this show are;

 

The fantastic Elizabeth dirty photos angle surrounding Flair vs Savage. And the match itself which, aside from his performance in the Rumble that year, was probably the highlight of Flair's first WWF stint for me.

 

Of course the screwy ending to Hogan vs Sid with the cameos from Warrior and Papa Shango.

 

Taker's tombstone on Jake Roberts where his head is a clear 2 feet off the ground.

 

And the Piper vs Hart match has always been a favourite of mine, thought it was really well done and the finish was pretty inventive for the time.

 

I always loved the little interview before the match with them getting all arsey over how many slices of baloney Bret's mom put on sandwiches.

 

this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs-m6lq1iYw

 

over to you

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The show that cemented me as a wrestling fan. The first half was much better than the second - it fell off a cliff after Savage/Flair, but the intros to Hulk/Sid and the ending with Hogan celebrating with the Warrior was amazing for a boy who had just turned 11. Also, that steadycam shot up the aisle to a beaming Hulk Hogan was totally amazing, only rivalled by the one they used for Edge at WrestleMania XXIV.

 

I'd been buying WWF Magazine for a bout 6 months before WMVIII after seeing clips of WrestleMania VII round a friend's house. I'd seen Survivor Series 91 and Tuesday In Texas, but I got my wrestling education from the printed word more than anything. So when I was given a tape of WrestleMania VIII by a friend of my mum's I watched that thing daily for about 6 months. I had that tape for about 18 years.

 

Shawn Michaels v Tito Santana, Legion Of Doom's promo, Jake Roberts v Undertaker, Bret Hart v Roddy Piper and Randy Savage v Ric Flair and the aforementioned beginning and end of Sid Justice v Hulk Hogan were my particular highlights. Fair enough, it's not a brilliant show, and it came in when the industry was falling on its arse in the US, but I didn't care. The WWF became everything to me because of this show.

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The first WM I can vividly remember the build-up to. In those days, even the prospect of Skinner vs Owen Hart was unbelievably exciting! Great Saturday Night's Main Event angle to set up Hogan and Sid, after that awesome press conference. So much nostalgia. Can't believe it's been 20 years!

 

"I remember when I was champion, Monsoon..."

"Champion of what?!"

"My neighbourhood!"

 

"What the hell, use the bell!"

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My memories?

 

The first WrestleMania I watched live on Sky (10pm UK time)

 

The return of the Ultimate Warrior. What a pop!

 

Flair not revealing nudey pix of Miss Elizabeth

 

Mr Perfect giving Macho Man (what looked like) a vicious kick in the nuts as Randy lay on the canvas.

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The Hoosier Dome looked good

Arriba Macintyre.

Shawn Michaels first singles match on ppv.

"She was mine before she was yours Macho" "I want to see the pictures on the big screen" Am I right in remembering the world title went on second. (probably not). The juice, didn't see it at this time and added to the drama. A crazed victorious Macho and a bloodied Flair.

That was the first time i had seen Bret Hart reverse the sleeper in the corner for the win, it was never as good as that time because that was actually Pipers finisher.

Even though Warrior had only been gone since Summerslam I think being a kid and the fact he'd just dissappeared and was never mentioned again I didn't expect to see him again. To hear that music and the Warrior run out was great but even as a kid the rest of that time was spent thinking "What the fuck happened to him"

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The Hoosier Dome looked good

Arriba Macintyre.

Shawn Michaels first singles match on ppv.

"She was mine before she was yours Macho" "I want to see the pictures on the big screen" Am I right in remembering the world title went on second. (probably not). The juice, didn't see it at this time and added to the drama. A crazed victorious Macho and a bloodied Flair.

That was the first time i had seen Bret Hart reverse the sleeper in the corner for the win, it was never as good as that time because that was actually Pipers finisher.

Even though Warrior had only been gone since Summerslam I think being a kid and the fact he'd just dissappeared and was never mentioned again I didn't expect to see him again. To hear that music and the Warrior run out was great but even as a kid the rest of that time was spent thinking "What the fuck happened to him"

 

Nah, Flair/Savage went on the middle of the card. Here is the card in official order.

 

Dark: The Bushwhackers (Luke Williams and Butch Miller) defeated The Beverly Brothers (Blake and Beau)

1 Shawn Michaels (with Sensational Sherri) defeated El Matador

2 The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated Jake Roberts

3 Bret Hart defeated Roddy Piper ©

4 Big Boss Man, Virgil, Sgt. Slaughter, and Jim Duggan defeated The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags), Repo Man, and The Mountie (with Jimmy Hart) 8-man tag team match 06:33

5 Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated Ric Flair © (with Mr. Perfect)

6 Tatanka defeated Rick Martel

7 The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) defeated Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster) © (with Jimmy Hart) by countout

8 Owen Hart defeated Skinner

9 Hulk Hogan defeated Sid Justice (with Harvey Wippleman) by disqualification

 

It's a good show but a show of two halves. The second half is piss compared to the incredible first half (imagine the first half as an In Your House/Tuesday in Texas show, those five matches would have been superb). It's a pure example of a classic Wrestlemania card.

 

Heenan and Monsoon are on an absolute stormer throughout the show, the sequel to the brilliant Rumble '92 commentary.

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*Flashback*

 

I remember going to Beavers the week after the show and being asked to draw a picture of what we'd been doing that week.

 

I drew a picture of a bloody Ric Flair kissing Miss Elizabeth.

 

I don't think they were impressed, in hindsight.

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I watched wrestling all over the shop as a kid but i think WrestleMania VIII was the first i watched actually at the time (or close to it) of the event occurring. And it's one of those significant points which just made me fall more in love with pro-wrestling. I too thought the Hoosier Dome and the long aisle looked tremendous. It was all about Hart-Piper for me though, that was what had me totally captivated and that point that had me ready to embrace WWF completely. Probably the first time this had been done by the actual art of the wrestling match, rather than simply two big colourful superdudes clobbering each other. Although Bret became an instant favourite and although i'd seen him plenty already, this cemented him as the favourite ahead of Macho. The full neon Pink outfit, slick black hair and shades helped for sure, he looked the total business, especially in contrast to Piper. The match itself had me fully behind him though and even then i thought the finish was wicked impressive. I desperately wanted more following this. I did hate the finish of the whole show though, again even then. I was never a Hogan guy though and Savage was my first favourite.

 

This is also one of those shows that blows my mind when i think back to times between WrestleManias and how things change. Like, it's amazing how you can look back on early WrestleManias and they're a total snapshot of the time. Yet, the WrestleManias in the twentys all feel like the same period from probably 22 onwards. I mean, plenty has changed but when you think about WWE from WrestleMania 22 - 28, a 6 year period but think of WrestleMania from 8 - 14, the difference and the amount everything changed between is massive, yet everything seems to happen and move so much faster these days.

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It's a good show but a show of two halves. The second half is piss compared to the incredible first half (imagine the first half as an In Your House/Tuesday in Texas show, those five matches would have been superb). It's a pure example of a classic Wrestlemania card.

 

And thats without the scheduled Bulldog/Berzerker match which was cancelled after the tag match went long. Also lets not forgot the debut of this fucker:

 

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