WWF Royal Rumble 1993

WWF Royal Rumble 1993
Venue: Sacramento, California
Date: 24/1/93
Attendance: 16,000
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan


The fifth annual WWF Royal Rumble pay-per-view took place in Sacramento, California and was headlined by Bret Hart's WWF title defence against Razor Ramon and of course, the Royal Rumble match itself. This would also be the final PPV that Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan would call together.

Review

The Steiner Brothers made their WWF PPV debut with a victory over The Beverly Brothers in a good opening match. Rick & Scott got a great reaction from the WWF fan base proving they did watch the competition's product... Shawn Michaels pinned Marty Jannetty to retain the Intercontinental Title after Sherri accidentally hit Jannetty in the face with her shoe. Sherri's hysterics after the bout were very believable as she sold being distraught over her miscue. The match may not quite have been the high flying spectacle some expected from the former Rockers but was actually a very good contest featuring a mixture of cool manoeuvres and good wrestling. This match was about a year later than it should have been due to Jannetty being fired and their planned rematch at Wrestlemania IX had to be scrapped as well with Jannetty being dismissed once again...

Bam Bam Bigelow made his first WWF PPV appearance in over five years as he defeated The Big Boss Man. Boss Man was on his way out of the company and did the clean job here. The match wasn't much cop (no pun intended)... Unlike at Survivor Series Bret Hart's WWF Heavyweight Title felt like it might be under threat as he faced Razor Ramon who had attacked Owen Hart to help build heat for this one. Like Michaels/Jannetty this was another very good bout with good heat. Hart went over by submission with not the best applied Sharpshooter. Ramon would be permanently dropped to the upper mid-card after this.

Lex Luger debuted as "Narcissus" (later changed to "The Narcissist" Lex Luger) after the WBF went down the pan. The story was that Bobby Heenan had brought in Luger to take care of Mr Perfect who had turned on him and Ric Flair back in November.

The Royal Rumble match was easily the worst to date and was massively lacking in star power especially compared to previous years. Bob Backlund, who was completely lacking in charisma (at least until he discovered his crazed heel gimmick in late 1994) was chosen as the man to break Flair's longevity record. The trouble was Backlund had no chance in carrying the match in the way Flair had done in 1992. His style was very awkward and dated and he was not over in the slightest. Flair did a decent job early on. His showdown with Perfect, although brief, was one of the few highlights of the match. Perfect was inexplicably eliminated like a mid-carder soon after. Giant Gonzales' debut was at least intriguing as he laid waste to The Undertaker and eliminated him despite not being in the match. The match came down to Yokozuna and Randy Savage which wasn't too bad until the finish which made the "Macho Man" look like a complete moron. Savage managed to take Yoko off his feet and hit his patented top rope elbow drop before going for a pinfall. Yoko then pressed Savage from the canvas up and over the top rope which was just not believable. The backstage face-to-face between Yokozuna and Bret Hart was a nice touch though.

Overall

After a good undercard the show was let down by a humdrum Royal Rumble match which at least brought to the fore a new top heel in Yokozuna. The Ric Flair/Mr Perfect feud came to an end the next night on Raw as Perfect defeated the "Nature Boy" in a match where the loser left the WWF. Flair would return to WCW where he would remain until the bitter end. Bret Hart was set to collide with Yokozuna in the main event of Wrestlemania IX for the WWF Heavyweight Title. The downward spiral continued as Royal Rumble 1993 pulled a 1.2 buy rate which was approximately 240,000 buys.

Results
1 The Steiner Brothers def The Beverly Brothers by pinfall (9:10) **3/4
2 Shawn Michaels (c) pinned Marty Jannetty to retain the WWF Intercontinental Title (14:20) ***1/2
3 Bam Bam Bigelow pinned The Big Boss Man (10:10) *
4 Bret Hart (c) def Razor Ramon by submission to retain the WWF Heavyweight Title (17:52) ***1/2
5 Yokozuna won the Royal Rumble match (66:35) *1/2


Rating
12.25/25 = 49%

WWF Survivor Series 1992

WWF Survivor Series 1992
Venue: Richfield, Ohio
Date: 25/11/92
Attendance: 17,500
Commentators: Vince McMahon & Bobby Heenan




The WWF were forced into a major change to the Survivor Series line up just a couple of weeks prior to the event as the Ultimate Warrior and the British Bulldog were both fired for failing drug tests. Bulldog's match with The Mountie was scrapped but much more disruptive was Warrior's dismissal as he was part of the main event program that had been built for months. With few options left open to them Mr Perfect (who had to come out of retirement and cease claiming his Lloyds of London insurance pay) was chosen as the man to partner Randy Savage in his battle with Ric Flair and Razor Ramon in the headline bout. It didn't make a great deal of sense considering what Perfect (and Flair) had done to Savage all year but it was a case of needs must. It was however a memorable turn as Perfect accepted Savage's offer on Prime Time Wrestling by pouring water over the head of Bobby Heenan after being slapped by "The Brain". Warrior would be gone from the company for over three years while Bulldog would be back in the summer of 1994 after a stint in WCW.

The original main event line up

Review
The Headshrinkers defeated High Energy (Owen Hart & Koko B Ware) in a fairly good opener which was designed to get the new heel team over. High Energy would prove to be another dead end role for the talented Owen Hart... The Big Boss Man beat Nailz in a "Knightstick (on a pole) Match" in what was supposed to be their big showdown but turned out to be a bit of a damp squib. This match was six months in the making but was over in less than six minutes and despite all the hype being about the knightstick it was barely a factor as Boss Man won clean and suddenly with the Boss Man Slam. A passable brawl... Tatanka and Rick Martel had a pretty boring bout which was overshadowed by the appearance of Matt Borne at ringside introducing the as yet unnamed Doink the Clown gimmick. Tatanka won clean with the "Papoose To Go" (Fallaway Slam).

The original plan was for Davey Boy Smith to face The Mountie

Next up was the main event which went on at half way to allow the World Title bout to go on last. Mr Perfect and Randy Savage defeated Ric Flair and Razor Ramon in a really good tag match although it did end with a weak disqualification finish. Despite a 15 month lay-off Perfect looked good here. They teased him having second thoughts on teaming with Savage mid-way through the contest... Yokozuna made his PPV debut with a squash victory over Virgil. Yoko's offense looked devastating... The Nasty Boys and The Natural Disasters overcame tag champions Money Inc and The Beverly Brothers in a tag team elimination match. While not offensive the match was pretty lifeless and seemed to drag. The Nasty's were the surviving team here confirming them as number one contenders to Money Inc's title... The Undertaker beat Kamala in a terrible "Coffin Match". It was as bad as their Summerslam bout but at least it had a finish. Undertaker pinned Kamala after a Tombstone and then rolled him into the coffin and nailed it shut.

Randy Savage and Mr Perfect double team Ric Flair

Finally WWF Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart defeated Shawn Michaels by submission in a quality wrestling match. Hart was being put over as a fighting champion who defended the title regularly and although Michaels was his biggest challenge so far, nobody really believed "The Heartbreak Kid" had a chance of winning the big one here. Michaels was without Sensational Sherri following an angle where the returning Marty Jannetty smashed a mirror over her head after Shawn had pulled her into harm's way. Santa Claus joined Hart in the ring to end the show on a feel good note for the younger fans.

Overall
Survivor Series 1992, much like Summerslam was a two match show and thankfully the two feature bouts delivered in the ring because the rest of the show was quite forgettable. Considering the disruption caused by Warrior's exit the main event was a success thanks to the intrigue of Mr Perfect turning on Ric Flair and Bobby Heenan to join forces with Randy Savage, regardless of whether it made sense or not. Bret Hart's first PPV title defence against Shawn Michaels was a great technical exhibition with the only possible negative being it was a touch hold heavy in places. The only other notable happening was the emergence of new super heel Yokozuna. Survivor Series 1992 pulled in approximately 250,000 buys on pay-per-view with a 1.4 buy rate.

Bret Hart applies the match winning Sharpshooter

Results
1 The Headshrinkers def High Energy by pinfall (7:38) **1/2
2 The Big Boss Man pinned Nailz in a "Knightstick Match" (5:43) *1/2
3 Tatanka pinned Rick Martel (11:04) *3/4
4 Randy Savage & Mr Perfect def Ric Flair & Razor Ramon by disqualification (16:29) ***1/2
5 Yokozuna pinned Virgil (3:34) *
6 The Nasty Boys & The Natural Disasters def Money Inc & The Beverly Brothers in an Elimination Match (15:50) *3/4
7 The Undertaker def Kamala in a "Coffin Match" (5:27) DUD
8 Bret Hart (c) def Shawn Michaels by submission to retain the WWF Heavyweight Title (26:40) ***3/4




Rating
15.75/40 = 39.38%

WWE Payback 2016

Just a few thoughts about Payback from this past Sunday night...

On the whole I liked the show. It was much more entertaining than Wrestlemania, the event had a better build up and the crowd was really lively as is usually the case in Rosemont. I don't think there was a bad match on the show but at the same time I expected more from a couple of them. My main gripe coming out of the show was despite it being the beginning of a so-called "New Era" in WWE, two championship matches were complete rehashes of pay-per-view main events from the 1990s. The worst offender was Charlotte versus Natalya which was a good match until they did the ridiculous "Montreal Screwjob" finish for the 258th time. Is that the only reason they brought Bret Hart in? It's like WWE want Hart to only be remembered for that one night in the Molson Centre. Just let it go. Hart was clearly still in some discomfort following his recent battle with prostate cancer which was no more evident than when he carefully put Ric Flair in the sharpshooter after the bout. The main event between Roman Reigns and AJ Styles was another good scrap but the story of the match bared a striking resemblance to the Shawn Michaels/Vader main event at Summerslam 1996. Styles, like Vader won the match by count out and then by disqualification only for the match to be restarted twice so the champion could go over by pinfall in the end. Once Shane McMahon had restarted the match declaring there could be no count outs it was just a matter of time before a disqualification was called so his sister could have her share of the spotlight. I did like that we were kept guessing on the relationship between Styles and his former Bullet Club buddies but it was obvious Reigns was always going to win this one.

Elsewhere on the show... Enzo Amore was very unfortunate to suffer the injury he did and hopefully he recovers quickly... The New Day were fantastic once again in their role. The have great chemistry together but I just worry that people now care more about their comedy routines than their actual matches... Kevin Owens versus Sami Zayn was a tremendous match with a really good build. I don't understand why their feud is not over the Intercontinental Title though... Speaking of which The Miz's title defence over Cesaro was decent enough but was overshadowed by Owens' brilliant performance on commentary. It looks like we're heading for a four way match at Extreme Rules so there's hope yet that the IC title will end up back in the Owens/Zayn feud... Dean Ambrose scored a much needed win over Chris Jericho but the match, while not bad at all, was still quite sloppy in places and I felt it should've been better... Finally Vince McMahon decided that both Shane and Stephanie will run Raw (or is it WWE as a whole?) together. Nobody was particularly happy with that outcome which is something else that has been done before by Steve Austin and Eric Bischoff back in 2003. I seriously doubt it will be anywhere near as entertaining featuring the McMahon siblings in 2016. That said I thought the segment itself on this show was good fun.

WWF Summerslam 1992

WWF Summerslam 1992
Venue: London, England
Date: 29/8/92 (Aired 31/8/92)
Attendance: 80,355
Commentators: Vince McMahon & Bobby Heenan


Originally set for Washington DC, Summerslam 1992 was moved to London, England to capitalise on the pro wrestling boom in the UK. The show attracted over 80,000 fans to Wembley Stadium on a warm summer night where the star attraction would be Davey Boy Smith who was incredibly over in the UK (and Europe). So much so that Smith's Intercontinental Title match with brother-in-law Bret Hart was positioned in the headline slot ahead of Randy Savage's WWF Heavyweight Title defence against the Ultimate Warrior which was the show's actual main event and promoted on TV as such. Sadly despite it's success Summerslam 1992 remains the only major pay-per-view to have taken place in the UK, or outside of North America for that matter. This was also the first WWF pay-per-view without Hulk Hogan.


Review
In the two dark matches before the PPV, Hacksaw Jim Duggan and the Bushwackers beat the Mountie and the Nasty Boys in an okay six-man tag and Papa Shango defeated El Matador in another passable affair. These matches (along with Tatanka versus The Berzerker from later in the evening) were recorded to be aired on Prime Time Wrestling in the coming weeks and but would also appear on the video release of the event. As you might be able to tell by the adjusted sound levels the commentary for the dark matches was inserted afterwards.

In the opening match of the pay-per-view the Legion of Doom finally got their revenge on Money Inc and Jimmy Hart for cheating them out of the World Tag Team Title earlier in the year. LOD were on their way out of the WWF but still went over clean here. Animal power slammed and pinned Ted Dibiase for the win in a decent match. The match is remembered more for LOD riding motorcycles to the ring and for Paul Ellering's ventriloquist act with LOD dummy mascot Rocco. Minus 100 cool points for that idea... Nailz squashed Virgil as he continued his preparation for a showdown with the Big Boss Man.

Shawn Michaels was initially set to take the Intercontinental Title from Bret Hart on this show until the change in location. As a result Michaels had to be satisfied working a program with Rick Martel where they battled for the affections of Michaels' manager Sensational Sherri. In this match neither man was permitted to strike the other in the face as per Sherri's instructions. That obviously didn't last and when the two combatants threatened to throw punches Sherri 'fainted' and both men were counted out as they fought over who would tend to her. It all ended when Martel threw a pail of water in Sherri's face. Oh the hilarity! The match itself was just alright and Michaels was elected the babyface in this one by the live crowd... Tag Team Champions The Natural Disasters retained the gold in a so-so bout with The Beverly Brothers. Earthquake and Typhoon were really over with the Wembley crowd and received a big pop when Quake scored the victory for his team... In another squash the repackaged Crush eased past his former tag team partner Repo Man. The two teamed previously as Demolition mk2 (Smash & Crush).

Randy Savage retained the WWF Heavyweight Title despite a count out loss to the Ultimate Warrior in a tremendous match carried superbly by the Macho Man. Warrior was the clear crowd favourite here although Savage did have some support in the stadium. The build and the angle surrounding the match really helped the bout's success as Mr Perfect declared he would be in the corner of one of the combatants. This caused a lot of friction between Savage and Warrior who both believed the other had 'sold out' to Perfect and Ric Flair. After about 15 minutes of action Perfect (along with Flair) walked out and first gave the impression he was backing Warrior but after a ref bump the heels attacked Warrior unbeknownst to the champion. Warrior survived this but was later nailed with a steel chair by Flair once again out of the view of Savage. As Savage was ready to hit his big elbow drop on Warrior he instead decided to leap down on Flair who cracked Savage's knee with a steel chair. This caused Savage to be counted out. Flair and Perfect attacked Savage's knee until Warrior made the save. The match ended with Warrior helping the injured Savage to the back making it clear that neither man had sold out to the dark side. This was an excellent piece of work. It led to Ric Flair regaining the title from Savage at the TV tapings in Pennsylvania capitalising on the damage done to Savage's knee.

Tatanka beat the Berzerker in the aforementioned dark match. It was straightforward and pretty forgettable... The Undertaker made a memorable entrance on the back of a hearse before defeating Kamala in a terrible match. Kamala's 'keeper' Kim Chee interfered causing a really lame disqualification.

In the night's main event The British Bulldog pinned Bret Hart to capture the Intercontinental Title in a fantastic match which was at least on par with Randy Savage versus Ricky Steamboat from Wrestlemania III as the greatest WWF match ever at that point in time. Davey Boy Smith received a booming response as he made his entrance accompanied by Lennox Lewis, the reaction was only topped by the one he received at the end of the bout. Smith was so over that Hart was effectively heel for the night and was booed at various points during the contest. It was however a tremendous performance by "The Hitman" who carried the bout and ensured that both he and his opponent's status was significantly raised by the time the final bell rang. Hart survived a top rope superplex and Smith's running powerslam while the Bulldog wouldn't be beaten by Hart's Sharpshooter or a German suplex. There was one scary moment where Bret performed a plancha over the top rope onto an unsuspecting Smith and somehow improvised the move into a reverse bulldog. According to Hart, Davey had forgotten this manoeuvre was coming. In the end Hart went for a sunset flip but Davey Boy dropped to his knees and cradled Bret for the 1-2-3 and an incredible pop from the Wembley crowd. After the match with fireworks exploding in the stadium, Davey and Bret embraced along with Diana (Davey's wife and Bret's sister) whose concerned reactions had been shown multiple times throughout the match. It was a great ending to a wonderful match.

Overall
Summerslam was a historic and memorable event even though it was effectively a two match show. With the exception of LOD/Money Inc which was decent, all of the supporting matches on the card weren't very good but the fact that the crowd was so into everything made them seem better than they actually were. The crowd heat went up to another level though for Savage/Warrior and again for Hart/Bulldog and both matches were more than worthy of the reactions they got. The Intercontinental title match was Davey Boy Smith's greatest moment of his career while Bret Hart would be rewarded by being stepped up to world title status very soon. Smith's title reign wouldn't be a long one though as he would relinquish it to Shawn Michaels in late October and would be on his way out of the company in November for an alleged drugs violation. He would spend 1993 in WCW before returning to the WWF in the summer of 1994. Summerslam 1992 pulled a 1.6, approximately 280,000 buys on pay-per-view which was down from Wrestlemania but similar to Royal Rumble of that year.


Results
(Dark) The Bushwackers & Jim Duggan def The Nasty Boys & The Mountie by pinfall (12:33) **
(Dark) Papa Shango pinned El Matador (6:00) *1/2
1 The Legion of Doom def Money Inc by pinfall (11:58) **1/2
2 Nailz def Virgil by submission (3:15) 1/2
3 Shawn Michaels fought Rick Martel to a double count out (8:06) **
4 The Natural Disasters (c) def The Beverly Brothers to retain the WWF Tag Team Title (10:21) *1/2
5 Crush def Repo Man by submission (4:03) 1/2
6 The Ultimate Warrior def Randy Savage (c) by count out. Savage retained the WWF Heavyweight Title (26:17) ****
(Dark) Tatanka pinned The Berzerker (5:46) *3/4
7 The Undertaker def Kamala by disqualification (3:42) DUD
8 The British Bulldog pinned Bret Hart (c) to win the WWF Intercontinental Title (25:13) ****3/4


Rating
15.75/40 = 39.38%

WWF Wrestlemania VIII

WWF Wrestlemania VIII
Venue: Indianapolis, Indiana
Date: 5/4/92
Attendance: 62,167
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan


Adapted from review originally written in 2014.


Wrestlemania VIII was held in the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis and with over 60,000 fans on hand it felt like a big deal from the get-go. Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan were on commentary for what I consider to be their best effort as an announce duo. Heenan in particular was at the top of his game during this period, while Monsoon had such a great voice and a style which added so much drama to the action in the ring. The expected dream match main event between Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair did not materialise as Vince McMahon was not satisfied by the numbers drawn by Hogan/Flair matches in late 1991 on the house show circuit. Instead he plumped for a "Double Main Event" of Hulk Hogan versus Sid Justice and Ric Flair versus Randy Savage for the WWF Heavyweight Championship.


Review


Opening match duties went to Tito Santana and Shawn Michaels, who had recently joined the singles ranks after his famous bust up with Marty Jannetty. The match was a good one with Michaels, the young arrogant heel managing to withstand the onslaught of the veteran who was having a little bit of a resurgence under the "El Matador" guise. The finish was a bit soft though as Santana, trying to slam Michaels back into the ring from the apron fell back as Michaels held onto the top rope and that was enough for a three count. Still, it was the correct result as they tried to push Michaels as a future contender for the Intercontinental Title. The Legion of Doom appeared for an interview with Mean Gene Okerlund. They didn't wrestle on the card due to Hawk’s suspension. They didn't say a lot of note. I guess it was just a way to introduce Paul Ellering to the WWF fans. Next up was The Undertaker versus Jake "The Snake" Roberts, minus the snake which had been barred from ringside following the shocking angle where Randy Savage was bitten by a cobra. This match was nothing more than a glorified squash as Roberts did the honours on his way out of the WWF. The Undertaker survived two DDTs before hitting Roberts with an extremely safe looking Tombstone Piledriver on the outside of the ring which they should have shot from a different angle. Anyway, Taker rolled Jake back inside for an easy three count. It was basic action really as most early Undertaker matches were due to his zombie-like gimmick.


The same could not be said of the Intercontinental Title bout which was a classic as Rowdy Roddy Piper defended the title against friend and former champion Bret "Hitman" Hart. Piper was magnificent in the pre-match interview also. The all-babyface affair started out exactly as that but as the match wore on, Piper began to resort to heelish underhanded tactics as he looked to retain the only singles title he would ever have in the WWF. Hart bladed in the match but managed to convince Vince McMahon that the blood was caused accidentally, something Ric Flair would not get away with later on the card as he was fined heavily for blading right on camera. The action was back and forth with Piper getting increasingly more desperate as Hart refused to be beaten. "This is a hell of a match!" proclaimed Heenan. The end came as the referee took a bump allowing Piper to bring the ring bell into the match with ideas of finishing Hart by any means necessary. Piper began to have second thoughts as the crowd turned on him before finally breaking out into cheers as he tossed the weapon away. It would be the end for Piper though as Hart countered the sleeper into a pinning combination to take the championship. It was all smiles at the finish as Hot Rod presented the title to the Hitman for a happy ending.

After watching Lex Luger drink a glass of milk (?) and talk about the WBF we get to the 8-man tag team match, the highlight of which may have been Family Feud Host Ray Combs slagging off the heel team before the bout. The match itself was okay for what it was with Virgil, the Big Boss Man, Sgt Slaughter and Hacksaw Jim Duggan defeating The Mountie, Repo Man and The Nasty Boys. Next was the match of the night as Macho Man Randy Savage challenged Ric Flair for the WWF Championship in a heated belter. The story was Flair had been claiming the love of Elizabeth and had even gone so far as to photoshop himself into pictures with her to prove it. Savage played the enraged husband brilliantly as he charged to the ring to pound the Nature Boy. The tide of the bout turned as Mr. Perfect, who was Flair's "Executive Consultant", nailed Savage in his knee with a chair and continued to get himself involved in the match. Savage sold the knee injury fabulously as he would continue to do so throughout the year. Elizabeth stormed out to the ring as various WWF officials tried to prevent her from doing so. If you look closely you'll see one of them is none other than a young Shane McMahon. With Flair distracted by Elizabeth's appearance, Savage surprised Flair with a roll-up and a handful of trunks to win the title. It all kicked off after the bout as Flair forced a kiss on Elizabeth causing the Macho Man to go ballistic! Finally things calmed down and Randy and Elizabeth stood victorious in the ring as the fireworks went off in the Hoosier Dome. The Savage-Flair feud was far from over though. The post match interview with Flair, Perfect and Heenan was fantastic.

As everyone in the arena tried to calm themselves after the "Macho/Flair Affair", Tatanka made his PPV debut and defeated "The Model" Rick Martel in a short, straight-forward match-up. Like the opener it was designed to help establish the younger talent as the Federation began to look towards the future. Next up was Money Inc. against The Natural Disasters for the Tag Team Championship in a rubbish match up. At one stage in the bout Typhoon inexplicably fell down the wrong way from a double clothesline! Just as Earthquake was about to finish IRS off, Ted DiBiase and Jimmy Hart pulled him from the ring and decided to head home with the belts. Yes, that was the finish. It was designed to gain more heat for the tag champs but an ending like that is not good enough for a title match at Wrestlemania. Just before the second half of the "Double Main Event" Owen Hart faced Skinner in a quick, throwaway match. Owen was cheap-shotted before the bell, didn't get a single offensive move in but kicked out of Skinner's finisher and beat him with a roll-up. All in just over a minute! A bad night for Steve Keirn.


Finally came the showdown between Hulk Hogan and Sid Justice. It was billed as Hogan's 'Farewell Match' as they teased the retirement of pro wrestling's biggest star. In reality Hogan was being moved out of the spotlight as the steroid scandal had hit the WWF hard and due to his stature the Hulkster was taking the brunt of it. This match came about as Sid had the audacity to eliminate Hulk from the Royal Rumble and Hogan took exception to it. Sid then turned into a lunatic, a part which he played very well. Hogan made his entrance to a booming ovation and looked to have a tear in his eye perhaps taken aback by the response. The match itself wasn't good but as usual Hogan's presence and charisma created a great atmosphere. Hogan sold for most of the bout and made his trademark comeback at the end. The only trouble was as Hogan hit the leg drop the pin fall was supposed to be interrupted by Papa Shango, except Shango had missed his cue and was nowhere to be seen. Sid, probably feeling he had nothing to lose as he was soon to be leaving the company, kicked out. The referee then called for a disqualification as Sid's manager Harvey Whippleman entered the ring. Shango finally arrived and helped Sid attack Hogan before the place went crazy as the Ultimate Warrior charged down to the ring to assist the Hulkster. The fans were delighted to see Hogan and the Warrior together in the ring to close the show as the fireworks exploded in the Hoosier Dome, although some questioned whether it was actually Jim Hellwig as he had lost so much muscle mass during his absence.

Overall
Wrestlemania VIII can be considered a decent show, on par with Wrestlemania VII, thanks to two great matches (Flair vs Savage, Piper vs Hart), one good one (Michaels vs Santana) and a memorable ending to the show. The rest of the card was pretty much a nonp-event. The scheduled Davey Boy Smith versus Berzerker match was cut from the line-up due to time restraints but I don't expect it would have added much to the show anyway. Wrestlemania VIII marked the end of Hulk Hogan's full time WWF career and was truly the end of an era. Hogan would continue to make international appearances for the company but would not appear on TV again until February 1993. Roddy Piper's full time WWF career also came to an end although he had already 'retired' in 1987 for two years. Piper would make a few special appearances over the next four years before signing with WCW in 1996. Wrestlemania VIII pulled a 2.3 rating meaning an estimated 390,000 buys on pay-per-view.


Results
1 Shawn Michaels pinned El Matador (10:38) ***
2 The Undertaker pinned Jake Roberts (6:39) *1/2
3 Bret Hart pinned Rowdy Roddy Piper (c) to win the WWF Intercontinental Title (13:50) ****
4 The Big Boss Man, Sgt Slaughter, Jim Duggan & Virgil def The Nasty Boys, The Mountie & Repo Man (6:31) **
5 Randy Savage pinned Ric Flair (c) to win the WWF Heavyweight Title (18:02) ****1/2
6 Tatanka pinned Rick Martel (4:33) *3/4
7 The Natural Disasters def Money Inc (c) by count out. Money Inc retained the WWF Tag Team Title (8:37) 1/2
8 Owen Hart pinned Skinner (1:09) 1/4
9 Hulk Hogan def Sid Justice by disqualification (12:29) 3/4


Rating
18.25/45 = 40.56%

WWF Royal Rumble 1992

WWF Royal Rumble 1992

Venue: Albany, New York
Date: 19/1/92
Attendance: 17,000
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan


After two controversial title changes at Survivor Series and This Tuesday In Texas the WWF Heavyweight Title was declared vacant by Jack Tunney and would be awarded to the winner of the Royal Rumble match. The idea being that a match of this magnitude would surely draw well on pay-per-view after buy rates had slumped in 1991. The two men at the centre of the title controversy, Hulk Hogan and the Undertaker were guaranteed a number between 20 and 30 in the Rumble.


To kick off the show the New Foundation defeated the Orient Express in a good tag team contest. After a false start under the guise of the Blue Blazer, Owen Hart teamed with Jim Neidhart hoping to emulate the success his brother Bret had paired with "The Anvil". Unfortunately Neidhart would be fired shortly after the Royal Rumble and Owen found himself back at square one for a while. He certainly shone in this contest though.


An explanation is probably required before I cover the next match-up. Bret Hart was the Intercontinental Champion and was feuding with The Mountie but Hart believing his contract was expiring began negotiating with WCW (sound familiar?). Hart had already been told he would be dropping the title to Mountie on 17/01/91 and whether or not this played a part in his decision to explore his options are open to debate. Unbeknownst to Hart at the time was that his contract had already rolled over meaning he wouldn't be able to sign elsewhere until later in the year effectively ending any negotiations. Hart's title loss was blamed on his decision to wrestle despite suffering from a high fever but even still the defeat came as a big surprise to fans at the time. Roddy Piper, who had come to Hart's aid during a post match beating was installed as the number one contender for the Royal Rumble in just two days time. As it was Piper ploughed through the Quebecer in a short passable match made better by the hot crowd to win his only WWF singles title. Piper then shocked Mountie with his own cattle prod, complete with comedy buzzer sound effects.  An all babyface Intercontinental Title clash was then set between Piper and Hart for Wrestlemania as Hart's push continued ensuring "The Hitman" would remain in the WWF.

The Bushwackers beat the Beverly Brothers in a rubbish match that went on too long. Luke and Butch were accompanied by Jamison (a geeky character who first appeared on The Bobby Heenan Show) who was being bullied by Beau and Blake's manager The Genius. It was all very embarrassing.


Back to serious business as the Legion of Doom defended the tag team title against the Natural Disasters in an okay match but with a cheap count out finish in favour of the challengers. Hawk and Animal would soon lose the belts to Money Inc (Ted Dibiase & Irwin R Schyster) as Hawk would be suspended for failing a drugs test. They would return with Paul Ellering as their manager at Wrestlemania.


Ric Flair became WWF Heavyweight Champion with a stellar performance in an exceptional Royal Rumble match. Flair entered the match at number three and survived for over an hour, taking a pounding from everyone and surviving by the skin of his teeth. It was classic Ric Flair. Just about every big name (and future big name) available was in the match such as Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Roddy Piper, Jake Roberts, Undertaker, Sid Justice and Shawn Michaels making the match even more monumental. In the big moments from the match; Ted Dibiase was surprisingly eliminated first by Davey Boy Smith before Flair even entered; Piper and Flair had a great showdown which had the Albany crowd on their feet; Randy Savage and Jake Roberts collided with a crazed Savage still looking for revenge. Savage eliminated "The Snake" before accidently eliminating himself by leaping over the top rope to continue the brawl. The officials had to let him back in the match as Savage was not due to depart just yet while Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan tried their best to cover for the error on commentary; the crowd roared as Hulk Hogan made his way down and then ousted The Undertaker before setting his sights on Ric Flair. With the match down to three men, Hogan had Flair in trouble on the verge of elimination until Sid (supposedly Hogan's friend) dumped the Hulkster from behind. Hogan took exception to this and pulled Sid out (with Flair's help) handing the championship to the "Nature Boy". As Flair's celebration began, Hogan and Sid had a stand off in the ring with the majority of the vocal crowd not supporting the Hulkster. Hogan was reportedly unhappy backstage feeling he had been set up to be booed but he should have realised he would look bad the way the end of the match was laid out for him. Backstage Flair cut a great promo after being awarded the title by Jack Tunney. After months of claiming to already be the "Real World's Champion" and carrying the NWA/WCW title, Flair drew a line under the whole angle as he proclaimed that the WWF title was the only title in the world that makes you number one. You could argue that Flair would never have another night in his career that would surpass this.

Overall a good show with an outstanding Royal Rumble match tempered by an average undercard. At the age of 43 Ric Flair became the WWF's oldest world champion (this record would be broken by 54 year old Vince McMahon in 1999) and this would be one his last truly great performances. It should also be said that Bobby Heenan was fantastic on commentary in his support of Flair. The original plan was for Hogan to challenge Flair in the main event of Wrestlemania VIII but the match was scratched for two reasons; Vince McMahon was not satisfied enough with the numbers drawn on the house show circuit headlined by Hogan versus Flair matches to push it as his biggest match of the year; and secondly because Hogan was about to move out of the spotlight due to increasing pressure surrounding the steroid scandal. Hogan would stay away from the WWF for ten months hoping the fires would die down in his absence. Royal Rumble pulled in 260,000 buys which considering the magnitude of the main event must've been a huge disappointment. This was a whopping 180,000 less than the 1991 event.

Results
1. New Foundation def Orient Express by pinfall (17:18) ***1/4
2. Rowdy Roddy Piper def The Mountie (c) by referee stoppage to win the Intercontinental Title (5:22) *1/2
3. Beverly Brothers def Bushwackers by pinfall (14:56) 1/4
4. Natural Disasters def Legion of Doom (c) by count out. LOD retained the World Tag Team Title (9:24) *1/2
5. Ric Flair won the Royal Rumble match to become WWF Heavyweight Champion (62:02) ****1/2


Rating
11/25 = 44.00%


Star Rating Guide
***** Excellent/World Class
**** Very Good
*** Good
** OK/Acceptable
* Poor
DUD Abysmal
SQ Squash (Less than 1 min)

WWF Survivor Series 1991

 

 

 

 

Survivor Series 1991

Venue: Detroit, Michigan

Date: 27/11/91

Attendance: 17,500

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan

 

With business in decline the WWF attempted to boost the Survivor Series card by adding a WWF Championship match to the previously tag team exclusive event as Hulk Hogan would defend against The Undertaker in a match dubbed "The Gravest Challenge". After battling Sgt Slaughter throughout the summer Hogan had spent the last couple of months squaring off with Ric Flair on the house show circuit but that match appeared to being saved for a dream clash at Wrestlemania. With a lack of other serious heel contenders on the roster The Undertaker was pushed into the main event slot to be the next threat to Hogan's crown. Prior to the event starting we were shown footage of the still quite shocking angle where Jake "The Snake" Roberts' cobra gnawed on the arm of Randy Savage who was tied up in the ropes. In response to this, on-screen President Jack Tunney reinstated the 'retired' Savage and ordered a match between he and Roberts to take place at a special mini-PPV set for six days time in Texas. This was part of an experiment by the WWF to sell an extra pay-per-view event mid-week at fairly short notice as buy rates had fallen in 1991.

Review

The opening tag team elimination match had the talent and the star power to be a classic but due to the booking ended up being good, yet ultimately disappointing. Good because of how well it started and how much the crowd were into it, but the downside was that we only saw two eliminations in a near 23 minute match which ended with a mass disqualification excluding Ric Flair which meant he was the sole survivor. The ending made the whole process of the match feel pointless. On a side note, Jack Tunney had declared that he would video distort the image of the NWA/WCW World Title belt anytime Flair attempted to parade it on WWF television as it wasn't a recognised title in the WWF. The real reason for this was because the title belt had been returned to WCW due to a law suit so the WWF were actually distorting the fact that Flair was now carrying a WWF Tag Team Title belt. The fans in the arena must've been pretty confused. They should've just dropped the "Real World's Champion" angle when they were forced to return the "Big Gold Belt". Another side note for this match was that Virgil had lost the Million Dollar Belt back to Ted Dibiase on the "Survivor Series Showdown" (Prime Time Wrestling special) thanks in part to Repo Man (Barry "Smash" Darsow)...

Randy Savage and Elizabeth were interviewed in the arena by Gene Okerlund to sell "This Tuesday In Texas" and talk about the aforementioned angle with Jake Roberts... Ahead of the second Survivor Series elimination match, just looking at the two teams you instantly felt this would be a squash match of sorts... and it was. Skinner, Col Mustafa and Hercules were all routinely dispatched before The Berzerker went down last having at least put up somewhat of a fight. Sgt Slaughter, in alliance with Hacksaw Jim Duggan, was now supposed to be a super patriotic babyface having spent most of the year supporting Saddam Hussain and waving the Iraqi flag. Wrestling, eh? ... Like the "Macho Man" earlier, Jake Roberts had an arena interview with Gene Okerlund. Jack Tunney had banned all reptiles from ringside but Roberts insisted that he was always the snake you needed to worry about...

The Undertaker defeated Hulk Hogan to win the WWF Heavyweight Title in a lousy match with help from Ric Flair. Flair brought a chair into the ring allowing Undertaker to Tombstone Hogan onto it, although Hogan's head was a good six inches from contact. Knowing that Hogan didn't have long hair to cover the point of impact this move should have been shot from a different camera angle. While nowhere near the level John Cena often has to endure there were audible cheers as the three count was registered. The fact that the main event was placed midway through the show may have alerted the more knowledgeable fans that the heel was going over here. Vince McMahon, especially back in those days, didn't like to leave big shows on a sour note for the fans. It also gave him time to have Jack Tunney announce a rematch for "This Tuesday In Texas" which they spent the rest of the show selling. The trouble with putting your big match on half way through the show is that the rest of the card tends to fall flat and that was certainly the case here...

The Rockers and The Bushwackers fell to The Nasty Boys and The Beverly Brothers in an okay match that would lead to the big split between Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty. Jannetty accidently hit Michaels in the face while body slamming Jerry Sags enabling Brian Knobbs to roll him up for a three count. The future "Heartbreak Kid" was livid with his partner and stormed off to the back while Jannetty appeared oblivious to what had happened. Annoyingly Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan somehow missed the pin fall and assumed Michaels had simply walked out on the match... The default main event was The Legion of Doom and The Big Boss Man versus The Natural Disasters and Irwin R Schyster. Jake Roberts and Sid Justice were originally booked for this match but Roberts was pulled by Tunney after the snake bite incident and Sid stepped aside as well to make it an even 3 versus 3. Boss Man was eliminated first after a briefcase shot by IRS but the same trick backfired later as IRS accidently nailed Typhoon causing him to be eliminated. Earthquake then walked out in protest meaning we had an anticlimactic finish as IRS was clearly no match for both Hawk and Animal. It was a weak finish to an average match and there wasn't even a Doomsday Device to end the show (some wrestlers just flat out refused to take that move)... The event closed with The Undertaker holding the WWF title belt informing us that Hulkamania had died and all that remained was "This Tuesday In Texas", the burial.

Overall

This was a pretty poor show. The matches were average to bad except for the opener which was actually good until the stupid and lazily booked finish. This card is only memorable for The Undertaker's first world title win and the beginning of the end for The Rockers. Apart from that the show seemed to be one long advert for "This Tuesday In Texas" which is not what you want to see if you've just handed over your hard earned money to buy a pay-per-view. The tactic of adding a world title match to the event for the first time didn't appear to work either as Survivor Series 1991 drew a very disappointing 300,000 buys, down by 100,000 from the 1990 edition. The WWF were heading down a slippery slope.

Results

1 Ric Flair, Ted Dibiase, The Mountie & Warlord def Bret Hart, The British Bulldog, Roddy Piper & Virgil (22:48) **3/4

2 Jim Duggan, Sgt Slaughter, El Matador & Texas Tornado def Col Mustafa, The Berzerker, Skinner & Hercules (14:19) 3/4

3 The Undertaker pinned Hulk Hogan (c) to win the WWF Heavyweight Title (12:45) 1/2

4 The Nasty Boys & The Beverly Brothers def The Rockers & The Bushwackers (11:28) **

5 The Legion of Doom & The Big Boss Man def The Natural Disasters & Irwin R Schyster (13:09) *3/4

 

Rating

7.75/25 = 31%

Star Rating Guide

*****    Excellent/World Class

****      Very Good

***        Good

**           OK/Acceptable

*             Poor

DUD       Abysmal

SQ          Squash (Less than 1 min)

 

WWF Summerslam 1991

WWF Summerslam 1991 
Venue: New York City, New York
Date: 26/08/91
Attendance: 20,000
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan & Rowdy Roddy Piper

Summerslam 1991 came at a tough time for the World Wrestling Federation. The trial and conviction of Dr George Zahorian (the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission appointed doctor for WWF events) in June for illegal distribution of steroids was a public relations disaster for the WWF having brought to light rampant steroid use within the company over a number of years. Among the many wrestlers and WWF personnel to have purchased drugs from Zahorian were the high profile names of Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper and even Vince McMahon himself. The company's name was being dragged through the mud and as the industry's biggest star, Hogan was bearing the brunt of it. Under fire from all angles the WWF went into damage limitation mode first with Vince McMahon announcing in the New York Times that he planned to begin drug testing in the company, which he did in November of the same year. Then Hogan appeared on the Arsenio Hall Show on 16th July appearing to have every intention of admitting to steroid use but for whatever reason backed out at the last minute and denied ever being an "abuser" of the drug. The backlash from this would be disastrous for Hogan and it would take years for him to rebuild his reputation. In the face of all this negativity the WWF felt the need to produce a very positive show for their fans and they certainly did that at Summerslam, headlined by the marriage of Macho Man Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth at Madison Square Garden.

Review
The show opened with an entertaining six man tag where Ricky Steamboat, The Texas Tornado and The British Bulldog defeated The Warlord and Power & Glory. Steamboat, now billed simply as "The Dragon", had returned to the WWF in March but would soon be on his way again. He worked the bulk of the match for his team as the face-in-peril but did get to score the winning fall with a high cross body block onto Paul Roma.

Bret Hart won his first major singles championship by defeating Mr Perfect for the Intercontinental Title in an excellent match. Curt Hennig had suffered what was thought to be a career ending back injury and had even cut his hair believing he had wrestled his last match. However when the company decided Bret would be the next IC champion Hennig set out to put Hart over the right way despite being in tremendous pain. Hennig gave Bret the best match he could and did everything in his power to make "The Hitman" look great including allowing him to kick out of the Perfect-Plex and submitting instantly to the (half applied) Sharpshooter. This match made Bret Hart as a singles worker and he would be eternally grateful to Curt Hennig for his selflessness. Mr Perfect would return to the ring in late 1992 but his injury meant he was never quite the same... Match quality then dropped off a cliff as the Natural Disasters beat The Bushwackers who were accompanied to the ring by Andre the Giant. Andre was on crutches following an attack by Earthquake which was storyline cover for his recent knee surgery. Tugboat had turned on The Bushwackers on an episode of Superstars of Wrestling to become Typhoon and form the Natural Disasters with Earthquake. After the usual Bushwacker antics, Quake crushed Luke for the easy victory in this one. Following the match the Disasters attempted to attack Andre again but the Legion of Doom came to the rescue setting up their next feud... Bobby Heenan, acting on behalf of Ric Flair, attempted to confront Hulk Hogan backstage while holding the NWA/WCW Heavyweight Title belt. Flair was about to debut in the WWF following a bitter departure from WCW and still had possession of the title belt as part of the dispute. It was customary at the time for NWA World Champions to pay a $25,000 deposit on winning the title but Flair claimed his deposit had not been returned to him after being fired by WCW Executive Vice President Jim Herd. As a result Flair refused to return the title belt and instead brought it to the WWF. A lot has been made of Madusa's trashing of the WWF Women's title belt on WCW TV as being a big reason for the "Montreal Screwjob" with Vince McMahon fearing Bret Hart may take the WWF Heavyweight title onto Monday Nitro and do the same thing. It appears he didn't have a problem parading his competition's biggest title on his programming in 1991, not to mention trashing it verbally.

Next up was the battle for the Million Dollar Belt as Ted Dibiase squared off against his former bodyguard Virgil. This match, like the feud was booked expertly with Dibiase excelling in the role of despicable heel. Virgil looked like he had victory in his grasp as he locked Dibiase in his own "Million Dollar Dream" sleeper hold only for Sensational Sherri to break things up for an obvious disqualification... except Earl Hebner instead decided to eject Sherri and allow the match to continue. Late in the bout and with the referee down, Dibiase set about doing some damage to Virgil while taunting Roddy Piper who was commentating at ringside. However Virgil turned the tables on Dibiase by ramming him head first into an exposed turnbuckle to score the 1-2-3. The MSG crowd roared as Virgil held up the Million Dollar Belt, it would be the biggest moment of his career.

 

The Big Boss Man pinned The Mountie in a match where the loser had to spend the night in a New York City jail. The match was okay with Mountie surprisingly kicking out of the Boss Man Slam before falling to an Alabama Slam soon after. The real entertainment then began as Mountie was handcuffed and dragged kicking and screaming to jail. We would get further updates on Mountie's trip to jail throughout the rest of the show which Jacques Rougeau sold brilliantly... The Legion of Doom became the first and only team to become AWA, NWA and WWF Tag Team Champions as they downed the Nasty Boys in a decent brawl where there could be no disqualifications or count outs. My only gripe with the match is despite it being a no disqualification match the referee was still enforcing the rules of a normal tag team match.

Irwin R Schyster beat Greg Valentine in a passable match that did little more than allow the crowd to catch their breath. Valentine was caught out by an IRS small package as he attempted to apply the figure four leg lock. During the match Gorilla Monsoon mentioned that Jake Roberts and The Undertaker had been spotted in the building somewhere... And so to part one of the main event, "The Match Made In Hell". Sid Justice was the special guest referee and it had been hinted that he may be in the pocket of the "Triangle of Terror" who were Sgt Slaughter, Gen Adnan and Col Mustafa (The Iron Sheik). There was even footage of him conversing with the threesome backstage. Kayfabe aside the bigger story which didn't come out until after the event was that the Ultimate Warrior had held up Vince McMahon for more money before the match and refused to compete unless McMahon acquiesced. Backed into a corner, McMahon reluctantly agreed. Warrior then wrestled as scheduled but was promptly fired by McMahon when he returned to the dressing room. Despite being a handicap match you never got the impression that Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior were ever going to lose here, even with the question Sid's impartiality hanging over the match. As it was Sid called the match down the middle, Hogan pinned Slaughter to win the match and then Sid returned to the ring to pose with Hogan after the bout. The match was fine but nothing to write home about.

 

Main event part two was the "Match Made In Heaven", the wedding of Randy Savage and Elizabeth. It wasn't their actual wedding of course (they were married for real in 1984) but the WWF did everything they could to make this ceremony look as legitimate as possible and to that end they did a really good job. Even the MSG crowd were respectful throughout, although it was a much different time back then. So the wedding ceremony went down without a hitch, so to speak, and the wrestling angle was saved for the reception from which footage aired on Superstars of Wrestling (and was added to the end of the video release of the event). Elizabeth opened a present which contained a cobra which was the cue for Jake Roberts and the Undertaker to gate crash the festivities. Taker knocked out Savage with his urn while Roberts terrified Elizabeth holding the cobra until Sid Justice chased away the bad guys. The angle that would lead to Savage's return to the ring had begun.

Overall
This was a really good show and while it could have been better from a wrestling standpoint, it was filled with big match-ups and big moments. The crowd at Madison Square Garden were on top form and were really spoiled too as the faces won all the important matches with no less than three title changes on the card. The Mr Perfect/Bret Hart bout was a classic in a truly golden era for the Intercontinental Championship; Virgil and Ted Dibiase's Million Dollar Belt battle was the pinnacle of their excellent feud; and the Legion of Doom completed a clean sweep of tag team titles from the three major wrestling organisations of the 1980's. Add to that Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior teaming up and the Big Boss Man sending The Mountie to jail, it was a great night for the good guys with big pops aplenty in the Garden. The Randy Savage/Elizabeth love story may not have been what the traditional wrestling fan wanted to see but it did capture the attention of many who may not have been interested in the WWF product otherwise. I really enjoyed the commentary on this show with Bobby Heenan playing a starring role, especially with his jokes at the expense of Roddy Piper. Summerslam 1991 drew 405,000 buys on pay-per-view, more or less even with the previous three supercards. Pay-per-view buy rates would take another big hit though from this point on.

Results
1 The British Bulldog, Texas Tornado & Ricky Steamboat def Warlord & Power & Glory by pinfall (10:43) **3/4

2 Bret Hart def Mr Perfect (c) by submission to win the WWF Intercontinental Title (18:04) ****1/2

3 The Natural Disasters def The Bushwackers by pinfall (6:27) 3/4

4 Virgil pinned Ted Dibiase (c) to win the Million Dollar Belt (13:11) ***1/4

5 The Big Boss Man pinned The Mountie in a "Jailhouse Match" (9:38) **1/4

6 The Legion of Doom def The Nasty Boys (c) to win the WWF Tag Team Title (7:45) **1/2

7 Irwin R Schyster pinned Greg Valentine (7:07) *1/2

8 Hulk Hogan & The Ultimate Warrior def Sgt Slaughter, Col Mustafa & Gen Adnan by pinfall (12:40) **

Rating

19.5/40 = 48.75%

Star Rating Guide

*****   Excellent/World Class

****     Very Good

***        Good

**           OK/Acceptable

*             Poor

DUD       Abysmal

SQ          Squash (Less than 1 min)

Worst Intercontinental Champion...

Worst WWF/WWE Intercontinental Champion

(as voted by @wrestlingspast followers)


1. Chyna

 

 17 Oct 99 - 12 Dec 99
22 Aug 00 - 4 Sep 00
Total: 64 days


2. Dean Douglas

 

22 Oct 95 - 22 Oct 95

Total: 15mins (approx.)

 

3. Albert

 

26 Jun 01 - 23 Jul 01

Total: 27 days

Thank you everyone who voted. Full results below.

 

1	Chyna	16
2	Dean Douglas	10
3	Albert	9
4	Santino Marella	6
4	Ezekiel Jackson	6
4	Marc Mero	6
7	The Mountie	5
8	Honky Tonk Man	4
9	Marty Jannetty	2
9	Big Show	2
9	Big E Langston	2
9	Curtis Axel	2
9	D'Lo Brown	2
9	Val Venis	2
15	The Godfather	1
15	Road Dogg	1
15	William Regal	1
15	Daniel Bryan	1
15	Wade Barrett	1
15	Rowdy Roddy Piper	1
15	Ultimate Warrior	1
15	Test	1
15	Ricky Steamboat	1
15	Jeff Jarrett	1
15	Drew McIntyre	1
15	The Miz	1
15	Ric Flair	1
15	Billy Gunn	1
15	Rikishi	1
	Total Votes	89