The Eighth WWE WrestleMania featured Ric Flair vs. The Macho Man Randy Savage, Sid Justice vs. Hulk Hogan, and The Undertaker vs. Jake "the Snake" Robets.
One year removed from his career ending match at WrestleMania 7, the Macho Man Randy Savage challenged alleged “Real World’s Champion” Ric Flair for the Heavyweight Championship of the World. This year WrestleMania 8 would emanate from the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. Gorilla Monsoon joined forces with Bobby “the Brain” Heenan to call all the exciting action that included Reba McEntire singing the National Anthem. As a fun fact, usually celebrities sing America the Beautiful at WrestleMania, but for some reason tradition changed in 1992.
One of the highly anticipated matches for WrestleMania 8 featured ring veteran Jake “the Snake” Roberts taking on The Undertaker. Although this match didn’t last very long, the significance for the Undertaker’s career is great. Over the course of his career, Undertaker has amassed an unbeatable 14-0 record at WrestleMania. As of the conclusion of WrestleMania 8, Undertaker has defeated two of the all time greats in Superfly Jimmy Snuka and Jake “the Snake” Roberts. After hitting the Undertaker with his DDT, Jake Roberts seemed confident of victory, but with Paul Bearer raising the urn above his head, the Undertaker sat up. Jake left the ring to attack Paul Bearer, but the Undertaker met him on the outside and delivered a tombstone piledriver on the floor. All ‘Taker had to do at this point was toss Jake in the ring and cover him for the 1-2-3.
In a match featuring two WWE Hall of Fame members, Bret “the Hitman” Hart challenged Rowdy Roddy Piper for the Intercontinental Championship. This Intercontinental title marked Piper’s only WWE title reign in his long and storied career (until recently when he won the tag team titles with partner Ric Flair), and this match would go down in history as one of Piper’s most remembered - even though he did not win. As the blood poured from Bret’s face and the rowdy Indianapolis crowd roared, today’s announcers would have had a hard time not labeling this match a slobberknocker. Toward the end, Piper brought got ring bell with full intentions of hitting Hart and securing victory, but torn by the crowd’s displeasure, Piper just stood with the bell held above his head unsure whether or not to strike. Eventually Piper had a change of heart and tossed the bell to the outside, but unfortunately for him only a few seconds later Bret would counter the sleeper hold and become the new Intercontinental champion.
Although the Macho Man Randy Savage lost his job at WrestleMania 7 in a career ending match against the Ultimate Warrior, rumors and allegations made by the Real World’s Champion, Ric Flair, would cause his reinstatement. The Macho Man Randy Savage would try to settle the score at WrestleMania 8 when he faced Flair for the WWE Championship. Because Ric Flair’s allegations had to do with the Macho Man’s wife, the match took on a very personal undertone, which Savage emphasized by sprinting to the ring filled with the excitement about the chances of finally getting his hands on the Nature Boy. Overcoming everything that the dirtiest player in the game threw at him, the Macho Man defeated Flair by hooking the tights and once again became Heavyweight Champion of the World.
In the second half of the big WrestleMania 8 main event, Hulk Hogan fought Sid Justice in a match that quite possibly could have been Hogan’s final match. Sid claimed that he would be the man to end Hulkamania, but Hogan said that he wouldn’t be able to verify his retirement until leaving the Hoosier Dome. The match failed to deliver a decisive victory for either man because Sid was disqualified when Harvey Wimpleman interfered. After the match Hogan would be attacked by not only Sid, but also the sick and demented Papa Shango. Luckily for Hogan, the Ultimate Warrior was lurking somewhere and was able to rescue him. WrestleMania 8 went off the air with the Warrior and Hogan posing for the fans in the middle of the ring.
- Shawn Michaels defeats Tito Santana via pinfall
- The Undertaker defeats Jake “the Snake” Roberts via pinfall
- Bret Hart defeats Rowdy Roddy Piper via pinfall
- The Big Boss Man, Virgil, Sgt. Slaughter, and Hacksaw Jim Duggan defeat the Nasty Boys, the Repo Man, and the Mountie via pinfall
- Tatanka defeats the Model Rick Martel via pinfall
- The Natural Disasters defeats Money Inc. via count out
- Owen Hart defeats Skinner via pinfall
- Hulk Hogan defeats Sid Justice via disqualification
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Also See: Raw Review March 5, ECW Review March 6
