6 Ups & 8 Downs From WWE WrestleMania VI
The Ultimate Challenge in The Great White North.
Vince McMahon presented Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior as constellations bigger than every other single star in the galaxy during WrestleMania VI's introduction. His hyperbole and the magnificent spectacle implied was at least warranted. The word gets tossed off a little too nonchalantly in professional wrestling, but this was epic.
Received wisdom reduces this event to something of a one-match show, but that's entirely at odds with a card not short on pops, pageantry and some infamously problematic Roddy Piper pantomime.
The 1990 supercard (incidentally, your writer's first ever 'Show Of Shows' watched as live), was the first to leave the warm embrace of the United States, foreshadowing the need for the organisation to diversify as the original golden era all came crashing down in the absence of the man that tore the roof off just by tearing off his shirt.
An announced 67,678 packed out Toronto's beautiful Skydome and split themselves almost evenly between the two mammoth megastars. It took some of Hulk Hogan's best and worst ever work to ensure that they'd favour him, even in defeat. But more on that later...
(WrestleMania Ups & Downs? We got 'em: I, 2, III, IV, V)