With WrestleMania XXX just over a month away, the top of the card is largely set; whether the matches have been announced on TV (Orton v. Batista, Undertaker v. Lesnar) or teased to the point where its safe to say theyre written in stone (Bryan v. HHH, Cena v. Wyatt), weve got a good idea as to what the fans who will pack the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on April 6 are going to witness. WrestleMania has always been about the biggest card WWE can offer and especially over the past ten years, the company has strived to make sure that the marquee matches are exciting, interesting, and just a little bit different than anything weve seen before. However, sometimes the path to getting there is twisted; real-life situations, such as injuries and disputes, can get in the way resulting in card changes and new stories being told. With every WrestleMania main event cemented firmly in history, its all the more tantalizing to look to the past and think of what might have been.
8. WrestleMania VIII: Hulk Hogan vs Ric Flair
As soon as the unbeaten WCW/NWA Champion debuted on WWE TV in the fall of 1991, flaunting his big gold belt and claiming to be the real worlds champion, a showdown with top dog Hulk Hogan seemed inevitable. It was the stuff of schoolyard arguments - the ultimate WCW versus WWE dream match between two men associated with their respective companies for years. When Flair won the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble, anticipation reached a fever pitch. The match was announced for the show of shows, posters advertising it were sent out, but when Sid Vicious, angry over his Hogan-caused elimination from the Rumble, went on the warpath, the card was changed to a double main event: Hogan versus Sid and Flair versus Randy Savage. So why the change? According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletters Dave Meltzer, a Hogan-Flair match would have meant Hogan leaving with the title (a big victory for a good guy was a must to close out Mania back then) and that wasnt an option given the extended sabbatical Hogan was going to be taking after WrestleMania. A better option was to pull the two apart and close the show with a big Hogan win that didnt involve the WWE Championship.