10 Classic WrestleMania Moments (WWE Won’t Ever Brag About)
Bob Holly will split your sides in half, you little sh*thead.
The affectionate and intentional comedy aside - Vince McMahon equating Donald Trump with faecal matter, the Gimmick Battle Royal, the Undertaker reacting to a Tombstone kick-out like he'd forgotten his umbrella - WWE tends to take WrestleMania with the utmost seriousness.
"Moments" (™) plastered over the 'Mania highlight reel incorporate the usual fare: Shawn Michaels' legendary ladder leap; Steve Austin cloaked in crimson, fading into unconsciousness; The Rock and Hulk Hogan staring one another down, whipping fans into a nuclear frenzy without so much as an Irish whip; Hulk Hogan "tearing every muscle in his back" as he slammed André The Giant "for the first time ever"...
These are the Moments with which WWE sells the Show of Shows as the show on which careers are made. It is the Showcase of the Immortals; naturally, WWE promotes the annual spectacular as the earnest epitome of sports entertainment, to both sell it to the casual audience, and even the worldwide wrestling talent pool, as the destination of greatness.
There is however a secret highlight reel, comprised of moments too inconvenient to the WWE narrative, featuring ghosts the company wish to exorcise, or too funny for the "wrong" reasons...
10. Shango No-Shows
WWE tends to gloss over 1992 in general from its revisionist history book. The shrunken physiques of its roster were so noticeable that many were convinced the original Ultimate Warrior had died and been replaced by a gangly doppelgänger. Confronted also by a spate of unseemly sex scandals, this was a dire time for the WWF. Almost poetically, this shambles was transposed onscreen at the climax of the Show of Shows: WrestleMania VIII.
The main event was shambolic in itself even before the legendary botch; the bout between Hulk Hogan and Sid Justice was ponderous, softly-softly, formulaic fare. At the climax, Hulk Hogan dropped the leg on Sid. With the interfering Papa Shango nowhere in sight, Sid improvised by kicking out. Harvey Wippleman then accosted referee Earl Hebner on the apron, resulting, somehow, in a disqualification. Hulk then threw Wippleman into Sid's arms. Sid, using his extensive softball experience, caught his manager with some ease. He then, for the first time in his career, carried something around the ring, as everybody inside it exchanged looks of befuddlement. It was then that Shango, who had learned that interferin' ain't easy, eventually waddled out to kickstart Warrior's celebratory return angle. Which lasted less than a year. Even the guy doing the cursing was cursed.
That, in summation, was 1992.