10 Wrestling Matches That Broke All The Rules

10. Hulk Hogan Vs. The Ultimate Warrior - WWF WrestleMania VI

The main event of WrestleMania VI was a sky-scraping monster with several tentacles.

It didn't merely pit the two biggest stars in the company against one another in a super-sized stadium: it pit the two biggest stars in the company against one another in an unprecedented context. Major babyfaces didn't wrestle major babyfaces in the WWF. To crown a new WWF Champion, invariably, a temporary heel champion allowed for a safer transition, in order to avoid diluting the reaction of the new top man - or worse, it becoming apparent that the new top man could not replace the old hero.

Therein lay the fascination: the WWF used this division to drive the drama, the atmosphere, and the importance of the occasion. Without peeling back the curtain of why such matches never happened, Vince McMahon did a tremendous job of selling it as a coded, never-before-seen spectacle. The match itself lived up to the hype: an over-delivery of subtle character work structured with a mirror-man template used in many of the matches it inspired, Warrior, bumper payday aside, probably wishes he had triumphed over a transitional champion. Hogan kicked out at 3.0001, scolded God for failing him, and played the magnanimous loser (hero) in the post-match.

It was "goodnight jabroni mark" on Warrior's run.

Authored by Michael Sidgwick

Contributor

Michael Sidgwick (Creative Writing BA Hons) is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over a decade of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential UK institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!

First Posted On: 2nd Oct 2019

In this post:

Cody Rhodes Nick Aldis