10 Biggest Wrestling Scandals Of The 1980s
All that glittered in wrestling's 'Golden Age' was certainly not gold.
The 1980s are sometimes referred to as wrestling's 'golden age'. This was the decade that saw Hulk Hogan become WWE champion, the very first WrestleMania take place, and wrestling ascend to new heights in the popular culture sphere.
Unfortunately, in order to mine the shiniest gold, you have to dig through a lot of dirt. While the business as a whole was thriving, there were plenty of individual moments that threatened to shake the industry to its core.
Both inside the WWE machine and across the wider wrestling world, nobody was safe from the dark clouds of scandal. From the very bottom of the card to the most famous international superstars. you never knew where the next big story was going to come from. As has been the case with all of our scandalous lists, this one contains all sorts of unsavoury items. If you don't feel like reading about substance abuse, sexual assault, or violent death right now, then you have our permission to revisit this another time. If you do feel like indulging in some morbidity, however, then you've come to the right place.
10. Survivor Series Vs. Starrcade
It might be the premier wrestling event in the world today, but WrestleMania was not a WWE invention. The first proper wrestling supercard was actually Starrcade, which was hosted by Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) in 1983.
Four years later, Vince McMahon decided he’d had enough of the idea he’d ripped off. Starrcade 1987 was set to take place on November 26th 1987, but it was about to get a neighbour. McMahon created Survivor Series, a brand new pay-per-view event designed to run head-to-head with Starrcade. Not only was the show packed with famous names, it also came with an ultimatum.
Cable companies who were scheduled to broadcast Starrcade were told by McMahon that, if they showed JCP's event, they wouldn’t be allowed to show WrestleMania IV the following year. Most cable providers gave in to McMahon’s threat. Survivor Series received a 7.0 buyrate, while Starrcade’s was less than half that number.
This is just one of the many shady business practices that McMahon and the WWE used to establish themselves as a global juggernaut. As for WrestleMania IV, well, let's just say it definitely wasn't worth all this fuss.