10 Iconic Wrestling Storylines Summed Up In A Single Frame

6. The Mega Powers Explode

Bret Owen
WWE

The most stark illustration of WWE's profoundly broken creative process lies in the contrast between how it fails spectacularly to function now and how it flourished so spectacularly then.

Now, with a horde of clueless and browbeaten writing staff imported from the "legitimate" corners of the entertainment industry, WWE struggles to tell stories because those writers don't know anything about the booking form, nor how to please a wildly impulsive 74 year-old man.

Back then in 1988, that man was on fire, effortlessly plotting his greatest story by the relaxed confines of his mansion pool alongside a small inner circle of genius collaborators. There, he booked the deft, long-term Mega Powers Explode saga: a nuanced, human drama that was emblematic of the beautiful outsize cartoon its grand heft also bled through. After the friendship mutated into hatred and violence through both jealousy and a layered, just because you're paranoid series of misunderstandings, the Hulk Hogan Vs. Randy Savage WWF Championship grudge match was set for WrestleMania V.

Savage is so intense in this promo that you can see, even through VHS grain and black sunglasses, the whites of his eyes peeled in fury.

And, by the end, he is in tears. "I hate you. I hate your guts, and that's what's gonna be left all over the mat at WrestleMania V" he wails, with harrowing anguish and intensity, his psyche utterly battered by the events of the saga.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential 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 former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current 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!