10 Incredible Last Minute PPV Changes You Never Saw Coming
6. WrestleMania 8
From the moment Ric Flair’s name was even uttered on WWE television in the Summer of 1991, Hulk Hogan’s wasn’t too far removed from it. Considered the dream match of the 1980s, the battle of the two top performers in North America looked nailed on for April 1992’s WrestleMania 8. A strange chain of real and kayfabe events suddenly changed all of that.
Initially, Flair and Hogan wrestled a full loop of shows at the back end of the year, with disappointing gates cooling Vince McMahon on the prospect of the pair actually drawing required buys on the Grandest Stage.
But then the sh*t really hit the fan.
In early 1992, WWE was suddenly engulfed in scandal. Years of excess had caught up with an organisation that ploughed through the pomp of the 1980s with reckless abandon and disregard for rules and regulations. The brand was now a toxic cocktail of steroids, sex and sleaze in the eyes of the public at large, with Hogan at the centre of it all. ‘The Hulkster’ had been announced as Flair’s title contender following the 1992 Royal Rumble, but his decision to hide out from the heat after one last ‘Mania clash with Sid Justice solidified McMahon’s decision to keep the two apart. A ‘Double Main Event’ with Flair defending against Randy Savage was at least a palatable second prize.