The Ultimate Warrior's Intercontinental Title loss against Ravishing Rick Rude was the first significant defeated planted on the bulletproof future headliner by anybody at the time, thus instantly elevating the new titleholder ahead of the reversal of the result at SummerSlam.
Rude's victory wasn't just in kayfabe - the contest was a win for his reputation as one of the few to regularly carry Warrior to something eminently watchable after the opening flurry. He'd do it again at SummerSlam and be entrusted with the role again a year later when the wildman got the inevitable promotion to the top of the card.
The match here really did have the lot - or at very east whatever lot Warrior was capable of offering. A robust back-and-forth effort concluded thanks to Bobby Heenan's interference and even that fed into something later on the card. WWE were, sometimes, so so good at this.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back almost 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 60,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
