10 WrestleMania Main Events That Changed The Direction Of WWE

6. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice - WrestleMania 8

Technically this match wasn€™t actually for the then-WWF Title. At this particular Wrestlemania, the battle for the gold saw Ric Flair defending against the Macho Man. But this match was the final match on the card and it really did mark the start of some serious change for the World Wrestling Federation. Wrestlemania 8 was a time of huge uncertainty around Hulk Hogan and would end up being the last time that the Hulkster would be seen for quite a while. Whilst Wrestlemania 4 saw Macho Man defeat Ted DiBiase (courtesy of just a little bit of Hogan assistance), that was purely to set up the Savage/Hogan feud that fans watched develop over the next year. Then there was Hogan seemingly passing the torch to the Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania 6. Due to a mixture of Hogan€™s acting career not really taking off and the Warrior€™s issues with the company, that attempted new charge was curtailed and the tried and tested formula was put in place once more when Hogan beat Sgt. Slaughter for the gold at Wrestlemania 7. But Wrestlemania 8, this was different. After the steroid scandal that was making waves in the early €˜90s, with a lot of the attention of that thrown upon Hogan, Wrestlemania 8 was deemed a good time for the then-four time WWF Champion to take a break. It wasn€™t even known if he would ever return, and so a €œnew generation€ of names started to surge towards the main event scene... and some of them were better than Hogan is, was and ever will be.
Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.