10 Wrestlers Who Didn't Turn Up For WrestleMania

2. Papa Shango - WrestleMania 8

Paul Heyman Brock Lesnar
WWE.com

The WWF had grand plans for Papa Shango, its newest supernatural villain.

The voodoo priest was set to interfere at the climax of WrestleMania 8's main event between Hulk Hogan and Sid Justice. After Hogan drilled Sid with a big boot, and took him down with his body slam and big boot combination, Shango was meant to break up the subsequent pin attempt. Only, he missed his cue. Sid, panicked, kicked out two - but it was an enterprising Harvey Wippleman who just about rescued the situation from descending into farce by distracting the referee. Well, nearly.

When Shango did eventually run out, looking appropriately lost, it made no sense. The man who was meant to spread fear looked terrified, knowing a b*llocking was in his future. The match he'd been booked to throw out had, at that point, been thrown out. As scheduled, Shango and Sid subjected Hogan to a two-on-one beatdown, which brought out a returning Ultimate Warrior for the save. This set up their summer feud, which, somehow, devolved into something worse than its catastrophic start.

"Everybody here's lost it!" cried Bobby Heenan on commentary. He wasn't talking about the crowd.

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!