1. WWF Intercontinental Championship (1988): Honky Tonk Man (c) vs. Ultimate Warrior
Use whatever cliché you want, but this much is certain: Timing is everything in creating a perfect moment. And on August 29, 1988, all the stars aligned. Consider: Honky Tonk Man basically had backed into an Intercontinental Championship reign, as he happened to be wrestling Ricky The Dragon Steamboat on the night they decided to take the belt off him. He wasnt supposed to be anything more than a transitional champ, but through circumstance, he continued to hold onto the title for nearly 15 months. After a while, Honkys title defenses became a major draw on the house show circuit, with HTM and manager Jimmy Hart looking for any way possible to keep the belt around his waist: count-outs, disqualifications and other nefarious means. It worked against every other challenger up and down the card. Ultimate Warrior had debuted in WWF 10 months earlier, captivating audiences with his high-octane performances, running roughshod over jobbers and lower-card wrestlers. (Think Goldberg in facepaint with tassels.) He was quickly becoming a major star in WWF, but he needed some direction in his career. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzmWjqzOtfk This brings us to the inaugural SummerSlam at Madison Square Garden. Honky Tonk Mans scheduled opponent, Brutus The Barber Beefcake was injured, so Honky grabbed the mic and said, Get me somebody out here to wrestle, I dont care who it is. Famous last words, as Ultimate Warriors music hit and he stormed the ring. Thirty seconds later, Honky was flattened by a big splash and we had a new Intercontinental Champion. As a match, this was nothing more than a squash. But in terms of paying off a long-term storyline and making a new star instantaneously, this was perfect. The roar of the crowd from the minute the music hit was overwhelming, and when Warrior pinned Honky, it was deafening. Its highly unlikely we will ever see a title change like this again, and for good reason: moments like this are damn near impossible to create.
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.
