2. Ultimate Warrior vs. Honky Tonk Man - WWF Intercontinental Title (SummerSlam 1988)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzmWjqzOtfk When people talk about a title changes via squash, this is probably the match that springs to mind. Honky Tonk Man had been Intercontinental Champion for nearly 15 months, holding onto the belt by any means necessary, which usually meant getting himself disqualified. He had become one of the most hated (in a good way) wrestlers in WWE. At the inaugural SummerSlam in 1988, Honkys scheduled opponent Brutus The Barber Beefcake was on the shelf, prompting Honky to grab the microphone and yell, Get me somebody out here to wrestle, I dont care who it is! Enter the Ultimate Warrior. Thirty-one seconds later, Warrior had toppled the Honky Tonk Man, ending his historic yet fan-frustrating title reign, and kicking Warriors career into high gear, launching him into the stratosphere. Nineteen months later, Ultimate Warrior would cap his ascension by defeating Hulk Hogan for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania VI.
Scott Carlson
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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.
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