20 WWE WrestleMania Matches We Almost Got (And Why We Didn't)
2. Hulk Hogan Vs. Ric Flair - WrestleMania VIII
If ever there were two people synonymous with their respective companies, it was WCW's Ric Flair and WWF's Hulk Hogan. Following short-sighted business decisions new WCW's new owner Jim Herd, Ric Flair had not only jumped to WWF, but taken the Big Gold Belt with him.
During his stint, Flair won the Royal Rumble match after famously lasting an hour, also winning the WWF Championship in the process. The stage was then set for the dream match between Flair and Hulk Hogan in the main event of WrestleMania VIII. On-screen President Jack Tunney had made the match official and the two toured house shows leading up to the event, while also holding a press conference hyping the match.
Why didn't it happen?
In storyline, the match was changed after Sid Justice wanted retribution against Hogan for him getting unfairly eliminated at the Rumble. In reality, during the house show tours where Flair/Hogan was the main event, they didn't sell out tickets, though during that time the wrestling golden era was fading due to steroid investigations, prompting Hogan to take a hiatus.
There was also the story that Hogan refused to lose on his way out (because of course), but Vince McMahon didn't want Hulk to take the WWF Championship off of TV for an unknown period of time. So Hogan was booked to win by DQ to Sid, and Flair lost the title to Randy Savage instead.