Outside of Royal Rumble eliminations, nobody had beaten Mr Perfect - "Nobody" - since his first outing with the gimmick in 1988. It spoke to how much emphasis they were about to place on both men that this WrestleMania scorcher went Brutus Beefcake's way.
The Barber was en route to Intercontinental Title glory (sound familiar?) before a devastating parasailing accident destroyed his push, his WWE in-ring career and the bones in his face.
Perfect, meanwhile, was an elite athlete in a time with few kicking around. Sacrificing his perfect record here wasn't done in vain - he'd win the tournament the vacated secondary strap just weeks later.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
