8 Wrestling Events That Pulled Inspiration From Strange Places

2. Yokozuna's Bodyslam Challenge - Patriotism!

In the post-Hogan landscape of 1993, Vince McMahon was desperately on the hunt to find his next muscle-flexing, tan-adorned, limited-in-ring himbo who could appeal to the masses.

Step forward, Lex Luger.

With Lex as the nefarious, egotistical Narcissist, McMahon needed a way to turn the bodybuilder into his new high-fiving, baby-kissing good guy. And thus, Vince decided to lean on US patriotism to facilitate the babyface turn of Luger.

To fully push that star-spangled narrative, the WWF dreamt up Yokozuna’s Bodyslam Challenge. Even more flag-waving, the event – in which Yoko dared anybody to attempt to slam him – took place on the famed World War II vessel, the USS Intrepid.

This whole event was set up and inspired by US patriotism, with Luger literally wearing the stars and stripes as he flew in on a helicopter, slammed Yoko, and fireworks exploded. Oh, and this all also cashed-in on the July 4th celebrations to further hammer home the point.

When it came down to it, the entire inspiration behind this unique wrestling event was patriotism, patriotism, and patriotism, as Vinny Mac looked to exploit American's love of their country to launch his next top babyface.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.