9 Things WWE Experimented With On House Shows But Never Went With
1. Ric Flair Vs. Hulk Hogan
When Ric Flair arrived in the then-WWF in 1991, the obvious, mouth-watering match-up that fans were clamouring to see was the NWA mainstay butting heads with Hulk Hogan.
Upon The Nature Boy screwing Hogan out of the WWF Championship at Survivor Series ’91, it looked as if the wheels were now fully in motion on that long anticipated Flair vs. Hogan contest.
While WWF house shows saw Flair vs. Hogan regularly taking place as the pair seemed destined to do battle at the Showcase of the Immortals – as in, WrestleMania VIII – Vince McMahon decided to ultimately go in a different direction on WWF TV.
In terms of singles matches, this bout never actually took place in McMahon’s company bar the aforementioned house shows. To look back on, it’s absolutely insane to think that the WWF had the two hottest stars in the business at that time, yet backed out of pushing forward with this feud on television.
As for the reason for the WWF pulling the plug on this rivalry, some speculate that there was a concern that Flair would work circles around Hulk, others cite that the call was made to use the match as a house show cash-cow, and one other school of thought is that it was simply an ego clash.
Instead, WrestleMania VIII saw Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage, and Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice, with Flair leaving WWF in February 1993 and Hogan only making a handful of further appearances for the company before joining Flair in WCW in 1994.