WrestleMania XII was a strange time for the WWF. The company was losing to WCW, and was begrudgingly heading in the direction of a youth movement. They were openly mocking Ted Turner and his "rasslin" organization on-air for holding onto older talent like Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. At the same time, Mania XII had matches with Jake Roberts, Roddy Piper and the returning Ultimate Warrior. You absolutely can't blame McMahon for bringing him back in, as he was a huge draw a few years earlier. But how would he fit in this new era? That's what I couldn't wait to find out. At the time, watching Ultimate Warrior square off against HHH at Mania was a bit of a let down. This is not the Hunter we know and love (or despise) today, this was just some guy with a lousy rich snob gimmick. I didn't really appreciate it then. But watching it in retrospect, it's a bit satisfying to watch the future COO get squashed so decisively. There's no doubt that Hunter is a great talent, but his track record of holding down other wrestlers is a little questionable to say the least. Watching Warrior no-sell The Pedigree, and finish him off with a splash remains quite satisfying to watch whenever HHH takes up a bit too much of TV time.
As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at."
Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week.
Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com
