The Year in PPV- 2008, Part II

Let's continue 2008 by taking things to the extreme...


6. One Night Stand

It's that one special night of the year where WWE goes "extreme" with One Night Stand, and the 2008 edition actually lives up to the hype by providing a lot of entertaining and hardcore matches that left fans impressed. Of course, there are a few hiccups along the way, including the ending to the anticipated Last Man Standing match for the WWE Championship between Triple H and Randy Orton. What started off as a fun and exciting match, ended prematurely as Orton legitimately broke his collarbone. John Cena and JBL continued their feud with a First Blood match that wasn't bad, but I think the way the match ended was a bit bizarre, especially with all the ways you could make your opponent bleed. There's also matches that won't go down as absolute 5-star classics, like the Falls Count Anywhere match (Jeff Hardy vs. Umaga) or the Singapore Cane match (CM Punk vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. John Morrison vs. Tommy Dreamer vs. Big Show), but they still know how to have fun and keep the audience riveted.

I will say one of the more surprising highlights of the show was the first ever Diva's "I Quit" match between Melina and Beth Phoenix. Considering what the Diva's division has been like over the years, this match is very refreshing and puts two of the best Divas during this time period in a match where they can dish out and take a beating like few Divas could. Batista and Shawn Michaels also bring their rivalry to an end (and also continue Shawn's feud with Jericho) with a thoroughly gripping stretcher match that allows the chemistry they established at Backlash to improve and is a very satisfying conclusion to their rivalry. The night comes to an end in a TLC match for the World Heavyweight Championship between Edge and the Undertaker, with an added stipulation that the Undertaker would be banished from WWE if he lost. In all honesty, I think this is one of the weaker TLC matches I've seen. I'm not to keen on the one-on-one TLC matches since the multiple team TLC matches created much more excitement. This match has high spots like you'd expect, but also has a slow pace. It's not all bad though, so it's still worth a look and thankfully this was the main event and not the WWE Championship match that ended abruptly or else WWE could have had a disaster on their hand in PPV refunds.

Recommended


7. Night of Champions

I really love the old days where there were 8 to 9 titles to where the Night of Champions PPV made sense. Nowadays, with 5 titles, the PPV is a stretch and half the card is full of filler matches which doesn't allow it to stand out from the other shows throughout the year. But I digress. 2008's show is full of surprises that help the show feel even more special, including the reveal of whom Ted DiBiase (the Million Dollar Man's son in his WWE debut match) would choose as his partner to face World Tag Team Champions Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes, and who would answer Chris Jericho's open challenge for the Intercontinental Championship. There are also a few championship matches that haven't aged the greatest, like the WWE Tag Team Championship match featuring The Miz and John Morrison against Finlay and Hornswoggle (the more championship matches that bugger gets, the sadder I become for this business).

At the end of the night, this show was about creating a moment through an epic showdown: Triple H vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship. Their first one-on-one match since WrestleMania 22, they play up a LOT of continuity to that match to say that Triple H never got over the loss. The match itself is spectacular and really lives up to the hype, and arguably exceeds it. The crowd is completely invested in the match too, and the added fallout of the previous week's draft left the possibility of RAW without a world champion. Until the next night...

Recommended


8. The Great American Bash

The next night on RAW, CM Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase on World Heavyweight Champion Edge and brought the title over to RAW. His first PPV defense was against Batista, the man who roughed Edge up and allowed Punk to cash in. This match proved to be a test for Punk's legitimacy as champion. The WWE Championship match between Triple H and Edge was more focused on Edge's deteriorating relationship with his newlywed bride Vickie Guerrero. Their match isn't horrible, but the storyline plays out like a soap opera (and that's saying a lot considering it's professional wrestling) to the point where the audience is not invested. The third main event of the evening saw a New York City Parking Lot Brawl between John Cena and JBL. The problem with this match is that the "Brawl" doesn't feel remotely genuine. This doesn't play out like a natural hardcore match of the early 2000s, but more like a choreographed dance sequence that JBL and Cena completely phoned in for this show.

Add a handful of mediocre midcard title matches, and is there anything worth remembering from this show? In terms of match quality and rivalries, the Shawn Michaels/Chris Jericho feud continues with a bloody and brutal match, and since the PG era, it's the last match where a wrestler "bled buckets." In terms of history, the first Diva's Champion was crowned at The Great American Bash...so there's that.

Mild Recommendation


9. SummerSlam

When your SummerSlam has 4 main events, to the point where the two world title matches can be considered lower midcard, you know you're in for something special. When an announcement from Shawn Michaels is considered a main event, you know you're in for something special (P.S., that announcement segment is AMAZING). With an opening match like Jeff Hardy and MVP, and an intergender tag team match for the Women's and Intercontinental Championships (Kofi Kingston and Mickie James vs. Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix), and a brief ECW Championship match between Mark Henry and Matt Hardy that turns into a Hardy Boyz reunion, this show is entertaining from start to finish.

CM Punk defends the World Heavyweight Championship against JBL and Triple H defends the WWE Championship against the Great Khali, but those matches look like footnotes in comparison to the REAL main events of the evening. RAW's main event saw the epic first encounter between John Cena and Batista. While the match may not live up to the hype (admittedly, it was HUGE hype), it still had big side effects for the rest of the year, since Cena suffered a herniated disc that left him sidelined for a few months. SmackDown was able to follow that match with the Undertaker having one last match with Edge, and this time it was Hell in a Cell. Considered the first "PG" Cell match, the match utilizes huge spots with weapons to make up for the lack of blood and it is a very fitting close to their epic 2008 rivalry and has become a modern SummerSlam classic.

Highly Recommended


Thoughts: The Great American Bash seemed to be the only real setback for the year at this point. With CM Punk's cash in, Randy Orton's injury, Cena and Batista's SummerSlam clash, some extreme stipulations added to the Undertaker and Edge's rivalry, and the personal stakes added to the Michaels/Jericho feud, the year continues to surprise and entertain fans. With Cena injured after SummerSlam and Edge taken out in the Hell in a Cell match, the main event picture was open to some surprises to close out the year.

Concluded in Part III...


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The Year in PPV- 2008, Part I

By looking at the year 2008, the first thing to notice is the amount of classic matches that take place thanks to the stacked roster of talent. Look at this roster: John Cena, Randy Orton, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Batista, Chris Jericho, Edge, Jeff Hardy, the Undertaker, Rey Mysterio, Kane, Big Show, JBL, CM Punk, and many others are all featured throughout the year. Not only that, but this is the first year that the WWE implemented the HD format for its programming, so the goal is now to make their shows aesthetically look even more grand than before.

This will prove to be a difficult task, but an even more difficult task was at hand in the form of handling the content of the shows. For better or worse, the beginning of the HD years signified the beginning of the transition to the PG Era. Not many fans are in favor of this current era we are in, which went into effect in 2009, but that does mean that this spectacular and entertaining year led to one of the most despised eras among the IWC, so does the long-term historical impact outweigh the quality of the year itself?

Let's find out and start the year 2008 by returning to the Mecca of Sports Entertainment...


1. Royal Rumble

8 years after the amazing show in 2000, the Royal Rumble returns to Madison Square Garden and is once again a VERY good show from top to bottom. From the opening bout between Ric Flair (with his career on the line) and MVP, the bloody and personal feud of JBL and Chris Jericho, the fast paced World Heavyweight Championship between Edge and Rey Mysterio, and the thrilling WWE Championship match that saw Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy stand out in the main event scene by challenging Randy Orton for the title, the MSG crowd is fully invested in the show and helps make each moment matter.

This PPV also features one of my all-time favorite Rumble matches, partially thanks to the roster, partially thanks to the moments, and partially thanks to the crowd reactions. From returning legends like Jimmy Snuka, Roddy Piper, and Mick Foley, to the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels being the first two participants, to Hornswoggle's participation (hey, I liked it at the time), to superstars like Triple H and Batista being dominant contenders to win the match, to the surprise return of the eventual winner John Cena, that had even his biggest of haters roar in applause and blow the roof off of Madison Square Garden (at least until he started wrestling), the Rumble match is pure entertainment and is one definitely worth checking out.

Highly Recommended


2. No Way Out

On the last stop before the biggest show of the year, the WWE hoped to have a memorable show to have fans hooked going into WrestleMania. Unfortunately, the show had a painful amount of filler in the form of main event caliber matches. Fans cared very little about the Ric Flair vs. Mr. Kennedy match, since they didn't honestly believe Flair's career was in any danger until WrestleMania. Chavo Guerrero defended his ECW Championship against CM Punk in the show's opener and is fine for what it is, but too short to be memorable. John Cena used his Royal Rumble victory a month early and challenged Randy Orton for the WWE Championship in a match that should have been a potential main event for WrestleMania and is a complete waste of time for anyone excited for this encounter (the ending will PISS YOU OFF). Thanks to a torn biceps injury, Rey Mysterio proved to be little threat (no pun intended) to taking Edge's World Heavyweight Championship, and that match is more famous for a very BIG moment that happened once the match had finished. On top of all that, a friend and I went to a live event the night before No Way Out at the Staples Center and Monday Night RAW in the Honda Center the night after No Way Out and had much more fun at both shows than watching majority of this show on PPV.

Luckily, the 2008 edition of No Way Out also created a new tradition for the February PPV before WrestleMania: that it would be the host of the Elimination Chamber. With two Chamber matches on the card, each match guaranteed the winner a championship match with their show's respective world champion. For Smackdown (who also had one ECW superstar in the match), they had Batista, Finlay, The Great Khali, MVP, Big Daddy V and the Undertaker challenging for a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship. To say that a lot of these contenders were a waste is an understatement, because most are disposed of very quickly and the match was obviously going to come down to either Batista or the Undertaker. RAW had a much more unpredictable Chamber match for an opportunity at the WWE Championship, thanks to some big name participants in Chris Jericho, Umaga, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, JBL, and Jeff Hardy. The six competitors know how to tell a bloody and entertaining match and whoever walked out of this match the winner would deserve his championship match at WrestleMania.

Mild Recommendation


3. WrestleMania XXIV

Here we have an absolutely extraordinary event that not many people tend to talk about when it comes to greatest WrestleMania events. Naturally, there are a handful of setbacks: the first being the mediocre match for "brand supremacy" between Batista and Umaga, and the second being the EXTREMELY (pun intended) brief ECW Championship match between Chavo Guerrero and Kane, and the third being that some of the celebrity appearances seemed to be a bit lackluster specifically Raven-Symone, whom Jerry Lawler admitted to be a big fan of (...right...) and Kim Kardashian, the "hostess" of WrestleMania (to quote Jim Ross: "GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY!!!). Once you tuck these hiccups away, this show is nothing but a talented roster putting on quality matches.

First positive to look at is the environment. Only the second Mania to take place outside, the stage and decorations for the arena are spectacular to look at. Not only is the setting grand, but so are the pyrotechnics. Many of the superstars are given magnificent fireworks displays for their entrances (my personal favorite being Edge's), making this show feel that much bigger. The grand scale and environment can make an average Diva's match (Ashley and Maria vs. Beth Phoenix and Melina) feel much more important (even if the lights do go out during the match). That match also has celebrity involvement in the form of Snoop Dogg (a legitimate and genuine fan and it shows in his performance). The show also opens to some wonderful matches, including a wonderful opener in Finlay vs. JBL in a Belfast Brawl, that is reminiscent of an Attitude Era hardcore match, and a well-paced and spot heavy Money in the Bank ladder match featuring MVP, Chris Jericho, John Morrison, Shelton Benjamin, Carlito, CM Punk, and Mr. Kennedy (Jeff Hardy was the 8th participant, but violated the wellness policy and was suspended before Mania).

Not to mention the fact that this WrestleMania features FOUR epic main events. The most forgotten is the Triple Threat for the WWE Championship between Randy Orton, John Cena, and Triple H. Admittedly, this isn't the most spectacular triple threat in the world, but credit must be given to a RAW main event that utilized its three biggest stars on the grandest stage. The World Heavyweight Championship match between Edge and the Undertaker is often remembered fondly for the amount of counters and chemistry between the two superstars, and is the beginning of their FIVE PART series of PPV matches in the year 2008. Surprisingly, Big Show's match with Floyd "Money" Mayweather is a very fun and entertaining match between the World's Largest Athlete and the greatest fighter in the world. But the most important historical moment on the show saw Shawn Michaels challenge Ric Flair in a match where if Flair lost, he would have to retire. Every fan at the time knew how this was going to end, and I'm sure you do too, so just watch the match for yourself and enjoy the moment.

Highly Recommended


4. Backlash

As expected, Backlash provides a lot of WrestleMania rematches, but also brings some originality in some higher marquee matches. One match that was built up pretty high was the gargantuan encounter between Big Show and the Great Khali. Sure, the match was terrible, but the crowd was intrigued about what would happen when their paths crossed. After Shawn Michaels retired Ric Flair at WrestleMania, Flair's friend Batista wanted revenge against Shawn and they engaged in a feud that also brought in Chris Jericho as a guest referee. Clearly the WWE knows how to make me happy with feuds like this, which allow one feud to play out and plant the seeds for an even bigger feud down the road. And in one of the most satisfying matches of the night, Matt Hardy FINALLY gets his match with MVP for the United States Championship. It's a very strong opener and sets the tone for the rest of the night.

The only real WrestleMania rematches are in the form of the world title matches. Kane has a much longer ECW Championship match with Chavo Guerrero and the two actually have some pretty solid chemistry. Undertaker and Edge have a quicker paced but equally as entertaining match for the World Heavyweight Championship. But the main focus of the night was the WWE Championship match. Randy Orton defended his belt against John Cena, Triple H, and JBL in a Fatal 4-Way elimination match. The newly proclaimed "Age of Orton" was also being tested to see if he could overcome these odds. In terms of booking, the match's conclusion is a bit of a head scratcher seeing as Orton was being built up pretty heavily. And I'm also not a fan of the first two eliminations happening so quickly, leaving the last two competitors to have a traditional match with a length that kind of drag. Otherwise, the fans were given a happy ending to a quality PPV.

Recommended


5. Judgment Day

This is the point in the year when I'm usually quick to dismiss the WrestleMania fallout PPVs (particularly Backlash, Judgment Day, and One Night Stand) because they usually follow the same three to four main feuds that try to spice up the rivalries by adding different stipulations to each match, and have the rest of the card packed with midcard filler matches. However, here are my only complaints with this year's Judgment Day: the WWE Tag Team Championship match (John Morrison and The Miz vs. CM Punk and ECW Champion Kane) and the Women's Championship match (Mickie James vs. Melina vs. Beth Phoenix) are WAY TOO SHORT and deserve a lot more time because they were on the verge of being great matches. There's also a quick impromptu match between MVP and Jeff Hardy (who had recently returned from suspension) that's a lot of fun given the two personalities and wrestling styles involved.

Like I said earlier, the big four main event feuds from Backlash continued, including Triple H and Randy Orton (in a Steel Cage match for the WWE Championship), the Undertaker vs. Edge (for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship), John Cena and JBL (which surprisingly was the show's opener), and the competitive rivalry of Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho (which carried over from Shawn's feud with Batista). The best match of these four is Michaels and Jericho (DUH!) and is the main reason to watch this show because this match really feels like a lost gem that no one talks about, which is a shame. The other three matches are all solid, but come nowhere close to getting the show back after Shawn and Chris stole it. Also, big props to the crowd from Omaha, Nebraska for making this show feel a lot bigger than it should have been thanks to their excitement.

Mild Recommendation


Initial Thoughts: This first section of PPVs are actually pretty solid and a fantastic introduction to the HD format. The roster during this time is HUGE, to the point where main eventers are engaged in midcard feuds and even opening matches. In terms of history, there are some great matches and rivalries on display: Cena returning to win the Royal Rumble, Jeff Hardy's increasing popularity towards his main event status, Flair retiring at WrestleMania, CM Punk winning Money in the Bank, Mayweather vs. Big Show, the Undertaker/Edge rivalry, the early stages of the Michaels/Jericho rivalry. There are also a handful of gems scattered throughout each show, so one can only hope that this momentum of quality can continue throughout the year.


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The Year in PPV- 1992

1992 was a very important year in terms of creating transition for the WWF. The company needed to start putting ideas together and plan ahead for the future of the business, as the clock was starting to wind down on Hulkamania. There were tons of superstars that could assume that role of the company babyface, with Randy Savage and Ultimate Warrior already established with main event players. The problem is that with Savage's age and Warrior's unprofessional (at the time) nature, both didn't have the long term potential that was necessary for the developing "New" generation.

Hogan taking some time away wasn't the only change developing. Past superstars like Jake Roberts and Roddy Piper were on their way out, and future icons were moving towards the main event like the Undertaker, Bret Hart, and Shawn Michaels. With a struggling tag team division, and a whole bunch of ridiculous gimmick, it was necessary for the WWF to experiment on what wasn't working and what could stay as they were moving forward with a new chapter in their company's history.

So let's see who WWF would label as "the man," by looking at the year 1992...


1. Royal Rumble

The Royal Rumble opens with an amazing tag team match between The Orient Express and The New Foundation (Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart). The New Foundation was a much shorter lived tag team than when Neidhart teamed with Bret Hart in The Hart Foundation, but I think they are just as good and offer a different dynamic of power from Neidhart and high flying athleticism from Owen (as opposed to Bret's traditional technical wrestling). The other tag team matches on the card don't come close to having the same energy as the opening bout though. The Tag Team Championships are on the line with the Legion of Doom challenging the Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) in a short match that fortunately doesn't drag. The tag match that DOES drag is the near 15 minute long match between the Bushwhackers and the Beverly Brothers thanks to the annoying antics of the new manager of the Bushwhackers, Jamison (he didn't last long). There's also a short but sweet Intercontinental Championship match between The Mountie (good lord, some of those early '90s gimmicks) and Rowdy Roddy Piper that's worth checking out for the match's outcome.

Many fans and wrestling historians have labelled the 1992 Royal Rumble match as the greatest Rumble match in history. So, the question you're probably asking is "Why?" Perhaps it's because it is for the recently vacated WWF Championship. Perhaps it's because it is one of the defining moments of the career of arguably (only say arguably because I do not agree) the greatest sports entertainer of all-time, Ric Flair. Or maybe it's because along with Flair, the match includes Hulk Hogan, Sid, the Undertaker, Randy Savage, Jake Roberts, Roddy Piper, Shawn Michaels, Tito Santana, Ted DiBiase, The British Bulldog, Sgt. Slaughter, Jimmy Snuka, Greg Valentine, Jim Duggan, Haku, Kerry Von Erich, and many others as participants. It's easy to see the entertainment value with a lineup that stacked, even if there are some spots open for some odd gimmicked superstars like Repo Man and The Berzerker. Still, it's definitely one of the most important Royal Rumble matches to watch regardless of whether or not you consider it the best Rumble match ever.

Highly Recommended


2. WrestleMania VIII

Had the match order been switched around a little bit, I could easily call WrestleMania VIII one of the best Manias of the early years. With a solid opener like Tito Santana (as El Matador) vs. Shawn Michaels (his first Mania as The Heartbreak Kid), a fun brawl between the Undertaker and Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Roddy Piper and Bret Hart having an excellent Intercontinental Championship match, an entertaining 8-man tag (The Nasty Boys, The Mountie and Repo Man vs. Virgil, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, Sgt. Slaughter and Big Boss Man) that was given a very creative ring introduction thanks to guest ring announcer and former Family Feud host Ray Combs. There's even enough time for a Legion of Doom promo where they brought their old NWA manager, Paul Ellering, to the WWF. At the midway point in the show, we had our first main event and it was the WWF Championship match between Ric Flair and Randy Savage. This feud was beyond personal and their storytelling and match quality was off the charts, leading to many fans citing this match's placement on the card as one of the biggest WrestleMania mistakes in history.

Once Flair and Savage stole the show, it was obvious no one could top it, but every match after Flair/Savage was so underwhelming that it really affected the overall flow of the show and stopped it from being a truly spectacular night. With a few quick squash matches (Tatanka vs. Rick Martel and Owen Hart vs. Skinner), and a mediocre Tag Team Championship match (Money Inc. vs. the Natural Disasters) with a countout ending, the show was relying on Hulk Hogan and Sid Justice to end the show on a high note. What resulted is my personal pick for the worst main event in WrestleMania history. These two had horrible chemistry, which resulted in a horrible match that ends in the WORST WAY IMAGINABLE for a main event. And all it was building up to, the reason that Flair and Savage did not go on last, is so Hogan could pose with a returning superstar to end the show. Pitiful end to what started off as such a great show.

Recommended


3. SummerSlam

80,355 fans in Wembley Stadium bore witness to the event that many fans have called the greatest SummerSlam in history. Whether that claim is made because of the roster (which I doubt), the number of fans in attendance (again, doubtful), or the magnitude of creating a moment through the main event (most likely), I respectively disagree and say this show veers over into the slightly overrated territory. There are way too many short squash matches (including the Undertaker in a match with Kamala, Crush against Repo Man, and Nailz in his PPV debut against Virgil), a ridiculous match between Shawn Michaels and Rick Martel where neither man could be hit in the face (the commentators were more focused on Sherri's controversial outfit instead of the match), and some tag team matches that don't seem to matter that much in history (Legion of Doom vs. Money Inc., and The Natural Disasters vs. The Beverly Brothers for the Tag Team Championships) to where I can't give the show credit on overall wrestling quality.

HOWEVER, there are TWO very well-done moments that make this event worthy of being one of the best SummerSlams in history. The first is the WWF Championship match between Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior. With Hulk Hogan stepping away from the ring for a bit, these were the top two guys and they were wrestling for only the second time on PPV, and this time it was for the company's top prize. Add some factors, including a completely split crowd, and the question of who Mr. Perfect was going to "help" by being in their corner, and you have a very engaging match that all fans wanted to see. And can you believe it was NOT the main event? The main event slot was saved for Bret Hart defending the Intercontinental Championship against The British Bulldog. Look at the factors: Bulldog has the homecoming advantage while Bret was still popular amongst the UK fans, it is two brothers-in-law fighting with Bulldog's wife and Bret's sister (Diana Hart) sitting front tow to witness the match, it's two young, hungry superstars fighting for the Intercontinental Championship, and the fact that the match was spectacular, established Bret Hart as future main eventer (very near future, in fact), and gave Bulldog his career defining moment, makes it one of the most important matches that any fan could ever see.

Highly Recommended


4. Survivor Series

With so many historical moments throughout the year 1992, it's surprising to note that Survivor Series doesn't have a lot to offer in terms of historical significance. There's a lot of backstage controversy surrounding this event thanks to the departures of Ultimate Warrior, the British Bulldog, and the Mountie shortly before the event, and the alleged physical altercation between Nailz and Vince McMahon (Nailz was gone shortly afterwards, of course). Speaking of Nailz, he had a horrendous Nightstick on a Pole match with the Big Boss Man, and is easily the most painful match to watch, but that's not to say the rest of the show isn't full of lackluster and forgettable matches. Also highlighted on the card (for better or worse) was the Undertaker vs. Kamala in a Coffin match (now known as the Casket match), Yokozuna's PPV debut against Virgil, and the Survivor Series elimination match between the Beverly Brothers and Money Inc. against the Natural Disasters and the Nasty Boys, among others.

Thankfully, the show can boast to holding two Survivor Series lost gems. The first is the tag team match of Ric Flair and Razor Ramon vs. Randy Savage and Mr. Perfect (Perfect replacing the Ultimate Warrior), which would have been much more memorable for me had it ended differently. The main event saw Bret Hart defend his newly won WWF Championship against Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels (Shawn's belt was not on the line). It's really odd to see these guys bust out a really good Survivor Series main event considering the events that would take place 5 years later at Survivor Series in Montreal. To make this match even more surreal, Santa Claus shows up at the end of the match. I'll just let that sink in...The last PPV moment of the year is SANTA CLAUS in a wrestling ring for a Thanksgiving PPV.

Mild Recommendation


Thoughts: 1992 offers a great amount of variety in its roster. The only place I felt it was lacking was in its tag team division, relying more on gimmicks than match quality. A lot of the high profile matches of the year live up to expectations (with the MAJOR exception being the Hogan/Sid match at Mania). Whether or not certain fans appreciate or even like the Rock n Wrestling Connection or the New Generation, they have to at least acknowledge 1992 as an important year for giving us a unique blend of both eras. A lot of the bigger matches are available on individual DVDs, but I'd still say this year is worth checking out in its entirety strictly for historical purposes.


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The Year in PPV- 1985

Wrestling in the '80s was at its all-time popularity thanks to the pop culture icon that was Hulk Hogan. Now picture Hogan being tag team partners with Mr. T, another pop culture phenomenon thanks to his stint on The A-Team. Also realize that this era also featured "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Andre the Giant, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, and many more all on one roster. This all started around one year in particular: 1985.

MTV was a global phenomenon at the time, and when Vince McMahon thought to partner with MTV to bring wrestling into pop culture, it created a unique combination of sports and entertainment (get it?) that the world hadn't experienced before. Once Mr. T and Cyndi Lauper became involved in high profile feuds, it was time to showcase these wrestlers and celebrities in befitting fashion: by creating a supershow broadcasted on television that would be like the WWF's Super Bowl and have it emanate from Madison Square Garden, the entertainment capital of the world. How good was the idea? Well if that idea hadn't been a success, wrestling wouldn't be where it is today in terms of entertainment.

So let's look at how it all began, with the first WrestleMania...


1. WrestleMania

In all honesty, the first WrestleMania is the kind of PPV that has not aged well in the slightest, but is the kind of show you watch and can still enjoy out of respect for what it accomplished. The first few matches were basic enhancement matches to help establish some of the popular names to a new audience, such as Tito Santana, Ricky Steamboat, and King Kong Bundy. An interesting note on Bundy's match with Special Delivery Jones is that the recorded time of the match was 9 seconds, when in reality it was more around 23. I know they were trying to build Bundy as a monster threat in the main event scene, but there's no reason to try and fool the fans by shaving a measly 14 seconds off of a match.

Most, if not all of these matches are 5-star classics in comparison with the matches we've had over the last 30 years, but they're still important on a historical perspective by being part of a groundbreaking event in sports entertainment. Not only did WrestleMania open the door for the WWE by establishing PPVs, but also allowed them to be embraced in pop culture. Through the appearance of celebrities like Liberace, Muhammad Ali, Billy Martin, Cyndi Lauper, and Mr. T, the world saw these household names involved on the same show as icons like Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper and Andre the Giant, creating a wrestling tradition of including celebrities on their shows ever since (for better or for worse depending on the situation).

Highly Recommended


2. The Wrestling Classic

With the first WrestleMania proving to be a success, the WWF decided to put out another PPV that November, The Wrestling Classic. This show was centered on a tournament. What for? I have no idea. But it features many big names like the Junkyard Dog, Ricky Steamboat, Tito Santana, Bob Orton Jr., Paul Orndorff, the Dynamite Kid, Davey Boy Smith, Adrian Adonis, Don Muraco, Terry Funk Nikolai Volkoff, Ivan Putski, and Randy Savage among others. The tournament is fine, as there are a few gems here and there (and a very humorous short match between Dynamite and Volkoff), but it's definitely not a tournament worth mentioning (see WrestleMania IV and Survivor Series 1998 for historically important tournaments). The best thing the tournament does is by having the right two men in the finals. The Junkyard Dog was an established fan favorite, and Randy Savage was a new superstar on the rise of becoming a top heel. Having the two go at it was the right call in storytelling, especially with how their previous tournament matches went.

There's also a WWF Championship match between Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper that's barely worth mentioning thanks to the short match time and the way it ends. Overall, The Wrestling Classic wasn't the successful followup they were hoping for and it would be a few years before the WWF would find some shows worthy of being included on the PPV calendar every year alongside WrestleMania, starting with a new November PPV known as Survivor Series.

Skip It


Thoughts: The main thing to enjoy about this year is the star power. Thanks to some '80s nostalgia, the PPVs are full of some of the most iconic figures in wrestling history. This was the year that Hulkamania took the world by storm and it shows here. One of the best facets of '80s wrestling are the crowds. They cheer loudly for every face and boo every heel no matter if they are in the opening match or the main event. Simply put: the '80s was a time in which most people could have fun with wrestling, regardless of whether or not the matches were good.


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