1992 is normally seen as the last great year for the WWF before the exodus of talent and the numerous legal cases brought against it forced the company to take a backseat and rebuild. Here are 10 shocking moments from WWF 1992:
#1 Bret Hart wins his first WWF Championship at a non-televised event
Typically, championship victories in professional wrestling are reserved for the big occasions. Vince McMahon and others have described pro wrestling as being all about the ‘reaction business’. What better way to cement a new champion than to have him win the belt for the first time at a WrestleMania or Summerslam?
While there are a few exceptions, typically the biggest stars like Stone Cold, Shawn Michaels and John Cena have all waited until a WrestleMania to finally achieve their biggest dream to represent the company as its champion.
So back in 1992, a rather surprising decision was made to have Bret Hart defeat WWF Champion Ric Flair at a non-televised event. What makes this even more shocking is that Bret was being billed as a potential replacement for Hogan as the top guy in the company at the time.
He wasn’t quite ready by this stage, but the McMahon family knew they would have to start transitioning to smaller, more athletic competitors in light of the many concerns around steroid use throughout the company.
Bret, a loyal employee who began with Vince back in the mid-80s, was the perfect choice owing to his popularity and how he represented wrestling as something you had to work hard for and more importantly train for. No longer could a tall, muscle-bound Superstar be filled with drugs and paraded in front of crowds of naive audiences. Reality was calling, and Bret was the man to respond.
While the footage is now widely available online, Bret’s victory in Saskatoon, back in October 1992, would not have been seen by a substantial number of WWF fans. These were the days before the internet and dirt sheets when kayfabe was still very much protected. Imagine being a child back then, with no access to the footage and having to wait until the video was released before witnessing your hero change the wrestling business forever.
Unfortunately, whenever we now look back at WrestleMania 10, and the sight of all the babyface wrestlers celebrating with Bret in the ring, part of the occasion is ruined by the fact that Bret had been there before, albeit without any of the fanfare and spectacle of a WrestleMania main event.
The most recent example of something similar happening was Samoa Joe’s NXT Championship victory at a house show, which almost broke the IWC. But today, it would seem absurd for a new WWE Champion to be crowned at a house show, especially one that was so highly anticipated.
Also read: 5 heels in the WWE today who will be turned babyface by the fans
#2 A Quarter of WrestleMania 8 tickets were given away for free to fill the arena
Whenever the WWE announce their attendance numbers for WrestleMania, the smarter fans among us know better. While it is a truly phenomenal achievement to get 90-100,000 people inside the same arena to watch professional wrestling, there is always more to the story that the surface level figure suggests.
Take WrestleMania 3, for example. A significant part of the 93,000 fans in attendance probably didn’t pay a single dime for their ticket. Some observers have even questioned the number of tickets sold in the first place, putting the number closer to the 80,000 mark,
This is not unique to the WWE, however. Big sporting occasions like The Superbowl or World Cup Final will claim to have had a certain number of people attend the show, but many of those tickets are corporate giveaways. Sometimes, when an event is so big, you don’t even need to be interested in the sport in order to attend. Just being a part of that massive number of people does wonders for your reputation, especially if you’re a celebrity or a high-flyer in business.
WrestleMania 8 is a particularly strange case. It is estimated that about a quarter of tickets for that event were given away for free, and not just by corporations. In an attempt to fill the 60,000 seat arena, about 15,000 tickets had to be given to very fortunate wrestling fans. After all, what you lose in potential ticket sales will be nothing in terms of the PR disaster that would inevitably come from seeing so many empty seats around the building for your biggest show of the year.
WrestleMania 8 was, in itself, a very passable show, but when you look back at the recordings, you can definitely notice a distinct absence of people during the first few matches. Shawn Michael's first singles match against Tito Santana, for example, was performed in front of a near half-empty building.
Despite the crowd eventually filling up as the night progressed, it had to be nerve racking for Vince and the team to witness such an obvious lack of people in attendance, knowing there were millions of people at home watching on cable TV.
If you were a WWF fan back in 1992, and you wanted to watch a WrestleMania from the stands, you might just as well have hung around the arena before the show in the hope somebody would give you a free ticket!
#3 Jake Roberts holds up Vince McMahon
1996 is normally the year we associate with WWF stars jumping ship to WCW. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash are obviously the most well-known of such cases, but that year also saw guys like Lex Luger and Rick Roode part ways with the McMahons. There were, however, several Superstars who left for WCW before it was cool. One such name was Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts.
While never enjoying the main event status of somebody like Hogan or Warrior, Jake Roberts was a highly respected and well thought of member of the WWF’s golden era. His initial run as a heel was received so well by the fans that he was forced to turn face, where he would enjoy arguably his best run ever in the sport. It is unfortunate, therefore, that his time with WWF ended under such negative circumstances.
In the build up to WrestleMania 8, Roberts put in a request to be more of a backstage talent, as he knew his days in the ring were numbered. He was even eyeing up Pat Patterson’s executive position after a sex scandal forced Pat to take a leave of absence. After McMahon had declined Jake’s request, the former IC Champion asked to leave the company altogether. Again, this was denied by Vince, who clearly thought too much of him as a talent to see him leave.
The whole thing came to a head when Roberts threatened not to work his match with Undertaker at Mania. Considering these were the early days of the Deadman’s career, and given how much effort was going into making the Phenom a future legend, McMahon gave in and granted Roberts his termination.
Not long after becoming the second victim of The Undertaker’s 31-year undefeated streak, Roberts would be wrestling for Vince’s main rival WCW. And while the southern promotion was not yet at the heights it would come to enjoy, this must have been a bitter pill for McMahon to swallow.
#4 Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart meet for the first time
When we think about Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart, two things instantly come to mind. The very best of their rivalry came at WrestleMania 12 in that historic 60-minute Iron Man Match that saw HBK win his first WWF Championship. The very worst came a year later at Survivor Series 1997 with the Montreal Screwjob and Hart’s exit from the company. What fans might not necessarily remember is that the two of them met in the main event of Survivor Series several years before in 1992.
By the end of the year, it was fairly obvious that the steroid scandal had taken its toll on the company. More and more of the 1980s legends were leaving the company, and the new wave of main event talent was visibly smaller, more athletic and could perform incredibly between the ropes. It was a time of transition for the company and the fans alike, and luckily the WWF had the likes of Shawn and Bret to work with.
Very much like Summerslam 92, two smaller guys were chosen to represent the company in the main event of one of their big four PPVs, this time Survivor Series. The card also contained a tag match involving Flair, Savage, Mr Perfect and Razor Ramon. The company clearly still had star power despite losing Hogan, but Vince made the somewhat surprising decision to begin the storied rivalry between Bret and Shawn here.
Of course, nobody could have predicted what these two would go on to achieve with one other later down the line, but the match itself was a very clear indication that the WWF’s immediate future was still worth watching.
#5 Sid humiliates Hogan (Part 1)
1992 is ultimately remembered for two things, the Summerslam main event between The British Bulldog and Bret Hart, and the 30-man Royal Rumble match for the vacant WWF Championship. There will be some who disagree, but generally speaking, the 1992 Royal Rumble is seen as the best of all time.
It wasn’t just the fact that the title was on the line, rather than a shot at the title at Mania, it was the sheer amount of talent involved. Not only did we get WWE’s best including Hogan, Savage, Mr Perfect and The Undertaker, you also saw the stars that would go on to gain a similar amount of popularity in the future such as Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart.
Of course, Ric Flair would go on to win the match and earn his first ever reign as the WWF Champion – something that should have led to a Mania 8 showdown with Hogan later that year, but we’ll get to that. Flair was able to cement his position as one of the biggest names in the wrestling business, especially considering he had made himself a star without the help of the McMahon family. A similar scenario in the modern era would have been if AJ Styles had won the 2015 Royal Rumble in his very first match.
One of the more shocking moments of this classic came when Hulk Hogan, still very much the poster boy for WWF, was eliminated by the relatively new Psyco Sid. Fans were probably expecting Hogan to go down to the last two men, which would have given the company an excuse to have the Hulkster and Flair stare each other down. Instead, Hogan was unceremoniously dumped out early.
What was truly shocking about this, however, was the reaction of the fans. 1992 was very much the beginning of the end for Hulkamania. Having the same man headline all the major shows for so many years must have been getting tiresome, and the fans decided they were going to show that here. It’s highly unlikely that the WWF expected such a positive reaction to the Hogan elimination. They would later choose to edit out the cheers on the subsequent home videos and DVDs.
Despite this cover up, management must have known that Hogan’s time was coming to an end. The creative team were probably thanking their lucky stars that they chose Flair to win the belt; otherwise, we might have had a 2015 Royal Rumble scenario on our hands.
#6 Sid humiliates Hogan (Part 2)
Despite being a rather tame looking finishing move, Hulk Hogan’s leg drop was one of the most protected finishers in all of the wrestling back in the 1980s and early 90s. In fact, most of the move-set Hogan would use to defeat his opponent was pretty silly.
First, he would ‘hulk-up’ which basically involved making a dramatic recovery and gaining so much energy that he would be immune to the other man’s offence. Then he would fling you into the ropes, stick out a big boot and half-heartedly jump on you with one leg outstretched. But in kayfabe terms, if not in reality, nobody could survive it.
There had been some instances of people kicking out of the leg drop, but these were incredibly rare. When Hogan met Psycho Sid in the main event of WrestleMania 8, the original plans were certainly not to break this habit. Instead, a rather unfortunate series of events led up to the infamous leg drop losing a certain amount of respectability.
The plan for the finish of the match was for Hogan to attempt a leg-drop, only for Papa Shango to come out and make the save for Sid. The two men would then proceed to beat Hogan down until the returning Ultimate Warrior would emerge and rescue his former adversary.
Instead, for whatever reason, Shango missed his cue and Hogan and Sid were forced to improvise so as not to ruin the ending of the show. Sid, therefore, had no choice but to do what Andre the Giant, Randy Savage and countless others had failed to do and kick out of Hogan’s move.
Shango would eventually make an appearance, and the beatdown went ahead as planned. This led to Warrior’s save and the show ending with the two men posing and flexing their muscles in front of the audience, just how Vince would have liked it.
#7 The Undertaker turns face for the first time
When a Superstar warrants as much respect and love as The Undertaker, it is easy to forget that he actually debuted as a monster heel. At Survivor Series 1990, Brother Love introduced the world to arguably professional wrestling’s biggest all-time legend. He was a mountain of a man, dressed in black and grey, making a slow, methodical walk to the ring. Little did we know back then that this same walk would become a staple of WWF/E entertainment for years and years to come.
Undertaker and his manager Paul Bearer would do spooky vignettes together backstage as a way of building up their feuds. Taker stood as the exact contrast to everything WWF was about in the early 90s. They were still very much living through the days of Americana, led by the yellow and red sensation known as Hulk Hogan. Rather than encourage young fans to take their vitamins, Taker would instead instil dread and fear into them, allowing a white-meat babyface like Hogan to vanquish the scary monster on their behalf.
In 1992, in an attempt to rescue Miss Elizabeth from an attack by Jake Roberts, the viewing audience erupted in delight when they saw The Undertaker’s good side for the very first time. His gimmick was one of those that would eventually turn babyface organically. Evil or not, it’s just not easy to boo the Phenom.
His initial days as a babyface were quite awkward, despite how much fans appreciated him. Trying to join in with the other faces when they encouraged children not to take drugs or try dangerous moves at home just didn’t come across very well from a man dressed all in black, surrounded by coffins.
In fact, it wouldn’t be until the more edgy days of the New Generation and Attitude Era that Undertaker’s babyface persona would start to make sense. Taker would go on to become a heel again in the future of course, but his face turn in 1992 changed the way fans thought about him for the rest of his legendary career.
#8 The IC title main-evented Summerslam
Younger WWE fans might not fully understand why the older generation has so much love and nostalgia for the Intercontinental Championship. Today, we are lucky to get a decent rivalry over the IC title. The one we are having now between Miz and Dean Ambrose is actually a rare treat, seeing as normally the matches for the title are put together seemingly at random, with very little build up and very questionable booking decisions at the end of them.
Back in 1992, the Miz and Ambrose feud would have been considered a very disappointing representation of the meaning and significance of the belt. Historically, the WWF roster used to have more of a division of labour.
While the big muscle-bound guys would tussle over the World Championship, the smaller, workhorse competitors would put on 4-5 star matches that offered something refreshing and more relatable to the audience. Think back to WrestleMania 3, for example, and you will remember how Ricky Steamboat and Randy Savage nearly stole the show from Hogan and Andre by putting on one of the greatest IC title matches of all time.
In August 1992, the IC title would have it’s very brightest day, leapfrogging the WWF Championship match into the main event of that year’s Summerslam. We’ve all seen PPVs in which the main title match does not go on last, but this is usually because the bout involves two men the company don’t care that much about. When John Cena would receive main event after main event during CM Punk’s WWE Championship reign, this, sadly, made quite a lot of sense. Cena was the poster boy, and Punk was very much a backup star.
But in Summerslam 92, the WWF Championship saw two of the company’s biggest ever stars compete, and that still was not enough to discourage Vince from doing the right thing and putting the IC title in the spotlight.
Randy Savage and The Ultimate Warrior can not have felt too aggrieved, however, considering that hometown hero Davey Boy Smith was one of the competitors in the main event, but it wasn’t just the inclusion of the Bulldog that made this match so special.
Bret and Davey Boy were brothers-in-law at the time, which gave the occasion so many emotional levels. Bulldog’s wife would sit there in attendance, unsure whether to cheer for her husband or her brother. It was a true family occasion for the Hart family, which will live on in WWE folklore forever.
#9 Nailz allegedly attacked Vince McMahon in his office
Pretty much everything about Kevin Wacholz’s WWF career was controversial. He would make his debut in 1992 was ‘Nailz’ an ex-convict who made a series of videos claiming The Big Boss Man, another WWF persona had abused him in prison. Boss Man was portraying a police officer at the time, so the whole affair felt very real. For the younger fans who probably didn’t understand how kayfabe worked, it must have been more than upsetting to see a wrestler accuse another of abuse in real life.
Nailz would spend most of his WWF career feuding with Boss Man in some perverted attempt at getting justice and proving his innocence. The fact that Nailz played the villain in this only served to heighten the perception that many in the US have against inmates, that they will do and say anything to prove their ‘innocence’ even though they’re probably lying.
Wacholz’s relationship with the WWF would end in even more controversial circumstances that had nothing at all do with kayfabe storytelling. Walcholz would make numerous accusations against Vince McMahon, claiming that his boss forced the wrestler to take steroids. Considering the FBI were at the beginning of their investigations into steroid use in the company, the timing of this confrontation could not have been worse. The whole affair ended with some very ugly scenes as Wacholz was seen choking out McMahon in his office.
According to Bret Hart, Wacholz was shouting and physically abusing Vince for 15 minutes, holding him over a chair and attempting to choke him out. Unsurprisingly, this led to a series of lawsuits by the company, and the Nailz character was never to be seen again on screen. Wacholz would leave the WWE, making a small but very memorable impression on the WWE Universe. In 1996, Wacholz took the stand against Vince, accusing him of pushing steroids onto his wrestlers.
It’s probably safe to say that anyone associated with the WWF would prefer to forget everything about Nailz.
#10 Hogan Vs Flair at WrestleMania 8 was cancelled
Perhaps the biggest shocking moment of 1992 came as a result of something not happening. Towards the end of 1991, the WWF would run with a controversial angle that fans would normally associate with the Attitude Era. Outside of the WWF in the 1980s, there were still a handful of recognisable names including Dusty Rhodes, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard. As hard as Vince tried to completely eliminate his competition, rival companies were still able to hold their own and offer something different to the Hulkamania sweeping the nation.
Perhaps the biggest non-WWF name of the 80s was Nature Boy Ric Flair. His involvement with the legendary Four Horseman stable and his feud with Dusty Rhodes over the World Heavyweight Championship still lives on in the memory of many a wrestling fan, and for good reason.
So when Flair would finally come over to the WWF, fans were understandably hot with anticipation for a once in a lifetime showdown between Flair and Hogan. A modern day example, for the younger readers, would be if Kenny Omega decided he was going to come over to the WWE and attempt to take the Championship from Roman Reigns or John Cena. We all know that fans would subscribe to the WWE Network in their droves to see that one!
Initially, the signs were very promising. Flair’s first few months with the company had him walking around claiming to be the ‘real world champion’. The WWE championship was merely a cheap imitation, and to be the man you had to be holding the big gold belt. Considering Hogan was WWF Champion at the time, the writing appeared to be on the wall for the two of them to meet.
As previously stated, the WWE normally reserve their biggest matches for the biggest stage. We saw Hogan and Andre at Mania 3, Hogan and Savage at 5, and Hogan and Warrior at 6. So to this very day, fans are still perplexed as to why Hogan Vs. Flair – perhaps for some kind of unification match – did not happen at WrestleMania 8 in 1992.
The semi-official story is that the rivalry was trialled at some house shows, and the reception was not nearly as well-received as they thought. Another possibility was that Vince didn’t want to tie his two biggest names up in the same match, and instead decided to get two main events from his show.
Whatever the reason, this was a huge mistake and will forever leave WWE fans scratching their heads and fantasising about what could have been.
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