5 stellar WrestleMania matches that were a Superstar's first Mania match

#4 Ric Flair vs "Macho Man" Randy Savage, WWF Championship Match from WrestleMania VIII

Flair, at this point, had already spent more time as a world champion than many had spent wrestling at all, but still hadn't spent anytime between the bells at Wrestlemania

The Wrestlemania Debut

"The Nature Boy" Ric Flair, in his first year "up north" after leaving World Championship Wrestling

It's Memorable Because

First, let's talk about what this match isn't, which is Ric Flair, the biggest star of the NWA, taking on Hulk Hogan, the biggest star of the WWF. Heading into Wrestlemania VIII, most fans assumed that would be the money match; it's the fantasy match everyone had wanted to see (and which Paul Heyman had once fraudulently promised to promote a show). However, reports at the time were that Vince McMahon was unsatisfied with how the program looked and was received at house shows, so a change was made.

Flair was the defending WWF Champion, having taken the belt in one of the greatest Royal Rumble matches (if not the greatest) of all time; his program with Savage was founded on Flair alleging that he'd "had" Miss Elizabeth first, a claim he tried to prove with doctored photographs (which were pretty well done for the pre-photoshop era). Though Savage had "retired" at the prior year's Wrestlemania, thanks to a loss to The Ultimate Warrior, Savage challenged Flair for the title, and Miss Elizabeth's honor, in the Hoosier Dome.

Savage was able to deliver what Hogan never could: an athletic and technical contest which complemented Flair's style well. Hogan did better, in short, plodding affairs against giants like King Kong Bundy, Andre the Giant, and that night's monster du jour, Sid Justice. This match tells a great, well-paced, technical story for 18 minutes, which is about eight minutes longer than what most people would consider a long Hogan match.

It also features a pretty rare appearance of blood, the second match that evening where a performer "got color" (the other being Bret Hart in his Intercontinental Championship win over "Rowdy" Roddy Piper). Hart was not punished because he argued that his blood was incidental; Flair was not punished because he was Ric Flair, and a Flair match without blood is like a Hogan match without a leg drop.

How It Ranks

WWE ranks this one 24 on its "100 Best Matches to See Before You Die", and Dave Meltzer gives it ****1/4. It also finished second in Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Feud of the Year poll for 1992 and helped make Ric Flair's case for PWI's and Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Wrestler of the Year.