WrestleMania VIII

As a child, "Wrestlemania 8" was the first Wrestlemania I remember really getting into (anything before this I was just too young for). Thus, it will always hold a special place in my WM rankings. However, more objectively speaking, I also feel as if it was a pretty quality event in its own right.

The highlights for me included...

-The debut of Shawn Michael's "Sexy Boy" persona. -The Undertaker absolutely manhandling Jake "The Snake" Roberts -"Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Bret "Hit Man" Hart squaring off in an emotional friend-vs.-friend contest -Ric Flair and "Macho Man" Randy Savage battling for the true affections of Elizabeth (a lot of emotion in this one) -WM debut of Tatanka, always a fun character.

Sadly, as with "Wrestlemania VII", the reason I can't give this event the full five stars is because the final Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice match falls flat. Maybe the least inspiring final match of a Wrestlemania since the first one.

Other than that, though, "Wrestlemania VIII" is a solid event filled with some great wrestling and some great characters. There are fewer matches in this event than ever before, but its very much a "quality over quantity" approach at play instead.

I would put this in the top 6 wrestlemanias of all time based strictly off the Bret/Piper & Savage/Flair matches. Piper's match with Bret is easily the best match of his career. Why Piper claims this was the first time he was pinned in 17yrs is beyond me,being he lost countless times in the old NWA. This Mania was also Undertakers first as a face,and Shawm Michaels first as a singles wrestler,facing Tito Santana,in a decent match to open the show. This Mania also contained a little behind the scenes controversy,most notably with Jake Roberts forcing McMahon to let him out of his contract before he went out for his match with Undertaker. Ric Flair also got himself into a bit of trouble by blading during his match with Randy Savage,which is one of the great forgotten matches in Wrestlemania history. Inexplicibly,the Road Warriors weren't used on this show,only for a interview,yet Skinner was. Still a great Mania worth watching again years later.

Okay I understand Wrestling has changed and evolved but god, Hogan pre nWo is so Hokey it's hard to watch. Hokey rest spot after rest spot in the Main Event, and don't get me started on Papa Shango's Botch! Alot of matches shoved into this card, but there's a couple that save it. If you can get over the generation gap and the absence of Wrestling then maybe watch this, otherwise stick to 96-now.

Shawn Michaels defeated Tito Santana via pinfall Tatanka defeated The Model via pinfall Natural Disasters defeated Tag Team Champions Money Inc. by countout Undertaker defeated Jake Roberts via pinfall Virgil, Big Boss Man, Sgt. Slaughter & Jim Duggan defeated The Mountie, Repo Man & the Nasty Boys via pinfall Randy Savage defeated Ric Flair for the World Wrestling Championship Bret Hart defeated Roddy Piper for the Intercontinental Championship Owen Hart defeated Skinner via pinfall Hulk Hogan defeated Sid Justice via DQ

Overall Mark: D

This Wrestlemania saw the end of an era and beginning of a new one. The transition from the Hulkamania years to what I like to call the Gimmick years left of with one of the best Wrestlemania events in history. Now I would've given this a 10 out of 10, but there are a few matches that weren't up to par.

Now you see a lot of gimmick changes in this Wrestlemania. Tito Santana is now referred to as El Matador. You have characters like Repo Man and The Mountie. Aside from that, you are in for a great event. Shawn Michaels makes his singles debut against Tito Santana and it is a good one. Jake Roberts and the Undertaker square off in one of the better early Undertaker matches. The Roddy Piper vs. Bret Hart match is fantastic. Probably one of the best in Wrestlemania history. I could've done without the 8-Man Tag Match and Tatanka vs. Rick Martel. I thought the Tag Team Championship was good and the WWF Championship Match was excellent. Ric Flair's small run in the early 1990's in the WWF was outstanding. His match with Savage was also one of the best in Wrestlemania history. Hogan's match was typical Hogan, with a little twist because at the time, he was going to retire.

I'd say overall, this is the best Wrestlemania of the 1990's. The good matches outweigh the bad one's and all in all, you should be highly entertained.