What-If-Wednesday: Hogan and Flair at Wrestlemania 8

If you search through YouTube or elsewhere on the web, you'll often come across videos or lists of pro wrestling's greatest (or infamous) missed booking opportunities. And more times than I can count, I've seen commentators bemoan the fact that we did not see a Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan title bout at Wrestlemania 8. I mean how could a company just throw money down the drain like that!?

Well, I'm going to do something a little different with today's What-If-Wednesday. Instead of forecasting a totally different chain of events, I'm going to defend the WWF's booking of the event (just a bit), and offer a slightly different approach to what actually occurred.

The Actual Timeline:

I think most readers of this site will be familiar with the story, but I'll provide a quick recap. In 1991, Ric Flair had enough of WCW --- especially company head Jim Herd who had (among other things) suggested Flair shave his head and become a centurion character.  In September of that year, Flair appeared on WWF television, and aligned himself with Bobby Heenan (who had been promoting the fact that the REAL world's champion was coming to the WWF) in one of the most dramatic entrances in wrestling history.

After feuding with Roddy Piper (RIP), Flair would constantly antagonize Hulk Hogan that he was the real world's champion, and it seemed logical that the two would face-off at Wrestlemania 8. Flair was an entrant in the 1992 Royal Rumble wherein the winner would become WWF Heavyweight Champion (I realize I'm skipping over Survivor Series and the Undertaker / Hogan championship rematch, but editing!) After lasting most of the match, Flair tossed Sid Justice over the top rope, and became WWF Champion. Afterward, Flair delivered one of the greatest promos in wrestling history (and I can't seem to find a good clip of it online).

Which leads us to Hogan vs Flair for the WWF Championship at Wrestlemania! Right?

Of course, that's not what happened: Flair would lose the belt to Randy Savage in a great match at that year's 'Mania, while Hogan would face Justice in the "second" main event of the evening in a clusterfuck of a match that featured run-ins from Papa Shango and the Ultimate Warrior.

So what changed from September to the following April? Why did the company shift gears from a champion versus champion superbout to a "double" main event? Well, there are a number of reasons for this: Flair and Hogan squared off at a number of house shows throughout the country, but those events didn't draw as well as the company would have hoped. Second, a number of other sources claim that Hogan wouldn't do the job to Flair, which....yeah, that seems about right.

But the elephant in the room was the burgeoning steroid scandal plaguing the WWF. In 1991, a Pennsylvania doctor, George Zahorian, was indicted and convicted on federal charges for illegally selling steroids. Soon after, reports were beginning to surface in the press with allegations about rampant steroid abuse by employees of the company, especially Hogan. After appearing on television and denying he used drugs, Hogan began to receive a lot of media scrutiny, and he and the company decided it was time for him to lay low for awhile.

The Aftermath / Rationale:

After Mania, in short order this is what happens: Hogan leaves, Savage duels with the Warrior, Savage loses the belt to Flair, Flair loses the belt to Hart, Flair goes back to WCW, and the WWF barely survives the Steroid Trial.

While I'm not an expert, and if I'm wrong in my analysis here, please let me know, it's difficult to not to come to a few conclusions about all of this. On the one hand, the WWF decided to go with a formula here that had worked in the past: Hogan working against a huge rival (Justice), and then bringing in another big star with that "WWF-look" (Ultimate Warrior) to try and fill the void. At the same time, the company was in a difficult spot with Hogan: while he was still popular, he was increasingly becoming less popular with a lot of fans (if you watch the 1992 Royal Rumble, there's a palatable sense of disinterest from the crowd when Hogan is tossed over the rope). In addition, Hogan  certainly had some amount of creative control here, so you couldn't bury him on the card. And yet, he's damaged goods (from a PR standpoint), so you have an overbooked match on the card that distracts the crowd from A) the controversy surrounding Hogan and B) the general craziness of the match itself.

Again, that's not to say the WWF could have booked this entire event better, but they were in a difficult spot. At the same time, and please don't attack me for this, Flair didn't quite fit into the WWF world as well as he could have. That's not a knock against Flair, but compare his character with the rest of the roster in 1991-92: sure, he works well against Piper, Savage, Hart, and Mr. Perfect, but Flair still carried a lot of his more gritty, NWA-style approach to wrestling that didn't quite translate to the "sports-entertainment" style of wrestling in the WWF. As such, perhaps Flair vs Savage -- which was a great match by the way -- would make more sense than Hogan vs Flair.

Plus, we got the great doctored-photos storyline from Savage vs Flair.

The New Timeline:

All that said, let's try a new timeline out. Flair vs Hogan at Wrestlemania 8. I wouldn't change the build-up at all: Flair still wins the Royal Rumble, still cuts that amazing promo, Hogan is still named number-one contender, etc. And this is important: there's no change to steroid allegations. I can't change external historical, socio-economic, cultural forces folks. If I could, Barack Obama would be entering his 3rd term in office, and the Flyers would have won the Cup in 1987, 2004, and 2010.

All that said, imagine the hype leading up to their match. Despite the whispers of steroids, people would be incredibly excited about seeing the two most famous wrestlers of the 1980s square off at the Hoosier Dome. Perhaps you even have Flair acknowledge the accusations on television, thereby building more heat against him for the match.

Again, this is risky. Like I said before, people were turning against Hogan by the time of Wrestlemania 8, and there was a contingent of WWE audiences who were (as I recall) solidly behind Flair. I suspect that worst, you would have a replay of Wrestlemania 6's main event where the crowd is divided between the two wrestlers.

And, in short, Flair beats Hogan. Flair is the undisputed "greatest" champion of wrestling; meanwhile, Hogan takes time off. Flair can feud with Randy Savage in the summer, then perhaps Brett Hart in the winter. At some point, Flair leaves just as he does in the regular timeline. He might stay in the WWF for longer than he did originally, but I can't see him in the WWF for very much longer than a couple years in the early 1990s (he seems like he would be even more out of place with the super-goofy gimmicks that started to dominate the company during the time). That might be surprising, but it's common knowledge that Flair longed to return to WCW / NWA, and the company was ready to move in a younger direction by 1993 (Hart, Michaels, Ramon, etc.)

Nor would this shift have any real impact on Hogan. He'd still return in 1993 to the company, he'd still insert himself into Wrestlemaina 9's main event, he'd still go to WCW in 1995, and he'd still fight Flair in the main event of that year's Bash at the Beach. But the impact of that would be diminished since he would have to be billed as a rematch, not their "first" meeting or something the WWF could not provide.

*Hogan materializes in my apartment*

Hogan: WOW, AND THEN THE HULKSTER WOULD GO OVER ON PUNY RIC FLAIR AND BEGIN TO DOMINATE THE WRESTLING WORLD ONCE AGAIN BROTHER!

Me: Oh for fuck's sake. Not again. Look, that was nice, but don't you remember your feud with the Dungeon of Doom after that?

Hogan: UH....NO BROTHER!!

Me: The Yeti?

Hogan:

Me:

Hogan: HOW ABOUT THE NWO??? THAT WAS TOO SWEET!

Me: Yeah, that was incredible. But then came Starcade 1997 and...

Hogan: *puts fingers in ears* LALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU BROTHER!!

Me: Right....

*Ric Flair pulls up to my apartment in a limo, comes in through the front door*

Flair: WOOOOOO! ALLLLLL RIGHT! THE NATURE BOY IS HERE! WOOO!

Me: This is nuts...

Flair: WHOA, WHOA, WHOA --- HOLD IT RIGHT THERE SON! MY SHOES COST MORE THAN YOUR CAR!! HOW DARE YOU TALK TO THE SIXTEEN TIME, WORLD'S CHAMPION LIKE THAT!!

Hogan: THAT'S RIGHT BROTHER!! WHY, WHEN THE NATURE BOY AND THE HULKSTER GET TOGETHER, NO ONE'S STOPPING US!!!

Me: Like your horrible matches in TNA?

Hogan:.....

Flair:.....

Me:......

Flair: WOW, YOU ARE ONE WILD, SON OF A GUN! I LIKE YOUR STYLE!! THE NATURE BOY WOULD LOVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH!!!

*Flair hands me a document*

Me: Wow, I've never been asked for an autograph.....*signs*....I mean, this is so....*pauses*..Wait: is this a loan application?

*Flair hits me in the back of head with a belt. Before I pass out, I hear a loud "WOOOOOOOOOO" in my ear, and then tires screeching. When I come to, my liquor cabinet has been cleaned out, and there are six voicemails on my phone from the delinquent accounts department of the First Bank of North Carolina.*

So that's the latest What-If-Wednesday! I hope you enjoyed, and if you have suggestions for the next installment, email me at [email protected], or message us on Twitter or Facebook!