Ranking Hulk Hogan’s WrestleMania Matches - from Worst to Best

source// wwe.com

Without Hulk Hogan, the grand event known to millions around the globe as WrestleMania would not exist.

Inaugurated in 1985, the event was the perfect mix of mainstream celebrity and professional wrestling and Hogan was the man who bridged the gap between the two. He was a charismatic persona, a character that appealed to fans beyond the scope of pro wrestling. He was absolutely integral in selling the idea of a celebrity-infused extravaganza to the audience while simultaneously promoting WWE on talk shows, on radio shows and even during an edition of Saturday Night Live.

As the event grew and evolved, Hogan guided it, the biggest star and the sport’s greatest attraction. Hulkamania ran wild through the first nine events, then returned for its 18th before wrestling his final match at the event he helped grandfather in 2003.

With The Hulkster in the news for all the wrong reasons of late, relive his enormous contributions to the event we will all celebrate on April 3 with these, his epic WrestleMania encounters, ranked from worst to best according to match quality and historical significance.

12. WWE Championship Match: Hulk Hogan Vs. Yokozuna – WrestleMania 9

Hulk Hogan’s worst WrestleMania match is also his most notorious, the greatest example of his ego running wild at the expense of a youthful roster and Vince McMahon’s New Generation.

Moments after Bret Hart had the WWE Championship stolen from him, courtesy of Mr. Fuji and a handful of salt to the eyes, The Hulkster came to his aid. The new champion inexplicably challenged Hogan to an impromptu match, his hubris getting the best of him. Then, in one of the most unexpected endings in WrestleMania history, Hogan ducked another salt attack, hit Yokozuna with a clothesline and pinned him for the title following a big leg drop.

The audience in Las Vegas erupted but more attentive, die-hard wrestling fans watching around the country recognized the moment for what it was: one last grasp effort by an aging mega-star to stay in the spotlight while simultaneously keeping the young generation of stars from surpassing him.

11. WWE Tag Team Championship Match: Hulk Hogan & Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake Vs. Money Inc. – WrestleMania 9

It is no coincidence that Hogan’s first match at the ninth WrestleMania is ranked in this spot, his second-worst match at the event.

His eye bruised following a confrontation with “Macho Man” Randy Savage just 24 hours before the show and his ego battered from his placement in a midcard tag team title match, Hogan was unmotivated to say the least as he teamed with Brutus Beefcake to battle Money Inc. (IRS and Ted DiBIase). The match was formulaic and slow, boring even. No one really bought IRS or DiBiase as credible opposition to the almighty Hogan and the result was a bout devoid of drama.

The only real result was a disqualification result that saw The Hulkster and Beefcake lose the bout and the opportunity to call themselves champions.

At too many points throughout the match, whether he was pandering to the crowd or going through the same old routine, it felt like Hogan was cashing a check and basking in the spotlight one more time.

As we have already touched on, few would have guessed just how far he would go to revel in said spotlight.

10. Hulk Hogan Vs. Sid Justice – WrestleMania 8

The main event of WrestleMania 8 became less about a mutual respect diminishing into animosity and jealousy, and more about feeding Hulk Hogan’s ego. Suddenly, rumors of Hogan wrestling his final match before retiring dominated the discussion. What should have been a war between the past and the future, instead was one more excuse to sing the praises of The Hulkster, despite diminishing cheers.

The match itself was a particularly boring affair, with Sid controlling the pace of the match, only for Hogan to do as he always did. He hulked up, fought back and dropped the big leg.

But Sid kicked out. In the midst of a terrible wrestling match, devoid of the raw emotion that the Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair bout touted earlier in the night, the man who would later enjoy fame as the company’s resident “Sycho,” kicked out of the leg drop as if Hogan had hit him with a clothesline. It was an extraordinary moment that often goes forgotten, but one overshadowed by the return of The Ultimate Warrior, whose stood along a victorious Hogan (via DQ when Papa Shango interfered) to close out the show.

9. WWE Championship Tournament Match: Hulk Hogan Vs. Andre The Giant – WrestleMania 4

Remember how awe-inspiring the showdown between Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant was at WrestleMania 3?

The rematch was anything but. It was, at its heart, a cash-grab by Vince McMahon. The promoter understood that fans still had an appetite to whet when it came to Hogan vs. Andre and he looked to milk every dollar out of the matchup that he could. The result? A tournament for the vacant WWE Championship, in which Hogan and Andre would battle during the second round.

That bout would lack the spectacle that the original had, not to mention the raw emotion of the audience watching it. Instead of 93,000 rabid wrestling fans, all of whom cared about the characters involved, the match was witnessed by high rollers of the casino world and tourists looking for a spectacle. Atlantic City did not appreciate the match the way it should have been and the result was a dull match with a crappy finish that left fans unsatisfied.

8. Steel Cage Match For The WWE Championship: Hulk Hogan Vs. King Kong Bundy – WrestleMania 2

There was nothing overly spectacular about Hulk Hogan’s 1986 WWE Championship defense against King Kong Bundy inside a steel cage in Los Angeles. Over the years that have proceeded it, though, it has unfairly been criticized, labeled as a bad match when in reality, it is a titanic clash between two heavyweights with an incredibly effective backstory.

Hogan entered the match with injured ribs, damaged by the vaunted Avalanche Splash employed by his massive challenger. Bundy understandably targeted those ribs, exploiting the injury and nearly putting our hero down and out on several occasions. But Hogan fought back and the fans inside the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena erupted, cheering their real life superhero on.

Showing the resiliency and superhuman effort that would come to define his persona, Hogan toppled Bundy in a match that–right or wrong–ranks low in the pantheon of WrestleMania main events.

7. Hulk Hogan & Mr. T Vs. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper & “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff – WrestleMania

The main event of the inaugural WrestleMania blended celebrity and sport, bringing together the best and brightest of WWE and the most recognizable pop culture celebrities in the world. On that night in 1985, Hulk Hogan teamed with Mr. T in an attempt to shut up “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and his associate, “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff.

The result was a match that captivated fans, generated a huge reaction and gave fans everything they wanted in a victory for the good guys. Best of all, it preserved Piper’s heat. By not beating him, it kept him strong and capable of carrying a year’s worth of house show matches with Hogan and the continuation of his program with Mr. T.

The match was less of a formulaic bout and more of a spectacle, with crowd-pleasing spots, frenetic action and the involvement of Muhammad Ali ensuring sports and entertainment outlets would cover the show the next morning. Hogan won the match for his team and all was right with the world. At least for that night.

6. WWE Championship Match: Hulk Hogan Vs. Andre The Giant – WrestleMania 3

The idea of the epic WrestleMania main event originated in 1987, at the event’s third incarnation, when Hulk Hogan defended the WWE Championship against Andre the Giant. “The unstoppable force meeting the immovable object,” Gorilla Monsoon accurately described the bout. Hogan, heavyweight champion for three years, was pitted against a giant who had not lost on a major stage in 15 years. Fans could not conceivably foresee either wrestler losing, making for a rare occasion in which the outcome was not readily apparent.

Standing chest-to-chin in the center of the ring, Andre emotionless as he stared down at the man he used to call friend, the Superstars could feel the anticipation of the audience reach a fever pitch. The match that proceeded was hardly what one would consider a great one, but one whose historic relevance is undeniable. It is a match that helped establish WrestleMania as The Showcase of the Immortals, the stage on which the most important matches in wrestling history take place.

Hogan won, legitimizing his run as the top attraction in sports entertainment, while Andre proved his selflessness by putting The Hulkster over clean in the center of the ring. It was a satisfying conclusion to an expertly built and marketed match, and the first extraordinary main event produced by Vince McMahon.

5. WWE Championship Match: Hulk Hogan Vs. Sgt. Slaughter – WrestleMania 7

The main event between Hulk Hogan and Sgt. Slaughter for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 7 is among the most under appreciated in event history. Sure, the circumstances surrounding it are not ideal, what with the blatant exploitation of the Gulf War, but the match itself is what we are judging here. When looked at from that angle, it is a bout that is dramatic, expertly wrestled by two veterans of the mat game and one jam-packed with emotion.

Hogan bleeds, the result of the ruthlessness of Slaughter, but he fights through the proverbial crimson mask. He does it for himself, for the allure of a third WWE Championship and the little Hulkamaniacs in the stands. But more importantly, he does it for America. In the most patriotic main event ever, he drops the leg on Slaughter and puts an end to his maniacal run as champion.

An above-average match that ranks among the best main events Hogan has ever wrestled on the grand stage, it has the dubious distinction of being at the center of one of Vince McMahon’s most notorious booking decisions.

4. Street Fight: Hulk Hogan Vs. Vince McMahon – WrestleMania 19

Who was really responsible for WrestleMania?

That was the question at the heart of the Hulk Hogan-Vince McMahon bout, a grudge match that dominated the marketing of WrestleMania XIX. The faces of the two most influential stars in WWE history were plastered on posters, DVD cases and magazine covers. This, despite the fact that Steve Austin and The Rock were wrapping up their epic rivalry, Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar were battling for the first time on pay-per-view and Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels were waging war in a heated singles bout. Needless to say, with a card that strong, all of the pressure was on The Hulkster and his boss to deliver a match that justified their placement as the marquee match of the event.

They did, waging war in a bloody and violent Street Fight that featured the greatest single image in the history of wrestling. McMahon, a bloody mess but in control of the bout, peaked his head up from the floor, his eyes on his opponent and a single, evil grin plastered on his face. It was brilliant and proved the demented nature of our lead villain.

A cameo from Roddy Piper, who laid out Hogan with a led pipe, was a nice touch in that it called into question whether the loudmouthed bad guy from 1985’s inaugural event was as responsible for the success of that event as the two men embroiled in the match.

Hogan won the match but the vendetta was far from over, as fans of SmackDown would come to realize over the weeks that proceeded the epic encounter.

3. Title-For-Title Match: Hulk Hogan Vs. The Ultimate Warrior

The WWE and Intercontinental Championships were up for grabs as Hulk Hogan battled Ultimate Warrior in a battle of babyfaces in the main event of WrestleMania 6. Never before had the two most popular stars in the company battled for supremacy on wrestling’s biggest night. The crowd was split, some cheering on the hero that had represented them for six years, the others embracing the new and unpredictable good guy. With the eyes of the sport on them, and 67,000 fans in Toronto’s SkyDome cheering along, they unleashed a match infinitely better than anyone had reason to expect.

A titanic battle between Superstars steeped in good, an honorable war with championship gold at stake, the match captivated fans and took them on an emotional roller coaster ride. Dramatic near-falls kept fans guessing as to which gladiator would leave with the title. A late surge by Hogan left many believing the self-proclaimed Immortal competitor would be victorious, just as he was so many times before.

Then reality set in, as did Hogan’s mortality, as he missed his famed leg drop and Warrior pinned him following the big splash. It was an unfathomable loss, one that Hogan had to come to grips with immediately after the pin as he grabbed his WWE title from ringside and stared into the gold plate. But he did just as his character would suggest, handing the belt to the new champion and riding off into the sunset while Warrior stood atop the wrestling mountain.

At least for that one night.

2. WWE Championship Match: Hulk Hogan Vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage – WrestleMania 5

Good friends made for better enemies at WrestleMania 5 as Hulk Hogan challenged “Macho Man” Randy Savage for the WWE Championship, the culmination of a year-long storyline that saw them form the most dynamic team of all-time (The Mega Powers) before splitting, jealousy over accolades and Miss Elizabeth dooming them to demise.

In front of the same Atlantic City audience that had witnessed Savage’s rise to the WWE title and the formation of the aforementioned Mega Powers, the Superstars locked horns for the right to call himself champion. The maniacal Macho Man controlled the match, showing a viciousness and ruthlessness that fans were not familiar with from the bombastic competitor. He was verbally abusive, too, talking trash to both his opponent and his former valet.

But our resident superhero, clad in the red and yellow that separated him from the other living cartoon characters around him, fought adversity. He punched his way back into the match, booted his opponent’s chances of victory in the face and dropped his mammoth leg on the reign of “Macho Man” Savage.

Fans rejoiced, as did critics. It was the first really great Hogan-centered main event in WrestleMania history and a taste of things to come over the next year as the two battled across the globe, their feud generating big business for WWE.

1. Icon Vs. Icon: “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan Vs. The Rock – WrestleMania 18

In 2002, Hulk Hogan returned to WWE after eight years of guiding competitor WCW to its greatest success and, ultimately, its downfall. While many suspected a dream match with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was destiny, promoter Vince McMahon had other ideas. He wanted the greatest pop culture phenomenon of one era to battle the biggest mainstream icon he had produced during the Attitude Era, The Rock. At a time when the industry was coming off the incredible high that was the previous four years, he was hoping the battle of mega-stars would generate interest in his product. It did, even if momentarily.

Rock and Hogan’s staredown to start the match immediately suggested that Hogan was the overwhelming favorite, the fans in attendance never forgetting the classic encounter he had given them with Ultimate Warrior 12 years earlier. Much like that match, him and Rock relied on crowd-pleasing spots to mask the fact that Hogan was no longer the performer he once was.

But he did not have to be. The spectacle of it all, combined with the youthful energy of his opponent an the excitement that the fans approached the match with carried the bout. The Rock would win the match following his trademark People’s Elbow but it was Hogan who was the real victor. He had proven all of his doubters wrong, taking the stage for a major encounter and performing up to the level of his opponent.

The result? An instant classic.

10 Hulk Hogan WrestleMania Events that Would Have Drawn Huge Money

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For the first nine years of its existence, WrestleMania was ruled by one man.

Hulk Hogan was involved in each of the first nine ‘Mania main events, and he came out on top all but once. Heck, even when he wasn’t in the official match that had been signed as the main event, he still came out the winner. From the very first WrestleMania until WrestleMania IX in 1993, Hulkamania did indeed run wild.

This is to be expected, as Hulk was by far the biggest star in the company in the late 80s and early 90s. If you think John Cena has been protected over the last few years, just take one look at Hogan’s streak during this time. He lost clean to the Ultimate Warrior (kicking out at 3.1 in the process) at WrestleMania VI, and off the top of my head this is the only truly clean loss I can remember him taking during this era.

Hogan was a guaranteed draw and really brought in the crowds during this time, but looking back there are a number of potential opponents that never truly got the spotlight match they deserved, the spotlight match that could have drawn large sums of money for the company.

When he returned to the WWF in 2002, a new crop of superstars were lined up in front of Hogan, and whilst his body pretty much given up on him at this time, there were a number of big time WrestleMania matches that were missed out on. Here are 10 Hogan ‘Mania matches that would have put eyes on the product, butts in the seats and dollars in his pocket.

10. Vs. Bruno Sammartino

Before Cena there was Hogan, and before Hogan there was Bruno Sammartino.

The Italian Superman still holds the record for the longest WWE (then WWWF) World Title reign of all-time, clocking in at a frankly astonishing 2,803 days. That record isn’t going to be beaten any time soon. Bruno was the number one man in North American professional wrestling for nigh on two decades.

Bruno made his wrestling debut in 1959, and by the time WrestleMania came into being his legal and personal issues with the WWF had soiled the relationship between the two. Bruno appeared at the first WrestleMania, standing in the corner of his son David as he took on Brutus ‘The Barber’ Beefcake. Bruno would return to the ring soon after, but his career was obviously running down at this point.

This isn’t to say his physical condition was waning. Far from it; he was often in much better condition than his opponents.

Still, a ‘passing of the torch’ type of deal between Bruno and Hogan would have drawn big numbers in the mid-80s. Babyface versus Babyface matches were rare at this time, but a big time bout between The Living Legend and the Hulkster would have had the eyes of fans worldwide stretching wider than ever before.

Funnily enough, Bruno’s last WWF match was a tag match, where he teamed with Hogan to defeat King Kong Bundy and One Man Gang. No WrestleMania match between the pair, though.

9. Vs. Brock Lesnar

When Hogan returned to the company in 2002, Brock Lesnar had only just begun forging his path of destruction through the professional wrestling landscape. Lesnar’s rise to the top was (and still is) the fastest in history, going from rookie to WWE Champion within a few months of arriving on our screens.

Putting Brock Lesnar up against an ageing Hogan may have hastened the end of Hulk’s in-ring career, but the two did indeed come to blows around this time. Lesnar became only the second man (after Kurt Angle) to defeat Hogan by submission, and the first to actually have the ref call the match off.

Lesnar continued his assault after the match, leaving Hogan bloody and unconscious in the process. Hulk took time off, and there was no follow-up, meaning the angle never really reached any sort of satisfying payoff.

Brock Lesnar’s career has gone pretty alright since, but a big time match between Hogan and Lesnar at WrestleMania at this time would have did some serious numbers. Crowds would have been baying to see their hero get revenge on the man who caused his destruction, and Lesnar’s inevitable victory would have solidified him further as a major player in the new era of professional wrestling.

8. Vs. Mr. Perfect

For a while in the late 1980s, all the signs pointing to this main event match being an inevitability. ‘Mr Perfect’ Curt Hennig received a big push when he arrived in the WWF, going undefeated on television for almost two years. In many ways, Perfect was the top heel in the company, while Hogan was the top face. They were also the final two in the 1990 Royal Rumble.

Rumours have persisted that Hennig was going to take the WWE Title off of Hogan at this time, but the idea was eventually nixed. There simply weren’t enough big shows it seems, and having the title on a guaranteed babyface made better business sense than putting it on a relatively new (albeit over) heel.

The 1990 build came to nothing, and Hogan would go on to face Ultimate Warrior in the main event of WrestleMania VI instead.

This was quite obviously the right decision, but the fact that Hogan and Perfect never had the big feud their status demanded is another lost opportunity in the history of pro wrestling. The start was there, with Perfect stealing Hogan’s title belt and destroying it, but nothing ever came of it. Hennig’s perfect record did indeed come to an end at WrestleMania VI, but it wasn’t Hogan pinning him to the mat.

No, that honour went to Brutus ‘The Barber’ Beefcake (one of Hogan’s best mates). The mind boggles.

7. Vs. Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts

If Hogan’s lack of major feud with Mr Perfect is surprising, the fact that he never came up against Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts during the 1980s is truly mind-boggling. Jake was immediately plunged into big-time programmes when he got to the WWF, feuding with the likes of Ricky Steamboat.

His dark charisma wasn’t about to go unnoticed, however, and the fans eventually forced Jake to turn babyface.

It was this popularity that stopped this feud from happening. As the story goes, Jake was to give Hogan the DDT on an episode of the Snake Pit talk show, but when a confrontation between the two was teased, the crowd sided with Roberts.

Vince McMahon couldn’t risk his top babyface being the second most popular guy in a match, so the whole thing was shelved and Jake never got his ‘Hogan run’.

Roberts would refer to Hogan on numerous occasions in his promos, but this bout never came into being. In fact, the two only ever had four matches together in total, at house shows. Money left on the table, I’m sure you’ll agree.

6. Vs. Mick Foley

There aren’t many things in modern professional wrestling that haven’t happened. There are cross-generational dream matches, of course, but for those who performed at the same time pretty much everything has been done. Whether you were WWF or WCW, the eventual takeover and invasion ticked off a lot of dream matches.

One that didn’t happen, though, was Hulk Hogan vs. Mick Foley. What makes this shocking is that the two spent time in TNA, a company who seemed to thrive on presenting early 90s dream matches two decades late. Hogan vs. Foley never happened, and I’m not entirely sure why.

It’s difficult to find two more differing performers and although both were wildly successful, that is where the similarities end. Hogan was a bodybuilder with the superman physique, who found himself on top thanks to aesthetics and charisma. Foley was an awkward, pudgy guy who put his body through hell to get noticed.

Hogan was intensely protected, bumping very little and very rarely. Foley’s career was defined for a long time by the bumps he took. They are the professional wrestling chalk and cheese and it would have made for an interesting match, especially on a big show like WrestleMania but it was not to be.

The only time the match could have really happened was in WCW in the mid-90s or WWE in the mid-2000s.

5. Vs. The Undertaker

Hogan and The Deadman battled on many occasions at different points of their careers, and it was the Hulkster that ‘Taker defeated to win his very first World Title at the 1991 Survivor Series. Of course, it took the interference of Ric Flair and a steel chair to make it happen, but the result is the result.

Hogan and Undertaker never clashed at WrestleMania during their careers, but it is interesting to think of how different the landscape of modern professional wrestling would have been if they had.

Let’s put a hypothetical situation out there. Say ‘Taker doesn’t lose the strap just after winning it from Hogan, and holds it for months heading towards WrestleMania VIII. At the biggest show of the year he defends his title against the man who was screwed out of it in the first place – Mr. Hulk Hogan.

Undertaker vs. Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania VIII would have undoubtedly done better business than Hogan vs. Sid Justice, especially when you add in the story of Hogan looking for retribution. The most interesting point that this hypothetical situation throws up is, of course, the result.

Hogan would have had to have gone over ‘Taker at this point, because that is how professional wrestling worked at the time. The Streak would have ended before it even began, with The Phenom having a record of 1-1.

Things would look very different now, that is for sure.

4. Vs. Bret Hart

The very real rivalry between these two legends of the sport is oh so heavily documented. Hogan’s backstabbing and lack of business sense (not to mention his hold over Vince McMahon) led to the worst WrestleMania ending in history, the much-lamented WrestleMania IX.

Hart dropped the belt to Yokozuna on the night, after Mr. Fuji blinded the Hitman with a good old-fashioned salt in the eyes. Luckily for Hart, newly qualified eye doctor Hulk Hogan rushed to the ring, and Fuji and Yoko decided to reward Hogan for this impromptu opticians appointment with a title match there and then.

Hogan saw this opportunity very clearly (pun intended), and 22 seconds later we had ourselves a new WWE Champion.

As the story goes, Hogan flat-out refused to put Hart over later in the year. This was the final straw and any vague friendship between the two was over. Within a year Hogan was gone. Hart would defeat Yokozuna for the strap at WrestleMania X (despite the best efforts of Vince to get his new pet project Lex Luger in that position), and the whole thing was a shambles.

We all know that real-life issues often lead to some wonderful professional wrestling moments, and a match between Hogan and Hart at this time would have been fascinating to say the least. Of course, the whole thing would have hinged on Hart going over, confirming the WWF’s commitment to the ‘New Generation’, but this was never going to happen as Hogan would have essentially been signing his own committal to the old folks home.

Still, a lot of money would have been made had Hogan said yes to a match and a job to The Hitman.

3. Vs. Ric Flair

After dominating their respective companies for the better part of a decade, Ric Flair’s signing with the World Wrestling Federation in 1991 led to many believing this dream match was finally to happen. Flair was referring to himself as the ‘Real World Champion’ after all, and frequently got involved in Hogan’s business, costing him his own WWE Title in the process.

WrestleMania VIII was to be the setting, and a match between the two was all but confirmed for the event. Jack Tunney even gave a press conference hyping the match and WWE presented the match graphic on television.

Nothing would have made more sense than the two biggest icons of the sport at the time going up against each other, in what would have been their last opportunity to put on a match worthy of their lofty reputations. Hogan was already breaking down and getting less mobile, and Flair’s ability to bump like a madman was diminishing with every failed leap off the top rope.

Inexplicably, the match at WrestleMania VIII never happened. Why? You can make your own rumour up for that. Egos, poor crowds for house shows in the build up… who knows? It seems strange in hindsight that Vince McMahon would leave such a match on the table. Although, judging by their so-so battles in WCW, this may have been for the best.

Still, those WCW matches just a couple of years later made big money, big money that Vince, Hogan and Flair could have made at WrestleMania VIII.

2. Vs. The British Bulldog

At this point, the attendance for WrestleMania III has been disputed so much that it borders on the unreliable. The next highest attendance WWE has pulled for a show can be found with WrestleMania 29 at MetLife Stadium, where John Cena and The Rock met for the second time in a lifetime. Third on the list? SummerSlam 1992.

SummerSlam 1992 took place at Wembley Stadium in London, and is widely regarded as one of the most successful events in company history. The attendance is the largest verified crowd in WWE history, and over two million dollars was made in revenue and the merchandise sales are said to have topped any other WWE show in history.

There were negatives, of course. The buyrate for the PPV was down significantly due to it not being shown live in North America, and the logistics of running a PPV abroad in 1992 leave one feeling punch-drunk. Still, if WWE had been braver then they could have built on the success of SummerSlam 1992 by taking WrestleMania to the UK the following year.

The obvious main event of this hypothetical show? Hulk Hogan vs. ‘The British Bulldog’ Davey Boy Smith.

Davey had headlined SummerSlam, winning the Intercontinental Title from Bret Hart in a classic main event. Now, Hart carried Smith to that great match, and a major main event between Davey and Hogan may have been dire, but the relative freshness of the match, added to the intrigue and financial implications of it being the main event of a UK WrestleMania justifies discussing it, and lamenting the fact it never happened.

1. Vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin

Well, who else did you expect?

Arguably the two biggest names in the history of the sport, the two biggest draws of their respective generations, Austin and Hogan never had a high-profile match against each other. When Hogan returned to the WWE in 2002 this match seemed almost an inevitability, as Hogan would slowly work against all of the superstars that had grown in his absence.

Hogan would go up against The Rock at WrestleMania X8, with Austin arguably getting the silver medal in a match against Scott Hall. You can’t really argue with WWE’s decision to go with Hogan versus Rock, especially in hindsight, but by booking Austin against Hall it could be said that any chance of putting on Austin vs. Hogan was gone. Egos play a huge part in professional wrestling after all.

The fans wanted it and they wanted it bad, and if the match came to be the audience would have shown their desires in the shape of dollars and cents. The hype and story for such a match would write itself, and the status of both men as genuine icons of pop culture would have garnered a huge amount of outside, mainstream attention.

For reasons we’ll never truly know, the match never happened. It never even came close to happening, with Austin apparently steadfastly refusing to work with master politician Hogan. It never will now, and Vince McMahon’s bank account might just cry itself to sleep every night just thinking about it.

Steve Austin’s WrestleMania Matches - Ranked from Worst to Best

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The 1990s were an incredible time for professional wrestling. As World Championship Wrestling changed the rules of the game, the World Wrestling Federation was forced to evolve and embrace a grittier product in order to claw its way back into the Monday Night Wars.

One man stood proud at the front of the resurgence, a man who would go on to become wrestling’s biggest star during wrestling’s most lucrative era.

Stone Cold Steve Austin was the number one guy in WWF for a number of years, and as such he was the man relied upon to headline the biggest shows and generate the biggest numbers for the company. He did it with aplomb, giving us some of the most memorable moments in WrestleMania history in the process.

He also did it while amassing a laundry list of injuries, and in hindsight it is incredible that he was able to perform at such a high level for so long, given his health. Even so, Austin left the squared circle with a surprisingly small number of WrestleMania matches under his belt.

He performed at seven ‘Manias, three of which saw him face off against his greatest rival, The Rock.

But how do the matches stand up against each other? His trilogy with Rocky is wrestling’s equivalent of The Godfather movies, an intricate story taking place over number of years full of emotion and intensity. Can anything stand above these matches? And did he take part in any true stinkers at the Showcase of the Immortals?

7. Vs. Scott Hall – WrestleMania X8

In answer to the question posed at the introduction: yes, yes he did.

The New World Order made their debut in the World Wrestling Federation in February 2002 at the No Way Out PPV, and that was about as good as it got for them. The group was thrust into major storylines straight away, but the long-desired Hulk Hogan/Steve Austin match wasn’t to be.

Hogan was to go up against The Rock, with Austin left to deal with Scott Hall and Kevin Nash.

The whole thing came with a huge side order of underwhelming. Austin’s mood and relationship with the company at the time was’t the greatest, something that is easy to understand given the dark holes in his personal life at the time. Hall wasn’t doing too great himself, openly stating now that at the time his ‘fake life’ was all that was keeping him going.

It didn’t bode well for their big ‘Mania showdown.

The match itself was just sort of there. A year earlier Austin was in the main event of arguably the greatest wrestling show of all-time. This match was middle of the card nothingness, and the efforts of both men did justice to its position. It went under about ten minutes, and Austin easily picked up the win despite the distraction of Kevin Nash on the outside.

With Hogan’s forced face turn later in the show, the nWo in WWE was pretty much dead in the water, a month after first showing back up in ‘New York’.

6. Vs. Savio Vega – WrestleMania XII

It is easy to forget that when Steve Austin arrived in the WWF, he was seemingly locked in a blood feud with Savio Vega for what felt like forever. The two squared off at WrestleMania XII, during which time Austin was still accompanied to the ring by ‘The Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase and carried the Million Dollar Championship with him.

Hindsight is a glorious thing, but looking back at this match there is nothing to suggest that Austin was just a couple of years away from becoming the biggest star in the business. Austin’s character seems constrained to say the least, but the flipside of this is that his in-ring work is absolutely golden.

Austin controls the match and gets some good stuff out of Vega, who was never anything more than a solid midcard hand in the WWF of the 1990s. DiBiase gets involved for the finish, causing the distraction and allowing Austin to clock Vega with the Million Dollar strap and slap on the Million Dollar Dream for the win.

Austin’s first WrestleMania and a first WrestleMania win, but by no means a classic or anything.

5. Vs. The Rock – WrestleMania XV

The first meeting between the two icons at WrestleMania is without a doubt the weakest of the three matches, but this isn’t to say it’s a dud. Far from it in fact, as the two superstars continued to drag the WWF further away from the ailing WCW. The Attitude Era was in full flow at this point, and as such the match comes with all sorts of extras.

Vince McMahon attempts to replace Mankind as the special guest referee, a decision overturned by Shawn Michaels (then commissioner). HBK also bans the Corporation from ringside, ensuring a one-on-one battle between Stone Cold and The Great One. The two start off with a lot of fast brawling, making their way up the aisle to add an element of chaos to the battle.

The Spanish announce table is broken before the two finally make it back to the ring, and a wrestling match almost threatens to break out. There are numerous ref bumps, including a succession of referees taken out by Rock and Vince McMahon. Mankind eventually returns to even up the odds and retake his place as special referee, and somehow within all the madness Austin hits a number of Stunners to pick up the victory.

There is a lot of mess surrounding the match, but it is still a heck of a lot of fun. The weakest of the three for sure, but still a lot to love here.

4. Vs. Shawn Michaels – WrestleMania XIV

It may only be the fourth best match on this list, but an argument can also be made for this being one of the most important matches in the history of WWE, or WWF as it was known as then. WrestleMania XIV was the PPV that kicked off the Attitude Era, with the coronation of Stone Cold Steve Austin as ‘the man’.

The undercard was stacked, with Triple H defending the European Championship against Owen Hart, The Rock defending the IC strap against a red-hot Ken Shamrock, Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie continuing their blood feud with the New Age Outlaws and the Brothers of Destruction meeting at WrestleMania for the first time.

The main event of the night saw Stone Cold ascend to the top of the World Wrestling Federation, defeating Shawn Michaels to win the WWF Championship. Mike Tyson was the special enforcer for the match, and had recently joined DX to stack the odds firmly against the Texas Rattlesnake.

The odds are overcome, of course, and a terribly fast count from Tyson notwithstanding this is a vastly underrated match. Michaels was working through a serious back injury, an injury that would end his in-ring career for four years. The involvement of Tyson ensured some major mainstream attention too, and he would go on to knock HBK out after the match. Tyson and Austin left the building side-by-side with arms raised, two bad motherf*ckers.

Austin would soon head off to the stratosphere to become the biggest star in professional wrestling. Not a bad match to do it in.

3. Vs. The Rock – WrestleMania XIX

The final chapter in the greatest in-ring rivalry in the history of professional wrestling, this was the perfect ending to the Rock and Austin story. There were very big question marks coming into this match beforehand, with Austin’s health a very serious concern to fans and WWE officials.

This would be his last ever match.

The only match in the trilogy that wasn’t for the richest prize in the game, this was as emotional a wrestling match as you are bound to find. The Rock needed to beat Austin, and he needed to do it on the biggest stage. When John Cena tells people that they need to cement their legacy by defeating him, this is the feeling he is trying to create.

The Rock had done it all, but if he couldn’t beat Austin at WrestleMania then what was it really worth?

He was able to come out on top, and the finish of the match has stayed with me for a very long time. Rocky hit Austin with three straight Rock Bottoms, and even then I was convinced Austin would find a way to kick out. It wasn’t possible that The Rock would finally defeat him cleanly at ‘Mania. But defeat him he did, and the emotion was palpable.

In the post-match, Rocky leaned over to tell Austin he loved him before beginning his celebrations, and like that the rivalry that defined the most lucrative period in professional wrestling history was over with Austin’s in-ring career.

2. Vs. The Rock – WrestleMania X-Seven

The main event of the greatest wrestling show of all-time, this was also the highlight of the epic Austin/Rock WrestleMania trilogy. The two biggest names in the game put on a match worthy of headlining the biggest show in the sport, a match that was arguably the apex of the Attitude Era.

The botched Invasion angle would begin soon after, and fans would shift from adoration into apathy.

The match itself is your typical Austin/Rock bout, just turned up to 11. The pace is fast, the brawling comes with an urgency that only these two could create. The event took place in Texas, and as such the crowd is rabid in their love of Austin, something that should have caused the angle at the end of the match to be changed.

That angle is one that we thought we would never see. In order to regain the WWF Championship that he obsessed over so much, Austin had to get in bed with the devil himself. After being at each other’s throats for a number of years, Austin and Vince McMahon joined forces to make sure Austin won the match, and then shared one of the most shocking and iconic handshakes in the history of, erm, handshakes.

In many ways, this is the iconic Stone Cold Steve Austin match. It was the end of his superstar run as the hottest babyface on the planet, and the many moments that led to him gaining such status were referenced throughout the match. The paranoia was getting to him, however, and this was his moment to jump into it with his entire being.

The match was epic, the crowd were on fire and the story told was iconic, summing up an entire era.

What more could a fan want?

1. Vs. Bret Hart – WrestleMania XIII

Simply put, this is one of the greatest matches in the history of WrestleMania.

It was the match that made Steve Austin a megastar, the match that kicked Bret Hart off on his way to a great heel run and a match that set the stall out for Attitude Era main events to come. It was an absolute lesson in ring psychology, and it pulled off arguably the greatest double turn in professional wrestling history.

Steve Austin was a genuine loose cannon at the moment, an angry man tired of being held down whose pride was everything, a man who would stop at nothing to show his viciousness. Bret Hart was well on the way to becoming an ornery old veteran, someone who had achieved everything yet still didn’t seem to get the requisite respect from the company.

Austin was greeted with boos, Hart with a mixture of boos and cheers. This isn’t to say the crowd wasn’t totally invested, far from it, and right off the bat the action is fast and intense. They brawl to start, something that was still fairly rare at the time and added extra tension to the match.

A Submission Match, Hart worked over Austin’s dodgy knees throughout as the crowd slowly got behind the seemingly indestructible Stone Cold. All of which led to one of the most memorable and iconic images of the entire decade, if not the history of professional wrestling. Austin had been busted wide open, and as Hart slapped the Sharpshooter on him he tried with all of his might to push out of it.

The image of Austin, screaming in pain, blood dripping out of his bald head and down to his teeth but refusing, flat-out refusing to give in is one that defined him as a character. Moments later Austin would pass out, and special referee Ken Shamrock raises Hart’s arm in victory.

On the surface, professional wrestling is about matches where one competitor wins and the other loses. This match is proof that there is so much more to the art. Austin lost the match, but this was  arguably the biggest win of his career from a reputation and popularity standpoint.

It also removed any indecision when it came to company thinking. They had their next star. The era of Stone Cold Steve Austin was about to begin.

10 Wrestlers We Had to Hate Before We Could Love

source// wwe.com

Think about your favourite wrestler – did they start out this awesome, or have they become so through an artful alteration of gimmick, or simply through changing their style or becoming a more well-rounded performer?

It’s fair to say that not every wrestling performer lucks into the character that’s going to propel them to stardom straight away: in fact, those that have are the exception, not the rule.

Glenn Jacobs was notorious for labouring under some of the crappiest gimmicks that ever existed until he was given the Kane character out of nowhere in 1997. Unabomb was just weird, Isaac Yankem (DDS) unintentionally hilarious. Fake Diesel was one of the most poorly conceived gimmicks in history, and The Christmas Creature was, let’s face it, The Christmas bloody Creature.

None of those idiots were ever going to work WrestleMania opposite The Undertaker, were they?

Similarly, not every wrestler starts their career with all the tools needed to deliver at a high level. It’s something that can often come in time. Here are ten examples of workers that took their time getting it right, and characters that began life with the worst or most heelish gimmickry imaginable.

The wrestlers we had to hate before we could love them…

10. Dolph Ziggler

In order to fully understand how bizarre and counter-productive the introduction to Dolph Ziggler was, you probably have to understand the context.

Even back in the mid-noughties, Nick Nemeth was a quality worker obsessed with becoming even better. He’d been a peripheral part of the whole godawful Kerwin White fiasco that had threatened to kill Chavo Guerrero’s career in 2005, and when that died, he was sent back to OVW, where he became a member of the Spirit Squad in 2006.

He had been one of the more interesting members of that stable of male cheerleaders, but when that angle fizzled (ie, when D-X buried them and literally shipped them back to OVW), he was eventually repackaged as Dolph Ziggler… a man who went around introducing himself and shaking hands.

The idea – I think – was that a new addition to the roster would go around introducing himself to everyone, and that veterans find over-enthusiastic rookies really annoying… so fans would feel the same way. It’s difficult to say, as if that actually was the concept, then it’s one of the stupidest ideas I’ve ever heard. Why saddle a brand new character with a ‘sh*t rookie’ gimmick?

Fortunately, Ziggler was allowed to look fairly impressive against Batista in his first singles match on WWE television, beat Charlie Haas via pinfall and after defecting to Smackdown in the 2009 draft, went over United States champion MVP in a non-title match.

Fans began to forget about the weird-ass gimmick he’d come in with, and Ziggler began to get over – just a little bit – with his big-bumping style and furiously energetic offense.

9. Kurt Angle

Long before he was the highly-respected ass-kicking ‘wrestling machine’, Olympic gold medallist Kurt Angle debuted in the WWF in November 1999 with a carefully calculated heel gimmick. Someone at Titan Towers had taken careful note of the way in which ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin and The Rock had gotten over with the fans as heels first before they became babyfaces, and theorised that they could use the same mechanic to create a heel character… just in reverse.

That’s how Angle – under his own name – found himself playing an enthusiastic yet overweening white meat babyface, preaching Hogan-style motivational nonsense via his three ‘I’s: Intensity, Integrity and Intelligence. With his patriotic singlet, his habit of wearing gold medals to the ring and his triumphalist ‘Rocky’ theme music, he was the Attitude Era’s perfect fit for a despised heel.

Angle and the fans connected instantly. The crowd began to chant ‘you suck’ in time to his music, and Angle displayed a natural ability on the mic with this new geeky character, who for the most part remained oblivious to the cheerful hatred the fans had for him.

What’s great is that, in his debut at the 1999 Survivor Series, babyface play-by-play guy Jim Ross is pro-Angle and heel colour commentator Jerry Lawler is anti-Angle… that is, until an agitated Angle grabs the mic mid-match to remind the crowd that “you do not boo an Olympic gold medallist”.

At that point, the two veteran announcers seamlessly changed sides, J.R. now anti-Angle, the King now pro. Well done, boys.

8. Tommy Dreamer

Before he became ECW’s poster-boy and the ‘Innovator Of Violence’, Tommy Dreamer was a pretty boy babyface in horrendous green suspenders, cheerful and hated by the notoriously heel-loving ECW crowd. He had what would later be referred to as ‘die Rocky die’: the chant that Attitude Era crowd used on the bluechipper babyface version of Rocky Maivia, before he became The Rock.

Seeking to blur the line between heel and babyface, ECW evil genius Paul Heyman had Dreamer participate in a Singapore Cane Match with The Sandman, who’d become ECW’s resident violent psychopath. Well. One of ECW’s resident violent psychopaths. Anyway, Dreamer took the loss and the ten lashes’ punishment, and then asked for another, and then another. The crowd began the first stirrings of a turn, empathising just a little more with the defiant Dreamer.

It wasn’t until his feud with Raven that this turn crystalised into full-on support. Dreamer was constantly merked by the sociopathic grunge stereotype, pulverised, never able to catch a break. When he finally turned the tide – that’s when he had them. Tommy Dreamerwas ECW from that moment on. Before that, he was pretty much Mr. Anti-ECW.

7. John Hennigan

Long before he became the parkour-loving, high-flying rock star John Morrison, John Hennigan was a university dropout who applied for Tough Enough season 2, appeared on Tough Enough season 3 and, as a result, won (with Matt Cappotelli) a developmental contract with WWE in 2002.

After some mandatory time in Ohio Valley Wrestling, Hennigan debuted properly on RAW in March 2004, under the name Johnny Blaze. Apparently no one told WWE until it was too late that the name was likely to be copyrighted by Marvel (it’s the name of one of the men behind the Ghost Rider persona), so the following week Hennigan was named Johnny Spade. That name was clearly completely sh*tbox: three weeks later, he was renamed Johnny Nitro.

Working as the onscreen assistant and protégé of hated RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff, the new name was no coincidence – Hennigan had been named after Bischoff’s WCW creation, the competitor to RAW on Monday nights, Monday Nitro. As a heatseeking device for a pretty-boy wrestler that fans saw as not having paid his dues, the name was perfect. Johnny Nitro was despised by fans and performers alike, playing Bischoff’s lackey/golden boy for over three months until returning to OVW for more in-ring training.

It wasn’t until he reappeared in April 2005 as a part of the MNM stable (with Melina and Joey Mercury) that people began to slowly appreciate that Nitro might well have what it took to be a WWE star. Initially, Mercury was the talented one carrying Nitro but by the time the team split, it was the other way around, Mercury’s issues having affected his head and his performance, while Johnny Nitro had become the in-ring MVP of the group.

6. Bo Dallas

Bo Dallas is a weird one. Initially a plucky, happy-go-lucky fired-up babyface champion, the NXT crowd hated him. Absolutely hated him. As in, they would cheer for literally anyone facing him in the ring, scream TAP TAP TAP TAP at him when he wasn’t even threatened by a submission move. That kind of thing.

Rocky Maivia joined the Nation Of Domination and started quirking an eyebrow and talking in the third person. What does Bo do? He did exactly what he always did… only he added the element of the disingenuous. Slowly – so slowly that it was barely perceptible if you were watching week to week – Bo Dallas turned heel, and he did so by carrying on being the fired-up babyface, but gradually removing all traces of sincerity.

It took weeks, if not months, but by the time Bo Dallas, Ultraheel NXT Champion was in full effect, he wasn’t a car crash of a character anymore. He’d become something amazing: a heel so astonishingly delusional, so breaktakingly insincere, so wholly oblivious to the hatred that the crowd felt for him, that he flipped everyone around the other way and began getting babyface reactions again!

Bo Dallas became the best part of the show, not by getting deadly serious and ‘no more Mr. Nice Guy’ (aka the excuse for 93.57% of all WWE heel turns), but by being the greatest babyface in the world and being a total d*ck about it.

5. Bayley

When Bayley first started on NXT in her current character, there was a lot more Eugene in there – crossed with AJ Lee’s ‘sweet kid’ character from when she was in a relationship with Daniel Bryan. That was it: a girl with apparent learning difficulties that got excited about wrestling and lost a whole lot of matches through being naive and clueless.

Bayley was not popular… she was kind of tolerated, if that. The ‘special’ parts of her persona made things a good deal worse, because they made her insufferable, but they also made you kind of feel awkward about finding her insufferable.

In the same way as the Bo Dallas turnaround, the story of Bayley showcased NXT’s slow-burning character development to the hilt. First of all, they quietly got rid of any indication whatsoever that she was on any form of spectrum. Secondly, they built her gradual strengthening of character into her storylines.

She lost. She got beaten up. She was betrayed and humiliated by her friends. She lost some more. All of this gradually built up Bayley’s backbone – but unlike every other fiery babyface turn in WWE history, she didn’t let it make her into a bit of a d*ck.

Bayley had the opportunity on countless occasions to become the traditional WWE babyface, all eye-rolling cynicism, sarcasm and bad jokes, and chose to remain a nice person. The nicest person, in fact: she chose to remain Bayley, while simultaneously growing stronger and less willing to be messed around.

The usual WWE method of ‘character development’ involves a sudden change of personality with the flimsiest of excuses and some new threads. It’s like someone saw Sandy dressing up for Danny at the end of Grease and thought to combine it with the effects of slight brain damage.

Bayley got over hugely with the NXT crowd over a period of two years by remaining the same sweet, innocent wrestling-fan-turned-wrestler she’d been from the beginning, but with the core of steel that comes from surviving being constantly sh*t on.

4. Xavier Woods

In NXT, Xavier Woods did not work. When he translated to the main roster, Xavier Woods still did not work. The whole gimmick that he was trying to push was intended to be a version of the disco hepcat, which is bad enough – but the fact that it was a middle-aged white guy’s version of the disco hepcat made everything so, so so much worse.

The WWE crowd may not have all worked it out in their heads in exactly that way, but they came to the same conclusion, and the conclusion was: f*ck this guy.

The real life Austin Watson didn’t deserve that kind of reaction – but his character damn sure did. Luckily for Watson, he caught a break, a break he really shouldn’t have gotten as a member of the McMahon-controlled main roster, because the New Day gospel babyface gimmick was so bad that it took the horrendous Xavier Woods character and managed to drain all the fun out of it.

When Big E, Kofi Kingston and Woods began being allowed to do their own thing with the gimmick, the whole focus changed. Making them heels allowed them the creativity to be really, really silly, and suddenly Woods – the least valuable wrestler in the stable – became the MVP of the faction.

His posturing and hectoring outside of the ring became the best part of every match. He brought a trombone to ringside, and got it over with the crowd. That’s the mark of true greatness, right there.

3. Corey Graves

I don’t want to jump on the bandwagon, but there was nothing great about the Corey Graves character on NXT. Had he been a superlative wrestler, the infelicities of style caused by his appropriation of every single square inch of alternative culture at once might have been forgiven.

Had he been a mesmerising talker, the fact that he wasn’t a superlative wrestler might have been forgiven. Had he been astonishingly good-looking… you see where I’m going with this.

None of these things were true. Graves was good but not great in the ring, good but not great on the stick, good-looking but not great-looking (the dodgy eyes didn’t help). When he was invalided out with a nasty relative of our old nemesis, post-concussion syndrome, part of me was relieved… because I wanted to like Graves, and I couldn’t. The NXT crowd seemed to feel the same way.

Then he appeared on the E60: Behind The Curtain TV special, and suddenly we all found a reason to like Graves… or rather, the man behind the STAY DOWN knuckle tattoos. Matthew Polinsky had a wife and kids, and this was all he’d ever wanted to do… and now it was being taken away from him.

When Triple H broke the news that he’d be unable to wrestle again, there were no dry eyes to be found anywhere. Graves was finally over – and Graves was over.

The silver lining of the documentary for Polinsky was that he was being offered a two year contract as NXT’s new announcer. It was small beer, but it was something – and then it turned out that the guy who was good, but not great on the mic was great, not just good, as a heelish colour commentator.

Today, Corey Graves is one of the several MVPs of NXT’s programming. He can get a storyline over concisely and articulately like few others in the industry, he’s funny as f*ck, and he’s cool, cool in a way he never was as a wrestler. Today, Corey Graves is my boy. I knew there was a reason I always wanted to like him.

2. The Rock

This is a no-brainer, and the most obvious entry in this article: so let’s skip all the stuff you already know, and work out why it is that The Rock worked out so well while Rocky Maivia needed to ‘die Rocky die’.

Part of it was a sign of the times. Bret Hart has a theory that well-off ECW fans began to buy ringside seats to every WWF show in the northeast, booing the babyfaces and cheering the heels until everyone who watched RAW on television thought that was the reaction they were supposed to have, and a sea change began.

However it started, the Attitude Era killed the white meat babyface for years, and Rocky Maivia was just the first and most famous casualty.

Part of it was the way that television works these days. It’s an open secret that in the last twenty years or so, the classic babyface character has become a really difficult character to pull off and pull off well: in a television era like this, audiences have become used to morally complex characters played with layered performances.

Part of it was simply, honestly, that Dwayne Johnson sucked as a happy-go-lucky babyface, and sucked badly. The cheesy grin, the slapping hands on the way to the ring. His finishing move blew goats. His reactions were weird and off-kilter. His clothes made me want to travel back to summer 1971, kill myself and somehow frame his parents for my murder so that they’d never get to conceive him.

As much as The Rock in 2016 makes me want to spit bullets, The Rock in 1998 was the finest thing on television, and made me glad that I chose not to abuse the privilege of time travel after all.

1. The Miz

If there’s anyone that’s turned opinions around like The Miz, I have yet to see them. Mike Mizanin had all the downside of the reality television/Tough Enough stigma with none of the upside of John Hennigan’s athleticism and looks.

He didn’t have a cool bone in his body. He wasn’t much of a wrestler. His version of a promo involved booming versions of other people’s promos at the crowd, like bad karaoke. Yes, that’s actually the problem: he was a karaoke wrestler.

I can’t put my finger on exactly when it changed, but the Miz finally got it. He still wasn’t cool (you either are or you aren’t – trust me, I’m painfully aware of that), but he’d developed the ability to work, and he started cutting his own promos. More than that, he proved himself right.

He really did want this more than practically anyone else. He refused to give up, kept working hard to be better and kept actually getting better.

WWE isn’t supposed to foster that kind of softly, softly, catchee monkey approach to getting over. They’re too impatient, and these days they don’t make stars like they used to. But somehow the Miz got the room to breathe and develop, and become one of the best character workers on the roster.

He can’t work babyface right now: he’s proven that, too. But few of us hate him anymore. It’s given way to a grudging admiration: the man’s found his niche as the midcard heel b*stard it’s okay to love, and when he’s on form there are few heels that can touch him. Jericho, for sure – but few others… because he’s the Miz. And he’s awesome.

9 Awesome Wrestling Matches that Ended in a Draw

source// wwe.com

If you were to ask the average WWE fan what their opinion is on a match ending in a draw, a whole lot of them would probably go and tell you to eat a dick. Two (or more) superstars being “tied” for the win is about as bad as the Fingerpoke of Doom. Okay, maybe not quite that bad, but bad nonetheless.

Believe it or not, it can be done without making both sides – and the company – look bad. The logistics of the match can get a little messy when a draw is the end result, but as long as everyone involved is on the same page, and the scripted finish makes at least a modicum of sense, crowds won’t start rioting once the bell rings and both guys’ hands are raised.

That’s not to say that some fans won’t feel a little cheated by these non-decisions. After all, the words “draw” and “tie” are usually synonyms for “anti-climactic”. Still, there are some examples out their when this type of finish actually elevates the wrestlers and does more good than bad.

Whether the result were good or bad is really up to you, but these nine matches were awesome. They just couldn’t choose a clear winner…

9. Royal Rumble Match 1994

Of all the matches you’d expect to end in a draw, The Royal Rumble seems like it would naturally be on the exemption list. How do you end this type of contest, where a competitor is eliminated by getting chucked over the top rope, in a damn tie?

Well, the answer to that should be pretty clear to anyone who remembers the 2005 debacle with John Cena and Batista, when both men hit the floor at the same time and caused some very real confusion from the refs and brought about the very real fury of Vince McMahon.

But unlike that unscripted mess, the Lex Luger-Bret Hart Royal Rumble co-win was actually planned that way.

It was a great way to build up a feud between the two superstars, who were both fighting it out for the spot of “top guy” as Hulk Hogan’s recent departure had cleared the way for some new blood to make an impact in the main event scene.

The crowd was obviously baffled by the finish, even after president Jack Tunney came out to explain the result. Suffice it to say, they haven’t scripted a Rumble draw ever since (which is why Vince was so pissed in 2005).

That match was still a tremendous launching point for several of the New Generation superstars, particularly Diesel, who received a tremendous reaction from the crowd, even though he was a heel at the time. Sadly, it will always be remembered more for its unusual finish than for the quality work of the participants.

8. Bret Hart Vs. Diesel – Royal Rumble 1995

Just one year after Bret Hart was involved with the strange Royal Rumble draw, they decided it would be a good idea to have The Hitman come out non-victorious once again in a similar fashion after his match with Big Daddy Cool.

There were been a number of incredible matches between these two during the New Generation era, as they had a sure ability to bring out the best in each other. Though their bout at Survivor Series this same year probably takes the cake as the best of the bunch, their match for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble certainly gets some of the frosting.

It had its flaws to be sure, with the most egregious of them coming at the very end of the match, when about half of the locker room came out to interfere in the proceedings, beating down both men.

That’s what ultimately led to it being declared a draw, which was a bit of a disappointment for fans who wanted to see these two genuinely have it out for the gold (though the ensuing handshake and hug was an excellent touch, as it was a nice us-against-them type of response after getting their asses kicked by everyone else in the building).

7. Triple H Vs. Shawn Michaels – Royal Rumble 2004

What is it about the Royal Rumble pay-per-view that brings out the sudden need for parity among its competitors? Just a year before the infamous Cena/Batista clusterkerfuffle, and on the ten year anniversary of the Luger/Hart draw, the WWE creative team decided that neither man in the HBK versus HHH Last Man Standing Match would emerge victorious.

And yet, surprisingly, the finish really didn’t matter. Despite the fact that this was a big match on a big PPV with the World Heavyweight Championship on the line, the amount of blood, sweat, and tears both guys put into this one was enough to make the result a satisfying one, especially since it meant an inevitable rematch down the road at WrestleMania.

Just don’t tell that to the crowd in attendance, whose chants were less than favorable that night.

Also, while Triple H was getting carted off, with the members of Evolution by his side for support, Shawn Michaels demanded the medical staff let him off the stretcher so he could walk back up the ramp on his own like a badass. So even if you were disappointed by the way this one ended, you at least had to acknowledge that this moment was a pretty nifty way of declaring HBK the true Last Man Standing.

6. Randy Orton Vs. Edge – Over The Limit 2010

Any match that ends without a clear winner will always its detractors, but there may not be a WWE fan alive who thinks the double count-out to end this match was a satisfying way for things to wrap up.

In a match that reportedly saw Randy Orton dislocating his shoulder right before the scripted finish, fans in attendance and at home were left confused at the way the latter half of this one played out. Orton, who is no stranger to shoulder injuries, appeared to injure it when he got dropped onto the barricade. But that was likely worked, using the disadvantage to position Orton as the underdog.

And holy hell was the crowd into that. They’d had some great matches before Over the Limit, but this one was a nearly flawless example of playing the crowd like a fiddle. But while pounding the mat in preparation for an RKO, Orton apparently put a little too much oomph it, popping his shoulder out, resulting in an awkward exchange that featured Orton walking around like a gorilla and Edge pretending that getting lightly tapped with a boot is the same thing as getting punted.

Since Orton couldn’t hit the RKO with his dangly arm, they adjusted the finish to Edge missing a Spear and nailing his head on the barricade, leading to a double count-out. It was a disappointing finish that, unfortunately, pretty much killed the momentum of what promised to be an excellent feud between Edge and Orton.

5. Kurt Angle Vs. Shawn Michaels – Raw Homecoming (2005)

J.R.’s assertion that “you’re about to see a classic” and Coach’s belief that “you can hype it up all you want and it’s still going to be under-hyped” wasn’t just hyperbole. This 30 Minute Iron Man match was a top-to-bottom masterpiece, and both performers were near the very top of their game.

They took no time getting after it, as the usually showboating Michaels decided to forgo all the pretenses and charged right after the Olympic Gold Medalist. It wasn’t always the prettiest match, but the intensity never died down from the moment the opening bell was rung. This was an exhibit on tenacity and resiliency, with reversals and near-falls aplenty.

And just when it seemed like there was going to be a last-minute submission by Angle to secure the win, Michaels was able to roll out of the Ankle Lock. Then it looked like HBK was going to take the match with some Sweet Chin Music but, unfortunately, there was only one second left on the clock by the time Michaels went for the pin.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you turn a tie into high drama.

4. The Steiner Brothers Vs. Bret & Owen Hart – 1994

One of the few WWE tag team matches to ever end in a draw, The Steiner Brothers vs. The Hart Brothers also remains one of the most exceptional (and seriously underrated) tag performances in WWE history.

In terms of technicality, it’s hard to find a better example of how to incorporate amateur wrestling moves into a pro wrestling match and still keep it exciting. And just to go all-in on the technical aspects of this matchup, Mr. Perfect was in on commentary.

Scott Steiner, for one, has never looked better that he did here, showcasing his incredible strength while proving he could execute complex moves just as well as his brother. His time in the ring with Owen was especially illuminating, as their styles contrasted in very entertaining fashion.

All told, this match was a 30-minute classic and somehow the double count-out decision wasn’t even a disappointment. It actually felt kinda right. This match certainly requires more patience than today’s matches, but if you’re willing to watch things breathe and escalate naturally, you can’t go wrong here.

3. Terry Funk Vs. Sabu Vs. Shane Douglas – ECW The Night The Line Was Crossed

Back when ECW still stood for Eastern Championship Wrestling, there was certainly no shortage of guys on the roster who were willing to bring the extreme side of things into the ring. Chief among them: Sabu and Terry Funk. But, perhaps surprisingly to fans at the time, it was Shane Douglas who would really elevate this match into ‘classic’ territory.

Billed as an American Three Way Dance, which had a time limit of 60 minutes and some unusual, Royal Rumble-style rules regarding how the competitors were introduced into the match, this ended up being the bout that put ECW on the map. It blended classic wrestling psychology, technical maneuvers, and a dangerous hardcore element that made it impossible not to get engrossed by.

The whole thing turned into mesmerizing bedlam in the last ten minutes, with The Bad Breed and Sherri Martel all interfering in a major way, while Funk beat down the referee like an insane person. Also of note, Sabu began his long and storied tradition of botching the hell out of every high-risk maneuver he ever tried.

It was messy, and only got messier once the time limit ran its course and no clear winner was decided. But the crowd certainly didn’t seem to mind, erupting at the announcer’s statement that the match had “no winner”. It didn’t matter. It was about the action in the ring, not whose hand was raised at the end of it.

2. Samoa Joe Vs. CM Punk II – Ring of Honor (2004)

Nowadays, if a match were to last for 60 minutes and, at the end of that time, no one came out the other end the winner, there would be a full-scale mutiny in the building. But rewind to 2004, where a young Samoa Joe and CM Punk did exactly that in Ring of Honor, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a disappointed fan in the stands.

Of course, it helps when the two wrestlers going at it have an almost endless bag of tricks from which to choose from, and excel at multiple styles of wrestling. Creating a blend of Japanese martial arts, technical submissions, and old-school wrestling psychology, these two told an Oscar-worthy story inside the ring.

If you were to count the number of different holds performed in this one match, it would take longer to list than that time Chris Jericho decided to name all 1,004 holds he knew on an episode of WCW Nitro. And sometimes that level of persistent technicality and never-ending reversals can get tiresome (as one disgruntled fan expressed around the halfway mark of the match, to which Punk replied that he could leave, drawing a generous pop from the rest of the crowd), but these guys made it work.

And with the exception of that one jerk mentioned earlier, the entire crowd was vocalizing their support and admiration of the match for pretty much the entire time. The result didn’t matter as much as the performance.

1. Sting Vs. Ric Flair – Clash Of Champions 1988

It simply does not get much better than this matchup. Ever. Draw or no draw, The Stinger vs. The Nature Boy remains an undisputed classic, and a prime example of an established superstar helping to launch the career of a young up-and-comer.

Even though Ric Flair has excelled at portraying an ego-maniac for the majority of his career, there may not be a more humble, steadfast company man than The Nature Boy in the history of sports entertainment. Not so coincidentally, Sting has followed in his footsteps as a loyal and dedicated professional.

Back in 1988, Sting had risen up the ranks of the NWA in just a few short months. It was clear the top brass had a lot of faith in his abilities and wanted to give him a major push into the spotlight, which is why they booked him opposite Flair.

The match itself was a picture-perfect showcase for the young Sting, with Flair selling every hammerlock like it was ripping the life out of him. It was as intense as they come, and the blend of high-flying (but logical) aerial maneuvers from Sting and the technically precise (and somewhat desperate) tactics of Flair meshed extremely well.

When the 45 minute time limit had expired, it made sense for this one to end in a hard-fought draw. Sting was still a little too fresh-faced to be taken seriously as the man, but having him convincingly go the distance with the top guy in the company made him an instant star, even without claiming the title.