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**NeanderCarl** · 11-22-2006, 01:48 PM

Hulkamania Era 1984-1988
I was not watching at the time, so my opinion is based on the back catalogue of cards and matches I have seen since.

Wrestler Of The Era
Randy Savage
Intense, agile, larger than life with a penchant for bringing the best out of his opponents and even having exciting matches with goons like Greg Valentine and Butch Reed, plus the most captivating interview in the biz at the time. Savage was years ahead of the pack.

Champion Of The Era
Hulk Hogan.
Took the WWF title and catapulted the belt and the company to a level of mainstream popularity nobody ever thought possible. Never an amazing worker in the ring, Hogan may be the greatest of all time outside of it.

Tag Team Of The Era
The Hart Foundation
Just pipped the British Bulldogs to the post, because the Harts were the complete package, whereas the Bulldogs were more straight laced. The Harts had charisma, could carry interviews, had heat magnet Jimmy Hart in their corner and were the focus of several memorable angles, and many great matches. Although when his weaknesses were exposed in solo action, the Anvil was truly abysmal, when paired with Hart his power-based technique and hot-tag house clearing (when they were faces) complemented rather than detracted from the Hitman's smooth wrestling skills.

Babyface Of The Era
Hulk Hogan
Although there were many great babyfaces during this period, nobody could touch Hogan for popularity (although Jake Roberts and Randy Savage came very close at times.)

Heel Of The Era
Ted DiBiase
I struggled to justify not giving my heel of the era award to the man who stood opposite Hogan at the biggest match of the era, Andre The Giant. But Andre was not the best man on the stick, and relied on Bobby Heenan for a lot of his heat. DiBiase, on the other hand, was a tremendous interview, a great character, and could deliver in the ring when the bell rang. Andre and Roddy Piper were both strong contenders for this award.

Card Of The Era
Survivor Series 1988
For the most part, WWE pay-per-views around this time were pretty weak. WM3 was the biggest, but match quality sucked for most of it. WM4 is a personal favourite of mine, but Survivor Series 88 had that 10-team tag team match which was tremendous, and a lot of action and big stars elsewhere on the card. Barely a bad match on the card, but too many jobbers involved for a pay-per-view. WrestleMania 4 came close second.

Match Of The Era
Powers of Pain, Hart Foundation, Young Stallions, The Rockers and British Bulldogs vs. Demolition, Conquistadors, Brain Busters, Bolsheviks and The Fabulous Rougeaus.
The aforementioned ten-team elimination match from Survivor Series 1988. A personal favourite of mine, which was action packed and featured a Demolition and Powers of Pain/Mr Fuji double-turn (which was confusingly executed, but led to a face run for the Demos so all good.)

Character/Gimmick Of The Era
"The Million Dollar Man"
Turned Ted DiBiase into a super-heel and led to some of the most memorable angles and interviews in wrestling history. And DiBiase must have had a ball living the gimmick.

Angle Of The Era
Andre Turns On Hogan on Piper's Pit.
The old friend turns on Hogan routine had already been done, but never with so much success as when Andre aligned with Bobby Heenan and tore Hogan's crucifix from around his neck on Piper's Pit. Pity the match turned out to be the pits (no pun intended).

Worst Wrestler Of The Era
Andre The Giant
Okay, I know he was in bad physical shape by this time, and that he only came back into wrestling because Vince McMahon begged him to, so I'm not blaming him, but he was atrocious from around 1986 onwards. He could have walked away, he chose not to. So he's fair game for this award.

-----------------------------------------

What The World Is Watching 1989-1992

Wrestler Of The Era
Mr. Perfect
Basing this on match quality and character, rather than position on the card, I have to say my favourite in-ring performer from this era was Curt Hennig. From human powerball bump machine opposite Hulk Hogan, to the pride of the Heenan Family as the perfect Intercontinental champion, to my personal match of the era in which he single-handedly established Bret Hart as a singles force, to his babyface comeback at Survivor Series 1992. Even a 15 month layoff due to a back injury didn't convince me to hand this award elsewhere.

Champion Of The Era
Mr. Perfect
While Ultimate Warrior was dragging the WWF World title through the mud, and teams like The Nasty Boys and Money Inc. were stripping the World tag team titles of all the prestige in had gained in the hands of the Harts and Demos, Curt Hennig was busy establishing the WWF Intercontinental championship as the worker's title, where the real wrestling action could be found. Probably the best Intercontinental champion never to take that next step to main event-dom.

Tag Team Of The Era
Demolition
They started as a Road Warriors rip-off. It is to Ax and Smash's credit, then, that they are now remembered as a legendary team in their own right. They were great Tag Team Champs, although they couldn't hold a candle to the Harts, Rockers or Brain Busters from an in-ring standpoint. But a memorable gimmick, and a great title run make the popular Demolition my tag team of the era. The addition of Crush, and the arrival of the Legion of Doom, killed the team dead in 1991. But that 1988-1990 period was golden for the "Walking Disasters".

Babyface Of The Era
Hulk Hogan
Hogan clings on to the Babyface of the Era award, simply because of a lack of competition. He was called upon to rescue the WWF when Ultimate Warrior flopped in the role, despite his enthusiasm waning by the turn of the decade. Warrior and Randy Savage were his only contenders for this award.

Heel Of The Era
Ric Flair
Man, what a stir this guy caused. It's just a pity that his emergence as the WWF's number one heel led to a massive ratings and houseshow attendance drop (not single-handedly, of course, but he didn't do a lot to stop the rot in his time in Stamford.) His arrival as the "Real World Champion", followed by his stunning Royal Rumble championship win, and classic matches against Savage and Hart, coupled with several brilliant angles ("She was mine before she was yours, Randy!") led Ric to my Heel of the Era award.

Card Of The Era
Royal Rumble 1992
A fine opening match between The New Foundation and The Orient Express, an entertaining title match which saw Roddy Piper win his first taste of WWF gold off The Mountie, and the greatest Royal Rumble match in history, in which Bobby Heenan cheered Ric Flair to victory over the most star studded Rumble roster ever, in Flair's last GREAT moment. SummerSlams '91 and '92, and WM8 were all in the running, but overall didn't come close. The aforementioned matches were so good, I conveniently forgot about the awful Beverly Brothers vs Bushwhackers and Legion of Doom vs Natural Disasters matches on the card.

Match Of The Era
Bret "Hitman" Hart vs Mr. Perfect, SummerSlam 1991
The fact that Hennig was suffering a debilitating back injury and still managed to contest one of the greatest matches ever seen in a WWF ring should say all you need to know about his abilities. Putting the previously mid-card-at-best Bret Hart over as a credible Intercontinental champion, in a tremendous match, this was Hennig's peak. Hart would struggle to top it too.

Character/Gimmick Of The Era
"Real World Champion" Ric Flair
Having Ric Flair stroll into WWF with the NWA/WCW World title, and proclaiming himself the REAL World Champion, was a stroke of genius. It was a moment wrestling fans at the time could not believe. (Imagine John Cena showing up on Impact! with his spinner title.) Flair was still in his prime as a worker, and at his best as a heel, and this shocking character was the buzz of the wrestling world in 1991/1992.

Angle Of The Era
The Cobra Attack
When Jake The Snake Roberts unleashed his cobra on Randy Savage on WWF Superstars in late 1991, it was perhaps the most graphic (and creative) sneak attack ever seen in the WWF. Battering Savage, slapping Elizabeth and scaring the shit out of the audience and fellow wrestlers alike, Jake The Heel was never any better than at this point in time. Plus this angle brought Savage out of retirement with a level of popularity, thanks to Roberts, which would take him all the way to another WWF championship run.

Worst Wrestler Of The Era
Fred "Tugboat/Typhoon" Ottman
As Andre pretty much retired during this period, I gave the award to the atrocious Ottman. He beat out some stiff competition in Zeus, The Warlord and Hercules, amongst others. This was the era of the awful power wrestler.

This is pretty time consuming. Back with the next era in a bit...

11-22-2006, 01:48 PM	#2
NeanderCarl That's Not My Name Posts: 9,086	Hulkamania Era 1984-1988 I was not watching at the time, so my opinion is based on the back catalogue of cards and matches I have seen since. Wrestler Of The Era Randy Savage Intense, agile, larger than life with a penchant for bringing the best out of his opponents and even having exciting matches with goons like Greg Valentine and Butch Reed, plus the most captivating interview in the biz at the time. Savage was years ahead of the pack. Champion Of The Era Hulk Hogan. Took the WWF title and catapulted the belt and the company to a level of mainstream popularity nobody ever thought possible. Never an amazing worker in the ring, Hogan may be the greatest of all time outside of it. Tag Team Of The Era The Hart Foundation Just pipped the British Bulldogs to the post, because the Harts were the complete package, whereas the Bulldogs were more straight laced. The Harts had charisma, could carry interviews, had heat magnet Jimmy Hart in their corner and were the focus of several memorable angles, and many great matches. Although when his weaknesses were exposed in solo action, the Anvil was truly abysmal, when paired with Hart his power-based technique and hot-tag house clearing (when they were faces) complemented rather than detracted from the Hitman's smooth wrestling skills. Babyface Of The Era Hulk Hogan Although there were many great babyfaces during this period, nobody could touch Hogan for popularity (although Jake Roberts and Randy Savage came very close at times.) Heel Of The Era Ted DiBiase I struggled to justify not giving my heel of the era award to the man who stood opposite Hogan at the biggest match of the era, Andre The Giant. But Andre was not the best man on the stick, and relied on Bobby Heenan for a lot of his heat. DiBiase, on the other hand, was a tremendous interview, a great character, and could deliver in the ring when the bell rang. Andre and Roddy Piper were both strong contenders for this award. Card Of The Era Survivor Series 1988 For the most part, WWE pay-per-views around this time were pretty weak. WM3 was the biggest, but match quality sucked for most of it. WM4 is a personal favourite of mine, but Survivor Series 88 had that 10-team tag team match which was tremendous, and a lot of action and big stars elsewhere on the card. Barely a bad match on the card, but too many jobbers involved for a pay-per-view. WrestleMania 4 came close second. Match Of The Era Powers of Pain, Hart Foundation, Young Stallions, The Rockers and British Bulldogs vs. Demolition, Conquistadors, Brain Busters, Bolsheviks and The Fabulous Rougeaus. The aforementioned ten-team elimination match from Survivor Series 1988. A personal favourite of mine, which was action packed and featured a Demolition and Powers of Pain/Mr Fuji double-turn (which was confusingly executed, but led to a face run for the Demos so all good.) Character/Gimmick Of The Era "The Million Dollar Man" Turned Ted DiBiase into a super-heel and led to some of the most memorable angles and interviews in wrestling history. And DiBiase must have had a ball living the gimmick. Angle Of The Era Andre Turns On Hogan on Piper's Pit. The old friend turns on Hogan routine had already been done, but never with so much success as when Andre aligned with Bobby Heenan and tore Hogan's crucifix from around his neck on Piper's Pit. Pity the match turned out to be the pits (no pun intended). Worst Wrestler Of The Era Andre The Giant Okay, I know he was in bad physical shape by this time, and that he only came back into wrestling because Vince McMahon begged him to, so I'm not blaming him, but he was atrocious from around 1986 onwards. He could have walked away, he chose not to. So he's fair game for this award. ----------------------------------------- What The World Is Watching 1989-1992 Wrestler Of The Era Mr. Perfect Basing this on match quality and character, rather than position on the card, I have to say my favourite in-ring performer from this era was Curt Hennig. From human powerball bump machine opposite Hulk Hogan, to the pride of the Heenan Family as the perfect Intercontinental champion, to my personal match of the era in which he single-handedly established Bret Hart as a singles force, to his babyface comeback at Survivor Series 1992. Even a 15 month layoff due to a back injury didn't convince me to hand this award elsewhere. Champion Of The Era Mr. Perfect While Ultimate Warrior was dragging the WWF World title through the mud, and teams like The Nasty Boys and Money Inc. were stripping the World tag team titles of all the prestige in had gained in the hands of the Harts and Demos, Curt Hennig was busy establishing the WWF Intercontinental championship as the worker's title, where the real wrestling action could be found. Probably the best Intercontinental champion never to take that next step to main event-dom. Tag Team Of The Era Demolition They started as a Road Warriors rip-off. It is to Ax and Smash's credit, then, that they are now remembered as a legendary team in their own right. They were great Tag Team Champs, although they couldn't hold a candle to the Harts, Rockers or Brain Busters from an in-ring standpoint. But a memorable gimmick, and a great title run make the popular Demolition my tag team of the era. The addition of Crush, and the arrival of the Legion of Doom, killed the team dead in 1991. But that 1988-1990 period was golden for the "Walking Disasters". Babyface Of The Era Hulk Hogan Hogan clings on to the Babyface of the Era award, simply because of a lack of competition. He was called upon to rescue the WWF when Ultimate Warrior flopped in the role, despite his enthusiasm waning by the turn of the decade. Warrior and Randy Savage were his only contenders for this award. Heel Of The Era Ric Flair Man, what a stir this guy caused. It's just a pity that his emergence as the WWF's number one heel led to a massive ratings and houseshow attendance drop (not single-handedly, of course, but he didn't do a lot to stop the rot in his time in Stamford.) His arrival as the "Real World Champion", followed by his stunning Royal Rumble championship win, and classic matches against Savage and Hart, coupled with several brilliant angles ("She was mine before she was yours, Randy!") led Ric to my Heel of the Era award. Card Of The Era Royal Rumble 1992 A fine opening match between The New Foundation and The Orient Express, an entertaining title match which saw Roddy Piper win his first taste of WWF gold off The Mountie, and the greatest Royal Rumble match in history, in which Bobby Heenan cheered Ric Flair to victory over the most star studded Rumble roster ever, in Flair's last GREAT moment. SummerSlams '91 and '92, and WM8 were all in the running, but overall didn't come close. The aforementioned matches were so good, I conveniently forgot about the awful Beverly Brothers vs Bushwhackers and Legion of Doom vs Natural Disasters matches on the card. Match Of The Era Bret "Hitman" Hart vs Mr. Perfect, SummerSlam 1991 The fact that Hennig was suffering a debilitating back injury and still managed to contest one of the greatest matches ever seen in a WWF ring should say all you need to know about his abilities. Putting the previously mid-card-at-best Bret Hart over as a credible Intercontinental champion, in a tremendous match, this was Hennig's peak. Hart would struggle to top it too. Character/Gimmick Of The Era "Real World Champion" Ric Flair Having Ric Flair stroll into WWF with the NWA/WCW World title, and proclaiming himself the REAL World Champion, was a stroke of genius. It was a moment wrestling fans at the time could not believe. (Imagine John Cena showing up on Impact! with his spinner title.) Flair was still in his prime as a worker, and at his best as a heel, and this shocking character was the buzz of the wrestling world in 1991/1992. Angle Of The Era The Cobra Attack When Jake The Snake Roberts unleashed his cobra on Randy Savage on WWF Superstars in late 1991, it was perhaps the most graphic (and creative) sneak attack ever seen in the WWF. Battering Savage, slapping Elizabeth and scaring the shit out of the audience and fellow wrestlers alike, Jake The Heel was never any better than at this point in time. Plus this angle brought Savage out of retirement with a level of popularity, thanks to Roberts, which would take him all the way to another WWF championship run. Worst Wrestler Of The Era Fred "Tugboat/Typhoon" Ottman As Andre pretty much retired during this period, I gave the award to the atrocious Ottman. He beat out some stiff competition in Zeus, The Warlord and Hercules, amongst others. This was the era of the awful power wrestler. This is pretty time consuming. Back with the next era in a bit... Last edited by NeanderCarl; 11-22-2006 at 02:54 PM.