Did Babe Ruth call his shot? Did Sonny Liston take a dive? Was the 1985 NBA draft lottery rigged? And which athletes have used steroids to get an edge?
When it comes to sports, there will always be questions without answers. No matter who you ask, no matter how close you get to the source, some stories will never be fully understood. This is especially true when it comes to wrestling.
Even moreso than sports, wrestling is protective of its behind the scenes happenings. For years, it was a business that prided itself on fooling people into believe it was real, the art of kayfabe as it were. Still, as the world moved into the information age that it is still currently enjoying, more was learned about what happened behind the scenes in wrestling.
Today's Wrestlemania Countdown piece will discuss things that I may not be 100 percent on. Yes, these are urban legends, stories that have made their way from fan to fan without any of us ever knowing the full truth. Most of these have been accepted as something of fact, but we know better. Thus, I present them to you as rumor and legend. You can decide on their respective validities for yourself:
5. Will Andre do the job (Wrestlemania 3)? - The key to the wrestling business is for two men or women to go out and perform what they are told. There is a predetermined winner and loser (sorry if I bursted bubbles with that revelation, but while I'm at it, there's no Santa Claus or tooth fairy either!) and the performers have to put on a show before getting to that finish. What if one of the performers didn't want to do that finish though and decided to shoot without telling anyone? This was the fear with Andre at Wrestlemania 3. Of course, if Andre decided he didn't want Hogan to win, he could very easily lay on top of Hogan and not let him up, thus causing Hogan to lose. There was great fear (supposedly) that this would happen, and with 93,000 people in attendeance, this was something to certainly freak out about. This was THE main event at THE Wrestlemania that would become the standard bearer for all shows that followed. If it went wrong, who knows if we'd still have Wrestlemania today. Luckily, Andre went through with it, even allowing Hogan to bodyslam him, which not many people had done. That slam is now stuff of legend and reminds young fans today of Andre's greatness. Had he gone the other way, who knows how young fans today might think of the great giant?
4. Why does Hogan have a black eye (Wrestlemania 9) - This show is probably most infamous for Hogan stealing the spotlight from Bret Hart, but before that even went off, there was a mystery to be solved. Unfortunately, Scooby and Shaggy were unavailable that night, so we are still uncertain of the truth. Here's what we do know though: Hogan showed up to that show with a black eye. Actually, he had it a little before the show, but the cause of it was still mostly unknown. Legend has it that Hogan was punched in the face by Macho Man, who thought Hogan was too close to Elizabeth (life imitating art?), but we're still not sure of this. The WWF claimed that Hogan was injured in a Jet ski accident while the on screen answer for this injury was that Ted Dibiase had Hogan beat up to weaken him before their match. To this day, no one knows for sure why Hogan had that black eye, but it sure did make for some interesting water cooler discussion that Monday. Well, I'm guessing. Back then, my water cooler was the water fountain by the music room at Rhame Avenue Elementary school.......
3. A Battle of Egos (Wrestlemania 8) - As we discussed in a previous article, the WWF was presented with an enormous opportunity for Wrestlemania 8. The two biggest wrestling stars in the world were finally in the same company, setting up a dream match at Wrestlemania..........that never happened. Supposedly, and the fact that this match was supposed to happen is verified on the "True Story of Wrestlemania" DVD, neither man would agree to do the job. Thus, neither man being able to put ego aside may have cost us an incredible main event. Ironically, Flair lost at Wrestlemania anyway, losing the WWF title he won at the Royal Rumble to Randy Savage in one of my favorite feuds of all time. Still, it seems odd to me that Flair would have no problem losing to Savage but fight against losing to Hogan. If I had to venture a guess, I think Flair figured that losing to Hogan (which he probably would have), would let people think that Hogan was always better and he wasn't willing to deal with that. Hogan wouldn't be either, so it was left on the table until the two met in WCW a few years later where it meant nothing. Luckily, the replacement title match was fantastic, so fretting on what could have been shouldn't be our biggest concern as wrestling fans.
2. The Honky Tonk Man Changes History (Wrestlemania 4)? - This one has a bit more of a backstory. When Ricky Steamboat won the Intercontinental title at Wrestlemania 3 in that classic bout with Randyh Savage, he was slated to be a long term champion. The WWF had planned on giving Steamboat a lengthy run with the gold, but plans changed quickly. You see, Steamboat wanted to be home for the birth of his son (current WWE developmental wrestler Richie Steamboat), but that was not a request that was granted at the time. Back then, wrestlers worked well over 300 days a year and asking for extended time off, especially as a champion, was basically a no-no. Thus, Vince and the WWF were mad at Steamboat and they had him lose his title to the Honky Tonk Man just 3 months after he won it. Steamboat wasn't around much after that, but HTM was. He got quite a big head from this as he was a very hated yet successful champion. When the card was being made up for Wrestlemania 4, the original plans supposedly called for Hulk Hogan and Ted Dibiase to meet in the finals, with Dibiase winning the gold. Hogan would then beat Dibiase at Summerslam to get the title back and move on to the Mega Powers angle after that. At the same time, Randy Savage was to beat the Honky Tonk Man for the Intercontinental Title at that show and hold that belt for a while. The legend goes that HTM vehemently refused to job to Savage, fearing that doing so would result in him losing a prominent spot on the card forever. For some reason, he actually got his way and ended up facing Brutus Beefcake instead. In feeling sorry for the Macho Man, the WWF decided to push him instead of Hogan to the tournament finals, which ended up culminating with Savage's first WWF title. Not a bad consolation prize, but had the supposed original plans gone through, Ted Dibiase would have gottan that WWF title which always alluded him. Certainly an interesting scenario to say the least. And on a side note, HTM is still the longest reigning Intercontinental Champion of all time. I guess it pays to be a jerk sometimes?
1. The curious case of Shawn Michaels (Wrestlemania 13) - Now this one is a bit complicated. At Wrestlemania 12, Shawn Michaels achieved the "boyhood dream" and captured the WWF title. The thing is, he was the biggest jerk in the land at the time and was not very liked backstage. Specifically, he had some real tension with Bret Hart, who he in fact beat for the title. Some say that Wrestlemania 13 was going to be headlined by this rematch for the title, with Hart coming out on top this time. Legend has it that Shawn refused to do the job for Hart and that is what caused the following events to happen. Shawn got the title back from Psycho Sid at the Royal Rumble. Shortly thereafter, Shawn announced on Raw that he had "lost his smile" and was contemplating retirement. Thus, the title was vacated and the end result was Undertaker vs. Sid for the title in the main event. Stealing the show in the semi-main event was Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin. Now, the other side of this is that Shawn did have a knee injury which he got repaired by the famous Dr. Andrews. Most say it could have waited until after the big show though, and Bret had claimed for a while that the injury was never legit anyway. It's pretty obvious that it was, but it wasn't nearly as serious as Shawn made it out to be. What I've never understood about this story though was that Shawn gave up a Wrestlemania payday because he didn't want to job? Why didn't he just politic for another match? Surely he could have drawn anyone else and still put on a show. It's this factor that makes me unsure as to what really happened. I mean, who passes up a Wrestlemania main event? Apparently Shawn, as that's what most people believe. Luckily, Shawn found g-d and rid himself of the attitude and drugs that plagued him around this time. Still, you have to wonder, if that rematch did happen, would Steve Austin have became the megastar he became? That match with Hart is considered the moment he became a star by many, so it is an interesting debate. My belief is that things happen for a reason and whatever that reasoning may be in this case, Shawn's absence may have gave way to one of the biggest stars of all time.
Keep in mind that I have in no way claimed that any of these stories are 100 percent accurate. They are tall tales and legends that those who read up on the business know about. For all we know, they may not be true. However, they all seem to have some validity and they all in some way greatly affected Wrestlemania.
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