WWE WrestleMania: What every main event should have been

WrestleMania VII

Actual main event: Sgt. Slaughter vs. Hulk Hogan

What the main event should have been: The Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage

See, I told you I had some changes coming. The product was just so good from 1987-1990 that it actually was hard to change anything. However, now that we’ve arrived at WrestleMania VII, it’s hard to get on board with any main event involving Sgt. Slaughter, even if Hulk Hogan played the hero once again.

Here’s my issue with the whole thing: So Sgt. Slaughter comes back to WWE and is now an Iraqi sympathizer. Okay, that seems to be a little much but we can roll with that. Hulk Hogan had always been the American hero — I mean, his theme song was called “Real American” — and with the real-life events of Desert Shield and Desert Storm taking place, someone in WWE had to stand up to this. Of course it’s going to be Hogan. But do we need the WWE Championship involved here? I think not.

Since losing it to The Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VI, Hogan hadn’t gone near the title picture. He had a program with Earthquake that went on way too long, and perhaps it seemed that we could get a Warrior vs. Hogan rematch in Los Angeles. However, the war started and all of this happened. Hogan could have saved the day without the title involved. However, it was Hogan, and with the Warrior experiment not going as well as Vince wanted it to, the belt went back to The Hulkster. Here’s what I would have done.

The Macho Man was adamant about getting a title shot from Warrior. But the champ would never do it, which is why he attacked Warrior during his title match with Slaughter at the Royal Rumble. Instead of Warrior losing that match, he still wins and retains the title. But he’s now furious with Savage and finally gives him the title match at WrestleMania, but only if Savage puts his career on the line. So we can have the same storyline and all of the amazing drama with Miss Elizabeth play out exactly the way it did. Slaughter, who is furious at the loss, defaces the American flag as he did in celebrating the title win and Royal Rumble winner Hogan can still save the day.

Hogan and Slaughter have the grudge match. Savage and Warrior have the title match. Hogan wins. Warrior wins. Hogan beats Warrior at SummerSlam in the rematch. Hogan has the title and Warrior is out the door, which is how it played out anyway.