8. Hulk Hogan vs. Paul Orndorff – 1/3/87
At the time this was one of the WWF’s biggest televised matches, being the blow-off for the legendary Hogan-Orndorff feud which lasted through most of 1986.
It was also the first steel cage match ever shown on free WWF television, and therefore felt like a huge deal. While this doesn’t get a lot of points for technique, it was a pretty good brawl that led to a false ending, when both men escaped the cage simultaneously. As I recall this was the first time I ever saw such a scenario, where two different referees declared opposing winners. The show broke for a commercial and when it resumed the match had been restarted. This of course led to Hogan getting the clear victory, settling this rivalry and freeing the Champion up for his impending feud with Andre the Giant.
7. British Bulldog vs. Shawn Michaels – 11/14/92
The Heartbreak Kid’s rise to singles success can largely be traced back to this match. He had turned heel ten months earlier but hadn’t figured into many major feuds yet, except as an early foil for then-I-C Champion Bret Hart. But at Summerslam ’92 Bret dropped that Title to Davey Boy Smith and soon after became the WWF Champion.
Behind the scenes the WWF was embroiled in steroid abuse allegations, and started clearing their roster of anyone who looked chemically-enhanced, including Davey. The new focus was on smaller, more athletic wrestlers to give the company a more legit image, and one of the first big steps was for Davey to drop the I-C Title to the slender Michaels. The match was quite good, as these two always had strong chemistry.
Shawn won by countering a superplex attempt, and thus began his first big singles push. Only eleven days after this aired he main evented Survivor Series against Bret, in another excellent showing.
