WrestleMania Rewind : Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania V

The granddaddy of them all, WrestleMania is just more than a month away. The anticipation for the extravaganza is sky high among the WWE Universe. And since the pay-per-view is richer than Richie rich when it comes to history, we have decided to take a look back at some of the best WrestleMania matches with this latest series.Over the last thirty years, WWE fans have witnessed some great WrestleMania matches. The Show stealer at WrestleMania 5 was the showdown between Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan.The top two guys in the wrestling business main eventing a show like WrestleMania smelt money for Vince McMahon and the match lived up to the hype as well. With that said, here is a look at how the match was built up, executed and how it changed the course of history.

#1 The Buildup

The friendship of Hogan and Savage started back in WrestleMania IV. Savage won the WWF championship at the event with the help of Hogan and soon, the duo formed a tag team known as the Mega Powers.

Alongside their manager, Miss Elizabeth, they dominated the main event scene for the following months and feuded with the lights of many heel tag teams. However, the sunshine days of Mega Powers came to an end thanks to Elizabeth.

Savage grew jealous of his wife Miss Elizabeth being close to Hogan and this made cracks in the relationship. These cracks were made even bigger when Hogan accidently eliminated Savage from the 1989 Royal Rumble.

The heel turn of Savage was completed on the February 3 episode of Main Event. The Mega powers were having a match with Twin Towers on the show and Hogan was taken backstage for medical attention in between the match. Savage felt alone in between the ropes and though Hogan returned later, Savage slapped the hell out of Hogan.

After the match, Savage attacked Hogan in the medical area which in turn underlined his heel turn. Hogan wasted no time in challenging Savage for a match at WrestleMania and Savage accepted with no hesitation.

#2 The Match

Apart from the personal grudge that both superstars had, the WWF Championship was also on the line at WrestleMania V. Hogan was not known for his wrestling skills back then when Savage was exact opposite. But it wasn’t purely wrestling that the fans wanted to see.

They were excited about the clash of the titans and nothing else mattered. The match started off with a lot of holds and some slams here and there. The first two near falls went in favor of Savage but Hogan managed to kick out of both.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth slowly started playing a bigger role in the match. She stopped Hogan from slamming Savage into the steel post and gave the Macho Man an advantage. This forced referee Dave Hebner to send Elizabeth backstage.

Despite the absence of his wife, Savage dominated the match. He delivered his trademark elbow off the top rope but Hogan still managed to kick out at two. The match turned upside down after that near fall. Hogan somehow found strength from within and started to make Savage sweat.

Soon, Hogan won the match with his big boot and leg drop and earned his second WWE Championship reign.

#3 The Fallout

The feud between Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan was pushed all the way to SummerSlam and beyond. However, instead of it being a one on one affair, WWE decided to add some new faces into the scene. Hogan’s silver screen nemesis Zeus was one among them and he went on to form an alliance with Savage.

Hogan on the other hand recruited his friend Brutus Beefcake to cover up the numbers game. The two teams faced off in SummerSlam with Hogan and Beefcake winning.

The rematch for the Hogan – Savage WrestleMania showdown came at the February 23, 1990 edition of Main Event and Hogan was victorious on that occasion as well.