Gimmick Some Lovin': WrestleMania X8 No Disqualification Match

Caught in Limbo

Wrestlemania X8 is typically only remembered for the above Rock-Hogan clash, which is a shame.

2002 was a very strange year in the business of professional wrestling, sandwiched directly in between the end of the Attitude Era and the beginning of what is known as the Ruthless Aggression era.

Vince McMahon spent the first portion of 2001 building up to what is widely regarded as the greatest pay-per-view, or at least one of the five greatest PPVs, in the sport's history, Wrestlemania X7.

That show also brought about the first in a series of odd decisions (Stone Cold Steve Austin's much-debated heel turn and alignment with McMahon) which, when combined with odder choices afterward (nearly all of the storytelling choices made in the InVasion angle, which is a discussion for another time) and untimely injuries (to stars like Triple H and Chris Benoit), a significant portion of the fanbase saw that the Attitude Era was over and the WWF was no longer for them.

Chief among the sins committed by the InVasion angle was the fact that, due to talent being unavailable thanks to many top performers' contracts being with Time Warner rather than WCW, the invading force of Sting, Hogan, Flair, Goldberg, and the like (which many fans were itching for) instead became a stacked WWF roster pretending that Booker T and a cadre of mid- and undercarders like Buff Bagwell, Mark Jindrak, Bryan Adams, Lance Storm, and Mike Awesome were credible threats to their company and job security.

Pictured: the pride and glory of World Championship Wrestling, apparently.

Additionally, the InVasion story quickly became less about a true battle between two longstanding rival companies (and an upstart number three looking to play spoiler), and instead became just another witch-hunt gang story which, surprise surprise, centred on McMahon family drama.

The feud was thankfully taken behind the barn and shot at the 2001 Survivor Series where a winner-take-all contest between the WWF and The WCW/ECW Alliance (on the whole show, you could count on one hand the number of Alliance members who had competed on WCW or ECW television in the preceding 12 months) ended with the foregone conclusion of the elder McMahon remaining in business and his children's new toys being broken.

If the 30 for 30 episode is to be believed, at this point in his life, Flair would probably not be able to buy a WWF t-shirt without a loan, let alone a significant portion of the company.

Almost immediately after Vince was set to claim his WCW and ECW assets, though, it was revealed on Monday Night Raw that Shane and Stephanie could only afford to buy those two companies, respectively, because they sold their WWF stock to a mysterious investor, who turned out to be Ric Flair. Flair became the first significant WCW name to make the jump to the undisputed new king of cable wrestling, and a bitter blood feud began with McMahon almost immediately.