By Josh Patton, PWTorch Specialist

Hello all! For those of you who read MMATorch, my name may sound a tad familiar or it may not. I have done some things for that site, as I am an avid MMA fan and follower. However, my first love was pro wrestling. I have fond memories of watching the WWF syndicated shows every weekend with my Grandfather and even going to a few AWA shows with him in Rochester.

Wrestling consumed my life for the longest time. The purpose of this article will be me going back in time to different angles, storylines, and situations that happened in wrestling's past and rebooking them the way I would have like to have seen. In no way am I saying that my way would have been the better, more successful way. Just pretending that all the orginizations book for me!

For this innagural column, we are going to take a look back and rebook the main event of "WrestleMania 6" from Toronto, Canada.

THE SITUATION

Entering 1990, Hulk Hogan had been the WWF Champion since 1989s "WrestleMania 5." After being held at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City the previous two years, the WWF announced that "WrestleMania 6" would emanate from Toronto, Canada's Skydome. The WWF's intent was to set the indoor attendance record at Skydome, which they eventually did.

The problem presented to Vince McMahon and company was: "What main event can we set up that will break the record?" It's no secret that what was settled on was a "face vs. face" match between World Champ Hulk Hogan and IC Champ The Ultimate Warrior. 67,678 fans packed the dome to see the card and what was to be a "passing of the torch" as Warrior pinned Hogan clean in the middle in the ring. As we know, Warrior didn't quite catch on as champ and Hogan was still given top billing at the next event when he faced Earthquake at "SummerSlam '90."

Although Hogan vs. Warrior is what ended up happening, that wasn't always the WWF's plan. Several matches were bandied about for that slot: Hulk Hogan vs. Zues (a real life version of "No Holds Barred"), a rematch vs. Randy Savage, and my personal choice: Hogan vs. Mr. Perfect. Mr. Perfect was talked about actually winning the "Royal Rumble" that year to lead to the match. As rumor has it, Hogan squashed that idea and won the "Rumble" for the first of two straight for Hogan.

It may not have had the marquee appeal of a match with Warrior, but I believe, if done correctly and with the right story, a headlining match against Mr. Perfect could have done great business. Allow me to show you how.

WHAT WOULD I HAVE DONE?

I would start with WWF's original plan of having Perfect win the "Royal Rumble." The final four in the ring are Perfect, Hogan, Ted Dibiase, and Jake Roberts. I would actually rip off the ending from 1992's "Rumble" a little bit. Roberts eliminates Dibiase after a bit of an effort. Hogan comes from behind and dumps Roberts over the top. Roberts is upset and argues with Hogan while Perfect sneaks from behind and dumps Hogan to the floor, winning the "Rumble."

"Saturday Night's Main Event" aired a week after the "Rumble." I am aware that the show was taped before the "Rumble," but for the purposes of this column, I am assuming that the show was taped at a later date. So, at "SNME" Hogan defends the title against Mr. Perfect. The promos leading up to the match would consist of Hogan saying Pefect proved what a snake he was by sneaking up on him to eliminate him. Pefect is ultra cocky and assures everyone that luck had nothing to do with anything and that he would become champion.

This would be your typical Hogan match. Hogan controls from the start and gets the upper hand, only to see Perfect coming back and controlling the middle part of the match. Hogan "Hulks Up" and begins his comeback. We get the finger wag, we get the "Youuuuu!!!," we get the punches, we get the boot, and we get the legdrop. The only problem is: we don't get the three. Perfect kicks out and Hogan, along with the announcers and the crowd are absolutely stunned! Hogan is clearly affected, but he continues and tries for the finish. Hogan sends Perfect to the ropes and ducks down for a "backdrop." Perfect locks up Hogan, delivers the "Perfect Plex," and gets the clean victory and the title to the shock of everyone!

At the time, Hogan was presented as the Superman who was impervious to anything wrong happening to him. In my opinion it led to him growing very stale. Doing something like this would show that Hogan wasn't invinceable like everyone thought and that if he wasn't careful, even he could be defeated.

The weeks after the bout would play out as such: On the syndicated shows, Pefect would cut some of his famous promos. Show him excelling at every sport. Also show him gallavanting around with his newly won title, bragging that he is really is perfect and has the belt to prove it. On the other side of the coin, for this to work, you need to show Hogan being vulnerable. Have him cut a promo or two where he is a little unsure of himself or just in plain shock that he lost the title. Have him admit that he may have taken Perfect lightly and it cost him. Have him show doubt. Even throw him into an arena interview with Mean Gene and have the crowd go ape with their support of Hogan, giving him the jolt to try to regain his title.

Now, you have the match set: Mr. Perfect vs. Hulk Hogan for the World Title at "WrestleMania 6."

In the last few weeks leading up to the match, we have more vignettes. Perfect is tuning up and looks in great shape, taunting Hogan all throughout his endeavors. Perfect assures everyone, especially all the "Hulkamaniacs" that he has Hogan's number and their nightmare will come true after "WrestleMania." Hogan, on the other hand, looks possessed. He is working out like crazy and has the "eye of the tiger," if you will. As he lifts weights, does push-ups, etc., you see Hogan focused on a large poster of Mr. Perfect hanging on the wall.

So, that brings us to the match at "WrestleMania." Before I get much more into that, I want to explain why I chose this route to get to the match. Like I said before, it was important to me that Hogan looked weak. Him showing vulnerability, I believe would rallied the fans behind him even more. Planting doubt in the fans mind that Hogan may not be a superhero afterall, I believe would make them want to see if it was actually true. You need antagonists and Perfect would have been, well, the "Perfect" choice. Let's not forget what this would have done for him. Giving him a clean victory and the title over Hogan would have given instant credibility to him and his character's claims of being Perfect. It would have established another top tier player in the WWF.

On to the match. You have the 67,000 plus going crazy for Hogan. This match would tell an interesting story. Perfect would have the upper hand in the first few minutes, getting the better of the early exchanges and snuffing out any potential outburst by Hogan. The key is that Hogan wouldn't get frustrated. He would get more aggressive and eventually start to take over, overwhelming Perfect. Perfect, knowing he's in trouble, ties up the referee, and sucker punches Hogan on the way in. Perfect then has his time in control and starts to dominate. Eventually, Perfect hits the "Perfect Plex" as the dome goes completely silent. ONE.....TWO.....AND A KICKOUT!!!! The dome erupts as Hogan "Hulk's up," goes through his routine, hits the "legdrop," and wins the match and the title back to a thunderous ovation. Hogan is once again the WWF Champion!

THE AFTERMATH

I won't go into any great detail about where things would go. I do think that since each man had a win apiece, this fued could have been drug out to a rubber match at "SummerSlam" or even a "SNME." Hogan would most likely go over, but Perfect is the better man for it. He would be known as the man who cleanly pinned Hulk Hogan, and like I said, it would give him a ton of credibility.

I honestly think this would have been the better way to go, admittedly with hindsight. Warrior would become a flop as champion and in a tad over a year, be out of the company. He never really regained the icon status that he had, even though it was very significantly less than Hogan's. Perfect would remain with the company as an active competitor until 93 and a personality until 96. I know that Warrior came back a few times, but this win would have made Perfect's career. As it was, Perfect didn't need the victory as he is still revered by fans and his peers as one of the greatest performers of the era. As a personal favorite of mine, I always thought that this would have been the right avenue for the WWF to go down.

Well, that's a wrap on this innagural edition of "Turning Back the Clock." I hope you enjoy it! Please feel free to leave me your comments, suggestions, and ideas positive or negative! That's all folks!

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