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HIGH QUALITY VIDEOS
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Reba McEntire sang a rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" before the show. Family Feud host Ray Combs was a special guest ring announcer for the eight-man tag match.
A scheduled match between The British Bulldog and The Berzerker did not take place due to time restraints. The finish to the Justice-Hogan match actually did not occur as planned. The original plan was for Hogan to hit the leg drop on Justice and for Papa Shango to do a run in and break up the pin causing a disqualification. However, Papa Shango either missed or misjudged his cue and was late in getting down to the ring. Justice improvised by kicking out of the leg drop. From there, Earl Hebner would disqualify Justice when his manager, Harvey Wippleman, interfered. The Legion of Doom were originally supposed to be the challengers for the Tag Team Championships but left the WWF briefly before returning at WrestleMania.
The original plan for the main event was the long awaited bout between Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship, the meeting between the two legends was even promoted on television in a mock press conference where WWF President Jack Tunney had announced Hogan as the number one contender to Flair's WWF Championship. Both Flair and Hogan had wrestled against each other in several house show matches and a televised tag match but never in a big money bout. WrestleMania VIII was changed to a double main event with Hogan wrestling Sid Justice, while Flair wrestled Randy Savage. For storyline purposes Sid Justice lobbied to wrestle Hulk Hogan due to tensions starting between the two at that year's Royal Rumble, where Hogan was eliminated by Sid Justice in the contest. This maneuver on Sid's part led Hogan to helping rival Ric Flair eliminate Justice and then win not only the Royal Rumble but the WWF World Championship in the process. This would make Ric Flair only the second man to win both the WWF and NWA Titles, the first being the original "Nature Boy", Buddy Rogers.
At the time the company had a "no blood" policy. Nonetheless, Ric Flair was caught blading directly on camera and was fined several thousand dollars.[citation needed] Although Bret Hart also bladed, he was discreet enough that it was considered an accident and no fine was levied.
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