The Golden Era was the starting point for almost everything associated with WWE. It was a time when the company went from a strong regional promotion to an international juggernaut. The money came rolling in by the truckload as the biggest characters of the era went to battle week in and week out.
It was these battles that made the era one of the best. So many classic battles were engaged in during the Golden Era. Matches that made wrestlers and helped to bring in a larger audience than any company had seen before.
They were the matches that defined an era and are still at the top of many a watch list. Let’s look at a list of these matches below.
Hulk Hogan vs The Ultimate Warrior (WWE & Intercontinental Championship Match)
WrestleMania VI
Hulk Hogan was the face of WWE. He was the driving force behind the Golden Era but, getting towards the end of the 1980s, there was another.
The Ultimate Warrior was a colorful Wildman that captured the attention of the fans. It was only a matter of time before the two would meet in the ring and, when they did, they blew the roof off the SkyDome.
Neither man would ever be accused of having great wrestling skills but they did at WrestleMania VI. They worked incredibly well within their limitations with mostly feats of strength and power moves.
Even sprinkling in some chain wrestling that surprised even the most skeptical of critics. It was a match that brought out the absolute best in both men and pushed them to a limit that many didn’t think they had.
Of course, the finish of The Ultimate Warrior going over clean was icing on the cake. It was a true passing of the torch moment between the two biggest babyfaces of the Golden Era.
Randy Savage vs Ricky Steamboat (Intercontinental Championship Match)
WrestleMania III
Randy Savage had a stranglehold over the mid-card in 1986/87. He had bested everyone WWE had to offer, save one man who stood in his way.
Ricky Steamboat was the quintessential squeaky clean good guy that the fans loved. He was also the man who stood across from Savage in one of the best technical matches in WWE history.
What is there to be said about this match that hasn’t already been? Savage and Steamboat put on a superb technical match that was as close to flawless as possible. It was a match that is more commonplace today but very out of place in the early Golden Era.
There was a marked shift from the lumbering big men matches to a more fast-paced, catch-as-catch-can contest. The fans were into it from the onset as both men put on a show of skill as they wrestled for the Intercontinental Championship.
The flurry of near-falls was a great addition to the match. It was something new and added that much more excitement to the contest. Ricky Steamboat and Randy Savage walked so the future could run that night.
Bret Hart vs Roddy Piper (Intercontinental Championship Match)
WrestleMania VIII
What started out as a rivalry of friends boiled down to an all-out brawl between two men hell-bent on destroying one another. After Bret Hart unceremoniously lost the IC strap it was Roddy Piper’s gain when he toppled The Mountie to win his first championship in WWE. It was a great moment but one cut short when Hart returned to get his rematch for the championship.
The mutual respect this match was built on dissolved very quickly. Piper overstepped and Hart’s intensity led to a very personal brawl. It was something that was a new version of both men and it made for a fantastic match that no one could have expected.
The desperation of both men, Hart to win his strap back and Piper to hold onto the only gold he had ever held, made this more than a match. It was the last attempt for two men scratching to hold onto greatness. It drove both men to do whatever it took, whether it be by hook or crook.
The teased turn by Piper was a great twist for the end of the match. It proved that there are more important things than championships. That integrity won out the day.
Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage (WWE Championship Match)
WrestleMania V
The Mega Powers were the power (pun intended) tandem of the Golden Era. As a pair, Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage were unstoppable and only an internal strife would cause these Mega Powers to explode. When they did, they produced one of the benchmark matches of the Golden Era.
This matches exactly what one would expect from the Golden Era. It wasn’t heavy on work rate but included every bit of drama that Hogan and Savage could fit into the match.
Savage’s jealous rage drove him to pull out every last move he could to get one over on the golden goose. It was the perfect combination that highlighted the strengths of both men.
It is great that the build to this match was so strong, it added to the contest and helped to make it interesting when it became clear that this was going to be your usual Hogan match with the Immortal one winning back the championship. It was a telegraphed ending but one that was preceded by one of the best matches of either man’s career.
Mr. Perfect vs Bret Hart (Intercontinental Championship Match)
SummerSlam 1991
Mr. Perfect was the measuring stick of the mid-card. There was no better than him, and his stranglehold over the Intercontinental Championship has become a thing of legend. It would take a monumental performance to upend him, and that’s exactly what we got at SummerSlam 1991.
Bret Hart was the man on the rise. He had broken through the tag team ranks and now set his sights on singles gold. This ambition put him in the ring with Mr. Perfect and the result was one of the greatest technical matches of the era.
This was no big men lumbering around the ring contest. It was a deliberate match that saw each man target their opponent and expose any weakness that they could.
This was a thinking man’s match with two of the best technicians to ever lace up a pair of boots. It was 20 minutes of solid wrestling that legitimized the singles run of Bret Hart.
Bret Hart vs The British Bulldog (Intercontinental Championship Match)
SummerSlam 1992
A year after Bret Hart was passed the torch, he did some passing of his own. He and his, real-life, brother-in-law, The British Bulldog were pitted against one another in the biggest match at the biggest SummerSlam in WWE history. 80,000 people packed Wembley Stadium to see a family feud come to a head, and they were treated to a fantastic match.
By this point, everyone knew how great Hart was but this match took his aura to another level. Davey Boy was a game opponent but some personal issues made it hard for him to remember the layout of the match. The Hitman was forced to call most of the match on the fly, and it showed his true brilliance due to how captivating the match was.
As good as the match was – and it was – the atmosphere of Wembley Stadium added another layer. The crowd was as raucous as any had ever been, and their eruption when The British Bulldog prevailed was legendary. It made their match one of the more memorable ones of the Golden Era.
The Brain Busters vs The Rockers (WWW on MSG, January 23, 1989)
There were a lot of great tag teams that produced a ton of great matches during the Golden Era. But there is one that flies under the radar that is a must-watch and a match that is one of the best of the entire era.
The history wasn’t there for The Brain Busters and The Rockers but that didn’t stop them from putting on an incredibly exciting match. It started with some of the most creative tag team wrestling that anyone has ever seen.
Their use of reversals and tandem maneuvers was awesome and unlike anything that had been seen before. It showed how a tag team match could be booked and influenced others going forward.
There was a perfect heel/face dynamic for the match. The Brain Busters used every advantage they could but were constantly thwarted by The Rockers.
It helped to keep the pace quickly while showcasing the methodical nature of Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard. It is a downright crime that these two teams were not given a bigger stage considering how great this match was.
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