Michaels and Hart – Main Eventers

By Scott Keith on 21 November 2024

Hi Scott,

Do you ever wonder how Michaels and Hart were viewed at the same level as Savage and Hogan back in the early 90’s? And that the WWF title was seen as arguably more valuable? Smaller guys, who despite their immense talents, were not put over by the old guard: Hogan, Savage, Flair, Warrior. Do we just go with ‘there was a dip in business’ and the title lineage?

I remember watching a live call-in show (not Byte This) where a caller asked JR about how can former tag wrestlers (Hart and Michaels) be on the same level. JR wasn’t happy.

That's pretty much what it was. The bigger guys couldn't be pushed because of the steroid trials, so Vince had to switch up the strategy and push the smaller guys instead. And it took a while to stick. I remember not really buying either guy as a “top guy” during their first World title match at Survivor Series 92, but you just keep pushing them at that level and eventually people will accept them there.