As a child of the 80s I watched wrestling every chance I could.  The glory days of Hulkamania when we all still believed.  The excitement when cartoons were over on Saturday mornings because Saturday afternoons meant WWF Superstars.  It took a lot to convince Mom/Dad to spend the money on a pay per view.  But that was where important things happened.  If you wanted to see name talent vs name talent it had to be on PPV.  Except for those weeks when there was no Saturday Night Live.  On those weeks we got the equivilent of a PPV, we got Saturday Night’s Main Event.

There were many memorable story lines and matches from these shows.  So many that WWE put out a DVD set of them.  That’s not why we’re here today.  See, the then WWF knew that there would be non wrestling fans turning in.  People who expected SNL.  These people might take a minute to figure out what’s going on and if all went well maybe enjoy the show and become fans.  That means they need to get caught up right away.  Who is who, who will be wrestling tonight, and a little something about the characters.  The easiest and fastest way to do this was with character logos!

 

Look at that!  It tells you everything you need to know.

The Bushwhackers are obviously from some untamed wilderness.  Not only because of the name but because there is foliage growing out of that name!  Its so overgrown that the plants cover everything about them.  Then there are the Nasty Boys.  Ugly purple with a blue that doesn’t really fit the color wheel.  The letters are at crazy angles and look like graphitti.  They must be bad guys.  Against the rules.  Against society’s order.  Who will be the victor tonight?  Those who are against society or those who aren’t from it?  This will be a barn burner!

Then there is the star of the show:

 

First the heels.  The Genius.  What a great unsung gimmick.  If you doubt his intelligence there’s the cap and tassel right there to bring home the point.  He’ll be teaming with Mr Perfect.  Look at that golden intricate logo.  This man must be descended from royalty.  The only way that logo could look more regal would be purple accents.

Then there are the wrestling gods of the day.  The Ultimate Warrior has not only his name but face on this graphic.  Eyes starring right into your soul.  Blazing war paint.  Colors that match the flames of burning energy inside of him.  Only bested by the red and yellow of Hulkamania.

Hulkamania appears huge and vibrant.  While the Nasty Boys logo is chaotic the Hulkster is an explosion.  The confines of the alphabet are not enough to contain the 24 inch pythons.  Each letter crackles with so much energy you would think the legend of Hulk Hogan came from the mind of Jack Kirby himself.

 

There are many many more logos from this era that I would like to show off.  If anyone has good stills of them send them my way.

(teamhellions@gmail.com)

In the mean time take a look at this image collage of logos I would love to see individually.