His reappearance in 1988 had him surrounded by mostly juiced-up muscle heads. He quickly became one of the WWF’s main ring generals. He was known for getting many stiffs and rookies through matches.
On an interesting note Hennig, during his return was not sure what to call his finishing move. It was referee Jim Korderas who told Hennig, "Why don't you call it the Perfectplex"?
He had a style and flair in the ring that most consider unmatched. You knew when he stepped in the ring you were going get 100 percent every time.
He remained undefeated for over a year, rolling through all the babyfaces until he finally ran into Hogan. It was then he got his first taste of defeat.
This feud started in 1989 with Hennig destroying Hogan’s title in the locker room. They finally met in the 1990 Royal Rumble where the Hulkster dumped him.
This may be just my opinion but this was one of my favorite Mr. Perfect moments. I truly hated Hulk Hogan, even back then.
His first one-on-one defeat on TV came to him courtesy of good old Brutus Beefcake.
Shortly after that he was teamed with Manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. These two became a hit right from the get go.
With Heenan's snide humor and arrogance, combined with Perfect's Cockiness and ring work, they would become a Perfect match up.
With Heenan at his side, these two went to go on and have some classic moments in and out of the ring.
The pinnacle of their success came in 1990 though, when Perfect went on to beat Tito Santana in a tournament for the IC title. Perfect went on to hold that title for four months before dropping the belt to the "Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich.
Mr. Perfect would later regain the belt on Saturday Night’s Main Event. This was very rare at the time, because the IC title was still considered a major title then. It wasn't very often a title was dropped on regular TV.
He went to hold onto the belt going all the way into the summer of 1991, when fate would deal Hennig a near-fatal blow.
In a weird accident where the turnbuckles were not lined up right, Hennig was thrown into them hard. This caused him to have a bulged disk and broken tailbone. The doctors weren't sure if he would ever to be able to lace up the boots again.
To make matters even more complex, he was supposed to drop the belt to Hart at Summerslam. He was still rehabbing and could barely move. So he asked Vince if he could film a segment where he would forfeit the title to Hart.
Vince was not too happy with this idea, so he asked Hennig to wrestle one last time even if it was a three-minute squash.
Hennig agreed to this, but instead of a three-minute job match, he went on to wrestle a 15-minute match with Hart in what some consider one of the best matches in WWF history.
Although these guys wrestled many five-star matches before that match, in my opinion that was one of the best they had.
After Summerslam, Curt Hennig came back in 1991, not as a wrestler because he still couldn't compete. Instead, he would come back with Bobby Heenan as a ring consultant for Ric Flair.
During this time as consultant, he delved in to the world of announcing. He wasn't the most successful announcer, but he did coin a name that is still used today. He gave Shawn Michaels the name "Heart Break Kid."
In 1992 Flair and Razor Ramon were supposed to meet Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior, but in a strange turn of events the Ultimate Warrior quit.
Some say he was fired, but in any case they needed some one to fill in.
This led to a new twist in the story line, where Curt Hennig became baby face and he teamed with Savage. His turn on Heenan was a truly classic promo that is still shown today. They went on to beat Flair and Razor by disqualification.
Two months later, he went on Raw and beat Flair in a loser must quit match. This by some is considered one of Hennig's most profiled wins in his career.
He went on to have a few meaningful matches in 1993. He, like many, was ultimately bumped to mid-card status.
When the steroids scandal hit the WWF, Hennig disappeared, many say to avoid the scandal, though that was never confirmed.
In 1994, he came back as a referee in the title match between Lex Luger and Yokozuna. He disqualified Luger, which was supposed to set up a feud between the two. His injuries to the back threw him on the shelf again, so he had to retire.
He took over commentary for the WWF for a couple years, but he was never satisfied with that role. He decided he would attempt another comeback.
Sadly, it never happened, as someone in the company leaked this info to Lloyd's of London. This lead to Hennig losing his insurance money from Lloyd's, but more importantly he lost his faith in the WWF.
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