Offbeat Shenanigans #24
Welcome, WrestleZone readers to a beautiful Saturday on this glorious WrestleMania weekend. Whether you’re WWE, ROH, TNA, or – best of all – a fan, this is arguably the best weekend to have wrestling in your life.
For the past month, I’ve been accepting your votes for The Best Wrestling Moments of All Time. These include matches, debuts, segments, skits, promos, feuds…anything wrestling. It’s a diverse list, culled from many, many more emails than I’ve received in response to any other topic. People love lists, and they love talking about what in this business has moved them.
I’d like to thank everyone for giving me plenty to work with here. In fact, so many moments were submitted that I’ve been able to compile a list of the 100 Greatest Wrestling Moments of All Time. Thanks to Andy Coppola (scholar and gentleman) for settling any and all ties. Thanks goes out, also, to the wrestlers, bookers, promoters, and personalities who have given us all of our favorite memories.
And, of course, thanks to my high school computer applications teacher, Mr. Carboni, who taught me how to use spreadsheet software. This is the first time it’s come in handy in the 7 years since taking his class!
Thoughts on the list? Feel free to email me at [email protected]. Keep in mind, though, that these moments were selected by you, the readers of this site. I did submit my own votes, but they didn’t count any more than any of yours did.
Without further ado:
The 100 Greatest Wrestling Moments of All Time
(as selected by WrestleZone readers)
1. Hulk Hogan turns heel and forms the NWO
2. Hulk Hogan bodyslams Andre the Giant at WM III
3. Y2J debuts for the WWF
4. Austin 3:16
5. Mankind vs. The Undertaker, Hell in a Cell
6. The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan at WM XVIII
7. Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart, Iron Man Match
8. Mankind defeats The Rock for the WWF title
9. Chris Benoit wins the WWE World Heavyweight Title
10. Stone Cold stuns Vince
11. The Montreal Screwjob
12. Shane McMahon appears on Nitro (WWF buys WCW)
13. Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold, I Quit match
14. Eddie Guerrero wins the WWE championship
15. Scott Hall / Kevin Nash show up in WCW
16. Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage at WM III
17. Sting returns and beats Hulk Hogan at Starrcade ’97
18. Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit celebrate at WM XX
19. Goldberg defeats Hulk Hogan for the WCW title
20. The Rock vs. Stone Cold, WrestleMania series
21. D-X invades Monday Nitro
22. Shane Douglas renames the NWA title the “ECW title”
23. Chris Jericho becomes the first Undisputed champion
24. Triple H returns from his first quad injury
25. Ultimate Warrior defeats Hulk Hogan at WM VI
26. The Undertaker returns at WM XX
27. Triple H – Shawn Michaels feud (2002 – 2004)
28. Shawn Michaels kicks Marty Jannetty through the Barber Shop window
29. Shawn Michaels enters Royal Rumble at #1, wins
30. The original TLC match series
31. Bret Hart vs. Chris Benoit, Owen Hart tribute match
32. The birth of Hulkamania
33. John Cena returns and wins the 2008 Royal Rumble
34. Sting defeats Flair for the NWA title at The Great American Bash
35. The Undertaker’s WrestleMania undefeated streak
36. Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon, WrestleMania X
37. Ric Flair returns to WCW, reforms Horsemen, shoots on Bischoff
38. The first WrestleMania
39. Shawn Michaels wins the first Elimination Chamber match
40. D-X spoofs the Nation of Domination
41. Brock Lesnar superplexes Big Show, the ring collapses
42. Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat (any)
43. D-X reunion, 2006
44. Stone Cold and Kurt Angle sing together
45. Shawn Michaels – John Cena feud
46. Chris Jericho beats Triple H for the WWF title, decision is reversed
47. The Rock “This is Your Life”
48. Triple H – Cactus Jack feud (2000)
49. D-X forms
50. ECW’s first pay-per-view, B arely Legal ’97
51. Rob Van Dam holds the WWE and ECW titles
52. Raw is Owen
53. The McMahon-Helmsley Era
54. Rey Mysterio wins the World Heavyweight Title
55. Kurt Angle signs with TNA
56. ECW One Night Stand, 2005
57. Shawn Michaels returns to WWE, 2002
58. Kerry Von Erich defeats Ric Flair for the NWA title
59. Ric Flair wins the 1992 Royal Rumble & WWF title
60. Shane McMahon’s many crazy stunts and dives
61. Edge cashes in Money in the Bank, pins Cena
62. Shawn Michaels’ first title win / run
63. Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels, WM 21
64. Jeff Hardy’s Swanton Bomb
65. The formation of the Four Horsemen
66. The Eddie Guerrero tribute specials
67. Edge spears Jeff Hardy as he hangs from the tag title belt
68. WrestleMania XVII
69. Jimmy Snuka’s splash from the top of the cage
70. Kevin Nash ends Goldberg’s undefeated streak
71. Lex Luger defeats Hulk Hogan for the WCW title
72. The Mega Powers pairing and feud
73. Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker, Hell in a Cell
74. The Undertaker debuts
75. The Hurricane vs. The Rock
76. The Kliq incident at Madison Square Garden
77. Armageddon Hell in a Cell
78. The first post-9/11 Smackdown
79. Bret Hart defeats Goldberg with the help of a metal sheet
80. Shawn Michaels wins second consecutive Royal Rumble
81. Hart Foundation vs. Team USA, Canadian Stampede
82. Sting vs. the NWO
83. Jeff Hardy vs. The Undertaker, ladder match
84. The Undertaker kidnaps Stephanie McMahon
85. Ric Flair’s WWF debut
86. The British Bulldog beats Bret Hart for the IC title
87. Eric Bischoff becomes GM of Raw
88. The final Monday Nitro
89. The Rock returns to the WWF, 2001
90. The Rock takes over the Nation of Domination
91. Evolution forms
92. Mark “Sexual Chocolate” Henry and Mae Young
93. ECW’s rise to success
94. Stone Cold beats Shawn Michaels at WM XIV for the WWF title
95. Tommy Dreamer finally beats Raven
96. Bret Hart defeats Yokozuna for the WWF title
97. Raw’s 15th Anniversary show
98. ECW joins the Alliance
99. Ric Flair – Terry Funk feud
100. Dusty Rhodes, “The American Dream”
There you have it, everyone. Thanks again for submitting your votes, and enjoy your ‘Mania weekend!
Kevin McElvaney, while appearing nowhere on this list, is a contributing writer for Pro Wrestling Illustrated and The Wrestler / Inside Wrestling. Send questions or comments to [email protected].
