The 411 Wrestling Top 5 7.22.09: Week 32 - Top Heat Seeking Moments

Posted by Michael Bauer on 07.22.2009

From Hulk Hogan dropping the red and yellow for the black and white of the n.W.o and the Dudley Boyz just talking in ECW to Andy Kaufman fighting women and of course the Montreal Screwjob, 411's Wrestling Staffers rank their top Heat Seeking Moments in the latest edition of the 411 Wrestling Top Five! See which moments made the lists by checking out the full article!

Hello everyone and welcome to 411 Wrestling's Top 5 List. What we are going to is take a topic each week and all the writers here on 411 wrestling will have the ability to give us their Top 5 on said topic, plus up to three honorable mentions. At the end, based on where all these matches rank on people's list, we will create the 411 Wrestling Top 5 list. The scoring is very similar to the Wrestler of the Week as it looks like this:

#1 Choice – 5 points
#2 Choice – 4 points
#3 choice – 3 points
#4 Choice – 2 points
#5 Choice – 1 point
Honorable Mentions will break ties, but get no points.

Also, in the case of a tie, the most votes win, regardless of where it is listed in the individual Top 5. I will also use this rule in the event that one item is mentioned more often, but is one point behind. For example, one second place vote and two Honorable Mentions will defeat simply one first place vote.


So, on to this week's topic…

THE TOP 5 "HEAT SEEKING" MOMENTS

What is a "Heat Seaking" Moment? A Heat Seeking Moment is one in which the heel is doing everything he can to get the people to hate him. Some of the greatest heel turns in history fall under this category, including probably the greatest heel turn ever with Hulk Hogan's joining of the New World Order. But not all moments come from he turn itself. Just look at Julian's Bond article from July 11th, CM Punk in ROH: Best Heel Turn Ever? and see the greatness of CM Punk signing his WWE conract on the Ring of Honor Title. That truly was the moment where he was just begging to be booed.

Please note the following for this week:
- Because so many different options were chosen, doing an overall Top 5 was near impossible this week. So this week, it is not being done.
- This was also decided because some of the staff members were allowed to do additional Honorable Mentions if they provide video for all of their choices. So yes, expect a lot of video this week, but I have ensured no doubles.

So what did our group of writers select? Let's find out…



Shawn S. Lealos

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Steve Austin joins forces with Vince McMahon at Wrestlemania - I can't put this in the Top 5 because even after he joined McMahon and beat The Rock, the arena popped and cheered for him. But he joined the man he hated the most, and that has to qualify.

5.El Hijo del Santo turns heel - El Hijo, the son of one of Mexico's most beloved wrestlers, turned bad joining the men who beat up his father, stealing his own father's mask. What makes it great is Women started crying, fights started in the audience, and a team of ridiculously angry Mexicans sporting broken beer bottles rush the ring. In the melee that ensued, roughly 50,000 Mexican wrestling fans began destroying the arena where the event was held, eventually spilling out into the streets. It took eight days for the riots to be fully contained. How amazing is that?

4.Roddy Piper smashes a coconut on Jimmy Snuka's head - It was a Piper's Pit episode. Roddy Piper was already the most hated man in wrestling and did and said anything to get fans to hate him even more. During the interview, Piper said he wanted his guest, Jimmy Snuka to feel at home. He pulled out a pineapple. He pulled out bananas and threw them in Snuka's face. He said the only thing he didn't get was a tree for Snuka to climb up and down like a monkey. He then pulled out the coconuts. When Piper dropped one on the table, it thunked and he knew he was going to have to swing it hard to break, so he let loose and the coconut exploded across the head of Snuka. Piper then strapped him with a belt before running away. It is arguably the most famous Piper's Pit ever.

3.The Freebirds turn on the Von Erichs in Dallas - This is the greatest feud in the history of professional wrestling, but it was not always so. The Freebirds were friends with the Von Erichs when they entered WCCW. It all fell apart on Christmas night 1982. Kerry Von Erich was fighting Ric Flair for the NWA World Championship at Reunion Arena in Dallas. Von Erich friend Michael Hayes was the special guest referee and it seemed Flair was outnumbered here and Von Erich would finally capture the gold. Hayes was being overly aggressive with Kerry throughout the match but when Flair hit Hayes, Hayes knocked Flair down. He tried to get Kerry to pin Flair and win the title but Kerry refused because it would not have been a "clean win." Michael went to leave and Flair knocked Kerry into him, knocking him to the floor. Gordy then slammed the cage into Kerry's face and Michael rushed in and counted the three for Flair. The Von Erichs were the most beloved wrestlers in Texas and, thanks to that night, The Freebirds were the most hated.

2.Hulk Hogan joins the nWo - Hulk Hogan was a bad guy in the early eighties but he was at the top as a baby face when the WWF exploded in the eighties. He was the best good guy reminding the kids to say their prayers and eat their vitamins. Hulkamania was running wild, brother. He signed with WCW and remained the biggest name in the sport, coming down in the yellow and red and fighting the same kinds of men he did in the WWF, monsters and villains of all sizes. However, wrestling was changing. Smaller, normal looking guys like Bret Hart were taking the world by storm. The cartoon characters of the eighties were now used primarily as comedy in the WWF and WCW needed to do something to keep up. Hulk Hogan needed to find something to remain relevant. Both factions found their gold in the nWo and while they started with a great angle of Scott Hall jumping over the barricade (it made me start watching again), it really exploded with a HUGE heat seeking moment. It was Bash at the Beach and Hall and Nash promised a mystery partner to battle Sting, Lex Luger and Randy Savage. No third partner came out with them, which didn't hurt their chances because Luger was knocked out early in the match and had to be helped to the back. The Outsiders began to beat up Sting and Savage, Hogan, who had been off television for weeks, ran out and cleared the ring of the bad guys. Then he turned and delivered a leg drop to Savage and turned heel for the first time in over a decade. The biggest face the sport had ever seen was now a bad guy, hell bent on destroying WCW. The fans responded by throwing cups, garbage and debris into the ring, a ritual repeated many times following the event. The fans were pissed and the nWo made it to the big time.

1.Ric Flair breaks Dusty Rhodes' ankle - Dusty Rhodes was the man the fans related to while Ric Flair was the man they loved to hate. They were the best of enemies, yet after feuding for so long it seemed respect was earned. In 1985, Flair was a tweener, booed when he fought Magnum TA but cheered when he fought Nikita Koloff. Finally, on September 29, 1985 Flair went total heel in Atlanta following a cage match against Nikita Koloff. The Koloffs were beating Flair into a bloody mess and Dusty Rhodes ran in for the save. Arn and Ole Anderson were on their way down to save Flair from the Russians but when they reached the cage, all that remained were Flair and Rhodes. So they attacked Dusty, Flair joined in and broke the leg of the man who just saved him. Arn Anderson remembers fans trying to get to them after the attack and how it took 30 minutes to get back to the locker room. This would lead to the formation of The Four Horsemen and is one of the biggest heat seeking moments in wrestling history.





Julian Bond

HONORABLE MENTIONS

CM Punk turning heel after winning ROH World Title - I wrote about this very moment a couple of weeks ago in my ‘Against The Grain' column and still strongly believe that a fully fan-supported, WWE-bound CM Punk viciously turning on the very crowd that was at the time crying at his assumed "departure" was one of the most heated moments that I've ever seen.

Jeff Jarrett winning TNA World Title at Slamniversary 2006 - Some may call this moment in which Jeff Jarrett won the title via a big time screw job from infamous referee Earl Hebner one of the most retarded booking moments in wrestling history. But TNA should actually get some play for getting some intense major heat with this for Jarrett, which resulted in the fans in the arena that night throwing all of their trash into the ring in disgust.



John Cena wrestling at ECW's Hammerstein Ballroom - What do you get when you combine one of the most hated "face" wrestlers in history and put him with the most volatile group of wrestling fans in the ECW fans in Hammerstein Ballroom at the 2006 One Night Stand PPV? "If Cena wins, we riot". Nuff said.

Big Bossman dragging Big Show's dead dad with his car - This may sound silly as hell, but this was the one thing that made me, as a damn teenager for crying out, to write an angry email to the WWF for being the cheapest and dumbest way to get heat. Now…I just find it to be sadly funny. Big Bossman drives his cop car to the Big Show's father's "funeral", hooked up a casket to car, and proceeded to drive off with Show yelling and jumping on casket…built so much heat for Bossman that it rivaled his "eating" of Al Snow's dog Pepper. Evil stuff man.



Triple H turning on HBK/fake DX reunion - Like I'll explain likewise with Edge below, people often forget how Triple H originally got his infamous heel heat during his "Evolution" days. Here he pissed EVERYONE off when he hugely teased (i.e. coming out with t-shirts, entrance music, doing a promo) getting the original DX back together with Shawn Michaels and then proceeded to pedigree the crap out of his best friend HBK. He can turn on his former teammates like X-Pac and Ric Flair without too much backlash, but it seemed to cut deep more with betraying Shawn freakin' Michaels.



5.The Muhammad Hassan/Undertaker "Piano Wire" Incident - This is an often forgotten moment for those who didn't experience it at the time, but the stuff that went down here brought so much heat to a wrestler that he in turn was fired as a result. Back in 2005, the WWE created the character of Muhammad Hassan, who was a wrestler who dressed up in Middle Eastern gear and did the old school shtick of "We hate USA" (i.e. The Iron Sheik). This of course worked in his favor as a heel, but was upped significantly because of the still sore spot in American history of the 9/11 events in association to the Middle East with Osama Bin Laden. While Hassan's antics on the mic were borderline offensive, this incident here on Smackdown was considered WAY over the line by many. On an episode of Smackdown, in his feud with the Undertaker, Hassan stood in the middle entrance ramp, stared Taker down in the ring, started suggestively praying, and then a bunch of masked goons came to the ring (as simulated "masked terrorists") and proceeded to choke out Taker with "piano wire". While the audience was stunned, this event would had totally put Hassan horribly over the top heel wise as it brought him so much freaking heat. But unfortunately this would air on the same day of the tragic London bombings and due to the MASSIVE amount of heat facing the WWE in this wake, they fired Hassan. A pure example of having too much heat.



4.The entire Edge/Lita/Matt Hardy affair - It's funny that some of the same fans who now worship the heel ground that Edge now walks on often forget about how the man started getting his now infamous heat in the first place. When Edge first turned mega-heel (not counting the Brood), the reaction he got from fans was tepid at best. But once news leaked of his real-life affair with Lita, who was then known to be the close girlfriend of Matt Hardy, the fans started treating the guy like he was the anti-Christ. Due to this whole situation crapping all over "nice guy" Matt Hardy (which resulted in his termination from the WWE…and of course…heartbreak), Edge almost overnight became one of the most hated guys in wrestling history with the tons and tons of heat created with his actions. Honestly if it wasn't for this, Edge could have possibly not been as sick of a heel as he is today.

3. Hogan turning heel at Bash at The Beach - Some call this moment here one of the greatest heel turns of all time and they are absolutely correct as the fans of Hogan's went nuts at the time with this. To take Hulk Hogan, the man that kids and adults alike looked up to in the 80s and into the 90s as the "All-Amercian" good guy that always fought for justice and doing the right thing, and turn him brutally heel out of nowhere was a ballsy move for both Hogan and WCW. But the moment paid off in spades as people littered the ring with garbage as Hogan gave his infamous heel promo on the fans and the mega heat that Hogan received thereafter was the major building block and foundation in the massive success that the New World Order had.

2. Any Dudley Boys "Crowd" Promo in ECW - The Dudley Boys shooting a promo in the ring was one of the first things that I ever seen when I started watching the original ECW back in the day and one of the things that will forever burn in my memories as one of the craziest things that I've EVER witnessed. I've seen heel wrestlers in the past cut a promo directed at the crowd in attendance to attempt to get them really revved up and pissed off (which usually included the trash talking of a town's local sport team), but the Dudleys took this WAY too far and almost cause some riots even amongst the very knowable ECW crowds. One specific time on the Heat Wave 99' PPV, I remember that they talked shit to a crowd for like seemingly 5 – 10 minutes straight without any letting up and at one point this bigger guy (made fun of for his weight of course) looked like he was about to jump the railing and pound on D-Von. There was so much damn heat from each and every single one of their crowd-bashing promos that it might actually beat out almost all of the other mentions on this list here.

1.Anything that Andy Kaufman did in a wrestling ring - If you ever seen footage of the celebrity/comedian Andy Kaufman during his "wrestling" days down in Memphis, you would automatically feel how much f'n heat this man generated amongst the Southern crowds. His horribly, downright dirty heelish antics, which included berating women and challenging them to wrestle against him, seemed so real that they not only caused seriously near riots but also reportedly produced real death threats against Kaufman. The guy wasn't even a real pro wrestler, but yet his short venture into it produced so many heated moments that he has to get play for being essentially one of the best heels in the business.



Len Archibald

HONORABLE MENTIONS

"Cane Dewey" - "They wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire!": Mick Foley, explaining the bloodlust of the ECW fans in what may be his single greatest promo and one of the greatest promos ever.

Savage drops the bell on Steamboat's throat - This is the first of two events that shaped the card of the biggest event Vince McMahon would ever hold; then IC Champ Randy Savage lived up to his name by taking out his main competition, Ricky Steamboat with a ringbell on his throat. I was a kid and wanted to KILL him for that.

John Cena makes Triple H tap @ WrestleMania 22 - Ah, here is a cheat (as Cena was not a heel), but I think it warrants mention. If anyone has a *live* copy of WrestleMania 22, listen to the majority of the Chicago fans SHIT on everything Cena does in the ring, and watch how they DEFLATE (some of the faces of the "smarks" in attendance are PRICELESS) as he makes Triple H tap out and the realization dawns that Cena is STILL WWE Champion. One of the great joys of my life – and one of the most surreal experiences with wrestling I've ever had.

5. Diesel rips off Mad Dog Vachon's leg - I can never get this out of my memory…This was from the In Your House PPV after WrestleMania XII (Good Friends, Better Enemies – I think) where HBK put up his newly won WWF Championship against former friend, Diesel. I think this was his swan song before hooking up with Scott Hall in WCW, but man – what a way to go out! These guys tore the house down in a great main event. Diesel was doing EVERYTHING he could to be both cool AND evil – and his most glorious moment is near the end of the bout when he yanked the prosthetic leg of the great Mad Dog Vachon and CLUBBED Michaels with it! It was totally EVIL and had the crowd hating on him. I shook my head in disbelief and laughed. Kevin Nash is definitely one of the more underrated talents of all time. (happens at 2:10 of video)



4. Triple H walks out of WM 2000 the champ - When coming up for great heat-seeking moments, this was the first to pop into my mind, as I remember being at my friend's house to watch this. This was the 4-Way Elimination Match with HHH, The Rock, The Big Show and Mick Foley with "A McMahon in each corner" (ugh.) Smarkiness aside, it seemed destined that this was really going to come down to The Rock and Triple H with The Rock getting his victory and ridding the world of the evil McMahon-Helmsley Era. It came down to Triple H and The Rock as predicted…Then Vince McMahon, who was in The Rock's corner, turned on him. Then Triple H pinned him. ?!?!?!?!?!?!? Chants of "Austin! Austin!" filled the arena. Me and my friends were in disbelief. As piles of garbage pelted the ring, we were CERTAIN the match would restart again. Then, fade out. I think my smarky hatred of Triple H started here. It has softened (I don't really hate anyone – besides, it's like my wife saying she hates Stefano DeMera), but that was a moment where I just hated, HATED him. (4:50 of video)



3. Hogan joins the nWo - CONTROVERSY! Not number 1? Sacrilege! I am aware that this kicked off the storyline that almost put Vince McMahon out of business. It was a shock, garbage FLEW in the ring, Hogan put out a GREAT promo after dropping the Legdrop of DOOM on "friend" Randy Savage. It was just a great moment that I can't do justice explaining because it is engrained in the consciousness of every wrestling fan. I think the moment may be one of those things people will just know from pop-culture osmosis, much like how everyone knows of "The Wizard of Oz" or "I have a dream…", without seeing it or understanding the historical context . "This is the New World Order of Wrestling, BROTHER~!" (under about six feet of tossed trash.)

2. Andre rips Hogan's crucifix off his neck - The second and more iconic (in my opinion) moment that shaped the largest (most important?) pro-wrestling card of all time was a little thing that happened on Piper's Pit on the road to WrestleMania III. Weeks earlier Andre the Giant received a lifetime achievement trophy for his contributions to wrestling as Hogan was honored as WWF Champion. Andre walked out of the ceremony – he seemed a little perturbed, but no big deal. Then Jesse "The Body" began to egg Hogan on and told him that Andre was pissed that after being undefeated, Hogan never attempted to offer a Heavyweight title fight to his "best friend". He said he could provide Andre on Piper's Pit if the Rowdy One could get Hogan. So the confrontation happens, and Andre comes out with Bobby Heenan. Heat Magnet #1. Then Andre challenges Hogan for the title in a bullish manner. Heat Magnet #2. THEN Andre (to "show how serious he was", per Heenan) ripped off the crucifix and necklace on Hogan's neck, bringing a disheveled Hulkster to his knees. There were so many layers to that one HEELISH EVIL act. It was so simple, but by yanking the crucifix, Andre pretty much tore into the fabric of what is "good" and "wholesome" about Hulkamania: The Prayers, the training and the vitamins. It was all on a heap on the floor. Hell, my mom watched that with me and wanted Andre DEAD (she of the uber-Christian persuasion.)



1. Bret Hart kicks Austin when he's down - I have stated it is my belief that Bret Hart's fall from grace between 1996-97 is the most important storyline in modern wrestling history, simply because the fallout of that particular storyline ultimately led to Vince McMahon buying out WCW and winning the Monday Night Wars (I would like to get into more detail one day – but I'm just a movie guy.) WrestleMania 13's submission match between Hart and Austin was just a perfect demonstration of how to make a wrestler HATED by everyone. Austin was primarily a heel that received a smattering of fan support. Hart was a hero, whose "good guy" armor was starting to crack. When this was over, Austin wound up the #1 face in the company and Bret was the #1 heel, as The Hitman left Stone Cold in a pool of his blood, unconscious from blood-loss and being in the Sharpshooter. But even in victory, Hart didn't get what he wanted, as he intended to DESTROY Austin and rid the WWF fans of his evil, influential ways. He literally kicked at Austin when he was down. Referee Ken Shamrock got involved, and took down Hart with a THUNDEROUS ovation. Shamrock was ready to get a piece of Hart – and Bret Hart, who was always the beacon of morals and standing up for what he believed in did what? He chickened out. He walked away. He pussied out. I remember watching this at a buddy's house when this was on live and the boos that came from the arena SHOOK the speakers. Bret Hart was no longer the champion of morals. He was now a chickenshit holier-than-thou heel. Damn you, Bret! You were my Canadian Hero!





John Meehan

Disclaimer: I should start by saying that this is a fantastic topic, and there are literally dozens of moments that I could have easily pegged in my personal top five. For the sake of this list however, I'm going to have to limit my choices to events that I actually saw on television WHEN THEY ORIGINALLY AIRED. As a result, some of wrestling's most notorious swerves have been omitted.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Earthquake Crushes The Hulkster - Pre-Attitude Era WWF was simple: Hulk and his pals were the good guys, and everyone else was the bad guys. Needless to say, turning your back on The Hulkster pretty much cemented you as an out-and-out asshole. As a kid watching this particular act of treachery on WWF programming, I thought for sure that Hulk Hogan was a goner and could have sworn that Earthquake was the real-life incarnation of Satan himself.

Andre Rips Hulk Hogan's Cross - Though the verbal sparring probably wouldn't cut it by modern standards, the visual of Hulk Hogan crying over his torn crucifix was simply heartbreaking in its day.

Roddy Piper Bashes Jimmy Snuka - Racist? You betcha. But effective? Without question. This is arguably the most famous Piper's Pit of all time -- and with good reason, too.



Shawn Michaels Swerves a Bret Hart Return - Wrestling fans call The Great White North "Bizzaro Land," and this alternate universe was never more bizzare than the night where HBK fooled every Canuck in attendance into thinking that The Hitman had finally made his long-awaited WWE return.



Earthquake Squashes Damien - Need more proof that Earthquake was evil incarnate in the heyday of Hulkamania? Look no further than this classic clip from WWF Superstars, where the Canadian avalanche makes mincemeat (or was that hamburger meat?) out of Jake's beloved reptile accomplice.



5.Jake Roberts' Cobra Attacks Randy Savage - This one gets the edge over the Damien squashing and Jake's "Snake Room" ambush of The Ultimate Warrior simply because of the very real danger involved in the stunt itself. Whereas The Warrior was "bitten" by a rubber reptile and Earthquake's buttdrop on a green canvas bag didn't actually harm anything but a few pounds of ground chuck, this tremendously dangerous stunt *actually* resulted in the Macho Man getting chewed up by a King Cobra. Venom or not -- it's no wonder why the fans freaked out when this attack went down (bonus points for Roberts' "wedding present" surprise shortly thereafter):



4.Shawn Michaels Throws Marty Jannetty Through The Barbershop Window - Were "The Rockers" on the rocks? Shawn swore up and down that things between himself and Marty Jannetty were as strong as ever. But this heelish act of deception quickly resulted in one of the most brutal blindsides ever seen on WWF programming up until that point. Since it catapulted HBK into singles' superstardom, it's a no-brainer for my personal top five list.



3.Bret Hart Teaches Stone Cold a Lesson - Take a career babyface (more or less) and stick him in the ring with a beer-swelling bad guy, and it seems like an obvious invitation to rally your fans behind their longtime hero. But this was not to be, as Bret's refusal to break the Sharpshooter capped off one of the best executed "double turns" in history. Austin's infamous "3:16" speech might have caused fans to take notice, but it was Bret's brutality and Austin's never-say-die attitude at WrestleMania 13 that cemented the Texas Rattlesnake as the baddest S.O.B. ever to set foot in a World Wrestling Federation ring.

2.The Montreal Screwjob - This event remains one of the most controversial onscreen happenings in professional wrestling history, and so there's really no excuse for omitting it from any "top five" list of heat-seeking (and heat-GETTING) moments. Canadian fans were RABID to see The Hitman defeat Shawn Michaels, but Vince McMahon broke from the script and managed to screw Bret Hart out of his victory instead. In the process, "Mr. McMahon" showed his true colors and one of the greatest villains in wrestling history was born.



1. Hulk Hogan Joins The Outsiders - Remember back in the honorable mentions when I pointed out that "good guys" in the pre-Attitude Era were always the guys who sides with The Hulkster? Well Hogan himself turned this paradigm right on its ear in 1996 by siding with WCW's invading force in Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. With one swift legdrop at the Bash at the Beach, "Hollywood" rocked the wrestling world to its very core and helped found the rulebreaking stable to end all others that came to be known as the new World order.





Scott Rutherford

HONORABLE MENTIONS

The Honky Tonk Man Wins The IC Title - He used the ropes during the pin, Steamboat got his shoulder up at 2 and really, HTM didn't deserve the title and spent most of the next year and a half avoiding defeat at all costs. The most enduring IC run ever and we hated every moment of it.

Andy Kauffman No person has ever incited the hatred Andy did in Memphis. His matches with woman and cheating to beat them became legendary and his moments with Jerry Lawler will remain in infamy.

Chris Benoit Kills his family - He's the most hated man in wrestling history. Seems like a heat seeking moment to me….

5.Barry Windam joins the Four Horseman - I'm partial to these kind of moments because I still remember how shocked and disgusted I was when Windham turned on Lex Luger. After years of running roughshod over nearly everyone, finally we had two guys that could not only stand toe-to-toe with the vile Horsemen but also actually beat them and then BARRY BREAKS OUR HEARTS and holds up the four fingers. While other shocking heel turns had come before and many million since, this one just struck a chord and set off the most dominating period of the Horseman run in NWA/WCW.

4.Hulk Hogan DOESN'T win the AWA World Title - Hulk Hogan was the biggest thing in wrestling years before Vince made it known to the world. Hogan was so big that when he refused to take the AWA title in a match against Nick Bockwinkle at a card where fans were DEMANDING he win it, it caused a full scale riot that made Vince literally fall over himself to get Hogan and ring up the dollar signs. Long established history said Verne Gagne was behind the time and didn't see Hogan as a viable champ, where as Hogan and Gagne cleared the air and let the cat out of the bag that Hogan refused the title over merchandising rights. Whatever the case may be, this moment created such a buzz that the wrestling world changed not long after.

3.Ivan Koloff defeats Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF World Title - Hang with me here. Sammartino was considered all but unbeatable by the WWWF faithful and when it came up that he was defending the title against "The Russian Bear" it was considered nothing more than a routine defense for Bruno. Rumour has it when Koloff came off the top rope with the knee drop and pinned Sammartino cleanly everyone sat in stunned SILENCE hardly believing they just witnessed their beloved champion pinned so easily. Ivan rode this moment so well he was considered a heel for life and rode the infamy of beating Bruno for the rest of his career. While it didn't attract heat in the typical sense, it certainly was a hot moment in wrestling

2.Killer Kowalski rips off Yukon Eric's ear - Wrestling survived on kayfabe and nothing did more for the realism of wrestling than the night Kowalski ripped of Eric's ear with a knee drop. When newspapers reported a few days later the Killer showed up at the hospital and laughed at Yukon his image as the nastiest heel ever was cemented and thus born one of the greatest heels ever. In truth Yukon ears were heavily cauliflowered and didn't take much to separate form his head and when Kowalski showed up at the hospital it was a shared joke that made both men laugh, but it really doesn't matter. This was one of the vilest and defining heat getting incidents in wrestling history.

1.The Screwjob in Montreal - Time has done little to ease the tension over the most defining moment in wrestling history. You often hear people talk about the "change over" in wrestling that happened just before Attitude kicked in and this was the change. By cementing Vince as the asshole boss, Shawn as the two-faced double crosser and Hart as the eternal complainer, wrestling had a whole new launch pad to fly off and all three men have played their roles still to this day. The amount of bile and hatred that still erupts form this incident today is impressive and nothing sets off a no-win discussion like the one about who was at fault in Montreal. You want a heat seeking moment, look no further.



Robert S. Leighty Jr

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Tazz turns Heel - November 2 Remember 1995 saw Tazz turn heel as he helped Fonzie. The ECW fans in Philly were going to riot, and I'm pretty sure Tazz wanted them to as he challenged fans in the front row to try him.

Chris Jericho punches Shawn's wife - Sure, it was pretty recent, but damn did people hate Jericho after this incident at SummerSlam.

Raven crucifies the Sandman - A moment so controversial that it caused future wrestling Gog Kurt Angle to walk out of the arena and threaten Heyman with a lawsuit should his face, or name appear anywhere near the show or angle.

5.Jerry Lawler invades the ECW Arena - I actually feared for Lawler's life while watching this on DVD recently. After his big win over Raven, Tommy Dreamer had little time to celebrate as the lights went out and Jerry Lawler finally made good on his promise to bring a War to Extremely Crappy Wrestling. ECW crowds were always great, but here they were just losing their minds because a commentator from the WWE (with the help of Sabu and RVD) was running right through the entire ECW roster. Only the awesomeness of Tazz could get Lawler out of the ring.

4.Montreal Screwjob - I put this a little low because at the time nobody really knew all of the ramifications that would come. A lot of people were just confused by the whole deal, and didn't really know how much of a conspiracy the whole thing was. Still, the fans in Montreal were pretty damn pissed that night.

3.Jake Roberts slugs Elizabeth - The cobra attack on Savage was awesome and probably deserved an honorable mention, but what Jack after that was even more evil in the eyes of the fans. Randy Savage finally got some revenge on Roberts at this Tuesday in Texas, but Jake got the final word in as he planted Savage with the DDT. He then teased breaking out his cobra, and that's when Liz started to plead for her husband. Jake was the biggest dick in the world as he told Liz to beg, and then slugs her as she was protecting Randy. Jake was a heel God at this point and time, and this is one of the reasons why. The next logical step seemed to be putting the cobra on Liz, but no way that was happening.

2.Shawn Michaels Montreal Promo - Right before his dream match with Hulk Hogan at SummerSlam, Shawn gave one of the greatest promos ever in front of a hostile crowd in Monyreal. Shawn was the biggest dick in the world, and the fans were ready to kill him after he teased an appearance by Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart. Find this promo on YouTube and watch in awe as Shawn has an arena full of people in the palm of his hand.

1.Hulk Hogan joins the Outsiders - The most shocking heel turn in wrestling history. Hogan got massive heat here as fans actually felt betrayed, and one fan even rushed the ring before getting beat on by Hall and Nash. This is an iconic moment that will be hard to pull off anymore I think.



Jeremy Thomas

HONORABLE MENTIONS

JBL Goosesteps and Performs Nazi Salute in Germany - Hey, they don't all have to have positive results. JBL did everything he could do get heat, and the backlash doesn't belie the legit heat he had when he did this.

Shawn Michaels Turns On Marty Jannetty - This moment made Shawn Michaels. At the time for Rock N' Wrestling, throwing someone through a "plate glass" window was shocking, and it got the fans super-against Shawn.

Steve Austin Aligns himself with Vince McMahon - It's ALMOST the ultimate turncoat moment. Almost.

5. Sandman Reveals Fake Eye Injury And Attacks Tommy Dreamer - This was one of the many times that ECW worked its fans, and probably the most effective. Sandman was battling Dreamer during their long-running feud and had his set up. He went for his victory smoke a little too soon though, and Dreamer nailed him with a Singapore Cane, seeming to knock the cigarette into his eye and blind him. They played it off as totally real and had Sandman out for a month. When he came back and came to the ring, he had bandages over his eyes...which was just an opportunity for him to catch Tommy unaware and wail on him. The crowd was livid, and a classic moment was created that stands in the annals of wrestling history.

4. The Dudley Boys Rip On the Crowd in ECW - People rush Jericho now, but that was nothing compared to the hatred that the Dudleys inspired. Bubba Ray and D-Von were able to rile up a crowd like few others. I was honestly surprised at how fearless they were, because they could really have gotten their asses kicked after the show by some punk with a beer bottle who took something too personally. It was off the charts, it was daring, it was offensive and it was pure, 100% heat.

3. Andy Kaufman Wrestles Women - Talk about being hated. In an era when kayfabe was still alive and well, the quintessential hoaxer took advantage, having matches with women and proclaiming himself the "Intergender Wrestling Champion of the World." Of course, this would lead to an angle with Jerry Lawler and a feud that followed. Kaufman was a perfect match for wrestling and his ability to connect with a crowd was exceptional; in a time when women didn't wrestle men, Kaufman found the perfect way to get himself heat and he did it very, very well.

2. "Bret Screwed Bret" - The Montreal Screwjob was one thing, and that was business. At this point, the case wasn't dead in the water. But once Vince McMahon went on and did an interview with Jim Ross where he professed not to feel any guilt and finished it up with a now-infamous phrase: "Bret screwed Bret." That really seemed to be the moment that Mr. McMahon was made, as opposed to what actually occurred at Survivor Series, and it is that moment I remember just as strongly as the screwjob itself.

1.Hulk Hogan Joins the Outsiders - This was the heel turn to end all heel turns. I mean, c'mon. It was Hulk Hogan. The guy didn't have a heel bone in his body, as far as the fans were concerned. Eat your vitamins, say your prayers...screw your friends? When Hogan attacked Randy Savage the crowd was shocked, and when he got on the mic to accost the fans the response was enormous. It changed the face of wrestling in a very real way and as Robert said, we probably won't see its like again in a long, long time.