The Piledriver Report 12.02.09: My Favorite Crowd Moments in Wrestling

Posted by Ronny Sarnecky on 12.02.2009

Wrestling crowds. Sometimes they can make a show. Other times, they can kill a show. This week’s “Piledriver Report” takes a look at his favorite moments in wrestling where the crowd made an impact.

Wow! What a slow week for wrestling news. The only news that is slower coming out of the sports/entertainment world right now is free agent signings in baseball. Can the Mets sign anybody of significance, PLEASE!!! Sorry, I'm just a frustrated Mets fan here, whose favorite football (Giants), basketball (Nets), and hockey (Rangers) teams stink right now. Professional wrestling and the baseball free agent period are my only salvation for sports happiness at the moment.

With no big news breaking, combined with pretty much covering the most recent topics during last week's column, I was struggling all day to think of a topic to write about. Thankfully, I decided to go to my local Quick Check convenience store for a sub sandwich. I happened to be wearing my ECW One Night Stand 2006 t-shirt, and the cashier started talking to me about ECW, the real ECW, not the WWECW version. As I was talking to her, all of my old wrestling memories, not just ECW memories, started to awaken from inside my mind.

If you ever watch any old WWF matches with Gorilla Monsoon on commentary, occasionally, he will mention that "the electricity is so thick, you can cut it with a knife" in describing the crowd noise. On TV, you sometimes can't tell the true volume of noise a crowd is making (although, if you caught the New England vs. Saints on ESPN the other night, you didn't need the announcers to tell you the stadium was rocking. That was a great home crowd. My apologizes to those outside of the US reading this that don't have any idea about the football game I am talking about). For the most part, unless a crowd is either super hot, or super dead, you really can't tell by watching at home. However, if you are attending a show live, you know pretty quickly if the crowd is rabid or weak.

There is nothing like going to a show that features a hot crowd. A hot crowd adds something to a show. A crowd that is very vocal can turn an average show into a really good show, and a really good show into a historic event. You knew that you were witnessing something special. The crowd doesn't even have to be standing on their feet for the whole show. It could just be for one match or segment that the crowd goes insane, and you remember that moment for the rest of your life.

I've attended many different wrestling events over my lifetime. There were WWF/E house shows at Madison Square Gardens and the Meadowlands, benefit shows in high school gyms. I went to the ECW Arena when the real ECW was in its prime, as well as the ECW Reunion Show that Shane Douglas put on. I've attended both ECW One Night Stand events from the Manhattan Center. A TNA house show, as well as a TNA pay per view from Trenton, NJ Hard Justice in 2008. I have witnessed several SummerSlams, a couple of Kings of the Rings and Royal Rumbles, and multiple WrestleMania events. In other words, I've been to a lot of shows. I've seen dead crowds, live crowds, average crowds, and crowds that were just there to chant their favorite wrestlers catchphrases. Out of every show I have seen, four particular shows come to mind where I was in the audience of a crowd that was over-the-top awesome.

HULK-A-MANIAS RUNNING WILD



Date: February 18th, 1988
Where: East Rutherford, NJ Meadowlands Arena

This was the first show that I ever attended live where Hulk Hogan was appearing on the card. I was not a Hogan fan at the time. Just the opposite, I couldn't stand the Hulkster. I was a rulebreaker at heart. However, this was a show that I had to see. The WWF World champion Hulk Hogan defending his belt against the WWF Intercontinental champion the Honky Tonk Man. This was during a time when the Intercontinental title was meaningful. When the two singles title holders in the company faced each other in a match back then, it was a big deal. Of course, this was not meant to be, as Hulk Hogan lost the WWF title to Andre the Giant thirteen days earlier. It was the second biggest disappointment for me when attending a wrestling show. The biggest disappointment came when Hulk Hogan fought Ric Flair for the first time at Madison Square Garden. Hogan was the WWF champion and Flair was parading around with the former WCW championship belt. As fate would have it, Hogan lost the WWF World title three days earlier to the Undertaker, and Ric Flair was banned by the Turner suits from using the WCW World belt in a WWF ring. My dream photo of Hulk Hogan wearing the WWF belt vs. Ric Flair holding the WCW title high in the air was replaced with Ric Flair raising a WWF Tag Title belt to the sky.

Back to the Meadowlands show. As a Hogan hater, I couldn't wait to boo the Hulkster out of the building. Unfortunately, that was not possible. The pop that Hogan received that night was unlike anything I had ever heard before, and very rarely since. This was Hulk Hogan in his prime as a WWF babyface. At that time, I learned that no one could touch Hogan in terms of popularity. You would hear about the Hogan pop during his first title reign, and how loud the crowd was. However, until you experience that environment for yourself, you can't realistically understand the mad rush of emotions that the crowd had for the Hulkster. Despite not being a Hogan mark, I consider myself lucky to have been able to have been live in attendance to experience a Hogan reaction during his WWF peak. This show is the reason why I always defend Hulk Hogan as the most popular wrestler in history, despite many arguing that Steve Austin was more over. Speaking of the "Stone Cold" one……

STONE COLD! STONE COLD! STONE COLD!



Date: September 22nd, 1997
Where: New York, NY, Madison Square Garden

I've been to many Garden cards, and witnessed just as many Steve Austin matches live. However, the September 22nd edition of Monday Night RAW featured arguably the greatest crowd in RAW history. This RAW is famous for being the night that Vince McMahon informed Bret Hart that he needed to see if Eric Bischoff would still give him the multi-million dollar deal WCW offered him the year before. Their conversation would send shockwaves throughout the wrestling industry from a business, and later a storyline, standpoint. However, there was a segment on that RAW that was one of the most memorable moments in RAW history.

Of course, I am referring to the night that Vince McMahon received his first stone cold stunner at the hands of Steve Austin. I remember the days leading up to the show there were rumors circulating that Austin was going to stun Vince on that RAW. Because of this, the crowd was already hot with anticipation. It didn't hurt matters that the WWF put on a hell of a show that featured Hunter Hearst Helmsley going up against CACTUS JACK in a street fight! To help the cause, the section I was in was extremely rabid. We were chanting "YOU CAN'T SPELL!" at kids who misspelled a sign "MERRY ME SUNNY!" as opposed to "MARRY ME SUNNY!" We had a group of people chanting the old ECW "YOU SOLD OUT" melody to the MSG attendant who sold out of all her sodas. It was a good time had by all. However, the best was yet to come.

Vince was in the ring with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. The crowd was buzzing in
anticipation. The moment was here. WHAM!!!!! Austin hit the stunner on McMahon,
as Vince took the worst bump in the history of the move. It didn't matter how badly
Vince took the bump. The crowd exploded! When you hear the phrase that "they blew
the roof off of the building," this moment is what they were describing. In the crowd,
you knew that you just witnessed history. The amazing thing was that Austin stunned
Vince McMahon, and he wasn't even the evil Mr. McMahon yet. However, it didn't
matter, the crowd was still going ballistic. When I think of the WWF Attitude Era, I
always think of this night as the beginning of when the WWF started to take over in the
war against WCW.

CENA SUCKS!



Date: June 11th, 2006
Where: New York, NY Manhattan Center

It started out as a tribute show to the former revolutionary wrestling promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling. In 2006, One Night Stand was being used as the take off point for the WWE's version of ECW. The centerpiece of the show featured Rob Van Dam cashing in his Money in the Bank title shot against the WWE World champion John Cena.

While the crowds today are usually 50/50 split between Cena and his opponent, back in 2006 the crowd reaction was more 20% Cena and 80% cheers for his opponent. Heading into One Night Stand, Rob Van Dam was looked at as Mr. ECW. He represented everything that Extreme Championship Wrestling stood for. To say that year's One Night Stand featured a magical atmosphere is an understatement.

The Manhattan Center was the New York City home base of the original ECW. Rob Van Dam was their poster child. John Cena was everything that was wrong with wrestling in the eyes of the ECW faithful. When I walked into the building that night, the tone of the evening was already set. There was a fan carrying a huge sign reading "If Cena Wins, We Riot!" That fan's sign spoke volumes.

The crowd was pretty hot the whole evening. However, when it was time for the WWE World title main event, the crowd was on a whole new level. Forget about the pop Rob Van Dam got. The story of the match was the torment that awaited John Cena. When he tossed his t-shirt to the crowd, the fan threw it back at him. This led to Cena throwing the shirt to someone else, only for the same result to occur. This went on a couple of times until Cena finally gave up. The fans gave Cena such a hard time that night, and to his credit, he took it in stride. Unlike when the same crowd gave Batista a verbal beatdown a few months later, and the "Animal" lost his composure. This crowd was so riled up that when it appeared that Cena was going to win in the end, I wouldn't have been surprised if the crowd did indeed riot. When the vilified Edge received the biggest pop of the night for interfering and attacking John Cena, you know the crowd was in full hate mode at the WWE Champion. "Thank You, Edge! Thank you, Edge!" filled the Manhattan Center. Then, when Rob Van Dam scored the pinfall, and was named the new WWE champion, the crowd exploded yet again. It was a night when the unthinkable happened. Rob Van Dam became the WWE World Champion. It was a night that was historical, as much for the title win, as for the crowd's heated reaction to the WWE's boy wonder John Cena.

E-C-W! E-C-W! E-C-W!



Date: June 7th, 1997
Where: Philadelphia, PA ECW Arena

The event was ECW's WrestlePalooza 1997. The card was stacked. The Dudleys faced the Eliminators for the ECW World Tag team Championships. Taz faced Sabu in rematch from the "Barely Legal" pay per view. Taz then faced Shane Douglas for the ECW TV title. Terry Funk defended his ECW World title against Chris Candido. Despite all of these great matches, the crowd was there for one match. Raven vs. Tommy Dreamer in the final match of their feud, as Raven was headed to World Championship Wrestling.

The crowd was hot from the beginning of the match, as the fans showered Raven with "You Sold Out!" chants. It was an intense match that was filled with anxious moments. When Tommy Dreamer finally scored the pinfall on Raven, the crowd went crazy. As great as that pop was, it would fail in comparison to what was about to happen.

In ECW tradition, the lights went off and on three times. Rob Van Dam and Sabu were the men standing in the ring after the first to flickers went off. Bill Alphonso's charges attacked Tommy Dreamer to a chorus of boos. However, the heat was about to go up into a boiling point after the lights went back on a third time. In the ring were the WWF's Jim Cornette and Jerry "The King" Lawler. The heels beat up Dreamer, as several ECW wrestlers tried to make the save, but to no avail. The crowd was so venomous in their hatred that even though I was fifty feet from the ring, I couldn't hear a word that Lawler was saying. I had to watch ECW's show on the Madison Square Garden cable network the following week in order to hear the "King's" promo. The crowd was so hostile that the bleachers were shaking due to their screams. I have never experienced anything like it in my life. I have watched shoot interviews with old-time wrestlers where they talk about a crowd with white-hot heat. A crowd that is so irate that the wrestlers have to worry about leaving the arena in one piece. On this night, I understood exactly what they were talking about. The ECW Arena held 1,250 people in attendance that night. It could have been 60,000 people in the building, because the decibel level was so high. Out of all of the moments that I witnessed live in professional wrestling, the night Jerry Lawler invaded the ECW Arena would have to be the most memorable moment for me. Not just for the angle, but for the passion of the crowd. This is what I am when I say a hot crowd turns a great moment into a historic one. These are my favorite crowd moments, what's yours?