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411’s Countdown To WrestleMania 29: Top 10 Best Moments in WrestleMania History

April 5, 2013 | Posted by Porfirio Diaz

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Welcome to another day of 411mania’s “Countdown to WrestleMania 29.” Two years ago I wrote the “Top 10 Worst Moments in WrestleMania History” column. Why I waited a full two years before concluding the series with its more glowing brother, I don’t know. Either way I managed to make the full circle with a “Best of” article this year and hope it doesn’t take another two years before I make changes to the “Worst Moments” one. Looking back at it now, there are some spots I definitely want to move around. Also, 411’s scandalous image monster ate all of the images and ruined part of the fun.

Every WrestleMania is defined by moments that go down in history as extraordinary. How these extraordinary moments are defined is up to you. Is there one that stands out above the rest as the greatest experience you’ve ever witnessed? Was it a show-stealing match? Did one particular moment cause you to have watery eyes? Did it make you queasy? Did the whole show make you pound your keyboard in childish fits of rage? All WrestleMania events have at least one highlight of importance, one that gets selected to the WWE video package reel factory for preservation. This article deals with those best of the very best moments from the 29-year history of WrestleMania. Retirements, love stories, big-time moves, epic crowd noises – it’s all here. So enjoy the column filled with awesome and tear-filled scenes. Enjoy “The 10 Best Moments in WrestleMania History.”

10. Edge Harpoons Himself into Jeff Hardy for Fun (WrestleMania X-Seven)

The moment: Jeff Hardy manages to grab the cable holding the tag team title belts and holds on for dear life, hoping he can unhook the prize and plunge down en route to a graceful, minor impact landing (best possible outcome). Edge had other plans (worst possible outcome).

It’s not a Jeff Hardy match unless Jeff Hardy endures/causes the most damage possible. This one deals with the former, and it is spectacular. The real question, however, is whether you think this is the high spot most worthy in the Top 10 over such other visual awes such as Shawn Michaels’ splash off the ladder, Jeff Hardy’s Swanton Bomb off the ladder from the prior year, or Edge spearing Mick Foley into a table inferno. Their impacts are all deserving of recognition, and ultimately the choice befalls on you over which spot takes precedence over the other.

I’m going with the show stealing spear that helped TLC 2 become PWI’s Match of 2001. Edge taking off and drilling Hardy into the canvas is a holy sh*t moment that has never been seen before and, if memory serves correctly, has never been seen again. It was at the point where dangerous stunts was a welcome formality for both wrestlers – hand Hardy or Edge a ladder and it’s not like you can’t tell them do something bone-shatteringly outrageous with them – but it never got to where they stopped being so wowzers-ish. WrestleMania is home to tons of other shock-and-awe(some) bumps, but this is one generally recalled as the most visually stunning move in its longstanding history.

Now let’s see it again in slow motion.

EXTRA: Five out of the six men in the match – Devon being the lone exception, and yes, Matt Hardy as the WWE/ECW World Heavyweight champion counts – have all gone on to become world champions at various points in their careers. As of the time of this writing, all six have held a grand total of 143 titles between their respective stints with all major U.S. wrestling companies, past and present (WWE, TNA, and ECW). An inflated number for sure, due to the high number of tag team and hardcore titles won among them. Take those records out and the number shrinks to 46 individual title tallies. Numbers are fun.

9. And The Reunified Hulkamaniacs RUN WILD~! (WrestleMania X8)

The moment: The 68,237 in attendance is AMPED even while both crossover celebrities make their entrances. Once Hollywood Hogan and The Rock lock eyes in the middle of the ring, the crowd reacts accordingly – DEFCON 1 levels of accordingly. A huge nostalgic wave of HOGAN chants vibrates the SkyDome. Tingling sensations are felt by those at home. And no matter how hard he tried, no matter how much love he received from fans in previous engagements, The People’s Champion was not going to win first prize in this bout’s popularity contest. The apex hits when The Rock, heartedly embraced in bad guy mode, executes The Rock Bottom on Hollywood The Immortal Hulk Hogan before awaiting the game-ending three count. Hogan pops up with gusto – a mirror image of his previous theatrics of years past – before the hand could slam the mat for a third time…

…and then the roars begin anew.

A hyperactive crowd helps make moments happen. As a whole, wrestling matches – even those described as (enter good ol’ J.R. with one of his famous witticism) “bowling shoe ugly” – can take on different perspectives if the crowd pumps in a deafening volume of cheers, chants, yays, and boos. Same can be said if there is a great display of wrestling ingenuity and the only enthusiasm buzzing from the stands comes from the crickets. In that case the middle W in “WWE” might as well stand for Wimbledon.

As you can see, quite obvious the Rock vs. Hogan dream match at WrestleMania X8 had no such problems. Not too good from a technical wrestling standpoint though not that it mattered. Every punch, every dirty trick in the book, every ploy made by Hogan was met with adoring praise, an impressive feat considering the noise went on for nearly 20 minutes. I don’t know where this match ranks on the list of “Loudest Crowd Buzz” in wrestling history, but make no doubt about it – the place was off the hook.

EXTRA: Speaking of lists, the Rock-Hogan WM epic has established itself onto my beta list of “Most Watched Matches In My Life.” Here is what I think is my Top 5 (a list within a list, as you might say):

5. Psycho Sid vs. Shawn Michaels – Survivor Series (1996)
4. AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Christopher Daniels – Unbreakable (2005)
3. The Rock vs. Hollywood Hogan – WrestleMania X8 (2002)
2. Royal Rumble Match 1992
1. Steve Cold Steve Austin vs. Dude Love – Over the Edge: In Your House (1998)

8. Shawn Michaels Cradles WWF Title, Boyhood Dream, Basically Everything Not Bret Hart (WrestleMania XII)

The moment: Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels went into the Iron Man match with much to prove. The only deduction to come out of the hour was both were stubborn to lose. Nothing was settled by the time the time hit triple zeroes. Gorilla Monsoon’s resolution: sudden death. Two Sweet Chin Music specials and a dramatic three count later, the scoreboard read: Shawn Michaels 1, Bret Hart 0 (OT). “The boyhood dream has come true…for Shawn Michaels” declared Vince McMahon in the statement of the night. Michaels stood alone in the ring, now in possession of the most sought after treasure in the business – the one element of his life he cared about more than anything else: the WWF Title.

Bret Hart was less than pleased.


POW, right in the kisser; via

Apparently the boyhood dream is telling Bret via Earl Hebner to “Get the f*ck out the ring!” so Michaels could celebrate his title-winning moment in peace. It was the most 90s Shawn Micahels thing ever. Arrogance aside, this truly was Michaels’ career-defining moment. It was his moment even before it became his moment when he appeared from the rafters before the match and zip lined to the ring. No way he does an amazing entrance without compensation in return, and he got just that. Plus we got 60+ minutes of fantastic wrestling. No complaints here. Michaels was, next to Bret Hart, the best wrestler on the roster and the one who would lead the company as its golden glory boy – even if there was some underlining sleaze to the whole thing.

EXTRA: There are a total of nine Iron Match matches in the history of the WWE, although only five of them have gone on for the full hour. Kurt Angle went on to participate in three Iron Man matches, most out of anyone in the WWE: two 30-minute Iron Matches (one of them billed as an Ultimate Submission match vs. Chris Benoit and the other an amazing televised match on Raw vs. Shawn Michaels) and one 60-minute Smackdown classic against Brock Lensar. He lost all three (or technically never won at all since the Raw match ended in a draw). Triple H is the only one to wrestle in more than one 60-minute match, in which there were two different world title belts on the line (vs. The Rock at Judgment Day 2000 for the WWF Championship and vs. Chris Benoit on Raw for the World Heavyweight Championship).

7. Shawn Michaels Old Yeller’s Ric Flair into (Temporary) Retirement (WrestleMania XXIV)

The moment: – Five words: “I’m sorry, I love you.”

Kick, pin, ding, career over.

Jerry Rice is one of my favorite NFL players of all-time. We’re talking about G.O.A.T. status here. However when he donned a Denver Broncos uniform, destined to be on the bottom of the depth chart than see any significant playing time, I was crushed. He was very much done but I wasn’t sure he wanted to believe it. Luckily he realized his senses and got out before he could see the field in what was going to be his third team in the same year. He eventually signed a contract with the San Francisco 49ers allowing him to retire as a member of the team where his career began. It was a sigh of relief.

I know how it feels to watch an athlete try to stay in the game for too long. We feel so emotionally connected to our favorite players that sometimes we feel we know what’s best for them – even if we don’t and not at liberty to tell them so. Ric Flair was such a case. He wanted us to believe there was still something left in the tank. Sometimes that assertion would prove to be accurate. There is no mistake in the pride the Nature Boy put into every match, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of looking old, frail, and at times, to put it bluntly, disgraceful when he should be living the rest of his golden years away from the aches and bruises of (what should be) a young man’s sport.

Flair’s match with Shawn Michaels was the sigh of relief. The match itself was none too perfect. It mattered not. A noble wrestling display for sure; however, it was all about what happened at the end: a man who was about to put down the very same idol he looked up to as his inspiration to get into the wacky world of wrestling. It couldn’t have been scripted any better. And just like that, it was over. Ric Flair, with a mileage of 35+ years in the business, was done – or so we liked to believe. He’d go on to wrestle a few more times in TNA. For all intents and purposes, as he basked in the appreciation he’d come to be familiar with for the majority of his life, his legendary career was over on the night of WrestleMania XXIV. Not without giving Michaels everything he got, for one final time. If Flair was finished, he sure didn’t want fans to think it was the case. He wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.


Relevant; via

EXTRA: Since starting his wrestling career in 1972 to his WWE retirement in 2007, Ric Flair has held a championship title (national and regional) for 28 of those 35 years, including a 16-year streak where he held a world title belt and a 23-year streak overall. The years he didn’t hold or win a title are as follows: 1972, 1973, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, and 2007. The first belt he won was the NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team championship with Rip Hawk (his fifth time) in 1974.

Since starting his wrestling career in 1984 to his WrestleMania XXVI match vs. The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels has held a championship title (national and regional) for 15 of those 27 years (including a reign as the Texas Wrestling Alliance [TWA] Heavyweight champion in 2000). The first belt he ever won was the Texas All-Star Wrestling (TASW) Texas Tag Team championship with Paul Diamond in 1985, known as American Force. Shawn Michaels is the only member of the nWo to have never wrestled a match in WCW.

6. Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit Takes Center Stage in Glorious Celebration (WrestleMania XX)

The moment: Eddie Guerrero won the WWE Championship a month prior to WrestleMania and was successful in his first title defense at the event’s 20th incarnation. Chris Benoit won the World Heavyweight Championship in a fantastic main event performance after forcing Triple H to tap out. After years of scrutiny, years of hardships, and years of being told he didn’t possess the ideal physique required to be a world champion or whatever, an overjoyed Chris Benoit put all doubters in their place and finally accomplished what he had dreamt of doing even since he first got into a wrestling ring. Eddie Guerrero, no stranger to the same criticisms, joined in with his longtime friend under a ceremonial avalanche of confetti and tearful eyes. Two friends overcoming the sufferings of the wrestling world to reach the top of said wrestling world. It was the perfect scene to a perfect ending.

If only it had stayed that way.

You’ll probably heard enough about Chris Benoit to last a lifetime and it would be senseless to converse how much his actions have tarnished this celebratory scene again and again, so let’s dive into the following instead:

– Eddy already had his moment in the sun, but still a crying shame that his one WrestleMania moment no longer exists within WWE’s photo vault. Unless it does exist under a careful cutting process involving character manipulation and intense Photoshop development.


Winner: Revisionist History

– That’s a Hall of Fame Jim Ross call right there. He went on another level emoting the whole scene. Gus Johnson thought Ross lost his sh*t there (note: all of Gus’ thoughts are of him screaming whatever he sees at the moment). Why isn’t there a Top 10 list of J.R.’s greatest calls yet?

– Boy there sure is a lot of confetti.

– This is the best I can do without talking about the obvious.

EXTRA: Chris Benoit’s title victory was the first time in WrestleMania main event history to end on a submission. After WrestleMania 21, the next three WrestleMania main events (22, 23, and 24) would end in submission victories.

5. Undertaker Closes The Curtain on HBK’s Career (WrestleMania XXVI)

The moment: Knowing he didn’t have the energy to fight back much longer, Shawn Michaels crawled up to his knees and made a gesture to Undertaker – the same cut-throat motion the Deadman used when the end is near – to finish him off. Parallel to what happened with Michaels at the conclusion of his match against Ric Flair, Undertaker seemed hesitant to end the career of one of the all-time greats in the sport.

So Michaels slapped him. It worked. A red-faced angry Undertaker picked him up and delivered a super-duper Tombstone Piledriver for the career-ending three count. The streak lives for another day; the illustrious career of the Heartbreak Kid does not. Poetry.

Two living legends squaring off one last time. An epic match so full of raw emotion and suspense it easily surpasses lofty expectations from a year ago. Undertaker going all “WrestleMania: The Arcade Game” on Michaels seconds before the finale. This match has it all.


No wait, now it has it all.

EXTRA: As of now, there have been five non-title WM main events in its history. Here is the lineup: Hulk Hogan & Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff (I), Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice (VIII), Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow (XI), Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels (XXVI), and The Rock vs. John Cena (XXVIII).

Undertaker also ties a record with three other people (John Cena, Steve Austin, and Hulk Hogan) for most world title belts won at WrestleMania.

4. Ultimate Warrior Ultimately Beats Hulk Hogan (WrestleMania VI)

The moment: “Hulking up” is the sign when, after being beaten down for a period of time, Hulk Hogan becomes resistant to pain. At this stage, any punches to the head will only make him stronger – and only punches to the head. Why none of his opponents bothered to try something else, anything else besides the very action he’s impervious to is one of life’s greatest mysteries. Oh yeah that’s right, because wrestling. Next plan of action calls for putting his familiar finishing maneuver in motion: three punches followed by the big boot followed by his infamous legdrop. When in doubt, he would always reach back and pull out the same repertoire to great success.

Ultimate Warrior is just one of the few (if not, by recollection, the only one on a national stage) to put the screws on Hogan’s fate-changing sequence by simply rolling out of the way. Stunned from the hip down, Warrior splashes the fallen Hogan and pins him cleanly in the middle of the ring before Hogan could muster the strength to kick out in time. The crowd roars in approval, the Hall of Fame team of Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura add their exclamations at the sight of a new champion, and a new main event star is born.

A classic passing-of-the-torch moment made more definite by having Hogan do something he rarely did during his peak: he lost cleanly. He lost period. Look at this basic timeline during the 80s. Not a pinfall lost in any televised match seen by a nationwide audience. Until this one. The mutual hug between the two combatants was also a sight to see.

Warrior’s reign didn’t last as long as it should, as we never did get the return match until many years later (see below) when few were asking for it. He’ll always have his memories of adding a notch in Hogan’s loss column during his prime. Not a lot of wrestlers can say that.

EXTRA: The news came out as recently as two weeks ago (in an interview with Fighting Spirit Magazine) that Hogan wanted to face the Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania VI as a heel. That interview came just a few days after he say he wanted Vince McMahon (in a different interview with Fighting Spirit Magazine) to sign Sting in the WWF back in the late 1980s so he could face him as a heel. Hogan eventually did in fact wrestle both Sting and Ultimate Warrior as a heel, at one point within in the same year (1998) and in both only their second match together – SuperBrawl VIII (vs. Sting) and vs. Halloween Havoc 1998 (vs. The Warrior).

3. Randy Savage Reunites with Miss Elizabeth, As the World Turns (WrestleMania VII)

The moment: Randy Savage was not having a good time at the moment – he had just lost a retirement match to the Ultimate Warrior (despite at one point hitting five trademark elbow drops) and was immediately dumped and attacked afterwards by his manager Sensational Sherri. This prompted Miss Elizabeth, who had been away from the WWF scene for months, to intervene and fling Sherri out of the ring. It was an aggressive side not normally seen by the unassertive Elizabeth and Savage was able to pick up on it. In what can be best described as a romantic reconcilement for the ages, Macho Man Randy Savage and the lovely Miss Elizabeth rekindle their relationship right then and there to a background of joyful cheers and tears. Savage verified the reunion – in addition to making up for years of emotional abuse – by this time holding down the ropes for Elizabeth instead following tradition, when she would do the same as his acting manager in previous years. The two rode off into the sunset (or rather down the aisle) just in time for Demolition to settle whatever differences they had against Genichiro Tenryn and Koji Kitao.

End scene.

Why on the list? Because it made wrestling fans cry and when you make wrestling fans cry, you must have done something huge – lest the video above didn’t warm your icy dark heart.

WHAT HAPPENED? WHY ARE YOU CRYING? SHOW ME ON THE DOLL WHERE THE WRESTLING PEOPLE TOUCHED YOU?

I’ll tell you where. *presses heart* Right there.

EXTRA: Where’s Randy Savage? Oh there he is.

2. Bloody Stone Cold Steve Austin is Bloody (WrestleMania 13)


No (good quality) video certainly exists, so have this lovely JPEG bloodmare instead; images via

The moment: After about twenty minutes of beating the hell out of each other, Bret Hart put a blood-drenched Steve Austin into his patented Sharpshooter to force him to quit. Caked in blood and screaming in pain, the camera captures Steve Austin at his most distressed: his face twisted in agony, both eyes seeing red, blood filling in place of his front tooth, unconscious in a pool of his own gore. Boom, a classic WrestleMania image is born. Just as important as his crimson mask, Austin never did say the words “I quit,” which won the fan’s admiration in lieu of an in-ring victory. The Austin 3:16 speech might have given his career a boost, but this iconic scene is what helped skyrocket his top billing status (as well his merchandise sales) in the WWF and cement his legacy as the world’s toughest (and merch movin’) SOB.

The benevolent Bret Hart and the ruthless Stone Cold Steve Austin: two characters completely opposite of each other. Well opposites do attract. Not so much in violent mêlées but the point is there. The two would batter each other in more brutal encounters afterwards to keep the gravy train rolling for the next couple of months.

EXTRA: First and foremost: Impromptu 90s Character Cartoon GIF Fight!

VS.


Furthermore, this moment almost never happened. If we are to believe the authenticity of Bret Hart’s autobiography – Steve Austin was wary of doing a blade job, which was a no-no during the time, until Bret Hart sort of forced his hand – then who knows how this match, this moment would have been perceived. For one, no steveaustinblood.jpeg image as the ones seen above.

The passage from the book Bret Hart – Hitman, My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling that caused the iconic moment in Austin’s career to transpire:

Steve had put the sharpshooter on wrong, and I raked his eyes breaking the hold, fighting back with a hard gut punch. I took off into the ropes, but he sidestepped me and threw me out to the floor. I spat out the blade from where it was tucked between my upper lip and gum. As we slugged it out on the floor, I said, “It’s time!”

I faintly heard him say, “Maybe we shouldn’t.”

I reversed his throw and told him, “It’s too late!” I hurled him crashing hard into the timekeeper, and he barreled into the steel barricade. I calmly stepped over Steve, with Vince looking right at me and screaming fans only inches away. I grabbed his head and beat him with my fists like rubber hammers. Then I cut him perfectly, less than a half-inch long and as deep as a dime slot. No one saw a thing. The blood spurted out of his head as I gave him a serious thrashing. Despite all the vicious attacks he’d put me through, the crowd was now cheering for him as he fought to hang on. I retrieved the chair I’d discarded earlier and repeatedly smashed him in the knee, like I was bent on destroying him. I was actually doing the best I could to hit his knee brace every time.

…

As I headed past Taker, he smiled and said, “Helluva match, man, not a chance in hell me and Sid are ever gonna top that!” He said this respectfully, from one worker to another. I was numb with pride as I waded into my fellow wrestlers to handshakes and praise. When Steve came in, we shook hands as he beamed, all the while pretending to be up-set about his cut head.

…

The next day Vince pulled me into his office as soon as I got to the Rockford Civic Center and asked me whether Steve and I had taken it upon ourselves to get juice. Steve had denied it. So did I. Vince never said another word to me about it.

That tricky tricky Bret.

1. Hulk Hogan: Andre the Giant Slam Master (WrestleMania III)

The moment: Various attempts to knock the 520-point Giant to the mat and set up the much-appreciated bodyslam was met with futile results. But upon delivering a big boot-clothesline combo, Hulk Hogan’s second attempted scoop slam of the night was successfully met with a roaring ovation and eventual worldwide recognition. The visually impressive slam put a rather significant boom in the spectacle that is professional wrestling – thus the reason why Hulk Hogan slamming Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III is considered the best “Granddaddy of ‘em All” moment ever.

Hogan is a good guy, beloved by millions. Andre is the big bad bully, jealous of all the attention his former friend was getting. So they fight under the assumption that Andre is undefeated (false) and Hogan, the nation’s top star (true), will never be able to beat him (eventually false). Jesse Ventura would bill it as “the biggest match in the history of professional wrestling” (true). Sometimes, it’s the simplest things that are the best.

There’s a reason why WrestleMania III is still talked about as the pinnacle event of the decade and why it’s the only WrestleMania to be re-released on DVD. One is for Savage vs. Steamboat; the other is forever etched into WrestleMania lore.

EXTRA: Ironic moments etched into the archives of sports history are usually in line to receive commemorations of its occurrence for every set number of years – The Catch immediately comes to mind for this particular 49ers fan. Hulk Hogan slamming Andre the Giant, while not in the same boat in terms of national recognition against the unscripted nature of professional competition, is still renowned as a legendary moment within the landscape of sports, much less so-called sports entertainment. Author of Deadspin’s infamous Dead Wrestle of the Week series (Andre included) and current Grantland writer The Masked Man gave out a great account of that very moment on wrestling’s biggest stage as only he – and probably Jesse Ventura – can tell it.

Hogan wrestled against and slammed Paul “The Great” Wight (Big Show) at the Memphis Wrestling’s PGM Clash of Legends in 2007, 20 years and a month removed from the time Hulk made “the bodyslam heard around the world,” although the event as far as I could tell was not billed as such (mainly because I couldn’t find anything to claim it as fact when I swore I did the first time around). This might be a reach considering Jerry Lawler was Hogan’s original opponent and had to back out due to contractual obligations with the WWE. Wight filled in as an alternative and made Andre proud by reenacting the same culmination as his predecessor did in front of 93,173 fans so many years ago – only this time with about four times as much ear cup poses from the Immortal One than before.

There’s no shortage of accolades and stories dedicated to the very best moment in WrestleMania history – told from the perspective of fans, acquaintances, and wrestlers alike. Hogan vs. Andre is not so much a technical masterpiece as it is a well-choreographed circus affair, but as far as discussing historical epics inside of the squared circle, this is the moment most point to frequently. The only thing bigger than The Giant’s ample frame or the attendance at the Pontiac Silverdome that night is the preservative the bodyslam would resonated within the golden annuals of wrestling history.

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