wrestling / Columns
My Take On 7.24.13: My Top 10 Unforgettable Wrestling Moments
WELCOME!
Welcome back to the latest edition of My Take On. Pulling a fill in for David and the “8-Ball” this week, due to him having some travel issues My daughter Hana was the inspiration for the column below. She is always asking questions, and started asking me about my favorite wrestling memories and things I have watched that I cannot forget. And I thought to myself that it would be a fun idea for a top 10. So for today’s column I will present my top 10 unforgettable moments (for good or bad). Pretty simple. I do not have a bunch of criteria for this one, at all. These are just the moments I thought of when I made the top 10 and I hope you share yours.
Vaya con Dios, brahs…
My Top 10 Unforgettable Wrestling Moments
#10. “I’m Sorry… I Love You” – Ric Flair Retires
It should be no surprise to many that have read my work over the years that there will be some Ric Flair on this list. When I was a kid, I was a huge NWA supporter, and the WWF was just that other shit on TV. Ric Flair was always my world champion and Hulk Hogan was a guy with a belt on another show. I started to add in more WWF as I just started to crave all wrestling, but that is how it worked for me. But I was always a Ric Flair fan, through the early years, through his WWF run (as the real world champion of course) back to WCW; Ric Flair was always “The Man.” So I kick off the list with the retirement of one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. When the rumors started that the WWF wanted Flair to retire I understood, but it was hard to accept, because Flair had always been there throughout my wrestling fandom. But reality was about to crash down because Flair was about to be gone, and it all ended at WrestleMania against another guy who is a favorite of mine, Shawn Michaels. I know many disagree, many didn’t like the match and many didn’t like the ending, but I did. I thought that this was best way to send off Flair. It was on the biggest stage in wrestling, against a guy that not only idolized him as a worker but also could give him that last great match. I loved the build, I loved the match and I personally felt that the finish was perfect. Wrestling in a story, it’s an athletic soap opera, and Flair went out there and worked as hard as his body would allow, Michaels was Michaels, but they told the story, and Flair goes out in a blaze of glory; asking to be finished. “I’m Sorry… I Love You,” superkick, pin… and then the realization that for the first time in my life that Ric Flair would not be an active wrestler set in.
#9. Andre Rips Off Hogan’s Cross
As previously mentioned, I was always more of an NWA guy, but I did start to get into the WWF big time between WrestleMania II and III. My big brother watched it all, so he was there to walk me through things and explain everything. I got that Hogan was the big guy (brother), he and Andre were friends and Andre celebrated with him when Hogan won the title. I remember Hogan getting the trophy for holding the title for three years, Andre coming out and saying that, “to be a champion for three years is a long time” and then walked away. And then it happened, Piper’s Pit, Andre returns with Bobby Heenan of all people. Heenan stokes the fire, talking up Andre being undefeated for 15-years, and Hogan not offering him a title shot during that time. Andre then stated that he wanted the title shot at WrestleMania III, and ripped off the cross and shirt of Hulk Hogan. I was around 10 at the time, and could not understand what I was watching. Why would Andre turn his back on Hulk Hogan? Why would he align himself with Bobby Heenan? Why was Roddy Piper being so sympathetic towards Hogan? My young mind was blown at this turn of events. Why Andre, Why? This makes the list because it was my first real WWF memory.
#8. RAW… IS… JERICHO
Back when Chris Jericho was leaving WCW I was really getting into the online wrestling scene. The AOL rooms, WCW Live, (eventually Wrestling Observer on EYADA) and anything and everything I could find in the early years of my online wrestling fandom I would check out. While I was a huge NWA fan, I had started to not be the biggest fan of WCW. I knew that Jericho was leaving WCW, and I hated that at the time. I loved the Cruiserweights, I loved Jericho, Guerrero, Mysterio and the whole lot of guys that busted ass and made so many of those shows entertaining. I always thought that Jericho had a lot more to offer than the general Cruiserweight guy did, but I would be lying to say I though the would have the success he has had in WWE. But he was gone and he was going to come to the then WWF, but the night of the debut, that blew me away. Here was a guy that I loved in WCW, who had great matches, but was always presented on a certain level, one that surely was not a main event level. But then the night came, he was to debut on Raw, and he did so in the biggest and most improbable way possible, in a segment with the Rock. The fact that this guy, who was nothing but a Cruiserweight midcard guy in WCW, was for lack of a better phrase, going one on one with the great one on the mic. This was one of those early feeling that “one of my guys” made it. It was that night that I thought Jericho could be a big deal, because Raw was Jericho.
#7. Say Hello to The Bad Guy – Scott Hall Comes Through The Crowd on Nitro
In May of 1996 there was still a ton of believability in wrestling, in that “it’s still real to me damn it” sort of way. On May 19th the “Curtain Call” went down, and Diesel and Razor were done with the WWF after they hugged it out with their bros. I was in college at the time, was working as a RA for a private dorm, and on duty in the main room. The glory of that is that I had a TV and could watch anything I wanted, and on Mondays, that was wrestling. Then on May 27th, after that last call in MSG, during a match that was only there to be interrupted, Scott Hall came through the crowd on Monday Nitro. “You know who I am, but you people don’t know why I am here.” That was all I needed to hear, because I was hooked. It was one of the main reasons I started to search out wrestling stuff on the Internet. I knew a lot of others that watched wrestling at the time, and it was the huge topic of discussion that next morning. I remember almost everyone thinking that it was some invasion; that the WWF was going to war for real with WCW. To hear so many people reacting to an angle like that, to hear people that generally didn’t follow it asking about, “that big deal on the wrestling last night” was so new to me. Wrestling was becoming the cool thing, and a wave of “Austin 3:16” & “nWo shirts” were about to fill the campus of Fairmont State.
#6. Shane Douglas Throws Down The NWA Title
Again, this should be a given if you’ve read any of my work or the recent top 10 lists, but I was a HUGE NWA fan and regarded the NWA World Title as THE World Title. Early in my tape trading days, when I wasn’t getting light heavyweight stuff from Japan, I was getting the early Eastern Championship Wrestling tapes. I liked Shane Douglas, he was from Pittsburgh, and thought he had a ton of potential. So when he had a chance to go for the “10-pounds of gold,” this was right in my wheelhouse. Shane, Malenko, 2 Cold Scorpio, Benoit and Taz back when he was Tazmaniac were all involved. I remember watching through the 15th generation copy, trying to get the tracking just right and being thrilled as Douglas made the finals against Scorpio. Truth be told the finals weren’t a great match, it was fine, but completely under whelming. Obviously the reason I am writing about this is the fact that Shane Douglas cut the big promo and then tossed down the NWA World Title, proclaimed himself the ECW WORLD Champion and history was made. I am pretty sure that I had the same reaction as Dennis Coralluzzo, “Hey man, he’s shittin on the belt, he’s shittin on the belt man.” I hated Douglas at the time for this, because I was the NWA diehard. In retrospect I know that the NWA was nearly dead when they did the tournament, and that the promo set the stage for the birth of the ECW many fell in love with. But damn it, nearly three months after it happened and I got the tape, I was pissed at Shane Douglas.
#5. Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me…” – Shawn Michaels Returns at Summerslam 2002
No, I am not trying to get religious on you or anything like that, that is the verse that was on Shawn Michaels’ shirt at Summerslam 2002 when he returned to the ring. At WrestleMania 14 on March 29th, 1998 I thought that I had witnessed Michaels’ final match. He lost the WWF Title to Steve Austin, and the guy that had started to replace Ric Flair as the guy to me was gone. Four years later he seemed primed for a full time return (after one had failed due to showing up unable to perform) when he was announced as the newest member of the nWo. The big angle with Triple H then followed, and then it was set. On August 25, 2002, Shawn Michaels was returning to the ring. I remember, as silly as it sounds, being so nervous. Was he actually ok enough to be back, and if he was, was he still Shawn Michaels? At the time I was 25, and had always been into sports, and had watched injuries ruin the lives of once great athletes. How could he possibly be the same? I was ready for a one-night return, some nostalgia and two friends working hard to have a good match together. What we got was an outstandingly worked, emotional match that delivered more than I could have hoped. HBK getting the shine right away, beating down his former friend, Triple H being the biggest dick and attacking the back, the explosion from the crowd when HBK kips up; it was amazing. And thankfully for wrestling fans, this wasn’t a one-time deal, it led to Michaels coming back for another eight years, being just as good if not better in some ways than he ever was, and truly adding to his legacy as one of the all time greats.
#4. The Road Warriors Try To Rip Out Dusty Rhodes’ Eye
I couldn’t find the video I want, but the follow up promo is still damn good. I would file this under the “first scared shitless by a wrestling angle” memory. Back in the day, the NWA and WCW had a six-man tag team title, and Dusty Rhodes and the Road Warriors were a team that held those titles. One week, as the story went, Dusty Rhodes was away for an appearance at the Special Olympics and could not team with the Warriors. Sting would sub for Rhodes against the Varsity Club. The Warriors were pissed and would not tag Sting in. The match ended in a DQ, but once Sting ran wild on the Varsity Club, the Warriors turned on Sting and beat him down and then beat down Lex Luger as he would make the save. They were tired of carrying people, and then Dusty Rhodes returned. But when he tried to fix the situation, the Warriors attacked and not only beat him down, but they removed a spike from their famous gear and then DROVE IT INTO HIS HEAD AND EYE! As I watched, I was horrified! I had always loved Dusty and this was just horrible, the Road Warriors had blinded one of my heroes! That shit will terrify you. Thankfully Dusty and Sting went for revenge instead of walking it off while they clapped and smiled.
#3. Mick Foley Takes Flight Off of The Cell
There are a lot of people that like to say that they were there at an event, and many of them are full of shit. But on this night I was in the Pittsburgh Civic Arena for the WWF King of the Ring PPV, just like I was there for Summerslam 1995; but this time the seats were much better. I sat in the Fox Sports luxury box with my boy Andy Wolfe. His dad was a big wig in the Pittsburgh sports market, and that is how we got the tickets. We arrived, got to the rather sweet box (the first time I wasn’t in a normal seat at a sporting related event) and we sat in the front, ate the free food and I enjoyed the free beer on tap. The night is mostly a blur; I know Shamrock won the KOTR and that Al Snow and Heat lost to Too Much (before they were Too Cool). Kane defeated Austin in the main event, but that is nothing more than a footnote, due to the 24-hour title reign and because of a little thing called Hell in a Cell. This again was in my early Internet days, and I remember hearing Undertaker had a bad ankle injury going in. This combined with Foley not being the typical athlete didn’t exactly sound like this would be the best of cage matches. Everyone knows the story, but being there live, feeling the excitement as they climbed the cage and looking at the two men battle as they were almost eye level to the box; and then… then it happened. Mick Foley was thrown from the cell and went crashing to the floor. It was the first moment when watching wrestling that I thought had witnessed a man die. Thankfully I was wrong, and Foley not only got back to his feet, that crazy bastard actually climbed the cage again, and once again I thought he may have died on the second bump. That match is now wrestling history, the thing of legend, and a match that people always talk about. At times, I almost cannot believe that I was there.
#2. The Raw-Nitro Simulcast
Again, I go back to that “NWA fan” deal, and while I lost a lot of love for WCW, what I did enjoy about it is that it was there. WCW was a reality, and while we can make all of the jokes we want to about this, I loved Monday nights. I loved switching back and forth, I loved having options; but on March 26th, 2001 that was all over. I was big into the “IWC” scene at this time, listening to Observer Live on Eyada and all of that jazz, but it did not sink in until Nitro opened and it opened with Vince McMahon. He stated that he bought his competition, and he now owns WCW. Vince then addressed the WCW fans and superstars. What is the fate of WCW he asked? Tonight there will be a special simulcast and you will all find out, “because the fate, the very fate of WCW is in MY hands.” It actually happened, the WWF won the war, they bought their competition, and they were the only game in town. Shane McMahon would actually appear on WCW to close out the show following the final (at the time) Sting vs. Flair match, which while not a classic, was in many ways the proper way to close things out. On one hand I was devastated. The war was over, the fun was gone. But then, then I thought to myself that this was the dream come true. How many times when I was a kid did I sit down and make fantasy wrestling dream card with the WWF and WCW? Answer, I did it a lot. And now, now that fantasy was about to become a reality, what could go wrong?…
#1. The Chris Benoit Memorial Goes From Touching to Awkward to One of The Worst Tragedies Ever in Wrestling
On Monday June 25th, 2007 I arrived home from my job at the Greek Restaurant and was preparing to sit down to watch Raw. As I prepared to eat the food I brought back with me (a kick ass Gyro) I checked my email and this is the first thing I read…
Obviously I was shocked. A wrestler I had been a huge fan of, and his family had (seemingly) been the victims of a horrible attack and homicide. A father, mother and son were dead, I didn’t think that anything could be worse than that news. Raw was a tribute show that night, with Vince McMahon opening the show alone in the ring, describing the tragedy that had happened. He addressed the fact that they were going to deal with his storyline death, but due to the tragedy, they had decided to put on a tribute show filled with classic Benoit matches, and reactions from co-workers and friends.
The show started as a moving tribute to a performer that many loved, but as the night went on, updated news started to come in and things were changing. As this moving tribute was airing, news of a triple homicide was changing rapidly to a double murder suicide, and Chris Benoit was the man that killed his family. As shocking as the original news was, this was even worse. The WWE received a ton of criticism for the show, with several sources saying that they knew of the news and still aired the tribute. As I sat there, watching the show, finishing at the time a tribute article and then reading the news updates, I was numb. You never really know the people you watch on TV, but as fans all too often we think we know these performers. We didn’t know Chris Benoit.
Chris Benoit’s memory will be greatly argued in the grand scheme of wrestling history. Benoit traveled the world, worked all styles and excelled far beyond anyone’s expectations. He dominated the “Junior Heavyweight” part of his career, and made a successful change to the heavyweight division. You never heard people complain about the “bad Chris Benoit” match they saw, but many wondered why he hadn’t accomplished more. His life is one hell of a story, and while he didn’t draw the most money or win the most world titles, when you think about skill as a wrestler, not many people come ahead of Chris Benoit.
But all of that has virtually been erased. The man murdered his wife and child, and now, now people to this day, six years later, have issues watching his matches or praising him in any way. And I cannot blame those people, it’s their right. WWE has almost removed him from history in some aspect, and while they do at times recognize him, it is not a fact that they advertise, and you cannot blame them.
It was an event that was a true tragedy, it changed wrestling, and is something I can unfortunately never forget because a mother and son died, and so did the false illusions that we thought we actually knew the people on TV…
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Larry Csonka is a Pisces and enjoys rolling at jiu jitsu class with Hotty McBrownbelt, cooking, long walks on the beach, Slingo and the occasional trip to Jack in the Box. He is married to a soulless ginger and has two beautiful daughters who are thankfully not soulless gingers; and is legally allowed to marry people in 35 states. He has been a wrestling fan since 1982 and has been writing for 411 since May 24th, 2004; contributing over 3,000 columns, TV reports and video reviews to the site.
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