The Top Ten 11.7.06: Celebrity Moments

Posted by Julian Williams on 11.07.2006

Think Celebrities in wrestling are worthless? You're right, but these are the few exceptions.

Greetings marathoners and porn stars and welcome to another exhausted edition of The Top Ten. This week we're going to take a look at The Top Ten Celebrity Moments of all time. So apparently there was a PPV on Sunday night entitled "Cyber Sunday" and it was the first WWE PPV in a long while that I didn't order. The card didn't catch my interest in the slightest and that's pretty bad considering they were having the first ever "Champions Of Champions" match, a concept that the IWC has been drooling over ever since the inception of the brand split. I figured that Cena would be a lock to win so I was quite shocked when I came on the 'Mania only to discover that my sire, King Booker, had won the match. To steal a line from everyone's favorite afroed Spaniard, "Das Cool!" By all accounts, this PPV was pretty much shit and I think that Dunn hit it right on the head when he said they need to eliminate this whole Cyber Taboo Suesday nonsense. It has provided some great matches like HHH/Flair and Cena/Angle/Michaels but those matches could have been done without the interactive aspect. There's no way to properly build towards the PPV because most of the opponents or stipulations are unknown until the night of the PPV and while that's a cool idea in theory, it's a bad idea in execution. I hope they eliminate this PPV and bring back the damn King Of The Ring, which they can switch with Judgment Day so that they winner of the KOR tournament can face the Champion of their respective brand at Summerslam. Imagine the various matchups possible in the semi-finals and finals if they went that route. CM Punk vs. Shawn Michaels? Rey Mysterio vs. HHH? Shelton Benjamin vs. Sabu? Mr. Kennedy vs. Carlito? The Boogeyman vs. Umaga? Ok, maybe not the last one, but you get my point. The KOR tournament has been successful in getting popular superstars over the hump to becoming icons and I think it could be instrumental in making wrestlers like Kenny, Johnny Nitro, Shelton Benjamin, Carlito, Matt Hardy and others reach that next level of superstardom. If they have megastars like HHH, HBK, Undertaker and Cena enter the tournament, but have a young up-and-comer like Kenny win the tourney, it gives Kenny that extra rub given the fact that he won the tournament over such modern day legends. Even if an established superstar won the tournament, it would still be beneficial because a lengthy buildup to the Summerslam main event could begin and that's something that's been missing from the summertime tradition for a couple years now. Alright enough with me blabbing my mouth with my wrestling pipe dreams, let's get into feedback from you guys.

Reader Feedback

First up is Dabid who reminds me of a truly SHOCKING heel turn:

I'm usually in complete agreement with your Top 10 lists, but how in the world did you miss one of the greatest heel turns EVER in this week's list?!

I'm speaking of none other than the heel turn which led to the Rock's first WWF Championship at the 1999 Survivor Series. Rocky had turned face after Summerslam and quickly became -THE- top face in the WWF second only to Stone Cold Steve Austin. He main-evented RAW the week before Survivor Series, and was probably the most heavily-favored face by the crowds to win the championship that night. The fans were ELECTRIC for The Rock, and he did come out on top--but only with the help of the McMahons, who had orchestrated the entire tournament for The Rock to take his place as the new Corporate Champion. The Rock entered the #1 or #2 most popular man in wrestling, and left as its top heel.

This was one of the most shocking and compelling heel turns in wrestling history, and should be in the top 2 or 3 spots no doubt.

--Dabid

I got tons of email talking about this heel turn and I must admit that this is one of the better heel turns the ‘E ever did. Sometimes with heel turns, especially lately, you can see a heel turn coming from a mile away, but this one was truly unexpected. Dabid gets some props here, along with all the rest of you that mentioned it, because this was definitely one that could have found a spot on the list.

Jeremy gives me a bit of a correction on one of the heel turns on my list:

Though it may be nit picky, Shawn Michaels did not send Jannetty through the window with a superkick. He kicked him, picked him up and threw him through the window. That made it even more dastardly in many people's eyes, because the window spot was a big deal at the time and Michaels intentionally put him through it. I still love Bobby Heenan's call of the whole segment, but in particular, "Did you see that? Jannetty tried to jump through that window to get away from Michaels!"

Great column, always a joy to read.

A lot of you guys pointed this out to me and after reviewing the tape like the true wrestling nerd that I am, I discovered that you guys were indeed right and HBK threw Jannetty threw the glass instead of kicking him through it. That's my bad people. You can't lie and say that kicking him through the glass doesn't sound cooler. I wish I could kick a motherfucker through a glass window. Like that damn Jay Leno. With his stupid chin. BAM!! Kicked through a glass window motherbitch!

Darren provides some good old fashioned WCW heel turns. I bet half of them involve Flair:

As far as heel turns go, as much as WCW sucked, there are a few that come to mind:

*Arn Anderson turning on Dustin Rhodes Bash at the Beach 1994
*Ric Flair turns on Sting....pick one: 1990 by kicking him out of the 4 Horsemen or 1995 turning against him in tag team match @ Havoc
*Ric Flair turns on Dusty Rhodes 1985 breaking his leg
*Jim Cornette turns heel on the Dynamic Dudes - 1991 memorable because the crowd POPPED HUGE for the Midnight Express
*Eddie Guerrero snaps and turns heel on Rey Jr. 2005 - the beatdown for this one was just brutal
*Dusty Rhodes turns nWo at Souled Out 1998 - the one guy who never was a heel in the old NWA/WCW turns nWo...Tony Schiavone nearly has a (kayfabe) nervous breakdown...I LOVED IT!

These were all great, especially Dusty's turn because the man was the epitome of a babyface, it was surreal seeing him heel it up. Eddie's beatdown on Rey was really a WWE heel turn, but it was still excellent non the less, the brainbuster on the steel steps was a thing of beautiful brutality. And Cornette turns heel on everyone, I bet he's turning heel on someone, somewhere right now. Probably the Chinese delivery boy. Where's my duck sauce, DAMMIT?!?

Dave has a little beef with my Sting list and he's not gonna hold it in anymore:

Man, you were SOOOO close this time. I havent written in with any critiques lately because you have been pretty spot on, but this time... sorry man. You cannot list great Sting matches and completely exclude his series of matches with The Great Muta! Yes Sting got the rub from his matches with Flair but Sting won his first title, the TV title in 89 and lost ran rampant building his foundation for a great future. He then lost the title to the Great Muta and they had a serious feud all year. His GAB match where he regained the title but Muta's shoulders were up (The title was later held up) was a classic and easily should have been in Stings top 5.

Most point to Flair making Sting, but Sting couldnt beat Flair right away (It wouldnt be believable and would have led to backlash like Goldberg and Batista), and Sting couldn't keep losing to Flair and keep his momentum. Enter the Great Muta. I say that the fued with Muta did more to seal Stings move to the top, then the close calls with Flair (The early matches). The great thing about the Sting/Muta series of matches and the fact that you never knew who would win. Both guys built their futures in America on this fued and the GAB match in 89 specifically stands out. Muta became a Japanese legend later in his career, but it was his matches with Sting that Americans remembered. Sting went on to be a World Title holder, a crow, and an ICON. The GAB match was the highlight of Stings early career and was the last real fued that Sting had where he had to employ moves other then the Scorpian Deathlock to get a victory.

Dave

I must admit that Sting's feud with Muta did endure him in the mindof many fans during that day, but I still feel that his close calls with Flair did more for him in the long run because he was seen to be on the same level as the legend. I can't take away from the importance that the Muta matches had though because sometimes you need a tough Asian motherfucker to kick the shit out of you to get you to that next level. Just ask Chuck Norris.

And finally, we have Nick who gives us some forgotten, but great Sting matches:

Julian -

I can't really argue with any of your top 10 - probably because Sting had so few "great" matches. I was never a big fan of his, but in his first few years he seemed to have enthusiam and could be carried to good matches. There are just a couple of matches I would add for honorable mention:

Sting vs. Vader at the Great American Bash 1992: These two always clicked. The thing I liked about this match was that Vader beat the shit out of Sting and beat him super-clean. Sting was WCW's top star and he was willing to put over an up and coming heel big time. Although Bill Watts was booking at the time and everybody jobs when Watts books. I wish HHH and HBK would be willing to put over and Edge or even Orton for the good of their company. I know, never gonna happen.

Sting vs. Barry Windham Clash of the Champions III: This was for Windham's US title while he was a horseman. This match was really good and just showed how young and eager Sting seemed and that Windham wasn't the only horseman who could carry him to a great match at a Clash show in 1988.

Sting/Shane Douglass vs. Terry Taylor/Eddie Gilbert UWF TV 1987: I'm not sure if this was still Watts or if this was JCP running the UWF. The match was fine, but the real highlight was the brawl afterward. Sting was a newly turned face fueding with his ex mate and mentor Gilbert and Terry Taylor was a newly turned heel fueding with his ex partner Chris Adams. After the match the heels beat up Douglass (basically his rookie year) and Chris Adams comes to help and he and Sting brawl with Taylor and Gilbert Memphis style all over the building. Gilbert must of booked this thing. They go through the stands. They hit each other with everyhting including a huge bucket of beer which Chris Adams slips on and almost kills himself. Everyone bleeds, security is pushing hundreds of people away and it is a crazy ass scene.

Well, have a good Halloween and keep up the cool column.

Nick

These are some great picks by Nick. The GAB match between Vader and Sting was great because it represented a time when a heel could win clean over a top guy. The only time I've seen that lately is when Samoa Joe was a heel and beating the shit out of everyone, the only problem was that while Joe was doing that, he was being cheered as a face. Vader got booed relentlessly as everyone wanted to see Stinger win, but the big man was just too much for Sting and that's what made their rivalry so great, it was so evenly matched. I never saw the Sting/Douglass vs. Taylor/Gilbert match, but it sounds great. Good stuff here by Nick.

Ok, that's all for the feedback this week people. Keep sending your thoughts and lists in and I want to thank all you guys that take the time out to write me every week, I really appreciate it and it makes writing this column all the more fulfilling. Otays, it's time to get into this week's list.


The Top Ten Celebrity Moments

10) Andre figures out a way to finally shut Bob Euker up
Bob Euker was a special guest commentator and interviewer at Wrestlemania 3 and 4 and provided many witty quips and funny analysis. He interviewed some of the more eclectic figures during his interview segments, but nothing could have prepared him for interviewing the Eight Wonder of The World, Andre The Giant. Bob tried to conduct a semi-serious interview with him, but Andre's incessant rambling pretty much shot that idea down. The interview was capped off with Andre trying to choke Euker, an impressive visual given that Andre's hand completely engulfed the throat of Euker. It's a memorable moment in the history of Wrestlemania as they still play that interview frequently when hyping up Wrestlemania.

9) Cena gives K-Fed an FU from all of America
When Kevin Federline aka Mr. Britney Spears aka King White Trash showed up on Raw to pow wow with his "good friends" Nitro and Melina, I was expecting another one of those horrible segments that we've gotten accustomed to on Raw for the past couple of years. Instead I got a pleasant surprise when K-Fed cut a very good heel promo and had the entire crowd booing the hell out of him. This brought out John Cena who proceeded to diss K-Fed repeatedly, including suggesting that he was going to "spear" his wife, Britney(which was the ultimate fantasy for all straight males six years ago, but today.....not so much). It seemed like that would be the end of the interaction between the dueling white rappers, but the best part was yet to come. After Cena invited K-Fed back in the ring to seemingly squash the beef, he hoisted him on his shoulders and delivered a thunderous FU(which K-Fed sold beautifully). And all of America rejoiced.

8) Dennis Rodman goes nWo 4 life BROTHER!
Dennis Rodman was the ultimate bad boy of the NBA so he seemed to be a natural fit when he joined up with Hulk Hogan as part of the nWo in 1997. Rodman couldn't wrestle a lick, but it was undoubtedly cool to see him strut out with Hogan in the nWo gear. Of course this inspired other celebrities like Karl Malone, Jay Leno and **shudder** David Arquette to follow his lead to less successful results, but it was still quite the coo for WCW to have the most controversial figure in the sporting world on their show on a regular basis.

7) HBK and Diesal fight over who has the hotter chick. I say they're tied.
At Wrestlemania 11, Shawn Michaels was set to go one-on-one with his former bodyguard Diesal and was suppose to be accompanied by not only the star of the hit MTV show "Singled Out" Jenny McCarthy, but also "Baywatch" goddess, Pamela Anderson. I don't think you guys remember how hot these two girls were back in 1995. But I digress. Jenny came out with HBK, but there was no sign of Pam. She would then appear with Diesal during his entrance, obviously siding with Big Sexy. This really wasn't historically significant or anything, but I must reiterate just how hot these two women were in their heyday. They were Box-of-Kleenax-and-Bottle-of-Lotion-a-day hot. I'm sweating just thinking about it.













And now you are too.

6) WWF vs. NFL at Wrestlemania 2
At Wrestlemania, they had a triple main event from three different cities. The main event for Chicago was a battle royal featuring some of the NFL's biggest stars against some of WWE's finest. Some of the NFL talent included in the battle royal included Bill Fralic, Ernie Holmes, Harvey Martin, Jim Covert, Russ Francis, and of course William "The Refrigerator" Perry. Chicago legends Ed "Too Tall" Jones and Dick Butkus acted as special guest referees. This was a great merger between both sporting companies, even if it only lasted for one night.

5) LT faces Bam Bam on the grandest stage of them all
What seemed to be a one-time only altercation between New York Giants legend Lawrence Taylor and wrestling superstar Bam Bam Bigelow turned into a media field day which led up to a match between the two behemoths at Wrestlemania 11. This match has always been a source of much discussion between wrestling fans as some absolutely despised the idea of a football player with no training getting the main event slot on the biggest event of the year while others felt it was an entertaining spectacle. I fall somewhere in the middle because I felt that this definitely deserved a place on the card because it brought in a lot of fans that probably would have never even bothered to order the event, but it didn't deserve to be in the main event. Either way, the match went down with LT winning and will go down in infamy as one of the most memorable celebrity moments ever in wrestling.

4) Pete Rose goes from playing for a big red machine to getting tombstoned by one
Pete Rose was a special guest announcer for the Wrestlemania XIV match between The Undertaker and Kane, but took the liberty before the match to run down the fans of Boston and point out that they are a bunch of losers(Sorry Red Sox fans, but it's true). Kane then made his entrance and instead of running from the ring like a semi-intelligent man would do, Rose just stood there which was enough for the Big Red Machine to hoist the controversial ball player on his shoulder and deliver a Tombstone.
Wrestlemania XIV Pay-Per-View = $29.95
Three large Pizzas and Two bottles of Pepsi = $40
Pete Rose getting dumped on his head = Fucking Priceless

3) Andy Kaufman and Jerry Lawler fool the world
Famous Comedian Andy Kaufman had touted himself as the Inter-Gender Wrestling Champion and he would challenge women from around the country to try to pin him and if they could succeed, they could get $1,000. Many women tried and they all failed. This brought along famous Memphis wrestler, Jerry Lawler, who told Kaufman to fight a man and challenged him to a match. During the match, Lawler delivered a piledriver to Kaufman and seemingly broke Kaufman's neck. Kaufman would then show up on Late Night With David Letterman ranting about Lawler while Lawler was a guest and that resulted in Lawler slapping the hell out of Kaufman and a near brawl taking place. Fans of Lawler and Kaufman thought the two men genuinely despised each other and that train of thought remained years after Kaufman's death and it wasn't relieved to be a joke until a 1995 NBC special about Kaufman aired and revealed to the world that Lawler and Kaufman were fooling us the whole time. It was the ultimate "work" and an entertaining one at that.

2) Wrestlemania I provides celebrities galore
Wrestlemania was the do or die show for Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation and as a result he spared no expense in trying to make it the biggest spectacle the world had ever seen. Along with all the wrestling talent, Vince also incorporated such iconic figures as Muhammad Ali, Billy Martin, Liberace, The Rockettes, Cyndi Lauper, and Mr. T into the show to make it feel as grandiose as possible. All the celebrities did a great job in their role, especially Mr. T who was part of the main event when he teamed with Hulk Hogan to take on Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff. Wrestlemania I had that aura of something special and unforgettable and there is no doubt that the various celebrities that attended contributed to that.

1) Tyson. Austin. Who's really the baddest man on the planet?
Leading up to Wrestlemania XIV, Vince McMahon had invited controversial boxer Mike Tyson to attend Raw and proceeded to call him unquestionably "The baddest man on the planet." This of course upset Stone Cold Steve Austin who prided himself as being the meanest, toughest son of a bitch to ever walk the planet. So when Tyson was in the ring with his entourage and Vince McMahon during an episode of Raw, Austin had enough and decided to confront Tyson. What started out with a few words quickly became a pull apart brawl with Tyson and Austin both wanting a piece of each other. The media frenzy that followed that incident was unbelievable as you saw the incident played on almost every major media outlet including ESPN, CNN, The Today Show, and other popular channels and programming. It created an uncanny buzz around Wrestlemania and I wouldn't be surprised if quite a few people started to tune into Raw just to see if Austin and Tyson would lock horns. This is the perfect example of how you use a celebrity correctly in the wrestling biz.

Drive-By Pimpin'

Check out all these UPDATED great columns by my 411 brethren:

-Andy Clark's "Shimmy"
-Ari's "Column Of Honor"
-Sean, Alex and David's "Triple Threat"
-Bayani's "Truth B Told"
-Weyer's "Shining The Spotlight"
-Byers' "Cheap Wrestling for Cheap People"
-Larry and Geoff's "3R's"
-Fact Or Fiction
-O'Dog's " Goodness"
-Sat and Uncle Trunx's "High Road/Low Road"
-Phill Feltham's "Quick Talkdown"
-Sarnecky's "Piledriver Report"
-Slimmer's News Report
-Hidden Highlights
-Carapola's "That Was Then" and "The Week in Hardcore"
-The Fink's Payload
-Gamble's "Just 'Spose"
-Cook's "Ask 411"
-Meehan's "Meethinks"
-Sforcina's "Evolution Schematic"
-Prag's "In Defense Of?."
-Wrestlers of the Week
-Sullivan's "Crystal Ball"
-Randle's "Wrestling News Experience"
-Joe Boo's "Ringside Or Cheap Seats"
-Linkous' "WWE vs. TNA"
-Double M's Rasslin Report
-News To Start Your Weekend
-Dunn's Rawtopsy, ECW Breakdown
-Cook's "News From Cook's Corner"
-Mike LaFave's "Getting Over"
-Your News, Larry's Views

The Sign-Off

Well that's all I got this week buddies. Join me next week when we celebrate the life of Eddie Guerrero by looking back at his Top Ten Matches. VIVA LA RAZA!!