The match/moment that "made/broke" them?

[poppycock]

So two different takes on a question depending on who you answer with but which moment or preferably which match either made you realise...

"yes this guy/girl is going to go all the way to the top of the company and be a huge star"

or

Who in your opinion looked like they had all the potential to make it but when given the ball they failed to run with it and what match/moment did that realisation come to you?

My first addition to the thread is something I think most of us would agree on and that is the Jeff Hardy ladder match with The Undertaker. It was the match that elevated Jeff Hardy up to stardom as a singles wrestler. The TLC matches and all he had done before obviously played a factor in Jeff becoming popular but the Undertaker match was for me the moment.

 

[GrandSword]

Hulkamania was born when Hogan walked in and knocked out the Iron Shiek for the title in under a minute.

Sting hit it big when he went to a time limit draw with Flair for the World title.

Shawn put Marty through the Barbershop window for his "break" out.

Austin winning the King of the Ring and coining the 3:16 catch phrase and debuting the Stunner to defeat Roberts.

Cena FU'ing the Big Show at WM to win the US title.

 

[justinept]

Hulkamania was born when Hogan walked in and knocked out the Iron Shiek for the title in under a minute.

Sting hit it big when he went to a time limit draw with Flair for the World title.

Shawn put Marty through the Barbershop window for his "break" out.

Austin winning the King of the Ring and coining the 3:16 catch phrase and debuting the Stunner to defeat Roberts.

Cena FU'ing the Big Show at WM to win the US title.

Wow. I really disagree with most of these...

First, Hulk-a-Mania was obviously born on that night since it was the first time the phrase was uttered. But, even though he was fired for the incident, I'd have to say that Hogan's role in Rocky is when his star was born.

Shawn putting Marty through a window was not his breakout... it was his breakaway. His breakout was really WrestleMania X in the ladder match against Scott Hall. It was his first signature moment as a singles wrestler.

Austin definitely got his catch phrase after winning KOTR, and there's no doubt that the catch phrase took him to unseen heights in merch sales... but I still think his WrestleMania XIII match against Bret Hart MADE him. There was no doubt in my mind that the guy was going to carry the company after that match.

And an obvious one ...

CM Punk's moment came this past summer during his shoot/rant on Raw.

My first addition to the thread is something I think most of us would agree on and that is the Jeff Hardy ladder match with The Undertaker. It was the match that elevated Jeff Hardy up to stardom as a singles wrestler. The TLC matches and all he had done before obviously played a factor in Jeff becoming popular but the Undertaker match was for me the moment.

A decade later, and I still rate this as the best Monday Night Raw match of all time.

 

[PagingMr.ass]

Austin definitely got his catch phrase after winning KOTR, and there's no doubt that the catch phrase took him to unseen heights in merch sales... but I still think his WrestleMania XIII match against Bret Hart MADE him. There was no doubt in my mind that the guy was going to carry the company after that match.

CM Punk's moment came this past summer during his shoot/rant on Raw.

I agree with the CM Punk bit, but i'm gonna have to side with Grandsword on the Austin part. The post king of the ring speech was hands down the moment that made Stone Cold Steve Austin. By the time he one the belt at mania he was already a made man.

I also want to mention Y2J's debut on Raw as a moment that made a superstar. This ones special because he pulls it off the the instant he walks onto the stage. I can't name one other person who hit a defining moment on his first day on the job with WWE. Usually when stars jump ship they've already hit it or spend a few more months or even years finding their spot in the company.

 

[Shadowbladez]

CM Punk's performance in the 2010 Royal Rumble is when I knew he was destined for greatness!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqPLSmMH52Q

 

[dansaun77]

Hulkamania was actually coined in Hogans face run in the AWA BEFORE he came to the WWE. Hogan also took 5minutes and 32 seconds to beat the Iron Sheik, not a minute.

 

[Azane]

Edge's Career went from being Edge+Christian to a singles legend when he picked up the ultimate opportunist gimmick after winning MITB. Edge's downpoints? his injuries, especially when it forced him to hang up a little early.

Daniel Bryan's WWE career is about 95% dependant on WM this coming year.

Goldberg's career took off when he kept his undefeated streak to the World Title.

Triple H's career took off when he eloped with Stephanie. (Kayfabe of not, this was the first time I remember Triple H doing something career breaking as a singles)

Chris Jericho's career was made with his Goldberg feud, or his WWE Debut (I think he had arguably the best debut ever)

Mick Foley had about a dozen ups and downs, but Tony Schivone made Mick Foley's career when he made ~a million WCW viewers channel surf to see Mankind win his first WWF title, that's drawing power if I've ever seen it.

Chris Masters' career was pretty much ruined by Steroid chants, the fact he actually ended up getting canned the first time over it ruined any chance he had on his 2nd run.

Kane's highpoint was his debut, it was actually downhill from that, but still a pretty strong career considering. There's not a real defining downpoint in his career, but it was definitely because he was shadowed by his (kayfabe) brother.

DDP's career was over the day creative gave him the positivity gimmick.

Rey Mysterio at the Royal Rumble was the first time I actually took him serious outside of cruiserweight style matches.

JBL the moment he broke up with Ron Simmons and embraced his singles career.

 

[justinept]

I agree with the CM Punk bit, but i'm gonna have to side with Grandsword on the Austin part. The post king of the ring speech was hands down the moment that made Stone Cold Steve Austin. By the time he one the belt at mania he was already a made man.

His match with Bret Hart was WrestleMania 13 ... his title win was WrestleMania 14.

 

[Krossbreed]

The rock's breakout moment was when he joined the nation of domination and became "the rock"

Goldbergs breakout moment was his streak...when scott hall tasered him in his first match with kevin nash that was his broke moment...after that goldberg wasnt the same.

Ultimate warrior...undeniably hogan handing him the torch at wrestlemania...his broke moment ...disapearing from wwf tv after he was fired for demanding more money out of vince

Shaun Michael's breakout moment came courtesy of his matches with razor ramon

Bret Hart's breakout came courtesy of his feud with Mr Perfet.

Stone cold's break out moment to me was walkng in the ring and disrespecting mike tyson. He at that point elevated himself above HBK in popularity.

CM Punk's breakout was his promo on raw

HHH breakout moment was when he said in an interview that he is the game

Randy ortons was beating chris benoit for the heavy weight title

Eddie Guerrero's breakout moment was his "i lie i cheat i steal" phrase he said on smackdown

 

[willross]

Shawn Michaels was made by a combination of his match with Bret at Survivor Series 1992 and WM10 vs. Razor.

Bret Hart was made at Summerslam 1992 in his loss against the Bulldog

Austin was made at WM13 in his loss to Bret Hart (anyone who thinks different is stupid)

The Rock and HHH were established as top guys in their match at Summerslam 1998

Savage was made at WM3 in his loss to Steamboat

 

[willross]

Orton was made by his feud with Mick Foley

Eddie Guerrero's breakout was his feud with Big Show (showed a different, more entertaining side of himself)

Edge's breakout was when he aligned himself with Lita

Jeff Hardy's original breakout was against Undertaker on Raw, then he died off, then his brief feud with HHH to become the number 1 contender for Royal Rumble was his next breakout

 

[culantro]

The rock's breakout moment was when he joined the nation of domination and became "the rock"

Stone cold's break out moment to me was walkng in the ring and disrespecting mike tyson. He at that point elevated himself above HBK in popularity.

Randy ortons was beating chris benoit for the heavy weight title

I think the rock solidify himself as a main eventer or made his breakout moment when he joined the corporation, and made his turn into heel, after being turned into face by the people in like a week xD, his feud with mankind over the wwf championship made him...

Austin had his moment on KOTR 96 and prior when he had the strap match with savio vega, aswell as in his match with bret hart, austin looked good in defeat and his promo about losing to get rid of dibiase was greatly executed...

Randy orton didn't made himself after beating benoit, the people left his side as he was one of the worst face champions in the history (mostly because of what HHH did), they didn't let him be himself, and the feud didn't led him anywhere....

i think the moment that made randy orton was the feud and match he had with the undertaker in wm for the streak, the build up was great and as a heel he had tons of support... after the injury he returned to beat the undertaker in summerslam, so in the end i say that this feud put randy on the map as a solified star...

 

[Viggo]

The moment that made Bret Hart, for me, was the 1990 Survivor Series when he and Ted Dibiase were the final members of their respective teams. They wrestled for another ten or so minutes and even though Dibiase ended up winning, Bret stole the match and blew me away. Bret Hart became my favorite wrestler after that match.

 

[RJJ]

Orton: His match with foley at backlash 2004.

HHH: "They held me down for 4yrs" shoot interview, or let's just say "I'm The Game!" shoot interview. Some may say his match with foley at royal rumble 2000.

SCSA: "Austin 3:16" interview, right after he won KOTR. Some may say his match with bret at WM 13.

HBK: Barber shop promo with martey.

Cena: Beating JBL for the title at mania. Some may say his match with lesnar at backlsh 2003.

Rock: "Put her(Chyna) down on her knees where she belongs" Segment. Some may say his match with HHH at summerslam 1998.

Hogan: Beating Iron Sheik for the title.

Goldberg: Beating Hogan in his hometown.

Lesnar: Beating Rock for the title.

Jericho: Beating HHH for the title on 2000(Decision was reversed later).

Angle: His match with rock at NWO 2001.

Undertaker: Beating Hogan in his WWE debut.

Batista: Turning on the evolution(HHH and Flair).

Foley: HIAC vs taker, KOTR 1998.

Vince McMahon(Character): Montreal Screwjob.

Eddie: Spraying **** on big show.

Mysterio: WWE debut vs Chavo.

Benoit: His match with jericho at Royal Rumble 2001.

Jeff Hardy: As a Tag team, WM 16(Swanton bomb off the top of the ladder). As a single, the ladder match with taker for the undisputed title.

 

[The HEEL JuiceLee]

for the poster that said CM Punk's breakout was the 2010 Royal Rumble when he was cutting promo's in the middle of the rumble... I must say that is also when i started to take him serious, but the fact that he didnt win it makes me think that wasn't his breakout moment. if he would of won or went to the end with him and another main event wrestler like hbk or hhh, he would of been bigger quicker.
saying all that, i have to agree his Raw worked shoot promo was his true breaking out to be a full time main eventer. eversince that night he has been either the top or at least top 3 story on every raw and smackdown ever since!

and no doubt batista's thumbs down turn on hhh and flairhas got to be his breakout moment. his downfall was leaving WWE when doing his best heel work of his carear and in my opinion his best work ever. i truely think that even though he is well into his 40's he was in his prime and he was a fool to leave for MMA.

 

[rge2010]

Stone Cold Steve Austin
Wrestlemania 13, in the sharpshooter, bloody head and passes out. This is what made Steve Austin. The seeds were planted at KOTR with the 316 catchphrase but this is Steves defining moment. Bret Hart made him famous. KOTR is when Steve Austin was born, but WM13 is when Steve Austin was made. WWE gave him the ball and he never looked back.

Shawn Michaels
Wrestlemania 12, in the Iron Man Match. Sure Shawn was gaining popularity, but he lasted 60 minutes and beat Bret Hart, the face of the company in this match - the torch was passed. Sure, Shawn had some great matches before this but this is when WWF, the fans and his piers took him seriously.

Bret Hitman Hart
This is a tougher one. Some people will say Perfect at SS91, some will say in Saskatoon against Ric Flair, but I believe he was made a few months earlier at SS92 when he lost against Bulldog at Wembley. He lost for a reason, he was being primed for the gold. He was almost as popular in the Bulldogs home fucking country - listen to the crowd. This is when WWF realised his 'international appeal'. Bret Hart was fucking huge in Europe and this was no different. The match is also my favourite of all time. He carried a drugged up Bulldog through this aswell in a main event for the IC TITLE. A genius in the ring.

Hulk Hogan
Hulkamania was born in 1983 when he won the belt, over the next year he became the face of pro wrestling and began getting mainstream appeal. But his defining moment for me, and any wrestling fan remembers this or has seen it since is at WM3 in 1985 when he slammed and beat an undefeated Andre The Giant. Hulkamania just exploded that night along with the 93,000 fans in attendance.

Brock Lesnar
He beat The Rock at Summerslam 2002. And he beat him cleanly. This is when you knew Lesnar was the real deal. Beat the top guy in the company and was given the gold. He started a path of destruction.

Triple H, Undertaker, Rock, Cena are much of a muchness. To much debating so leave it to you guys.

 

[cmpunk4lyfe]

The moment when kofi kingston did the leg drop on randy orton through the tech table was the moment that did it for me. myself and i'm sure everyone else thought that kofi would be the next star. but once this feud ended wwe creative just dropped the ball. kofi has proven that he can be a star, but once again, vince's senile old mind doesn't realize it.

 

[stephenjpunk317]

The moment when kofi kingston did the leg drop on randy orton through the tech table was the moment that did it for me. myself and i'm sure everyone else thought that kofi would be the next star. but once this feud ended wwe creative just dropped the ball. kofi has proven that he can be a star, but once again, vince's senile old mind doesn't realize it.

I was just getting ready to mention Kofi Kingston because I wanted to go with the second question of who did we think had a breakout moment, but never went anywhere. With Kofi, I enjoyed his stuff with Orton, and I thought he would be going on to bigger things. But it just ended, and now Kingston gets something going as tag champ, but we're still not sure where that will go with the suspension of Bourne.

 

[FlairFan2003]

I would pick the WM Ladder Match vs Razor Ramoan/Scott Hall as HBK's breakthrough moment. Leaving The Rockers was esential if his career was going anywhere as tenny bopper tag teams were outdated and he was getting too old to cater to 14 yr old girls. Still, it took him some time to really get comfortable in the Heartbreak Kid persona AND to get over with fans enough that he was viewed as legit star, and not just comic filler on TV wrestling in the mid card. That Ladder match was epic and it stole the show at WM that year. He rolled after that, the rest is history.


I agree Austin vs Brett at WM was Stone Cold's break through. Yes, he was gaining popularity and traction leading into that but he was not a huge star yet, he was not a guy you looked at as a legit main eventer, he was after that showstopping performance.

Hogan certainly hit big winning the title from Iron Sheik. His true "Made" moment though is main eventing the first WM. That show was built around him and it's success, especialy getting main stream media attention, was enormous for his career as well as Vince's plans to take over the industry. Winning the title gave Hogan a great opportunity, he truly made HulkaMania at the first WM.

Sting's Clash of Champions Match vs Flair was his moment, mainly because no one knew if crowds would take him seriously as a contender or if he could perform with someone like Flair at the level. When the ratings came in they could see fans were really into him and the match was an instant classic, maybe the best one they had.

Just like I picked a moment AFTER winning his first title as Hogan's true moment, I would say Starrcade 83 was Flair's. Yes, he had a fairly successful 2 plus year run as champion prior to that, but in that era a lot of guys had one good run and that was it. Ask Bily Graham, ask Terry Funk. When the first Starrcade became the financial success it was, thanks in large part to the conclsuion of the epic Flair/Race feud cluminating in Flair's title win, he was made. The torch was essentially passed that night.

For Brett Hart I chose winning the IC Title over Henning as bigger than SummerSlam 92 in terms of making him a legit main event star. Fact is, Hart had success as a tag team wrestler but had not been given the opportunity to shine as a singles star. A legit feud with an established top level heel, and an entertaining, clean victory, truly established him as main event level singles star in the company. His WM match vs Piper and SS match vs Bulldog only enhanced that.

 

[I_got_bant_for_idiocy]

THESE BROKE THEM !!!!!

Nexus- summerslam 2010 this broke a promising faction in the making.. when super cena beat a solid team and won with his deformed wwe team with a stroke victim..

NWO - when HBK joined it, what the hell was going on with the nwo than just stupid!!!!

WCW- finger poke of doom was the turning point and wcw went down hill after that.

DX- there last run in the wwe, that hole PG dx was so stupid especially with hornswoggle!!! was like watching little kids playing at recess

 

[god-soldier]

These are the moments that broke these superstars
Vader: SummerSlam 1996 when HBK pinned Vader with a moonsault, broke Vaders entire momentum and he was never seen tough in the WWE again or would never hold a WWE title after that match Vader had a few good wins but he would job for most of the rest of the roster.

Rob Van Dam: His back to back losses of the WWE and ECW titles on back to back nights kept him from main eventing in the WWE and having to be mid card on TNA

Tazz: His debut in the WWE was hyped and had a huge victory over Kurt Angle but on one fateful night Tazz was buried it was a match on Smackdown where he faced HHH for the WWE title Tazz wrestled a great match due to interference from Tommy Dreamer he lost and could never get a chance at another title or do anything big in the ring again.

Ken Shamrock: he was red hot towards the end of 98 KOTR and I-C champion but @ Backlash in 99 he had a great match with Undertaker and lost but after that lost he never had another great moment in the WWE
British Bulldog: there will be a lot of debate on when the Bulldog was broke; but for me it will always be at Royal Rumble 95 when you thought he won the rumble but then was tossed out by HBK right there broke him because as a face he should have been WWE champion he was popular enough and had always been a fan favorite as soon as he went heel he held all the mid card titles and then went to WcW to be a jobber if Bulldog had been declared winner of the rumble then Bulldog his career would have skyrockted

 

[undisputedchamp56]

good thread.

i personally think that while jericho's debut pushed him out of the mid-card, him winning the WCW title from the rock and then months later beating the rock and austin to be the first ever Undisputed Champion was the moment he reached the top. adding that to all his mid-card titles and dues that were paid, made him a all time legend.

mark henry.. four words "the hall of pain"

sting.. was made already with epic feuds with luger and especially flair back in the clash of the champions and war games days, but the coming down from the ceiling looking like brandon lee with a bat was what put him over as his career peak. he single handedly took the entire NWO on.

stone cold.. going from stunning steve austin with a tiny patch of blonde hair and the stun-gun to a beer drinkin redneck who bucked authority was his careers shooting star.

undertaker......gimmick alone made him into a legend, from survivor series on to present times.

and my one huge negative.. while everyone will automatically disagree because his career is huge and full of title reigns anyway.. i truly think that randy orton as "the legend killer" gimmick, SHOULD HAVE beaten the undertaker at WM. its the only time recently that the dead man has faced an up and comer instead of hbk and hhh. but i bought into the match hard. i really thought that orton would do it, and that it would be his first defining moment. and since he lost that match i have never been into him near as much as then. i feel that should have been his moment and that taker should have passed the torch then.