Biggest Upset Ever

[The Holy One]

I wouldn't call that a MAJOR shock. They had been building Eddie up as a challenger for the title for a while, and while Brock was the favourite and the crowd went crazy for Eddie winning, I think many thought he was in with a chance. A real shocker is when someone who noone gave a chance to ends up coming out on top, like 1-2-3 Kid beating Razor.

Eddie was the underdog, but he was a credible challenger for the title, not a complete outsider. WWE were obviously building him for the top spot, it wasnt a sudden title change.

I would have to respectfully disagree with you there Mr. Natural. I don't know how well Eddie was being build up as a challenger b/c he was fueding with Chavo of all people before he won the SD Royal Rumble. It was a major shock that he won the SD Rumble to begin with as all the signs pointed to Angle/Lesnar one last time at No Way Out. Even during the time leading up to NWO, Eddie was an afterthought to the upcoming Lesnar/Goldberg match at Mania. It was seen as a token title defense for Lesnar much like Holly at RR. I think the reason the crowd went so crazy is b/c of disbelief. Brock was a beast during that time and I would have never thought that Eddie Guerrero would have been the one to beat him for the title. Booker T said it best on an episode of SD, "Eddie Guerrero?!, WWE Champion?!"

 

[Disturbed]

I think it was deffinately Santino pinning Umaga and winning the Intercontinental title as a fan. Of course he was under WWE development contract and wasn't really a fan but this was huge. Everyone expected Umaga to squash the fan. I never in a million years would have thought that I would turn on the tv that night and see a skinny kid from Milan, Italy defeat Umaga for the Intercontinental championship. Sure, Lashley got involved but that doesn't matter, he still won and he defeated a monster in Umaga at the time. This launched Santino into the WWE and was one of the biggest upsets and debuts in pro wrestling history.


R.I.P Umaga

 

[The_Gene_Genie]

The ones already mentioned such as 1-2-3 Kid beating Razor Ramon and Barry Horrowitz picking up a win were two that popped into my mind. Also, didn't the Brooklyn Brawler pin Triple H at one point? (the finer details elude me)

I think the biggest upset in my eyes was The Undertaker beating Hulk Hogan for the then WWF title at Survivor Series 1991. Although Undertaker is a wrestling legend now, at the time he had only been active on the roster for a year and despite his deadman gimmick and being portrayed as being 'impervious to pain' (haven't heard that one in a while) I always thought that the superhero like character of the Hulkster would prevail against this relative newcomer.

 

[The Rob]

Randy Orton winning the World Heavyweight Championship at Summerslam 2004. We all knew Orton was gonna be super-talented and for sure a future World Champion. But to win it, in the main event of one of the biggest PPV's of the year, against one of the very best wrestlers of all time Chris Benoit, and at only 24, seriously has to be considered one of the truly remarkable upsets. Especially since it was an entirely clean finish. The young cub took down the King Lion and it looked convincing.

 

[Eraser74]

I have a couple options here

#1: 123 Kid(Sean Waltman) beating Razor Ramon
As they say, the rest is history after this but, when, this happened, everyone say there watching it when their jaws on the ground. Then, the way Bobby Heenan announced, just sold it perfectly.

#2: Goldberg beating Hugh Morrus on his WCW debut.
Another example of no one having the slightest idea who the debuting Goldberg was. The crowd was completely quiet during this whole match, but, when, Goldberg won, they went nuts, because, they couldn't believe what happened. After this, the whole winning streak started, and at the time, Goldberg became one of the biggest names in wrestling.

I agree with you on 123 Kid. I remember watching that show when it happened. I can still remember Bobby Heenan's reaction - "He beat Razor Ramon!" Nobody thought a scrawny kid would beat a veteran. 123 Kid proved them wrong.

One of the biggest upsets to me was when Andre beat Hulk Hogan for the WWF title on 2/5/88 & surrendered the belt to Ted DiBiase. Hogan looked shocked to see that there were 2 Hebners instead of the one that we all knew. I think that was when the 2nd Hebner debuted with WWF.

 

[penguin74]

The 1-2-3 kid beating Razor is a great call, and Santino over Umaga is a great choice as well, but to me the one I can't believe happened is Kozlov beating the Undertaker on Smackdown. Not only does Taker rarely lose to begin with, but to be beaten CLEAN on a TV taping is almost unheard of. I know Kozlov was being pushed as a monster at the time, but there's no way anyone saw that coming.

 

[Eraser74]

123 kid beating razor was mentioned but the other 2 im thinking about are (and this is going back about 15 years ago id have to guess) there was a guy named barry horowitz. i cant for the life of me remember who he beat but he had a little mini push to where "if he can do it anyone can" kind of deal.

another one was a guy named pj walker who i believe beat IRS on raw. these 2 didnt amount to much if anything at all, but at the time of the upsets, were both pretty big shockers.

I didn't give Horowitz a chance either & assumed he'd be squashed like usual. The guy he beat was Skip of the Body Donnas. Jim Ross's reaction sold it perfectly. HOROWITZ WINS, HOROWITZ WINS!

 

[sTyLnK]

What about David Arquette winning the WCW Championship? The guy wasn't even a wrestler. I would think that's a darn big upset. It was a complete joke that he won so a massive upset to say the least.

 

[6timehitta]

Well this wasn't a pin victory, but he did it on a huge stage. Maven eliminating The Undertaker in the RR. The look on Maven's face was like"OMFG What did I just do!" completed with uber happy face before Undertaker came in and beat the bricks off of him. As far as a pinfall victory, I'm going to have to say an intresting one. Eddie Guerrerro beating Brock Lesnar at No Way Out (if I remember right) for his very first World Title. Now while he was an established main eventer, I never expected him to win. At the time he was my favorite wrestler, and when he hit the frog splash I almost lost it. Not only that, Brock at the time was a man god, he wasn't losing matches, he was that "next big thing" no pun intended. When he lost I truly beleive it could be a great upset.

 

[The 5th Horsemen]

Biggest upset ever is when the Mulkey Brothers (skinny bleach blonde haired guys) finally won a Tag team match in the old NWA. They lost every week to every team, then they finally won one night and it was like watching your favorite team win the Super Bowl. You just couldn't believe it had happened. I don't think they ever won again.

 

[The King]

How about the Hurricane pinning The Rock on Raw? Yes there was a distraction by Stone Cold, but still The Hurricane pinned The Rock. Never thought I'd ever witness something like that.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

1. Marty Jannetty beats Shawn Michaels on Raw for the IC Title. Shawn had beaten Marty, though questionably, at the Royal Rumble, and then Marty sorta disappeared. Mr. Perfect was back in the picture, but then marty showed up on Raw and challenged Shawn. 2 hours later he was the champ.

2. Undertaker beats Hulk Hogan at Survivor Series for the WWF Title. Undertaker was the definition of 'newcomer.' Hogan was the definition of 'consistency.' When 'Taker beat Hogan for the title at Survivor Series, the tears in the eyes of the children said it all.

3. Yokozuna beats Hulk Hogan at King of the Ring for the WWF Title. Hogan had bested Yoko on a fluke after Yoko beat Bret hart at Wrestlemania 9. The belief was that Hogan would bodyslam Yoko at KOTR and go on to defend against Hart. Yoko dominated, kicking out of the Hogan leg drop and tossing Hulk like a rag doll. Hogan never slammed Yoko - and a crooked camera man later Yoko was champion again.

4. Big Van Vader debuts and pins Antonio Inoki in 3 minutes. Inoki was a legend in Japan. Vader was debuting. 3 minutes later, Inoki was pinned, Vader's legend in Japan had grown, and the fans started to riot.

5. Mikey Whipwreck beats The Sandman for the ECW World Title. Come on, man. Whipwreck? World Champ? 2nd ECW Triple Crown champ in history?

 

[PagingMr.ass]

I agree with Razor vs. Kid. It might not seem like it now since 123 kid went on to be a big draw and win all the midcard titles but at the time it would be the equivalance of Trent Barretta getting a clean victory over Randy Orton.

 

[Wrestlefan27]

How has nobody mentioned Rey Mysterio Jr. going over Kevin Nash on Nitro? That moment for me was like they were saying "Ok, they all know it's a work, we're not even going to try being realistic anymore."

Mysterio's entire gimmick is him being the eternal underdog and no one has mentioned him? IMO, Rey Mysterio winning vs. ANYONE is a huge upset.

 

[rge2010]

The Brooklyn Brawler once beat Triple H on Raw. We all know the BB is a jobber, probably the best known jobber ever and this is when Triple H was in his pomp...around 2001. A massive upset!

 

[The Codebreaker]

Just trying to be a little different and throwing one out there people may have forgotten: Maven defeating Batista on a late 2004 edition of Raw. This was right around the time Batista was being built up as a main eventer and it shocked the hell out of me.

 

[Acid]

How about Rey Mysterio winning the RR. It has to be up there. Not only was it not believable, but he had help from a masked man(Chavo?). What makes it even more of an upset, is that every time they talk about him winning the RR, they never mention that he had outside help from someone who wasn't even an entrant to win.

 

[The Mizard of Oz]

Didn't D-Von Dudley once beat HHH during his minister gimmick? Or is that a false memory?

A couple that have yet to be mentioned that spring to mind are when news broke out that Taz was leaving ECW and he was scheduled to face Masato Tanaka on a PPV I can't recall. Mike Awesome was a last minute addition to the match and ended up winning the World title. To put a bow on the situation, months later, Awesome bolted for WCW and lost the title to WWF employee Taz(z) at an ECW house show.

A more recent upset would be Jack Swagger winning Money in the Bank last year after having arguably the least build-up of anyone in the match.

 

[The Crock]

Like IC said, Jannetty beating Michaels.

He LITERALLY came out of the crowd. Looking back at that, you really don't think he stands any chance. Marty had left the WWF, he had hung onto Michaels' coattails long enough, and then out of nowhere he comes and wins the IC Title. Think about this, Jannetty got released because he showed up to RAW totally stoned, not only was it a huge surprise that he would ever come back, but actually win? Blasphemy.

My second choice is 1-2-3 Kid vs Razor Ramon.

After jobbing out for weeks, he picked up a win over Razor. I mean, Razor was hugely popular. Before that Ramon had been in a couple of big angles, and RIGHT BEFORE that he had an impressive showing in the King of the Ring tourney, who would have thought he'd lose to a nobody, a jobber. This catapulted Waltman's career.

 

[Ubiquitous]

I know it's already been mentioned, but I can't even hear the word upset without thinking of The Hurricane going over The Rock on a memorable edition of Raw. Yes, it may have came due to the distraction from Stone Cold, but a superhero in green actually pinned the most electrifying man in sport entertainment.

 

[WindyCityWreckingCrew]

Bret Hart over Ric Flair to win his first WWE title. Bret was capable of having great matches, as it was shown, but he was two months off a huge loss to the Bulldog at Summerslam '92, and if memory serves me correct, this was at an untelevised house show in Saskatoon, CA. This was prior to the internet, so I remember tuning in and seeing him being introduced. Definitely shocked my socks off.

 

[LitasRevenge79]

One of the biggest upsets I will recall was on NXT season one... Heath Slater beat pro Chris Jericho. That was a pretty big upset. For a rookie to beat a Pro. It was talked about for quite some time.

Another one, was Kane beating Undertaker at HIAC, even though Bearer turned on Taker, especially with the belt on the line. However, another huge upset in their story, was Bragging Rights, the Buried Alive match, Kane retains, as Nexus joins in and helps to bury Taker. This is what helped to propel Kane to a significant title reign.

Wade Barrett defeating John Cena at HIAC '10. Even though there was some controversy with outside interference, but he did beat him w/out NEXUS. But this was still a hard fought match, and Cena had to surrender to Nexus. I thought this was a very good fought match for Barret against Cena at the PPV.

MAJOR upset for Tag Titles...was Santino and Kozlov vs Justin and Heath. Even though Cena was up to some tricks, I don't think anyone really gave this comedy duo any credit. Cena was on a mission to ruin the black and gold. Even I did NOT see this one coming,

 

[ashe draven]

all of the above are very good and all had my jaw on the floor. hardy over hhh is a personal fav. but prob one if not the biggest upsets i can remember is owen over bret at WM X. who woulda called that? bret was a ring general and former champ w/ a title shot in the main event later that nite. what did owen do prior other than turning on his bro in the rumble? who woulda thought he'd legit clean pin his HOF legend bro in the opening match?

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Surely if we are looking at Old School Wrestling, Mikey Whipwreck winning the ECW Title in a ladder match with the Sandman in 1995.

Whipwreck had been billed as an utter loser for his entire ECW career, offering no offense in matches and only gaining victories through complete flukes. This was a major upset, with Whipwreck taking the title from the man who epitomised ECW in the Sandman.

Interesting note, Whipwreck actually defended the title against Steve Austin while Austin was in the middle of his short-lived ECW run.... can you imagine that?!

 

[AK2V8]

I would say Sheamus defeating John Cena at TLC to win the WWE Championship. Sheamus was a NOBODY challanging for the WWE title after 2 months of being on Raw. Sheamus didnt even challange for the US title first or a tag title. He went straight for the top title and won it. I seriously thought it would be another "super cena" match at the time but FUCK i was wrong.