Favorite Wrestling Betrayal?

[Blueshirt]

We all have one. Our favorite moment when a wrestler betrays another wrestler and splits up the tag team, goes out on his own, joins a different stable, or screws a wrestler who was his supposed "friend" costing him a championship.

My question is a simple one, but one I believe can warrant some interesting discussion: What is your all time favorite wrestling betrayal? It can be anything, a family member turning against a family member, a tag partner turning against a tag partner mid match, you get the idea.

As much as I hate to do this, my favorite is a tie between the Strike Force breakup (I wonder how many of you actually remember that) at WM V and Owen Hart Betraying his brother Bret at the Royal Rumble in 1994. Both were shocking and both played out in an awesome feud. I still remember looking on in shock after Owen Hart kicked Bret Hart's injured leg from out of his leg (I think that was the awful quote that Owen Hart gave during his post incident interview, please correct me if I'm wrong). The Strike Force breakup was shocking for me because i was only 5 when it happened and it was the first time I had ever seen a tag team partner turn on his partner during a match (and the fact that I still thought wrestling was real back then...).

So, forums, what's your favorite all time wrestling betrayal??

 

[brochester8]

To me the biggest wrestling bestrayal has to be Hulk Hogan going NWO. I really don't see any bigger bestrayal in wrestling. It marked a point in WCW and a big part of Hogan's career.

 

[ted sheckler]

It would have to be Michaels turning on Jannetty. The angle was played out perfectly..the fans cheered as they announced that the Rockers will not split and then BOOM! Sweet Chin Music! (before it was sweet chin music) and then the unthinkable he grabbed him by the hair and smashed his face through the barbershop window. This image on Michaels putting Jannetty through the window is one that is iconic in WWE history as well as one of the kick off points in HBK's legendary career. Thats why its my favorite betrayal.

Honorable mention to of course Hogan joining nWo but I'm not sure if I consider that a real direct betrayal or just a heel turn..hmm.

 

[Davi323]

Shawn Michaels superkicking Marty Jannetty through the glass window. No disrespect to the Hulkster, but while Hogan joining the NWO was a HUGE betrayal, turning the biggest face ever into the biggest heel, Hogan was already a made man. He had already been to the very top of the wrestling world.

Shawn Michaels was nothing but a mid-card tag team wrestler, and in one swift kick, got his hall of fame legendary singles career jumpstarted. Who knows what he would have accomplished had he stayed in the Rockers for longer, maybe his career would have been just as good, I don't know. But, as it happened, that betrayal led to one of the greatest single careers in wrestling history.

 

[Blueshirt]

No disrespect to the Hulkster, but while Hogan joining the NWO was a HUGE betrayal, turning the biggest face ever into the biggest heel, Hogan was already a made man. He had already been to the very top of the wrestling world.

That's a great point. Not to mention there had already been rumblings of Hulk turning heel. Not to mention, Hogan had already betrayed me personally by jumping ship from WWF to WCW, as a kid that might have been the biggest betrayal.

 

[INDYjon22]

Mine will probably viewed as a little odd, but whatever. I have always been a big fan of HHH turning on DX at Wrestlemania 15 and joining The Corporation. It had been built up that Chyna had already left for The Corporation and HHH was going to get revenge on Kane for it. Well that match happens and Chyna decides to return to DX. Great feel good moment to see the DX Army together again, unfortunately it didn't last long. During X-Pacs European title match with Shane McMahon, HHH and Chyna came out supposedly to help fend off The Stooges, Test, and The Mean Street Posses, but really they turned on Pac and DX and rejoined with The Corporation.

When I first saw this happen way back in like 2001 I was legit shocked. I didn't know anything about wrestling history at the time, but I was a fan of DX's past work. It pissed me off because I didn't understand how HHH could just turn on his "bestfriend" especially after the promo they shot before the match. It really made me support the remaining DX members all that more. In retrospect it was a great move to break the group up at that time because it was a good move for those guys, at least then. The split up allowed HHH to finally begin his push for the title, Billy Gunn won the King of the Ring, Road Dogg was already in his push while holding the IC title, Chyna would eventually go after the IC title and X-Pac did whatever X-Pac did. Shocking as hell back then, but now whenever I re-watch it I smile because I love the turn that takes place.

 

[Aguilac]

"Hulk Hogan has betrayed WCW!"
Theres no doubt for me that the nWo foundation was the biggest betrayal. I know that Hogan wasa made man, I know that the Rockers' breakup and the Bret-Owen feud were indeed huge moments that would build up their careers, but this became a HUGE storyline that redefined the business and helped WCW to became real serious against WWF.

I have no doubt: Hogan being the third man is the biggest betrayal

 

[Dyno Kid]

Gotta go with Barry Windham turning on Lex Luger and joining the Horsemen back in 1988. It was building for months and when it finally happened I was shocked !

Honorable mention would be Larry turning on Bruno. As a kid I never saw this coming !

 

[gers09]

The biggest impact is hogan joining NWO by far no one saw that coming.

As for for the best HBK turning on Jannety in the Barbour shop that made Shawn's career helped to turn him in to the star he became. It is something WWE used all his career when he would team with someone will he turn on them

 

[CamaroIroc]

Ooh, this is a good one. I have two, but the latter is definitely the bigger one.

I think I'd have to go with the reformation of Paul Heyman's ECW in WWF.

On the July 9, 2001 RAW, there was a match pitting WCW's Lance Storm and Mike Awesome vs WWF's Chris Jericho and Kane during the Invasion storyline. During this match, Tommy Dreamer and Rob Van Dam hit the ring from the crowd, attacking Kane & Jericho. Kane & Jericho got beat on for a bit by the other 4 men, when the Dudley Boyz, Taz, Rhyno, Raven and Justin Credible ran in and stood between the ECWCW guys and the WWF guys. A second of tense standoff, then all 10 men turned and beat the hell out of Jericho and Kane.

Paul Heyman hit the ring and announced the rebirth of ECW. ECW joined the Invasion storyline, leading to an overall bad few months of programming, but a great swerve at the time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc47m4kJbQM


The most memorable and most favorite betrayal, imo, is this. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2bbrz_wwf-wcw-shane-mcmahon-on-monday-nit_sport


Just... mindblowing.

This was an era before the websites and information access that we have now, and this was THE best-kept secret in the history of the industry. Seeing Shane McMahon on Nitro was in.sane.

To this day, it's still one of my favorite, if not my all-time favorite, moments.

 

[wwe4ever]

you'll probably make fun of this..but my favorite betrayal is Trish Stratus turning on Y2J at WM for a couple of reasons:
1- I LOVE Trish Stratus
2- It led to a great feud between Y2J and Christian
3- It turned Trish heel, which she did perfectly.

 

[Disturbed]

The biggest betrayel of all time is of course, Hogan turning on WCW for the NWO at Bash at the Beach 96 but it isn't my favorite. That is of course because I was only a one year old and don't remember it. I am a fan of the NWO and I love going back and watching some of there classic promos but it isn't the same when I go back and watch it, then watching it live.

That is why I'm picking Triple H betraying Shawn Michaels on Raw in 2002. I don't remember the date but they had a reunion when HBK returned and Triple H pedigreed him. He said it wasn't anything personal though but a week or two later Shawn Michaels was found knocked out, bloody, in the parking lot. Triple H said he was going to find who through HBK through the car window. Triple H found them because it was Triple H himself. I was only seven years old and I was a big fan of DX from when I was younger just a few years later, so this made me actually hate my favorite wrestler Triple H for a short time. It made me so mad, watching from kayfabe because good or bad Triple H was my favorite wrestler.

 

[Warsing]

What about Wrestlemania X7, when Austin betrayed the people and shared a beer with his greatest enemy, Mr. McMahon. He just came off a giant match with HHH, so he was a giant face going into the event. This also was the start of him losing his rebel image to being the prima donna who just wanted to impress Vince. So Austin betraying the people for his worst rival is one of the biggest I think.

 

[RD_21]

For Shane on Nitro the only surprise that we really had was Shane on Nitro, because where I was living at least we were all aware of the rumors that Bischoff was trying to buy wCw but that McMhaon was also trying to get it so that night it was more of a confirmation, still a surprise but...

One of the betrayal that I really like was when Mike Tyson turned on Shawn Michales and after that Michaels was kicked out of DX (because he left) and Triple H bringed back his "friends" X-Pac and the New Age Outlaws. I really liked that one because at first we were lead to believe that Tyson hated DX, then he was with them and then he turned on them.

One that crushed my heart and that I hated at the time (still kind of do) other than the HHH turning on DX was Stephanie McMhaon turning on Test. This guy was so sweet for her, but the alliance of HHH with Steph was cool. Can't say it was the best DX after, but still.

 

[Rayne]

For me, it's what went down in the Barbershop. Even today, when you have a hot tag team with two young guys, people always ask who's going to be the Jannety. Hogan's was huge, but as has been said, it was huge because he was already a made guy. In one swift kick, Michaels shocked the wrestling world and had a name made for himself.

No one states that so-and-so "was the third man".

 

[Andy 2 Randy]

Shad Betraying JTG...Okay only joking there, it sucked...But for me it was HHH's betrayal of Ric Flair in 2006 (Could be wrong on the date). it seemed to come out the blue, sledgehammering Flair's head, Blood spilling all over. it shocked me, shocked the fans in the arena and probably everyone watching over the world. It made HHH the biggest heel on RAW again, and propelled him to more world titles...Shocking and Favorite at the same time...I'm Just Sayin...

 

[Safari.GFX]

Spoiler

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Shawn Michael's turn on Jannetty was in my opinion, the most shocking break up in the history of the WWF. I think it was this moment, combined with a few others, that really set in stone Michael's career. Interesting to think about how this propelled Michael's and Jannetty really turned into nothing. Think about it, this may have been the defining moment in Jannetty's career. Something that really shocked me at first was the crowd reaction to that moment. It was really quiet after he kicked him and through him through the window. I though maybe they didn't care about it. Then I realized that the reason they were quiet was because they were speechless, which means this betrayal.

Another shocking betrayal, that again involves Shawn Michaels is when DX reformed for one night only in 2002. It was actually more like 5 minutes. Earlier in the night, Triple H handed Shawn Michaels a bag. In side the bag was a T-shirt. Later that night they came out to the old DX music, did the whole "Are you ready" thing, and then BAM! Triple H kicked Shawn Michaels in the gut and pedigree'd him. I was only 7 at the time, but I remember watching it. It also led to one of my favorite feuds of all time.

 

[DForce]

This may sound weird, but my favorite betrayal is a betrayal I hated: it's when the Brood, Edge and Gangrel, in defense of Christian, betrayed the Ministry of Darkness, the Undertaker. I damn'sho didn't want to see the Ministry split.

 

[rge2010]

My favourite betrayal was Triple H turning on Austin. I think it was around mid/late 2000. Triple H was a face at the time, Austin had recently returned from when he was knocked over. Austin was getting beat on in the ring and Trips music played. Everyone thought he was coming down to help but he came down to inflic further pain and admit to all he was responsible for helping Rikishi knock him over.

Trips also did something similar the night after WM17. He came to the aid of the Rock, the crowd went ballistic (he was a tweener that night) but alligned with Austin and put Rock out of action for 3/4 months.

 

[kaoscage]

Charlie Haas turning "black" and rejoining Benjamin to form the WGTT again.
lol the corn rows, but really Hogan to nWo was HUGE! Other than that X-Pac turning on Kane was good.... both times, during his last DX run and when he joined nWo.

 

[Moe T]

I think we pretty much covered the more popular ones: Shawn kicking Jannety's head off in the Barbershop...Hogan/Bash At The Beach (The Brain kinda blew the surprise if you listen closely.."Is Hogan the third member?")...An old-school one for me was when Paul Orndorff turned on Hulk Hogan back in the day. That was a big feud in that time. Good post by the way.

 

[AndrewA0615]

I would say

1.) Andre turning on Hulk Hogan on Piper's Pit setting up Wrestlemania 3.

or

2.) Paul "Mr. Wonderful" Orndorff turning his back on Hulk Hogan in back in 1986 on Superstars of Wresling and joining the Heenan Family. I think it was during a tag match vs. King Kong Bundy and Big John Studd. Set up the fameous SNME cage match where both feet touched the ground at the same time...Danny Davis was still the heel referee at the time and knocked out Joey Marella.


Good Old Kayfabe days...

 

[TheSandmanShane]

My favorites are pretty old school and both involve Hulk Hogan. Andre The Giant, Hogans longtime friend that he looked up to teams up with Heenan challenges him for the world title at WM 3 on Pipers Pit then rips the shirt and cross off Hogans neck all at same time. I loved that betrayal. My 2nd favorite is when Hogan and Orndorff were partners and best friends then one Sat Evening after a match against the Moondogs, Orndorff helps Hogan up then clothes lines him then pile drives him and teams up with Heenan which set up a great series of matches between Hogan and Orndorff on Sat Nights Main Event.
I know I'm old school lol.

 

[slapper97]

I have to agree with everyone who said Hogan forming the nWo. That was a gigantic swerve, and changed the business for a few years. But it wasn't my favorite....

I have three favorites, one of which was already mentioned. The first is Barry Windham turning on Lex Luger in '88 and joining up with the Horsemen. Another person already listed this one, and it was actually the first swerve that jumped in my head when I read the title to this thread. I didn't see this one coming, but I was only 13 or 14 at the time and I hadn't really seen a lot of swerves since they weren't done as often.

The second is when Paul Orndorff swerved on Hogan during the Saturday morning show. I never saw this one coming, either, and it sparked a fantastic feud that really could have gone either way.

The third, and most memorable for me, was the Road Warriors swerve on Dusty Rhodes. That was completely unexpected, and probably the most "emotional" for me because the LOD are my favorite team of all team, bar none. I was the kid who rooted for the faces and hated the heels, and this was my first taste of moving over to the heels side because I couldn't root against the LOD. RIP, Hawk.

Thanks for posting this thread, it's a great topic and really takes me back!!

 

[TheSandmanShane]

Andrew, we must have posted our favorites at exact same time and were the same matches lol. Also you're right, Hogan and Orndorff beat the Moondogs the week before then wrestled Bundy and Studd the week after and thats when Orndorff turned on Hogan and set up those great matches including the one who's feet touched the floor first in the cage match on Sat Nights Main Event. We must be about the same age, I'm 35 lol