Moment of the Decade

[TheGreatSPAMbino]

This will be my last "best fo the decade" thread, i promise.

What in your mind was the most memorable and significant moment in wrestling in the past 10 years. It can be a shcoking moment, a surreal moment, a HOLY FUCKING SHIT moment, a hardcore moment, a funny moment, a distrubing moment- whatever you want. Just say which was the greatest and why. Here are some possibilities to start things of:

Jeff Hardy swanton Bomb of a Ladder-Wrestlemania 2000
Edge spears Jeff Hardy from a 20 foot ladder- WrestleMania 17
Shane McMahon Titantron bump-summerslam 2000
Vince McMahon betrays The Rock- Wrestlemania 2000
David Arquette wins WCW title- 2000
Austin returns- backlash 2000
Austin turns heel - wrestlemania 17
Austin turns heel...again- Invasion
WCW aquired by WWF- 2001
Chris jericho is crowned first ever undisputed champ- vengeance 2001
Hogan/Rock stare down- wrestlemania 18
Hogan gets a standing ovation whiich carries through the commercial break- raw 2002
Triple H fucks Katie Vick- raw 2002
Mae Young gives birth to a hand- sometime in 2000 i think(it mightve been 1999 but im not sure, we'll just say its 2000)
Shane Mcmahon has testicles electricuted- 2003
Kane tombstones linda mcmahon- 2003
H......L.......A- i think 2002
Rock, This is Your Life- im giving up on the dates now
Shooting Star BOTCH-wrestlemania 19
Eddie and *name deleted* close WrestleMania 20 as world champions
Edge cashes in MITB to end Cena title reign
Austin stuns linda mcmahon
vince mcmahon shaved bald- wrestlemania 23
Live Sex Celebration
Undertaker returns as deadman - wrestlemannia 20
CM Punk cashes in MITB
John Cena surprise 30th entrant in Royal Rumble
Ric Flair's retirement

Ya im sure im missing a few but you can come up with some on ur own, some of those on that list probably aren't really contenders i just put them up for shits and giggles. My personal pick is WCW being bought by Vince, Katie Vick is a close runner up....

 

[DeadmanInc.]

Mine would be Undertaker's return as the American Bad Ass at Judgment Day 2000. It was a huge surprise for me since I never used the Internet to look at wrestling spoilers. I was literally jumping out of my seat when he showed up.

 

[TwistofRKO]

I agree, that completely shook up everything in the wrestling world. The only thing was that you seen the decline in the WCW towards the end so the shock value wasn't as high.

Biggest shock moment was Hardy's swanton on Orton this past year.

 

[Queers and Steers]

i would pick taker vs HBK at mania because i will probably die of excitement when i watch it but since that hasnt happened yet i will go with Orton beating Triple H and Cena at manie! i thought he had no chance in hell in beaten the two titans of the business at the biggest show of the year!!! and i was glad that he pinned the immortal John Cena. and of course the retiring of Ric Flair! i mean theres absolutley no one that i respect more! and to see the moments and events that led up to and followed that match were the most emotional ive ever been during my almost eighteen years of watch wrestling! i just think that his match will forever be remembered in time two of the most respected in ring performers of all time in my opinion the best two wrestlers of all time!!! and the showstopper got to stop his Idols show for eternity!!!! absolutely breathe taking storyline!

 

[HHHDiedForOurSins]

At the beginning of the invasion angle when ECW joined, that was a great moment, when the likes of RVD, Raven & Dreamer beat down the WWF guys then Heyman cut a great promo about taking the invasion to the extreme, I didn't see that coming and even know in the long run the angle was really bad, for that one night it was great.

 

[shafe_41]

How is this even really a debate? What is bigger in the history of the business than Vince...BUYING THE COMPETITION??? Sure that wasn't really a "moment" or was it something you can nail a momentary image of like a "holy shit" moment in a match, but that is by far the biggest move in the history of the business. Even though it wasn't a move or spot in a match, it was a move nonetheless. Then when Shane showed up on the last Nitro and said the contract said "shane mcmahon" and yadda yadda yadda we all remember that moment a lot more vividly than a spot in a match or a "holy shit" moment. And that's for quite a few reasons but this by far being the biggest. It didn't happen on PPV. Soooooooooo many more people saw that unfold just 6 days prior to Vince's grand event of Wrestlemania, and it was running simultaniously on both networks. Millions and millions of people saw that go down than the number that would a Jeff Hardy swanton off a ladder or an Edge spear from a ladder or someone turning face or heel on PPV. WCW fans saw their company "go to the darkside" and WWE fans cheered and rejoiced as their company won the Monday Night War. Another reason is it was actual news. Vince beat Ted Turner and Eric Bischoff. Period. It was not a staged storyline. It was REAL.

 

[jmt225]

This is just personal preference, but I would have to go with RVD vs. Cena from One Night Stand 2006.

Cena getting heckled by the fans at the event will be shown for years and years and years to come. It was one of the most unbelievable things I've ever seen in pro wrestling, and the way Cena handled it all was spectacular.

RVD's win, unfortunately, won't have that much significance in wrestling history since he reign was cut off short, but the crowd during that match and the explosion that happened when RVD pinned Cena... I will never forget it. It's by far my most fond memory so far this decade, and it's the sort of match that anyone will be able to watch and be entertained every time they watch it, no matter how many times they've already seen it. Not many matches have that quality about them.

 

[Phoenix]

Totally agree, WCW being brought by Vince McMahon would be THE moment of the decade, nothing to do with matches or big spots, that was when moment where Sports Entertainment changed forever!

 

[hArdyPUNKmArk]

For me personally i would say Jeff Hardy winning the WWE title and the celebrations on Smackdown the following week. I'm a tad of a Hardy mark so i'll give another one.

I loved the beating that Shawn Michaels gave Vince McMahon at WM22 that was an awesome moment and i love that match. The elbow off that massive ladder was saweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet !!!! I just watched it last night so it's probably still fresh in my mind but hey, it was awesome!

Also, at that same WM Edge spearing Foley through a burning table was pretty sweet too!!

 

[Lee]

Of those, it has to be Vince buying out WCW and ECW, forever changing the wrestling industry, you had the legacy of WCW end just like that, you had the indy ECW just sell out I guess, and then you had WWE become boring in a lot of fans eyes.

The greatest moment would have been the sex celebration IF they had used that to bring RTC, I was well annoyed that night!

 

[jayg1234]

Well, i started watching WCW first, and i just remember watching it with my dad, and being completely gobsmacked that shane walked out!

And again, when John Cena came out as the 30th man in the royal rumble, i was thinking to myself, Cenas not ready yet, it must be an imposter, i hate Cena, but i thought this moment was awesome and wanted Cena to win the rumble!

and then theres the money in the bank spots, john morrison with his moonsault with the ladder, and edge and jeff hardy going through the ladder, i could see it coming, but even so i was just shouting at the tv! lol

 

[Rated R SuperFan]

I would have to say Edge Cashing in MITB defeating Cena @ New Years Revolution because it was so unexpected and very well planned out by WWE .

 

[DD84]

Like many, I am going with Vince buying WCW. Even though everything afterwards wasn't that great, it changed wrestling forever. Vince really made WCW look weak during the invasion.

Second to me, was The Nature Boy retiring. I thought if anyone would wrestle forever, it would be him. I still feel he will come back for one more Mania match against either Taker or The Game.

 

[PlayTheGame]

Two that stick out for me would be Flair's last match at Mania 24, and of course the touching celebration afterward the next night on Raw.

Another would have to be when Punk won the world title from Edge on Raw after cashing in his money in the bank.

These two prob arent the best, but theyre good examples.

 

[Boogeyman666]

I as well would have to agree with Vince buying WCW thus ending the Monday night wars.However WCW was in it's dying stages it still was a shocking moment.


The 2nd one would have to be the emotional match at last years wrestlemania with flair and HBK as well as the emotional farewell all the superstars gave him the next night on raw.

 

[coltster4life]

The biggest moment was the result of everything surrounding the acquisition of WCW. the "WCW 1" limo, shane on nitro, ECW invasion....granted the watered down wcw was depressing. The following few years were great. NWO, return of hulkamania, goldberg, hbk joining the nwo then returning to the main event picture, kevin nash, scott steiner. We got to see many dream matches. Even when Flair returned as the co-chairman. These were all truely WOW moments.... the only thing I wanted most, never happened. STING! dang... but... it has been cool seeing him wrestle the last 4-5 years.

 

[Gr8*1]

For me it will always be

Wrestlemania 18 The Biggest Math of All Time
Rock Hogan no-one ever thought it was possible

The Stare Down Possibly One the Greatest Moments in wrestling history of all time

 

[blkbrucewillis]

The purchase of wCw because its something I thought would never happen and it changed the industry as we know it. I personally feel a part of me died that night. Man I miss wCw.

 

[Mr. Serotonin]

Several thing come to mind:

The end of the Monday Night Wars, and WCW
Icon vs Icon at Wrestlemania 18
Ric Flair's retirement

There are alot of great moments that people mentioned, but these are things that will never happen again

 

[Hayes]

I would say in order:

1. King of the Ring, 2001, when the invasion story line kicked off. Vince was one step away from becoming a small Northeastern promotion and was able to buy the competition and treat them accordingly. Although the Alliance Feud wasn't done that well, I still consider it professional wrestlings most significant moment of the decade.

2. Wrestlemania 24, Shawn Michaels retires Ric Flair. In my opinion Flair is the greatest professional wrestler of all time, and his last match coupled with the ceremony on Raw the next night was very well done.

3. Wrestlemania 21, John Cena wins WWE Title, Batista wins World Title, and Edge wins Money In The Bank. If DX, Stone Cold, and The Rock were the faces of The Attitude Era, these three (along with Orton) are the faces of the current era. This night marked there first ever Heavyweight title victories and Edge winning the first ever MITB ladder match. Wrestlemania 21 was the night the new generation claimed the WWE.

4. Wrestlemania 20, Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit are the Heavyweight champs. My thoughts and prayers are always with Benoit and his family, and I don't condone what he did, but when he was living he was a hardcore fans dream and Eddie wasn't far behind. Knowing how close they were and good in the ring they both were allowed for a magical moment at the show's finish. Seeing two guys that weren't WWE home grown win at Wrestlemania 20 was a great moment.

5. One Night Stand, 2006, RVD defeats John Cena for the WWE title. RVD was always underrated, and nothing about him screamed WWE. On the other hand everything about John Cena screamed WWE. Having a laid back, pot-smoking, in-ring extremist defeat a pretty boy, body builder, company man for the WWE title at the Hammerstein Ballroom was brilliant.

Honorable Mention:
Summer/ Fall of 2005, Edge vs. Matt Hardy feud, I can't pin point one exact moment so I kept it off the list, but just the whole real-life heat makes this such an awesome period of time, the situation was so volatile that there were no spoilers, you really tuned in to see what would happen. To me it's right up there with the Michaels/ Hart beef in the 90s.

Austin stuns Goldberg and Lesnar upon there WWE departure at Wrestlemania 20. Having the ref be more important to a match than the two former World Champions in it shows Stone Cold's importance to pro wrestling. Goldberg and Lesnar ending there tenure in the WWE was a big part of it too.

Hogan puts The Rock over at Wrestlemania 18. If The Rock would have a little more affiliation with the WWE I would probably put this moment at 2 or 3, but considering he sold out so hard and swears up and down he'll never wrestle again it makes the moment mean less in hind sight.

Bret Hart being inducted into The Hall of Fame. I can't believe he put the screwjob behind him and accepted Vince's invitation. If he made an in-ring return I would have probably made the top 5.

 

[Azamuth]

Vince buying WCW and Shane actually showing up on Nitro was the best for me. I remember flipping back and forth with a hung jaw for most of that night.

 

[AlexEqualsMoney]

gotta go with vince buying wcw.

although the staredown between the rock and hogan was a huge star-power moment. i think it's safe to say everyone who saw it marked out a little.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

There's a number of moments that didn't make the list for some reason:

-Lesnar actually lifting Big Show for an F-5, hitting the move, and still losing after his manager, Paul Heyman turned on him and cost him the match, all the space of about 10 minutes at Survivor Series.
-The ring falling apart during a Big Show/Lesnar match after a superplex
-Kane setting JR on fire on Raw.
-HBK superkicking Hulk Hogan after a month of teaming together.
-Undertaker becomes the first man to win the Royal Rumble as the #30 entrant.
-Eddie G beats Brock Lesnar of all people for the WWe title
-Booker T wins his first World title in WWE.
-Chris Jericho wins the WHC after being added to the Raw Scramble match some 60 minutes after getting his ass handed to him by HBK.
-Eric Bischoff is named GM of Raw!!!!!! And Paul Heyman becomes GM of Smackdown
-The whole Vince's exploding limo fiasco
-The stage collapsing on Vince fiasco
-The Orton punting Vince segment that was pure gold.
-Steph getting RKO'd
-Edge's marriage to Vickie G is revealed.
-Edge's return after HIAC, inserting himself in the SSeries title match and winning.
-Edge losing the WWE title in 3 minutes only to win the WHC in two separate EC matches.
-Undertaker buries Paul Bearer alive in cement
-Batista spears Undertaker off the stage to the tech area during a LMS match and STILL doesn't win
-Bradshaw of all people becomes the WWE champion.
-The Great Khali becomes WHC on SD following an Edge injury.
-Kane wins the ECW title in 9 seconds.
-Austin and HHH join forces to become the Two Man Power Trip
-William Regal cuts transmission of Raw in the middle of the Main Event Title match.
-Umaga is beaten for the IC title by a fan, now known as Santino Marella, everyone's favourite comedic jobber.

This list could probably go on forever, so i'll just pick what i feel were the 2 most shocking moments in my list, and they are

1. The ring breaking after Lesnar hit the superplex on Show. Even Tazz said 'Holy shit!' when that happened, and it wasn't exactly something you could of seen coming a mile off or anything.

and, most shocking of all...

2. Eric Bischoff is named the GM of Raw. I know a lot of you have said Vince buying WCW, but this HAD to be more of a shock. If someone asked you, do you think Eric Bischoff will go work in WWE? You'd have balantly have said 'no fuckin' way! are you high?'. Can you honestly say your jaw didn't drop when he walked out on that stage and hugged Vince McMahon?

 

[Abe]

Well I have a few moments that really stood out for me over the last 10 years:

1. Vince buying the WCW.
This was just a awesome thing to see... Vince proves to the world that his company is the greatest of them all. I mean if you really think about it, it was just a matter of time before he bought WCW. Vince took out all of the territories back in the day, so why wouldn't he have done it with WCW.

2. Stone Cold Steve Austin turns heel at WM XVII.
This was huge! I mean after about 2 years of giving the stunner to Vince, Vince screwing Austin out of championship matches, just making Austins life a living hell every week... Austin shakes Vince's hand. As J.R. said: AUSTIN HAS SOLD HIS SOUL TO SATIN HIMSELF! just a huge moment.

3.Shawn Michaels returns to beat Triple H at Summer Slam 2002
If you go back to 1998 Shawn broke his back. Everyone thought Shawn's career was over. 4 years later he comes back and faces the man (Triple H) who knows everything bought the injuries and beats him. I don't see how anyone can say this is NOT a big moment of the decade.

4.Eddie Guerrero gets chair shot from JBL@ Judgment Day 2004
This was one of the sickest, and loudest chair shot of all time in my opinion. The way was bleeding after he got hit was sick. Just sick.

5.Edge cashes in the MITB against Cena @ New Yrs Revolution 06
This was such a shocking moment... I mean this was the last thing I would have expected. I loved every second of it.

6.Shooting Star Press gone wrong Angle vs. Brock WM XIX
Well all I can say about this moment is ouch.... Like when I saw this on ppv I saw jaw dropped. I think it was an awesome attempt for a guy his size but he really should have done something other than that. Maybe a flying elbow. I think that move stole the show that WrestleMania not Y2J vs. HBK...

7.Undertaker cutting his hair short. Debuts at Vengeance 2001
LOL! MANY will disagree. But for me it was just sooooo shocking to see his hair THAT short. LOL I m just saying.

 

[Kurt]

The biggest moment for me had to be when Edge cashed in his MITB breifcase against Cena at New Year's Revolution 2006. I was like what just happend when Vince came out.