Most Notable Allstate Arena Moment

[The Brain]

For those of you wondering, yes this is a total homer thread and for those who don’t know, The Allstate Arena is in suburban Chicago and formerly the Rosemont Horizon. Despite my home town bias you can’t deny there have been a lot of significant events that took place at the Allstate Arena/Rosemont Horizon. It’s no MSG but it is rich in WWE history. In fact the first pay per view was held at the Horizon in 1985. Since then nine other ppvs have been held there. So which event is the most notable in WWE history?

I have to go with WrestleMania 13. We all know the history of the famous submission match between Bret Hart and Steve Austin. During the match the crowd turned on the face and cheered on the heel resulting in a double turn. Austin had been gaining crowd support prior to mania and the fans were already showing frustration with Bret, but it was the always vocal Chicago crowd that helped complete this transition (yes I know it was bound to happen anyway). Many people look at this as the start of the attitude era.

The significance of this match has been talked about before so I’ll just leave it at that as my reason WM13 is the most notable Allstate Arena moment. What do you think? And if you want to see a thread on your own home town arena you’re on your own.

 

[StraightEdge for Life]

I would have to go with The Rock challenging Hulk Hogan to a match for WrestleMania 18. Only because these two were the two biggest names in wrestling history and the challenge allowed us to see the classic confrontation. Not much else to say.

 

[CH David]

I'm actually getting to the point where I'm calling it Rosemont or the Horizon now. Just like the Sears Tower. It ain't the Willis Tower. Fuck that.

Anyhoo. It's difficult to argue the Austin/Hart double turn done to perfection at WrestleMania 13. The match was a war and the blood streaming down Austin's face is one of those iconic shots that you can't even describe how awesome it is.

There are only two others that I would consider up there as more notable than Austin/Hart. The first one is The Rock challenging Hogan. First off, I was in attendance that night and it was electric. It was my first event so it is high in my place of awesome moments. "How do you feel about headlining one more WrestleMania with The Rock?!" Hogan finally says yes, followed by the handshake and a Rock Bottom. Great moment that will always stay in my mind. Just felt epic.

The second moment would arguably be Cena's debut. That's all because of what John Cena has become to the company. His first match is against Kurt Angle and Kurt had to win with an effective rollover pin. He kicked out of the Angle Slam, got out of the ankle lock. Cena showed his heart, grit, and determination and Chicago was the one to see it.

Owen's last match, while a sad event, isn't as notable when you look at the bigger picture. (Sorry D-Man) Jericho's debut was great and goes down as a great debut, but it's definitely not better than Rock/Hogan or Austin/Hart. Maybe up there with Cena's debut as far as the grand scheme but that's it. WrestleMania 2 wasn't that great, and it was only a portion of the show. The Wrestling Classic was the first PPV, but it wasn't that great a show other than to showcase Savage. He didn't even win when he should have. WrestleMania 22 is a meh. It had Foley vs. Edge, Cena retain and CM Punk made an appearance, but it can't touch the others.

 

[Disturbed]

I am going to have to go with Wrestlemania 22. It was not that good for Wrestlemania but it is because of that one moment, and that is Eddge spearing Foley through the flaming table. I am a huge fan of hardcore matches. I cannot recall WwE ever having a flaming table before this but you can correct me if I am wrong. It was just something that stood out to me and made me get up on my feet. The whole match was really good and one of my favorite Wrestlemania matches of all time but that spear made the whole pay per view in my eyes.

 

[StraightEdge for Life]

I cannot recall WwE ever having a flaming table before this but you can correct me if I am wrong.

At ECW One Night Stand in 2005 when The Dudley Boyz put Tommy Dreamer through a flaming table. Just the only other one I can think of. Not really part of the thread, but just wanted to put that out there.

 

[urbann_styles.]

I live in the chi.I've been to a couple allstate arena events not to the wm22.but imma go with the wrestlemania 22 it was epic the matches were crazy.unfortunately last wwe event was when bob barker went which was last year in september. :/

 

[blackmetalbuick]

Good thread.

I was fairly young during the Monday Night Wars, mostly only got to watch WCW, and flipped to RAW on the rare Monday night when my family wasn't home. I don't regret being a fan of WCW and only getting more into the WWE right before the buyout. But the one thing I do regret, is that I missed a lot of classic WWE live events during those years, because in addition to not watching WWE programming, we avoided their live events too. Bummer, now that I look back at the history of what took place here.

I was at WM22. Made the mistake of bring a camera with me, so instead of taking it all in, you get more distracted with trying to take good pictures. I sat next to the ramp, I can remember having a good view of Edge spearing Foley through the flaming table. But other than that, my memories of WM22 unfortunately don't amount to much.

I think my most memorable event was being there for the Hogan/Rock confrontation. I don't remember if this was a RAW, a PPV, or what. I'm thinking it was RAW. I had decent seats for their classic staredown in the ring. And then of course, the attack on the ambulance outside. So for some strange reason, this actually stands out as my favorite. I've been to pretty much every Allstate Arena show once I got heavily into WWE, was just at Night of Champions this year, many RAWs, SDs, but this Hogan/Rock show is the strongest in my mind.

EDIT: Okay I did my research. It was RAW, February 18, 2002. I probably can't remember much else from my life in 2002, so the fact that this RAW stands out in my mind, yeah, it's my top Allstate event. Not sure if links are allowed but I just found a video of the Hogan/Rock confrontation and I'm taking a trip down memory lane.

Oh, and there was some other event where Rock and Austin teamed up, and after the match, they drank beers at the top of the ramp before throwing the cans over their shoulder and leaving. I was in the back row closest to the stage, the security guard picked up one of the beer cans from the empty floor area between the stage and the seats, and gave it to me. Still have it somewhere I think.

 

[cboedeker2]

Let me state first off that I'm also a proud resident of the suburbs of Chicago, and I attended Night Of Champions, and will be attending WrestleMania 27, and Money In The Bank. Anyway, I actually think Jericho's debut was the biggest as far as the wrestling community goes, but obviously, the biggest thing for the city itself, was WrestleMania 22. I mean just look at the facts...tickets for the event sold out in less than two minutes, grossing $2.5 million dollars. That's serious cash. However, like I said, the biggest thing wrestling-wise, had to be the debuts of John Cena and Chris Jericho. Both men have changed the business greatly. Chris Jericho was one of the last performers to come out of the tried and true territory system, as well as being trained by the legendary Stu Hart. All you really have to say is that Jericho is the only person to ever beat Stone Cold and The Rock in the same night. John Cena, while not liked by many, has carried the WWE on his back to the best of his ability. The man works his ass off, and never complains about it. He works from sun up til sun down, and does it all with a smile on his face. We could truly use more men like John Cena and Chris Jericho in the WWE today, and I'm proud to say that they both debuted in Chicago.

 

[JuviJuiceIsLoose]

As a resident of the Chicago Area, I'm definitely glad to see this topic.

There have been a lot of great moments a place that I still sometimes call the Rosemont Horizon.

That building has seen a lot of great moments from the WWE over the years. I'm gonna be biased and say that Chicago area crowds are always great whenever a wrestling show is in town. They're probably one of the 5 best cities to watch wrestling with NYC, Phil, STL, and Toronto.


2 of the most significant ones I can think of is the match at Wrestlemania 13 between Bret and Austin and Chris Jericho's WWF debut on August 9, 1999.

 

[RaTeDAwEsOmE84]

I was at WM 22 and my two favorite moments that night was obviously edge my fav of all time spearing foley through the flaming table as many mentioned but also the amazing Shawn Michaels 20 foot elbow drop off a ladder though mr mcmahon inside a garbage can on a table was so so so friggin awesome!

I also enjoyed No Mercy 2007 where Orton was awarded the title to start the show only to lose it to Triple H who defended against Umaga only to lose it in the main event "Last Man Standing" against Orton in a rematch where Orton gloriously won.

 

[CH David]

Alright I'm seeing people vote for WrestleMania 22 because they were there or because there was one cool moment. Let me ask you this, what one moment at WrestleMania 22 is more notable than Stone Cold turning face and going on to become the biggest thing in the WWF ever? There isn't one. Let's run it down.

Kane and Big Show win the Tag Titles. Lame. RVD wins MITB. Okay sets up a solid deal and One Night Stand. Match itself was okay. JBL beat Chris Benoit. I think that speaks for itself. Edge and Foley, great match that just made Edge ruthless at the time but has no effect on him now. The Boogeyman went over Booker T. Yeah let that sink in. Mickie over Trish, her first Women's title. Good but not iconic. Taker vs. Mark Henry, my word that's brutal. HBK vs. Vince, really did nothing other than show Vince can take a beating. Rey wins the title in a match that he technically shouldn't have been in once he lost at No Way Out. Eddie's death gave that push no matter what you want to say. Playboy Pillow Fight, 'nuff said. Cena over Triple H making him tap.

There is nothing that happened at WrestleMania 22 that is more notable or iconic than the Austin/Hart double turn at WrestleMania 13. You make like other moments better, but look at the facts. The double turn was huge, done to perfection, and helped the train roll to Austin's greatness. WrestleMania 22, well it didn't give anything like that.

 

[WWEIsLife2]

Alright I'm seeing people vote for WrestleMania 22 because they were there or because there was one cool moment. Let me ask you this, what one moment at WrestleMania 22 is more notable than Stone Cold turning face and going on to become the biggest thing in the WWF ever? There isn't one. Let's run it down.

Kane and Big Show win the Tag Titles. Lame. RVD wins MITB. Okay sets up a solid deal and One Night Stand. Match itself was okay. JBL beat Chris Benoit. I think that speaks for itself. Edge and Foley, great match that just made Edge ruthless at the time but has no effect on him now. The Boogeyman went over Booker T. Yeah let that sink in. Mickie over Trish, her first Women's title. Good but not iconic. Taker vs. Mark Henry, my word that's brutal. HBK vs. Vince, really did nothing other than show Vince can take a beating. Rey wins the title in a match that he technically shouldn't have been in once he lost at No Way Out. Eddie's death gave that push no matter what you want to say. Playboy Pillow Fight, 'nuff said. Cena over Triple H making him tap.

There is nothing that happened at WrestleMania 22 that is more notable or iconic than the Austin/Hart double turn at WrestleMania 13. You make like other moments better, but look at the facts. The double turn was huge, done to perfection, and helped the train roll to Austin's greatness. WrestleMania 22, well it didn't give anything like that.

So just because Wrestlemania 22 wasn't special to you doesn't mean it can't be memorable for other people? Anyway I don't live in Chicago but I love WM 22 with Cena/HHH,HBK/Vince,Edge/Foley,Rey winning the Title,RVD winning MITB,Taker/Henry,Kane & Big Show vs Carlito & Chris Masters,etc plus that Crowd was white hot for most of that night.

As I said I don't live in Chicago but whenever WWE goes there you know it will be a great night. My Top All-State Arena moment other than Bret/Austin at WM 13 is The Rock challenging Hulk Hogan for Wrestlemania 18 on RAW afer No Way Out 2002. Just the energy during that segment gives me goosebumps whenever I watch it again and again.

Notable All-State Arena Moments are:

Chris Jericho's Debut in August 1999 on RAW
Randy Orton & HHH trading the WWE Title at No Mercy 2007
The Rock forcing Mr Mcmahon to kiss Rikishi's ass on Smackdown in December 2001
John Cena's Debut on Smackdown in June 2002
The Price Is RAW in September 2009
Randy Orton's latest WWE Title win at Night Of Champions 2010

 

[CH David]

So just because Wrestlemania 22 wasn't special to you doesn't mean it can't be memorable for other people? Anyway I don't live in Chicago but I love WM 22 with Cena/HHH,HBK/Vince,Edge/Foley,Rey winning the Title,RVD winning MITB,Taker/Henry,Kane & Big Show vs Carlito & Chris Masters,etc plus that Crowd was white hot for most of that night.

You don't read do you? The question isn't what's your favorite moment. It's what is the most notable moment. I asked what is more notable than the Austin/Hart double turn. There isn't one that is more notable plain and simple. You usually get one person to turn, sometimes it doesn't pan out. The fact that there was a successful double turn, is an awesome feat. Now tell me, is anything that happened at WrestleMania 22 more notable than that? Yes or no?

 

[WWEIsLife2]

You don't read do you? The question isn't what's your favorite moment. It's what is the most notable moment. I asked what is more notable than the Austin/Hart double turn. There isn't one that is more notable plain and simple. You usually get one person to turn, sometimes it doesn't pan out. The fact that there was a successful double turn, is an awesome feat. Now tell me, is anything that happened at WrestleMania 22 more notable than that? Yes or no?

I didn't say anything was more notable than the double turn with Bret Hart & Stone Cold (which I did enjoy as well don't get me wrong) im just saying Wrestlemania 22 isn't all that bad either.

Another notable All-State Arena Moment I thought of is Shane Mcmahon's leap of faith at Backlash 2001 during the LMS with Big Show.