Surprise of the Decade

[Mr. TM]

Nominees:


Shawn Michaels joins NWO
Vince buys WCW
Vince buys ECW
Bischoff on Raw
Edge wins Title
Kurt Angle to TNA
TNA emerges
Hart into HOF
Cena returns at Royal Rumble; wins
Shane McMahon resigns
From Attitude to PG
Return of the Monday Night Wars/ Hogan to TNA, Hart to WWE
Foley goes to TNA, wins title
Flair wrestles to the end of the decade


​

Remember: This is in the Non-Spam Section

 

[Mr. TM]

Me and my boy Shane one day were sitting at his house, enjoying the ol' Elimination Chamber on New Years Revolution. A decent Elimination Chamber at that, with people like Masters and Carlito getting the time to shine. Carlito looked better than he has ever at this point. But John Cena prevails. You know, whatever. End of the night, and Cena is still champion. But what is this? The cage is being lifted after Vince McMahon says the match isn't over. Edge's music hits. It is his time! He takes just over a minute to destroy Cena and wins the title for the first time, and becomes a dominant wrestler for the rest of the decade.

 

[Jsaturn14]

To me, this isn't even close. It has to be Eric Bischoff showing up on Raw. Here is a guy that tried to send WWE employees to the welfare line by doing some of the most "assholish" things I have ever seen. He gave away the results of RAW before it even aired, he convinced Alundra Blaze to drop the Women's Title in the trash live on the air. He signed away talent, etc.... I know that was all in the interest of business, and growing WCW, but it was also designed to destroy WWE. As Jerry "The King" Lawler said when Bischoff walked out on RAW, and shook hands with Vince "I used to sit in the same broadcast booth when Vince McMahon would wish death upon Eric Bischoff". The Monday Night Wars was so intense, and so personal, that I never ever expected the person who tried to destroy the WWE to be hired by them. Eric Bischoff being made GM of RAW is definitely my surprise of the decade.

 

[DiscipleofWrestling]

I have to agree with Jsaturn14. Eric Bischoff showing up on Raw, working for the company that he tried to put out of business, was the shocker of the decade. I remember being on the phone when the segment came up with Booker T having an interview when Eric Freakin' Bischoff walks into the TV frame. I think I talked my then-best friend's ear off at that time. It completely changed any expectation of what the WWE was capable of. If Eric Bischoff can appear on Raw and work for that company, ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN!

 

[X]

My vote rather easily went to "Other" here. Why? Because this poll somehow did not include the Benoit killings, which in my opinion is easily the surprise of the decade. Possibly even the vent in a grim way. The fact that a man SO respected in the business and SO loved by the fans who could easily have been in discussion as the greatest wrestler of all time murdered his family and than killed himself, I'll never forget how shocked I was that day. I had SO MUCH respect for that man and that and everything that I thought I knew about the man and pro wrestling altogether was just about shattered.

I've come to terms with what Benoit did and can still enjoy his wrestling (while obviously realizing he's a terrible, terrible human being for what he did). But I mean, at the time...that was just insane when that happened. It's still absolutely insane. To think one of the greatest wrestlers in the history of the business would do such a thing and has now been purged from the history books in the WWE...I mean, it's just crazy to think about even years after it happened.

The Benoit Murders for me was the most shocking wrestling-related event of the decade, bar none.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I voted for Cena returning at the Royal Rumble. This was the biggest surprise of all for me because I (and many others) thought he would be gone for almost a year when he got injured, but then he returned and won the rumble in what, for me, was the biggest surprise of the decade because I never saw it coming and it was so awesome.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

I agree with xfear, nobody would've predicted anybody with mainstream wrestling recognition would end killing a couple of family members. In 1999 if you'd told people that Bischoff would show up in WWE, I think most people would've believed it. Vince McMahon would always bring somebody in if it benefitted him, which bringing Bischoff in did. The arrive or TNA would've got a ''what?'', Cena at the Rumble would've got a ''who?''. Telling people that Benoit killed his wife, son then himself would get a ''wow, really?''

That's what a time machine would tell you.

 

[RatedRPiedmont]

At first I was going to say Edge winning the title but you have to figure that he was not ready for Wrestlemania and seeing as this was the second to last RAW PPV it gave Edge time to win it then lose it at Royal Rumble.

My vote was Cena returning at the Royal Rumble. Once he returned it was no surprise to see him win it, but i will never forget freaking out when he returned, and I'm not even a big fan of his. Nobody saw it coming, as some reports had him out until Summerslam, but he returns from major surgery after less then 4 months. It was amazing.

 

[RoyalSkull]

I probably seem like an HBK fanboy after voting for him in nearly every category lol, but I swear that's not the case.

With that said, Michaels returning in general was the shock of the decade for me, not to mention returning as part of the nWo! Anyone remember the little Kliq reunion at KOTR 2002? Man, still sends shivers down my spine lol

 

[gd]

I'll go with the whole WCW sitchyashun. It was really big news, and if you weren't trolling around the internet at the time, which I'm guessing most weren't, I'd imagine it'd be rather shocking. At least, I'd think it would be.

Benoit would be a good choice as well, but that nasty "other" button doesn't deserve any love.

 

[BucsBraves8016]

I picked Bret in the Hall of Fame but with the knowledge that the real surprise is Bret coming back in 2010 to the WWE. The moment I heard this, I thought that hell would be freezing over. After everything from the Montreal Screwjob to Owen's death to the fact that the has-been kid and big nose are still "in charge" that Bret is willing to come back....it just shocks the pants off of me more than anything else in the decade.

 

[RVDgurl]

There was no bigger surprise in the wrestling world than Shane McMahon standing in the middle of a WCW ring on Monday Nitro. Who the hell would have ever thought that WCW was going to go under when for a good bit of time, WCW was the clear front runner in the Monday Night Wars. The WWE buying out WCW changed the wrestling business forever.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Vince buying WCW was huge, but we knew it was going to happen sooner or later. The New Monday Night Wars were big too, but nothing was as shocking as the Benoit murders. I would have to put that up with Owen Hart falling to his death in May of 1999 at In Your House in Kansas City.

I really can't decide between the two tragedies because they were both unheard of and the most shocking thing that we have ever read or heard of in the wrestling business. I don't even know how Cena winning the Royal Rumble 2 years ago can even be a category when these tragedies were overlooked. I mean he was injured but he is John Cena, of course he is going to win any match or Rumble he is involved in.

Owen Hart falling to his death and The Benoit Murders were the most shocking events in the past decade and in wrestling history.