Who was the best "Promotion Jump"

[salopstick]

i agree at the end of wrestling challenge bobby heenan just pulled out the nwa belt comapring hulk hogan and flair to ice cream and manure.

because we did not have the internet and inside information, the first sid justice is coming vignette was a shocker

 

[wwe1581]

Hulk Hogan from AWA to WWF was what put wrestling on the map after Verne Gagne had put Hogan in the main events and gave some exposure to him Vince McMahon who was going through all the territories and taking the top talent saw something in Hogan and quickly snatched him up Hogan missed his final dates with AWA and a mer two months after joining the World Wrestling Federation Hogan defeated Iron Shiek for the heavyweight title in MSG and the rest is history

 

[Lono]

personally, the best jump for me personally was Roddy Piper's jump to WCW... sure he was way past his prime, and not really a long term pick, but his appearance at Halloween Havoc after Hogan had just beaten Savage was awesome... Piper's speech that night reminded everyone that although Hogan was on top back in the Rock n Wrestling days, Piper was the reason the fans loved Hogan so much, Hogan came in and beat the Iron Shiek and wrestled some names such as Big John Studd, and a few others, but really... Piper was the first big fued for Hogan, the first one that actually meant anything and helped propel Hulkamania...then Piper out of no where shows up in WCW while Hogan is going on saying he's the true icon of wrestling... this jump alone reminded everyone just how important Piper was...his last few years in WWF were a wash... he was the enforcer referee in a match with Hart and Backland, and he beat the tar out of Goldust, but for the most part... that was forgettable... but when he came out and challenged Hogan... he seemed more important then he had in years... i think Piper might have been an after thought in wrestling history if it wasn't for this jump, which would have been a shame, Piper was the one wrestler that didn't need to hold the big title to be considered a star

 

[y2j8679]

Like Shocky said Y2J ws the biggest. it lead to the Radicalz coming over. Three future world champs just defected. After that Booker, Nash, and crew couldnt save WCW. After that it was over or when David Arquette won the strap it was over. Damn WCW was so bad at the end. So I have to say Y2J debut on RAW during the Rocks promo was the greatest. I can recite y2j and the rock exchange words on the Mic. I am your party host and the most charismatic showman to ever... ever enter your lifes via a telvision screen.... classic I love it. y2J barr none. the best. damn one more month I will get to see him return I hope please WWE do the right thing we need Jericho

 

[zeus3007]

i would say steve austin going from wcw to wwe and eventually winning the 96 king of the ring and from there becoming the biggest superstar ever is the best promotion jump of all time. mick foley also comes to mind (coming to wwe from wcw).

after that, its probably hogan to wcw just for the huge impact it made on the industry. turning him heel was incredible, which of course led to hall and nash coming and forming nwo with him. that just basically put wcw on top for a while.

also, if this counts, i would say RVD coming to WWE from ecw (if i remember correctly, it was before ecw folded but i think he was a free agent anyway). just for the coolness factor lol.

honorable mentions: benoit, guerrero, and y2J coming to wwe from wcw (altho it was near the demise of wcw)

A few corrections and additions. Austin made a stop in ECW in between WCW and WWE. Foley did not jump from WCW to WWE, he jumped from ECW to WWE as well, and this one was done pretty well.
Turning Hogan heel didn't lead to Hall and Nash coming, they were already in WCW. RVD also didn't jump ship before ECW folded, it was quite a while after ECW folded that WWE brought in RVD (it was in the Invasion angle).

 

[zeus3007]

One that nobody is remembering is Ric Flair's initial jump to WWF/E, when he brought the WCW World Title with him and claimed to be the "Real World's Champion". Also, when Madusa abandoned her Alundra Blayze gimmick and the WWF for WCW (also the night Luger jumped back), she threw the WWF women's title in the garbage. That was the best jump of the 90's, in my opinion.

 

[MR.SCOTT]

for me it was christian cage leaving the wwe as a midcarder and moving to tna to start a feud with jarret currently i thought was brilliant, a small time player making it into the main event, i bet the wwe where kicking themselves after seeing christain on tna television

 

[Heartthrob81]

Soo...I'm seeing most of the same ones...Christian Cage or Kurt Angle going to TNA, Bret Hart going to WCW...well two others stick out in my mind that I've either overlooked, or it wasn't posted.

The first one that comes to mind is the night Lex Luger made the jump from WWF to WCW. The jump that started the Monday Night Wars, because it was on the very first edition of WCW "Monday Nitro" from the Mall of America. He showed up during the Sting/Ric Flair match, and I thought the crowd was going to simultaneously have a coronary! He gave Vince his word that he would stay and re-sign his contract, and then 24 hours after working for Vince, he was in the entrance isle on Nitro.

The second one is a personal favorite of mine. Brian Pillman. Joey Styles was opening an edition of ECW Hardcore TV when the lights dropped. When they came back up, Pillman was standing in the middle of the ring. Then he cut a promo that was just brilliance.

 

[Mugatunow]

Stone Cold was the best jump, because WWF gained something more than just "the future", they gained a potential weapon against WCW. Anytime WCW would put themselves over WWF, saying they are the smartest promotion around,making no mistakes, WWF could simply say" Yeah, well you fired Stone Cold Steve Austin. Now he's the most important and over wrestler in the world today." Plus, they had exclusive rights to him, because WCW not only fired him, but they did it while he was on injury, and over the phone no less. So his spot with them was confirmed and assured.

 

[klunderbunker]

I think the best one ever was Rick Rude going to WCW in i believe it was 1998. The Monday Night Wars were still going on and what a great idea it was by Bischoff to have him on both shows in the same week, not to mention he was on ecw that same week. Rude was clean shaven, proving which show was live. A great jump, and a great example of the monday night wars.

 

[SergioGel]

Don't know if this was posted but if I recall it was Mike Awesome who appeared on WCW while still being the ECW champion and then went back to ECW to wrestle Tazz who was a WWF wrestler and lost the title...this entire series of events was crazy

 

[The_Real_WrestleManiac]

Hulk Hogan. WCW wasn't even taken seriously until they had Hogan. Anyone after him would've been seen as taking a step down but Hogan in WCW legitimized the company. Made people take it seriously. WWF with Hogan had dominated the scene for so long. When the two split people still leaned towards WWF but couldn't help wonder if it was Hogan who was making the shows worth watching.

 

[Papa Shango]

Actually Hogan wasn't really a promotion jump. He was already "retired" and doing TV and movies. WCW just got him to come out of retirement.
For me, it was Chris Jericho to WWE. I didn't watch too much WCW, but I knew who Jericho was, and I liked him. When people realized that the coutdown was for Chris Jericho, they flipped. And it started the mass exodus from WCW. Jericho's friends Benoit, Malenko, Saturn, and Guerrero all jumped after him. Y2J in WWE was officially the beginning of the end for WCW. Plus, how many people get to make an immediate impact in thier debut by cutting a promo with The Great One?

 

[coach_bob1]

I would say Goldberg coming to WWE. He was one of WCW's headliners during the Monday Night Wars. I remember him coming out while the Rock was in the ring, and the place erupted.

 

[FlairFan2003]

For sheer impact on a company it would have to be the Outsiders (Hall & Nash) jumping to WCW in 1996. The creation of the NWO storyline completely re arranged the WCW roster in terms of alliances and stories and for the most created some terrific televsion into mid 1999. It also completely changed the face of the US wrestling industry, as has been documented.

A close second would be Hogan to WCW in 1994. Another huge impact on the industry as a whole, it finally gave WCW someone other than Sting and Flair who was over with fans at the main event level and could draw ratings.

Moany of the other jumps mentioned were entertaining but didn't radically alter a particular company's fortunes or impact the industry. The Radicalz to WWE circa 2000 is a perfect example, as are the Luger jump to WCW (for the first ever Monday Nitro, one night after wrestling at WWE's SummerSlam PPV), Alundra Blaze belt in the garbage skit on Nitro with the WWE Women's Title (a division WCW did nothing with), etc.

Flair's jump to WWE in 1991 was pretty big because until that time top talent rarely jumped and Flair, next to Hogan, was the absolute biggest name in wrestling. The idea that McMahon had signed was huge. Also, the story, his arrival as wrestling's real world champion was a radical departure for WWE, the first time they brought in a major name and did nor alter his gimmick or character, or pretend that he never had a wrestling career prior to his arrival. WWE admitted there was wrestling outside their programming for the first time since McMahon JR took over when Flair arrived. The fact that his extremely large, audacious, gold championship belt arrived one month before him on television to tout his arrival was also pretty big, a mega slap in the face to WCW (they actually sued Flair to get the belt back and his case for ownership was solid enough they had to pay him to return it). His impact on WWE was significant but not to the extent Hogan and The Outsiders impacted WCW. His departure hurt WCW much more than Hogan or The Outsiders hurt WWE however.

Surprisingly nobody mentioned Ricky Steamboat's arrival in the NWA circa 1989. Less than a year removed from a successful WWE stint, Steamboat arrived as the "secret tag team partner" of Eddie Gilbert in a televised match between Gilbert's foe at the time Barry Whyndham and his partner Flair. Steamboat's appearance was a complete surprise, was way over with fans, and he won the match taking out Whyndham and then pinning Flair clean in the middle of the ring.

 

[ckanagarajah]

The most memorable jump as a young wrestling fan has to be kevin nash and scott hall jumping to form he nWo with Mr. "I won't push young wrestlers" Hogan. However, for me as a rabid wrestling fan during the really exciting times in wrestling when the monday night wars reached its climax, my most favourite Promotional Jump has to be Tazz jumping from ECW to WWE. I ordered the 2000 Royal Rumble and i just was so happy with the crowd reaction he got, because that's the exact same reaction I had. During that time, I was such a big ECW fan, and loved the way Heyman had brilliantly built such a good persona for Tazz as the wrestling business's ultimate fighter. To see him make his amazing entrance with that black towel over his head, coming in as the smallest guy, but also as the biggest badass into MSG was so amazing. To top that debut off with the tazmission to Kurt Angle was amazing (no offense to Kurt Angle who is one of my favourites).

I also have to get one more big promotional jump in there. Simply said, Chris Jericho was also a very exciting jump for me. Knowing that RAW is WAR would become RAW is JERICHO was especially thrilling to me, since I was an overly-addicted Jericho-holic during his time with WCW. His debut was probably the best utilized and organized debuts i have ever seen. When the countdown went to 0, and the coloured lights were flashing, the fans were chanting Jericho, which normally would have taken away from the effect of the debut. But the way that his music came on, and then following the words 'break the walls down' Jericho's name popped on the titantron, and the crowd exploded and was absolutely ballistic. The ironic thing was that Jericho was a heel, and had just interrupted a big 3rd gen superstar. Ironically, the two times Jericho has made his debuts, he has interrupted Rock and Orton, who are both 3rd gen stars.

 

[DeadmanInc.]

I would have to say Hogan going to WCW and forming the nWo. This was probably the biggest moment in wrestling history. The ultimate baby face of WWF leaving for it's biggest rival, turning heel, and then forming the group that nearly put WWF out of business. How ironic, the man who put WWF on the map nearly put it out of business.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

This one is easy, it's Hogan, because without Hogan, nothing would have happened, he opened the doors for everything. Sure Hall and Nash was special, but Hogan made the nWo what it was from the day he turned heel, that got such a great reaction, people throwing trash at him, etc., hasn't been matched in a long time.

 

[Davi323]

TWJC, you got the right wrestler, but the wrong promotional jump. His jump to WCW was important...but the most important promotional jump ever was when Hogan left the AWA for the WWF. THAT jump changed the entire course of wrestling.

 

[LexLuger83]

When I think of the greatest of JUMPING SHIPS ever, I must say that there were quite a few that were great moments in wrestling history.

I however, do not feel anyone jumping to the WWF was that big of a deal compared to people jumping ship to WCW for this reason......

Sure there were huge named wrestlers like The Giant(Big Show), Chris Jerico, The Radicalz(Chris Beniot, Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerro, Perry Saturn) Raven, etc.

That came to the WWF from WCW and they obviously made an impact, but here is my reason why......

With those wrestlers, it was known on the internet and in wrestling magazines that they were coming to the WWF,and Vince didn't really have them make as huge of an impact in the company as the following did in WCW.

5. Bret "hitman" Harts jump to WCW from the WWF I leave this at 5 because just like people knowing that paul wight was coming to the WWF a lot of people knew that Bret was coming to WCW, but the reason I think this is a bigger splash, then the earlier mentioned is because of everything that happend with the "Montreal ScrewJob" everyone was HOT to see "What would Bret say about Vince, WWF, Shawn, etc.

4. Macho Man Randy Savage-Mach, is one of the all time GREATS Former 2 time WWFChampion in the GLORY days of the WWF and went on to win multiple WCW Championships as well as having big time fueds with Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, the n.W.o. and being apart of the n.W.o. and had pretty much a succussful career in most of WCW's good run.

3. Hulk Hogan-Well all I really should have to say is, that it's Hulk Hogan. Love him or hate him, he IS the most RECOGNIZED Wrestling name of all time and took the WWF to unprecidented heights as the World Champion. Also was a proven draw for WCW when he arrived. Also mainevented WCW's most lucrative PPV ever Starrcade97.

2. The Outsiders(Scott Hall, Kevin Nash)-Well I don't think I need to really go into detail on this one. I mean from them jumping ship, making everyone think that the WWF was INVADING WCW and making HULK HOGAN turned HEEL for the first time since his BABYFACE run, this made an impact on all of wrestling and the after efffects are still felt.

1. Lex Luger-Now the reason I am saying this is because Lex Luger was the one that started the "SHOCK TV" and JUMPING SHIP of the wrestlers, we saw a week earlier, Lex Luger help Diesel against Mable at Summerslam 95, I thought the guy was still working for the WWF. And when everyone saw the Total Package appear on the debut on Monday Night Nitro, it really set the tone for what would become the Monday Night Wars and the Jumping ship of wrestlers to other promotions.

 

[deadpool]

Another big one was kane.i dont remeber the follow up to the hell in the cell with undertaker and shawn michales but i know he first appeared at that match.it was prety crazy.the lights went out he ripped the cell door off beat the hell out of shawn.

 

[No Count Pup]

I feel the most significant promotional jump was by Scott Hall. He sparked the biggest angle in wrestling history.

Scott Hall is one of the most significant wrestlers of ALL TIME. He belongs on that list alongside Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Hogan put wrestling on the map, Hart and Michaels gave us the Montreal Screwjob, and Stone Cold's feud with McMahon was instrumental in winning the Monday Night Wars.

But Scott Hall was different. He gave wrestling its most unique match of the 90s and jumpstarted the NWO storyline. I know that people think that Hogan is responsible for the NWO's success. But Hall was the glue of the group. He was a degenerate before DX even formed. He was a cool heel before cool heels were popular. He was cutting edge before the Cutting Edge became a Smackdown segment.

The fans always revered Razor Ramon. He was vastly underrated and in my opinion was every bit as popular as Shawn Michaels or Bret Hart. The fans were always inclined to cheer for Razor. He had a way of igniting passions in fans that very few wrestlers could replicate. What was amazing about Razor was he always left fans wanting more. He wasn't jammed down our throats like Kevin Nash. Razor cut great promos and put on quality matches. I feel that if he were given the WWE Championship in the mid 90s, he might have been one of WWE's most popular champions. His world title win would have provided us one of the biggest pops in WWE history.

Wrestling viewers grew very attached to Scott Hall. His legion of fans would follow him wherever he would go. He wound up in WCW, and shocked the wrestling world. But not only did his arrival to WCW rock professional wrestling, it almost put the death nell in WWE.

Hall put over the NWO storyline. In fact, I've always felt that the NWO storyline wouldn't have worked if it was started by Nash and Hogan. Hall was the key element in pro wrestling's revolutionary programming. His jump was the most significant in wrestling history.