Your top 5 biggest pops in a match

[STILLNWO4LIFE]

I love this topic, and it is sure hard to come up with a definitive 5. I thought of this topic after watching several wrestling DVDs I have at the house. My top five include older and newer, this is in no specific order.

1. Goldberg vs Hogan for the heavy weight championship in the GA Dome. The crowd erupted at the ring of the bell at the beginning of the match. The crowd was into it the whole time and blew the damn roof off of the dome.

2. Sabu vs Terry Funk, Born to be wired. Even smaller crowds can provide an exciting backdrop. The crowd brought into the gruesome match and absolutely loved it, they were the usual ECW raukus crowd but there was something special about this one.

3. The Rock vs Hogan at Wrestlemania. That crowd gives me chills every time I watch this match on DVD. Their loud as hell in unison throughout the whole match and make it special.

4. Undertaker vs Mankind King of the Ring. A brutal match and another badass crowd. They were shocked and surprised and never expected to see what they witnessed that night.

5. RVD vs Cena ECW One night stand. This was probably one of the best ECW crowds in history. They were absolutely insane and made Cena feel completely unwelcome. I loved this crowd because they were down right nasty.

 

[bizonatch]

1. Shawn Michaels wins the WWF World Heavyweight Championship from Bret Hart in a 60 Minute Iron Man Match in the Main Event of WrestleMania. I feel that this match and the culmination of Michaels' slow burn long haul evolution to the face of the company was perfect, and I feel that every Wrestlemania title match has been chasing it (unsuccesfully) ever since.

2. Mankind vs Undertaker, Hell in a Cell @ King of the Ring. WWE will NEVER be this hardcore EVER again. I still get scared when I watch it.

3. Rock vs Mankind at Survivor Series, when Rock (who was [during an absence of Stone Cold] becoming the top face in the WWE) turned heel with a sharpshooter and a screw job after winning a tournament which in retrospect had worked out suspiciously in his favor. As a young teenager, I was standing on my couch freaking out. I immediately went online and bought a Rocky shirt.

4. Triple H vs HBK vs Chris Benoit, Backlash for the World Heavyweight Title. Benoit making HBK tap in Montreal. The crowd went through the roof. Perfect, beautiful moment. Felt like Justice had been served.

5. Daniel Bryan vs CM Punk, Over the Limit, No DQ. When Bryan had Punk in the No Lock, with a singapore cane sealing the deal, I was marking out thinking Punk had no way out of this. Until Punk took a bite out of Bryan's hand. I loved their series of matches and this small moment really blew me away. I don't expect this moment to make anyone else's lists, these are just two of the best damn wrestlers of all time and I loved it.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Any of you who don't have The British Bulldog over Bret Hart at SummerSlam '92 in Wembley Stadium on your list need a little education. Happy to help. It's one of the all time great Intercontinental Title Matches in history, and proof that a home field advantage really pays dividends.

[YOUTUBE]G1tXFzz1eXI[/YOUTUBE]

Crowd was HOT all match long. Vince and Heenan do the smart thing by keeping quiet for the 3-count so to allow the crowd reaction to tell the story and do the commentating. Still the gold standard for the amazing final pinfall bat-shit moment.

 

[The Brain]

I don't know about a top five but this is always a favorite that comes to mind

[YOUTUBE]TbZllc-7sn8[/YOUTUBE]

The crowd was already behind Foley and were really into his character. They would have gone crazy even without Austin. If I remember right Austin was off tv for only a couple weeks at this time and having him make a surprise appearance at the end of the show sent the crowd into a frenzy. There were a lot of things about 1999 that I didn't care for but this was a classic moment.

 

[Chicago1989]

The Rock vs. Triple H at Backlash 2000 - Stone Cold's appearance and The Rock winning the WWF title were two moments that had the best Attitude Era pops. The crowd went insane for those two moments.

The Rock vs. Mankind for the WWF title on Raw 1999 - The pop when Austin came out to help Mankind win was mind-blowing.

The Rock, Too Cool, & Cactus Jack vs. The Radicalz & Triple H and X-Pac - Kane and Paul Bearer's return in the end had the crowd going crazy.

Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker at WrestleMania 25 - When HBK kicked out the Tombstone Piledriver. Everyone went nuts.

Dean Malenko vs. Chris Jericho at WCW Slamboree 1998 - Malenko unmasking and attacking Jericho causes the crowd to go nuts.

Honorable mention - Chris Jericho winning the WWF title from Triple H on Raw.

 

[The IWC Butcher]

1. Austin Vs Hart - Submission Chicago - the crowd was amped the entire match but when Austin almost powered out of the sharpshooter with blood streaming down his face that crowd was unglued.

2. Punk Vs Cena - the intro alone was amazing...followed by an outcome I was unsure of...last great match / program WWE has put on

3. Edge Vs Cena - first time MITB was cashed in... When Edge came out with McMahon that place went nuts.

4. Hogan turning at Bash at the Beach - people were legit upset

5. Shane Douglas - Pit Bull 1 - this may be very obscure but Douglas legit broke Pitbull One's neck when he spiked his head on the title belt via DDT. Weeks later Pitbull One showed up with his head in a harness...one people with broken necks wear... Screws in the side of your head... Well Douglas grabs the harness and shakes Pitbull One... The crowd went legit white heat nuts (as Douglas described it) and jumped the railing to get to Douglas... And these were "smart" Philly fans...Douglas and Francine ran for their lives...people were waiting for them outside. That was a hostile pissed off crowd.

**Also Dudley Boyz Heat Wave 99** Dayton wanted to kill them.

 

[Sephyxia]

Ill just post a few of my personal favorites. I do love Rock vs Mankind from Raw. Great pop. Goldberg vs Hogan. Again great. Now onto some not named yet.

1. Kane returns 5v5 DX/radicals vs Rock/Mankind/Too Cool. Rocks pop was enormous also. Still can hear JR saying the rafters are rumbling at Reunion!

2. Stonecold returns to save Team WWF. Stunner...Stunner....another Stunner!

3. Hogan hulking up at WM 18. Was just amazing. Major goosebump moment.

4. Malenko unmasking vs Jericho for cruiserweight title. Not to mention Jericho announcing them all prior was HILARIOUS!

 

[snakebite313]

Although this wasn't in a match per se, but for me prolly THE biggest pops I've seen or heard was when Chris Jericho & Edge rejoined Team Cena to square off against Wade Barrett's Nexus. The place erupted so much that even the camera was shaking!!!

 

[Greek_God666]

My favorites are.

1. Hogan vs Warrior at WM 6 in Toronto as The crowd was split.

2. Hogan vs Rock at WM 18 in Toronto as Hogan was suppose to be the heel and got most of the cheers especially when he was Hulking up.

3. The Rock vs Triple H at Backlash 2000 in the end when Stone Cold came and helped The Rock. The fans went nuts

4. The Rock vs Mankind on Raw when Mankind won the title with help from Austin.

5. Trish vs Lita at Unforgivin 2006 after making Lita tap to the Sharpshooter. As J. R. put it. You would have thought the Maple Leafs would have won the Stanley Cup.

 

[CM-Punkha]

Of matches I seen and can think off the top of my head (in no particular order):

CM Punk vs Cena - MitB - the match that got me back into wrestling after a 5 year hiatus. What a crowd. A superbowl crowd. A world series crowd. I can't describe how good it was.

Rock Hogan X8 - I was there in person and experienced it first hand.

Hogan Warrior WM6 - first time ever (I think), face vs face. Crowd spilt (but no boos like Cena). Every move was cheered.

Mankind vs Rock on Raw - when he won the title. The crowd was nuts for that. And the involvement of the corporation and DX added to the emotion.

Taker - Mankind HitC - people already commented.

I noticed I don't have any WCW names ) Not the biggest fan of WCW, but worthy notables are Goldberg title win vs hogan, hogan heel turn and when Sting picked WCW.

 

[BigThunder]

A couple of others of note:

Nikita joining Dusty against the Horsemen. Unbelievable crowd noise for that face turn.

Jericho "beating" HHH for the title on RAW, I believe in April 2000. I don't think I've ever wanted anyone to win a match that badly, and the crowd agreed.

 

[New Hot Fed]

1 - Goldberg vs Hollywood Hogan(c) on Nitro.
Unbeatable bad guy champ Hulk Hogan gets beat by the most over guy in WCW.

2 - Sid vs HBK(c) - Survivor Series 1996
I've admired Michaels later on for his body of work. And he was a great heel, I liked his early DX run where they were tiring things up. But his whole 1996 babyface champ run remains offensive to me as a wrestling fan(before Cena did the same). I mean HBK were beating guys a whole lot bigger than him and it didn't make any sense to me. The fact that he beat guys like Nash and Vader, I could not take it. Hell it was almost unrealistic him beating the Bulldog, imagine the others. I rejected everything he was and he came off to me like a jumpin bean effeminate ballerina most of the time, that's the level of hate I had for him. We were in an era where any wrestlers, good or bad were much more badass and HBK seemed out of the date. Then he met Sid. Sid in the storyline was his friend so it was basically face vs face. And the whole MSG must have felt like I did since they completly rejected Michaels, cheering Sid at every turns - even if he was more heelish - and booing Michaels. Even after Sid completly turned heel and injured HBK's manager, people cheered Sid. After he hit Shawn with a camera, people cheered even louder. I was proud of wrestling fans that night and when Sid became champ, my friends and I jumped in my living room like crazy. It's like every male teens to adults felt this way. It was a "Lesnar punked Cena out when he returned" moment.

3 - Lex Lugger vs Hollywood(c) on Nitro.
It was almost Goldberg vs Hogan-level and it was the first time this occured. Invincible Hogan gets beat for the title in a surprise loss on free tv. It has one thing over Goldy-Hogan in that most people thought it was a throwaway match while Goldberg vs Hogan there was a possibility that Hogan could lose.

4 - Ultimate Warrior vs Hulk Hogan(c) - Wrestlemania 6
Two titanic forces meeting in the middle with the new breed of star beating the old guy in a new era. Also unique in that you have a champion ending up with two belts for the first time. This match is proof that wrestling is all storytelling not in workrate. Speaking of wich...

5 - Ricky Steamboat vs Macho Man Randy Savage(IC c) - Wrestlemania 3
Possibly the Greatest WWF/E match of all time. It was a great revenge for a great wrestler in the biggest match of his life, at the biggest show. I still maintain Steamboat was so over after this, he could have beat Hogan in popularity and he should have had the chance to get the WWF title.

Special mentions to big pops events that were not particular matchs:
-Sandman's returns to ECW.
-Sting finally reveals his true colors at Uncensored 97, beating all the nWo members by himself.

 

[hokyfish]

LOVE Sycho Sid over HBK at Survior Series '96. That MSG crowd went NUTS went Sid pinned Michaels ending his reign, finally.

 

[rge2010]

Already mentioned before, Bret vs Bulldog at Summerslam 1992. I dont believe a stadium has had such a crowd since that day. Hot all the way through the match and exploded at the end. British crowds are the loudest IMO...stems from the football culture we live in.

On a side note, I see Hogan vs Goldberg mentioned a few times. I still cant believe WCW gave that away on free TV....

 

[Lee]

The entrance here is insane, watch the match the crowd is red hot and the win. Wow. The fact you can barely hear Bret's music is phenomenal.

Also Bret/Bulldog 92 Summerslam.

 

[SideEffectV1]

A lot of my personal favourites involve Jericho... His debut. When he 'won' the title from HHH on Raw. His Save Us and weird children promo returns and lastly his Royal Rumble from this year return. I went ape shit in my friends living room. It made it that much better that nothing at all had leaked online about it. Still gives me goosebumps every time I see it.

Another goosebumper is Ziggler cashing in. I was practically shaking and the crowd at the Raw after Mania is potentially the best crowd ever. They were going wild the whole way from his music hitting, to the mini match, to the finish, to the celebrating. An awesome, awesome moment.

Bryan Punk is another one. As is Cena Punk.

 

[Kidpolean]

My favorites are

- WM28 Undertaker kicks out of the sweet chin music/pedigree combo...I was there live and the place went absolutely nuts. Loudest pop I have ever heard live.

-Mankind winning the wwf title from the rock

-Stone Cold at backlash

-Y2J beating HHH for the wwf title

-Dolph Ziggler's MITB cash in

 

[justtxyank]

These things worst best with video links of course, so here is my list. I'm going to focus exclusively on WCW as it was my company of choice, though I admit there were bigger pops than some of these at various points in other companies.

1) The first undefeated man in the history of this sport to win the heavyweight championship! (Goldberg beats Hogan for the WCW World Title, July 6, 1998)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8HSHeol3o4
History is written by the victors, so history will forget that 1998 wasn't the year of Austin, it was the year of Goldberg.

2) Ric Flair, Come on down! (Ric Flair returns to WCW and reforms the IV Horsemen, September 14 1998)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1Z2BQW-7iQ
Not much can be said about this. Perfection.

3) Sting! Sting is here! (Sting drops from the rafters and takes out the nWo, Uncensored 1997)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcMHSvnbS28
I picked this one to represent, but really this is a placeholder for all of Sting's appearances throughout 1997. He was white hot and his righteous war against the nWo was amazing. Not sure anyone has ever had as much unanimous support as he had.

4) Cyclope unmasks to reveal Dean Malenko! (Slamboree 1998)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENT6asElNiM
What makes this so awesome is this is NOT main eventers, this is not about the world title. This was the cruiserweights. Malenko and Jericho were both so over here.

5) Luger won the title! Luger won the title! (WCW Nitro, August 4th 1997)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH9GK_an9K0
Lex was amazing this year. His matches were good, he was carrying the house show circuit, he was in the best shape of his life...WCW did right by him to let him go over Hogan ULTRA clean (even taking the entire nWo) to win the belt. He would lose it back shortly after (right call) but this moment was the best in his career.

 

[New Hot Fed]

Already mentioned before, Bret vs Bulldog at Summerslam 1992. I dont believe a stadium has had such a crowd since that day. Hot all the way through the match and exploded at the end. British crowds are the loudest IMO...stems from the football culture we live in.

On a side note, I see Hogan vs Goldberg mentioned a few times. I still cant believe WCW gave that away on free TV....

Worst of all, there wasn't any rematchs of Hogan vs Goldberg. Proof that WCW feared $$$.

It's one thing to have it occured on free tv, it's another to don't use all your powers to turn this into PPV money. After that match, I would have done with Goldberg what the WWE did with Batista when he was put over in three straight PPV against HHH. Have Hogan get beat three more time by Goldberg, solidifying his reign as the next mega face.

 

[LSN80]

5. RVD vs Cena ECW One Night Stand2006). This was probably one of the best ECW crowds in history. They were absolutely insane and made Cena feel completely unwelcome. I loved this crowd because they were down right nasty.

I've tried in my mind to leave this match and the reactions for both Cena and RVD off any 'lists' such as this, specifically due to the homicidal nature of the crowd. I truly believe they would have rioted. But their volume, both in the entrances and RVD winning, was incredible. It's not my #1, but it's up there. Let's say #5. The crowd response to RVD winning was tepid compared to their response to the entrances of both.

[YOUTUBE]8VJdhXE1dso[/YOUTUBE]

4. John Cena returns at the Royal Rumble(2008).

Maybe its because the moment was so unexpected, but this gave me chills, and the crowd matched the fervor. Love him or hate him, at the crowd did both, but they responded in a big way. I was watching with friends at a Buffalo Wild Wings, and not a single person there was sitting down. I can't imagine the atmosphere at MSG.

[YOUTUBE]Hg8vVO2Zj2s[/YOUTUBE]



3. CM Punk vs John Cena Money In The Bank(2011)

I promise I'm done with Cena matches after this one. Promise.
From the entrances to Punk winning 40 minutes later, this was as rabid a crowd for one wrestler that I've ever seen. Some say the outcome was predictable, making it less impressive, but I disagree. It was Punk, in his hometown, for perhaps the last time ever to many of the fans, win or lose. They certainly showed their appreciation for him, eh?

[YOUTUBE]V8JeK-0qVi8[/YOUTUBE]

2. Mick Foley vs. The Rock(1999)

I remember watching Nitro at the time, and Tony Schiavone giving away that Raw was taped, and Foley would be winning the World Title, as if that was incentive to stay and watch an irrelevant tag match. Was the pop for Austin, or for Foley? Who cares? It was awesome.
[YOUTUBE]TbZllc-7sn8[/YOUTUBE]

1. HHH returns(2002)

Am I cheating perhaps? Yeah. But this is my favorite crowd reaction ever. It makes me wonder what career trajectory HHH would have had if he had remained a face. Would he still have received those pops into 2003, 2004? Evolution was a great faction and drew great heat, but HHH as a lone wolf who kicked behind was pretty awesome. My favorite crowd reaction ever. Speaking of awesome....

[YOUTUBE]YZCvwRL6eqs[/YOUTUBE]

 

[toon126]

One not mentioned is Bulldog vs HBK at One Night Only 1997. I was there that night and when the ref called the match the crowd were on the brink of rioting seeing Bulldog lose in the UK. Wildest scenes I've experienced live.

Loudest pop I've heard is Rock v HHH at Backlash 2000 for Austin's arrival.

I also remember the pop for Bret Hart's music in Montreal 2005 when HBK cut that heel promo. Amazing scenes.

 

[justtxyank]

So my list was all WCW, but I want to list my favorite WWF pop of the 2000 era.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzhxwuizY9M

Kane's return here was just awesome. I loved Kane.

Edit: Can't seem to get the embed to work.

 

[HBsam31]

I am going to list the ones that come into my mind in no particular order.

Bret Hart vs The British Bulldog - Summerslam 92. Just an incredible pop when Davey won the match.

John Cena vs CM Punk MITB 2011. The crowd was just ravenous for Punk. One of the loudest pops I have ever heard.

Hulk Hogan vs The Rock Wrestlemania 18 - Possible the loudest pop ever and it stayed consistent throughout the whole match.

Goldberg vs Hogan Monday Nitro - this was indeed something special to see. The crowd was ready for Goldberg to take the title and they just erupted.

HHH returns Monday Night Raw Madison Square Garden - this moment gave me goosebumps. He left as a heel and came back to one of the biggest ovations I have ever heard.

John Cena vs RVD - One Night Stand 2006 - RVD had the biased crowd going crazy for him. It was a mixture of love for RVD and hatred for Cena leading to a great atmosphere.

I am sure there are way more, but these are the ones that stand out to me.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

5) This has to be in the discussion. CM Punk's entrance at Money in the Bank is the loudest crowd reaction I've heard post Attitude-Era. That includes Cena's debut on Monday Night Raw when he was drafted from Smackdown. This beats it and beats it good.

[youtube]5OfSR68tEzs[/youtube]


4) Hulk Hogan vs Warrior at Wrestlemania VI

This could potentially be higher on the list. Watching their entrances alone gives me chills. It had a big match feel and it delivered with the crowd. Very underrated in the crowd participation department.

[youtube]W9lt__ACbFY[/youtube]

3)Jerry Lawler's first major title win in Memphis.

Lawler beating Hennig for the AWA World Heavyweight title in the Mid-South Coliseum was one of that arena's biggest moments and the crowd lets you know that, too. Lawler took a solid beating for what seemed to be nearly 20 minutes before getting the upper hand and winning the belt. The crowd's reaction to the win was nothing short of great.

[youtube]25h_WIlgs4Y[/youtube]

2) A tie between Bulldog's win at Summerslam and the Hart Foundation's reaction at the Saddledome. Both videos are posted and to be honest, they both deserve a tie for second because of how passionate both fan bases were when it came to their hometown heroes.

1) HBK Ribbing the crowd with Bret Hart's music in Canada.

And yes I know there's more qualified pops out there, but most have been covered. This one is underrated on the scale, but it was one of the loudest reactions I've ever heard. When Hart's music hit... that place exploded. Then when it turned off and HBK was laughing in the ring, at least 25 people would have attempted to murder him in that moment.

[youtube]B7DOcHRgQMo[/youtube]

 

[Kidpolean]

earlier I posted a reply saying that Undertaker kicking out of the sweet chin music/pedigree combo at WM28 was the loudest I have ever heard live but I just remembered I was at Royal Rumble 2013 and Jericho's entrance. Man I couldn't even hear his entrance music because the place was going crazy...IDK how I forgot about that one. That might be the loudest recent pop