The world of wrestling is a volatile place. Full of muscle heads, egos and over the top personalities. All these characteristics combined make up for one cool place. In the last 25 years, since the birth of sports entertainment, WWE has been home to some cool moments. Here is a list of the ten coolest moments in WWE history.
10) Mankind Falls From The Cage
At the King Of The Ring pay per view, wrestler Mick Foley wrestled The Undertaker in a Hell In The Cell steel cage match. As the two rivals battled all over the ringside area, Mankind (Mick Foley) started climbing to the top of the cage. As the two hammered one another with fists, The Undertaker grabbed Mankind and threw him off the top of the cage. With a thunderous thud, Foley landed through a table at ringside. It was one of the coolest moments in the history of the WWE.
9) Macho Man Loves Elizabeth
Wrestling has always been geared towards rednecks and kids. But at Wrestlemania 7, all the rednecks and their children turned into blubbering women as “Macho Man” Randy Savage reunited with his on screen love interest Miss Elizabeth. “Macho Man” hoisted the lovely lady, who was his real life wife, onto his shoulder for the thousands of fans to see. Wrestling had officially become a male soap opera, and it was pretty cool.
8) Austin Meets Tyson
Former WBF Heavyweight Champion and boxing legend Mike Tyson appeared on an episode of Monday Night Raw the night after the Royal Rumble. Vince McMahon introduced him as the baddest man on the planet. This did not sit well with “The Texas Rattlesnake” Steve Austin. Austin headed to the ring and got in the face of Mike Tyson. The two started shoving one another, and a huge riot among the WWE and Tyson’s entourage erupted. The mainstream media went wild with headlines proclaiming a match between Mike Tyson and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. The match never took place. But at Wrestlemania, Tyson served as referee for Austin’s match. But the initial interaction between the two mega stars was one of the coolest moments in the history of WWE.
7) The Last Monday Nitro
As sad as it was to say goodbye to World Championship Wrestling, it was a cool moment in wrestling to see Vince McMahon open his competitors show via satellite, live from a WWE Monday Night Raw show. Of course, after Shane McMahon “robbed” WCW from his father, the storyline was all down hill. But the initial appearance of Vince McMahon on WCW Nitro was awesome.
6) CM Punk Shoot
In June 2011, something incredible happened. The all too smart internet wrestling fans got worked. CM Punk, a hero to the internet wrestling community, and an anti-hero to the casual fan, grabbed a live microphone on Monday Night Raw and cut a “shoot” promo. The promo included a bevy of insults hurled towards the McMahon family, John Cena and name dropping internet favorite Colt Cabana. For days the internet wrestling community was abuzz with the “was it or wasn’t it planned?” It was one of the coolest moments in recent history.
5) Hulk Hogan Outshines The Rock
The Rock Dwayne Johnson was the most popular superstar in WWE when he met the evil Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania 18. Despite Hulk Hogan being a bad guy, the 67,000 fans in Toronto turned their noses up at The Rock. Instead, the cheered Hulk Hogan. And they didn’t just cheer Hogan, they screamed their heads off for the Wrestlemania return of the man who made Wrestlemania the household name that it was. It was overwhelming and one of those magical moments in wrestling that gives you goose bumps.
4) Brock Lesnar Slams Big Show
In the fall of 2003, the UFC legend Brock Lesnar was heralded as “The Next Big Thing” in professional wrestling. And it certainly seemed that way. On an episode of Smackdown, Brock Lesnar had The Big Show rocking and reeling on the top rope. Lesnar then climbed the rope and suplexed the 450 lb Big Show to the canvas. For the first time ever, the ring imploded. It crashed to the ground as the fans erupted in disbelief. It was one of the coolest moments in WWE history.
3) Bret Returns To WWE
Hell officially froze over on January 4th 2010, as Bret Hart returned to World Wrestling Entertainment’s Monday Night Raw after a twelve year absence. After Bret was screwed over at Survivor Series 1997, Bret Hart was never the same. But in 2010, Hart got his closure with Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels. Although the situation between Bret, Shawn Michaels and McMahon was real, it was one of the longest running “angles” in the history of wrestling. And one helluva cool moment.
2) Vince Screws Bret
One of the most unfortunate moments in the life of Bret “Hitman” Hart was also one of the coolest moments in WWE history. Due to Bret Hart’s refusal to drop the heavyweight championship to Shawn Michaels, Vince McMahon had to pull the ultimate betrayal on Hart. Vince ordered Michaels, Earl Hebner and a handful of other guys to end the match while Bret was in a submission maneuver. The heartbreak Kid was declared champion and Bret went on a rampage, breaking everything in sight. It was heartbreaking for “The Hitman”, but pretty cool for viewers, since it let the fans see the reality of wrestling.
1) Hulk Slams Andre
In front of 93,000 screaming fans at The Pontiac Silverdome, “The Immortal” Hulk Hogan slammed the massive 500 lbs Andre The Giant. Andre The Giant passed the proverbial torch to Hulk Hogan, signifying a new era of sports entertainment. It was the biggest moment in the history of professional wrestling and definitely remains the coolest moment in WWE history
One thing is for certain. As long as the WWE exists, there will be many cooler moments to add to its already rich history.