Just a question for you and the blog: What are the best matches or moments everyone has witnessed live? It could be something historical or something that was important to you as a fan.
Wait, can you relate that to some sort of overly-personal freaky sex thing to better fit with the Question of the Day motif? This seems too on-topic somehow.
I saw the RAW that had the debut of the Higher Power. That is sadly the most important moment I've witnessed live.
ReplyDeleteLet me help, Scott.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXBUM2ADplE
Saw HBK/Razor 2 and Foley/Taker HIAC live. The Raw when Bret cut the famous enema promo and lost to the Patriot. And the Raw where the Radicalz debuted.
ReplyDeleteLiving in Saginaw, Michigan makes it hard to catch good wrestling. However I was able to attend Mania 30 this year, so that was great top to bottom.
ReplyDeleteI was also at the RAW with Mark Henry's retirement speech which was possibly the best RAW in 2013.
Wrestling moment: Tazz/Bigelow where they went through the ring.
ReplyDeleteLife Moment: I was staring the Manhattan skyline before the towers went down.
The first thing that popped into my mind was at an indy show and it was a 20-30 minute Chuck taylor vs Tracy Smoothers comedy match. I don't have the tape of it I don't know if it would hold up all I know is my face hurt and the whole place was exhausted from laughing by the end of it.
ReplyDeleteThe most important/biggest show I've ever attended was Uncensored 98 so I got nothin'.
ReplyDeleteShots fired? That's not just shots, that's a damn WWI artillery barrage. (applauds Scott.)
ReplyDeleteTo me, it's this.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZkJvdun32w
Best part was, the match was not announced ahead of time. So the Montreal crowd gave a huge pop for Benoit... Then for Edge.... Then it friggin EXPLODED when La Resistance were revealed to be the opponents. AND A CLEAN WIN TO BOOT!!
Eddie/RVD Ladder Match on the Edmonton RAW.
ReplyDeleteAngle - Austin forfeiting the IC belt to the Rock ("The Rock thinks you should fire him Vince")
ReplyDeleteHonorable Mention - Austin stopping Steph from being "married" to Undertaker
Match - Either Austin vs Rock at Backlash 99 or HBK vs Benjamin, you know which one.
Honorable Mention - I was also at Backlash 05 which was an awesome show with Benjamin vs Jericho and Edge vs Benoit LMS both at or near **** and had HBK and Hulk teaming vs those evil middle easterners.
Gotta be Foley winning the title against the Rock, tied with WMXX.
ReplyDeleteAh, you were backstage when Foley used that Forklift during Halftime Heat? Oh wait, you were the camera man on top of the forklift to get that close up shot of the Rock, right?
ReplyDeleteI am so funny.
It was eerily quiet.
ReplyDeleteDDP/Benoit/Raven triple threat was pretty damn awesome
ReplyDeleteFlair beating Vader at Starrcade '93. The crowd eruption when the pin happened was fantastic.
ReplyDeleteAs for non WWE stuff. I saw crow Sting do a run in at a house show that was kinda cool. And Taz got legit arrested before an ECW show.
ReplyDeleteThe Blood Generation/Do Fixer ROH match that Meltzer gave 5 stars too and the Jimmy Jacobs/BJ Whitmer cage match that same night
ReplyDeletethat's cool AND I forgot they had a pretty awesome finisher.
ReplyDeleteI was at Wrestlemania 22 in Chicago. It was a very fun show live. The Cena booing started in the parking lot waiting to get in. I can remember 2 drinks booing a teen girl with a Ceba sign while her dad was making fun of her for it. It was a hot crowd. Every time Cena was shown on screen all night the crowd booed. I was in the upper decks next to two big soccer hooligan looking guys with foreign accents. They seemed to be enjoying the show. Nothing too over the top, but they were drinking HEAVILY. During the match the "FUCK YOU CENA" chants start and this guy in front if me stands up in a Cena basketball jersey and announces he will fight any of the haters. Both of the hooligans IMMEDIETLY stood up and grabbed at him and the guy cowered faster than anything I've ever seen in my life. He went from big bad wigger to rum tum tigger just like that. It was amazing. I shook their hands and we all had a good laugh about it. Very fun show.
ReplyDeleteMy friend and I traveled to Chicago from NY for that show and I have to agree with you, it was a great show live. The HBK-Vince and Cena-HHH matches, in particular, had heat off the charts.
ReplyDeleteBeing from the NY area, I've been to a TON of WWE shows since the early 90's, but 2 shows/events immediately spring to mind:
ReplyDelete1. Summerslam '97 - Austin's injury and everyone in the building had a good idea that something was wrong; additionally, the live reaction to HBK hitting Taker with the chair by mistake was unreal;
2. Raw, March 2000 (I think) - Bubba Ray powerbombing Mae Young off the stage through a table. That shit was unreal to see in person.
John Cena threw Edge into me during a Street Fight at a Syracuse, NY house show in '06.
ReplyDeleteI was at Fully Loaded 2000 in Dallas to witness Rikishi superfly-splashing Val Venis from the top of a cage, and somehow not turning poor Val into ring pizza.
ReplyDeleteBest house show moments? A WWF show in 1989, I believe, with a Hogan/Bigelow v. Dibiase/Andre tag team main event and a Jumping Bomb Angels/Glamour Girls feature. Awesome show.
And I've relayed it on the blog before, but my personal favorite live wrestling memory is a 1987 steel cage match between The Midnight Rockers and Rose & Somers for the AWA World tag team title where all four guys were bleeding like stuck pigs by the end. Sweet card.
Sadly I haven't been to any really good WWE tapings, so I don't have much greatness I've seen in person. Probably the Cesaro/Sami Zayn series of matches at Full Sail top my list, as well as the 2 MLW tapings that were in downtown Orlando that I went toone had two good matches: Teddy Hart vs Bryan Danielson, Harry Smith & TJ Wilson (David Hart Smith & Tyson Kidd) vs Bobby Quance & Puma, and the other had a great Paul London vs Jerry Lynn match, and a good Raven vs CM Punk match.
ReplyDeleteMy Top 5:
ReplyDeleteSamoa Joe vs Kenta Kobashi
Cactus Jack vs HHH, Royal Rumble 2000
HHH vs Rock ladder match, Summerslam 1998
Punk vs Taker, WM29
Bret vs Owen, WM10
Yep, it started off an awesome night.... Until HHH made an entrance, and threw his water bottle into the crowd.... Where me and my friend both tried to catch it, and it hit both of our hands, and bounced into the row in front of us. SCARRED FOR LIFE.
ReplyDeleteWould have to be my very first live show at MSG, headlined by Hogan and Savage in a lumberjack match. The crazy crowd reaction and heat for both men is something I've never seen since.
ReplyDeleteI was dissapointed by Benoit - JBL, but the Trisha - Mockie match more than made up for it. Foley - Edge was also a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteKobashi killed himself in that match.
ReplyDeleteI was at summerslam last year and Daniel Bryan vs Cena is the best match I've ever seen live and Brock vs Punk is #2 easily. Just an amazing show to watch from a couple hundred feet away.
ReplyDeleteThe best moment I've been apart of was chanting you tapped out at HHH during summerslam 2012 when he was going for big moment. That was fun.
1985, the final St. Louis Wrestling Club show a the Arena. I was a kid so I didn't understand why everyone was crying. I remember almost nothing besides that and less than stellar attendance. Thanks, Vince.
ReplyDeletePat Patterson winning the IC title tournament in Rio de Janeiro
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather was there!
ReplyDeleteHe lost in the semifinals.
I live in DC so two matches stick out ... John Cena vs. Chris Jericho at Summerslam 05 - that was really where the whole Cena Sucks/Lets Go Cena thing started. Its kind of a forgetable SS, but that match was AWESOME.
ReplyDeleteHonorable mention ... i went down to Norfolk for the Great American Bash 04 and saw Eddie Guerrero vs. JBL bullrope match where JBL won the bell - the match was a lot of fun in person.
Finally, I saw live Goldberg mule-kick Bret Hart into retirement at Starrcade at the Verizon Center.
Really?
ReplyDeleteI was your grandfather's manager!
Joe did too. I was never a Puro fan so I didn't really know what to expect, but holy shit. That's still the most incredible match I've ever seen.
ReplyDeleteHe was gonna debut the SSP but Patterson did a superplex.
ReplyDeleteKobashi said later he was really afraid the crowd would not recognise him.
ReplyDeleteAustin winning the title back at Wrestlemania XV.
ReplyDeleteBest old school- Flair winning Royal a Rumble 1992.
ReplyDeleteBest attitude era- Austin/beer truck on Raw.
Best current promo- Flair's retirement ceremony on a Raw
Best current match- Tough to pick from Mania 28 or 30.
For an overall number one, I'd have to say the Flair retirement deal.
Worst live moment by far is David Arquette winning the WCW world title.
Rock/Hogan from Mania X-8. Felt so surreal to be a part of that crowd during that match. Just a manic energy in the building for the entirety of the match.
ReplyDeleteSadly,I never went on a live show.I plan one day to a PWG one.
ReplyDeleteso close to some ceribral backwash
ReplyDeleteI was lucky enough to be at WM XIV (Austin's 1st World title) and at the Worcester Centrum when Foley beat The Rock for his first title (December 98). Honestly, I enjoyed the Foley win more than anything at WrestleMania. Between the pop for Austin's run-in and the pop for Mick's pinfall, the place was MOLTEN.
ReplyDeleteThat's why Cody left "The JBL and Cole," to make way for Stardust.
ReplyDeleteThis must be due to the Shield having backstage heat and being punished for it last year. [/Meltzer]
ReplyDeleteI also saw Sting do a run-in at a house show where the crowd went legit bananas.
ReplyDelete*legit banana.
ReplyDelete[/Pat Patterson]
Wrestlemania XIX and 23
ReplyDeleteGoldberg's WWE debut
The 2013 Slammys, where the fans "hijacked" the show
The Smackdown where Brock came out in a sombrero
'Aw crap' - Dean Ambrose
ReplyDelete-Shawn vs. Mankind (Mind Games)
ReplyDelete-Bret vs. Owen (House Show - Iron Man Match)
-Bret vs, 1-2-3 Kid (Raw '94)
-Austin vs. Rock (WM15)
-Hart Foundation vs. Demolition (Summerslam '90)
When RVD and Tommy Dreamer did their run-in on Raw to kick off the 're-birth' of ECW. Sadly didn't end well....
ReplyDeleteI was also at the debut of The American Badass
ReplyDeleteI was at the King of the Ring where Austin made the 3:16 speech.
ReplyDeleteProbably the best WWE match I've seen live was Austin vs Foley at Over the Edge.
I like seeing indie matches live more because I'm usually closer to the ring and the action is more intense. Maybe my favorite ROH match was Danielson vs Jacobs at Unscripted. That was my first time seeing the future Daniel Bryan live and the energy he generated in the audience was amazing.
Also, right after Tie-gate I happened to see Daniel Bryan take on Jon Moxely at a DGUSA show. The match was okay, but considering Moxely is now Dean Ambrose, it was a pretty significant indie catch.
Saw Flair v Funk and Muta v Sting at a NWA/WCW house show at the Cincinnati Gardens in, I want to say, 1990. I was 10 so I don't remember much about it other than that I went absolutely bonkers for Sting.
ReplyDeleteSat in the second row at Heatwave 98 and got to see my favorite wrestler at the time, Hayabusa. Still stands today as my favorite live show of all time.
Flair vs. Vader at Starrcade '93 - Good match and great fan reaction.
ReplyDeleteUndertaker vs. Kane - Inferno Match - Unforgiven '98 - Decent match, cool visual, historic first time on WWE PPV, you could feel the heat of the flames.
Rock vs Mankind - Pink Slip on a Pole match - Final Raw of 1999. Good Match that told a good story.
Dean,your burial begins.Roman,you transformation to Cena 2.0 begins.
ReplyDeleteThat was one of Dangerous Dave's most hilarious "reports" in recent memory. Supposedly Ambrose had a bad attitude and Ambrose and Rollins weren't "hitting the gym enough."
ReplyDeleteI loved how he just wouldn't back down from it, even months later. Like he was just begging for some sort of burial to happen.
ReplyDeleteI saw Austin win the title back from Kane. The crowd was super hot that night. Also I saw the first ladder match between the Hardys/Edge and Christian.
ReplyDeleteI like Cody's new character. He was showing energy in the ring and for the first time in a while he didn't look bland. It's a good move.
ReplyDeleteHe at least gets to bury it in Renee.
ReplyDelete:-( - me
I figured this based on Dean and Roman doing their own things Monday but does this make any sense? Dean is all pissed at Seth breaking the group up and goes after Seth...Roman the one who took the worst of the beating and actually got back stabbed first...doesn't seem to give a shit about Seth now. Also even though they were for life and this and that as soon as one splits the other two stop working together because...??....
ReplyDeleteBest Match - HBK vs. Mankind at IYH: Mind Games
ReplyDeleteMoment - The Raw that broke Nitro's ratings winning streak in 1998.
Isn't Dean already wearing jobber attire? Jeans and a wifebeater?
ReplyDeleteSo Reigns is going to have to go shirtless and short trunks right? IF he is going to be a main eventer?
ReplyDeleteI could see him working the "tear off my shirt" mid match thing to get a pop before the spear.
ReplyDeleteAnd do poop jokes.We all gonna miss the badass riot gear Roman.
ReplyDeleteThat will cause a heart attack on the housewives.
ReplyDeleteWhat a colossal fuck up this Shield angle turned into.
ReplyDeleteSerious question: when was the last time Cena used a poop joke? I don't watch every week, but it must be AT LEAST a year ago, right? Will he ever be forgiven for it?
ReplyDeleteHe actually manages to look like a crazy brawler in that look.
ReplyDeleteI only brought it up because they are striping away everything unique and fresh about the shield to model them into the WWE cookie cutter shape "superstar"
ReplyDeleteNever.Smarks never forget.
ReplyDeleteWhat are you trying to say, the breakup was rushed and not thought out?
ReplyDeleteI knew the riot gear would go away,but let the personality stay.
ReplyDeleteYea I thought he looked fine and it works better for him than if he goes to generic trunks.
ReplyDelete"That will cause a heart attack on every human being on the planet"
ReplyDeleteFixed that for you. #ManCrush
Man, even Scott is dumping on Meekin's QOTDs? This has gone viral, people.
ReplyDeleteSome great 80s-90s moments at MSG, including Savage-DiBiase in the cage (when some guy jumped the cage and got taken out); Hogan-Slaughter in the Desert Storm match was awesome, too, just for crowd reaction. Watching Hogan-Flair in 1991 was awesome, too.
SummerSlam 1997 was another great one.
Chicago Raw with Bob Barker as the guest host.
The Brooklyn Raw last year with the crowd YES!-ing its way to Bryan getting his SummerSlam match against Cena.
Because we're supposed to have the memory span of a goldfish and things like continuity and logic are made up fantasy words in the eyes of the WWE.
ReplyDeleteNo man crush.
ReplyDeleteI would have said, since Seth got the heel turn, and Reigns is getting the push... Ambrose could keep the gear.
ReplyDeleteYou mean they never forget the negatives. But if they do something great, it's "Whatever, that was 2 weeks ago, what have you done for me lately?"
ReplyDeleteHe looks someone my parents would not let get in their bar.
ReplyDeleteNo shame in man crushes. I fully admit mine. #NoHomo
ReplyDelete