The Top Ten 8.01.07: Loudest Pops

Honorable Mention: Hulk Hogan defends America (and Eugene) at Wrestlemania (WM 21)
When Hulk Hogan got inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2005, the fans gave him a raucous ovation and begged him to return for one more match. The next night at Wrestlemania, everyone’s favorite mentally-challenged wonder, Eugene, was getting beaten down by Muhammad Hassan and Daivari when familiar music blasted over the loudspeaker and the place went wild. The Hulkster strutted out in the yellow and red and received a gigantic ovation that only got louder when the Hulkster took down the evil foreigners (nevermind that they are actually from America). This was a great, nostalgic moment for all the Hulkamaniacs out there (admit it, you have a copy of Mr. Mom somewhere in your closet).

Honorable Mention: Benoit returns home as Champion (Backlash ‘04)
Chris Benoit had won the WWE Title at Wrestlemania 20 after 18 long years in the business. He returned home to Edmonton at Backlash and received a hero’s welcome in his hometown. He received all kind of honors throughout the city and on the night of Backlash, he came out and received one of the loudest and most heartfelt pops I’ve ever heard. You could sense how proud the country was to have Benoit as the Champion and they cheered for him from the moment he entered the arena until the moment he left.

Honorable Mention: Sting wins his first World Title (Great American Bash ’90)
Sting had become a member of the legendary Four Horsemen group and made the ultimate error when he expressed his interest to challenge its leader, Ric Flair, for a World Title match. Needless to say, The Horsemen beat Sting down and kicked him out of the group. Sting would then go on to challenge Flair at the Great American Bash and came in as a huge underdog. Sting had backup at ringside in the form of The Steiner Brothers and others to prevent the rest of The Four Horsemen from getting involved. Sting brought the fight to Flair, but it seemed like he didn’t have enough to put The Nature Boy away. In the final moments of the match, The Horsemen tried to interfere but got cut off at the path by Sting’s buddies and when Flair tried to lock in the Figure-4, Sting was able to catch him in a roll-up and win his first World Title. The crowd roared once the 3 count went down and I remember watching this as a 6-year old with my uncle and marking out like crazy. It was a great moment for the fans and a fond memory of my childhood.

Honorable Mention: Pedro Morales wins the WWE Title (MSG, 2/8/71)
The Russian Bear, Ivan Koloff, had beaten perennial crowd favorite Bruno Sammartino on January 18, 1971 to claim the WWE Championship. Ivan flaunted his victory in the face of all the fans until a new crowd favorite, Pedro Morales, stepped up to the plate to challenge the intimidating Koloff for a WWE Title match. The match was very even until the end when Morales counted an attempted German Suplex by Koloff to fall on top of The Bear and get the three count. The crowd went insane with many people pumping their fists in the air and hugging each other due to the evil Russian finally losing his title.

Honorable Mention: HHH returns to the Garden after quad injury (Raw, 1/7/02)
Triple H had suffered a horrific quad injury 8 months earlier in an epic tag team match on Raw and this was his triumphant return to the ring. His return had been teased for weeks and this was finally the payoff to the long wait. The MSG crowd gave HHH a long standing ovation that lasted over 5 minutes and was deafening throughout. It was a great moment that made all those long months of rehab and recovery worth it to Triple H.

10) The New Hart Foundation returns home to Canada (Canadian Stampede ’97)
We all know that Canadians love their hometown wrestlers so when The New Hart Foundation of Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, The British Bulldog and Brian Pillman came to Calgary, Alberta to face the team of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Goldust, Ken Shamrock, and The Legion Of Doom, the Canadian crowd went wild for Bret’s squad. Each member of The Hart Foundation was introduced individually and the ovation just got louder and louder and louder as each member came out. Even though the New Hart Foundation was hated in the States, in Canada they were treated like gods. If you want to see a crowd give a rousing ovation for over 10 minutes, then watch the intro to this match. The match itself wasn’t half bad either.

9) ‘Taker returns at Judgment Day (Judgment Day ’00)
The Rock and Triple H faced off at Judgment Day 2000 in an epic Ironman match to determine the WWE Championship. With the clock winding down and the score tied, some creepy little girls popped up on the Titantron and the next thing you knew, The Undertaker was zooming down the ramp on a motorcycle. The crowd went absolutely ballistic as The Undertaker came in the ring and began to destroy everything that moved. Unfortunately for The Rock, that included a chokeslam to Triple H which caused special referee Shawn Michaels to DQ The Rock and give the final fall and subsequent victory to HHH. This was a weird case of a pop that started small and became huge as at first, the fans didn’t realize it was The Undertaker but once they did, they went crazy. This here is a great moment that I never get sick of watching.

8) Goldberg finally wins the World Heavyweight Title from Hollywood (Nitro, 7/6/98)
Probably the last truly great moment for WCW came on this night when Goldberg ended the stronghold that Hollywood Hogan had on the World Heavyweight Championship. From the opening bell, the fans were in a frenzy as they anticipated tht this could be the night that Hogan was finally dethroned. Hogan was able to use all his crafty veteran moves and tricks to stay on top of Goldberg and it seemed as if his run might not be over just yet. But after some intereference and distraction on the outside, Goldberg was able to break Hogan in half with a spear with set the crowd on fire. He then hoisted Hogan in the air and delivered the Jackhammer for the win which made the place become absolutely unglued. It was moments like this that made Nitro dominant Raw for 82 straight weeks and its too bad they couldn’t keep stuff like this up otherwise they’d probably still be around today.

7) Rock makes a surprise return on the night Stone Cold quits (Raw, 6/17/02)
Stone Cold Steve Austin had abruptly quit the WWE in mid-June of 2002 which left a huge superstar void on Raw. Vince McMahon came out and toasted Austin and declared that Austin was done with the WWE and it was time to move on. Vince then kept on getting phone calls throughout the night saying that “he” was on his way so Vince assumed it was Stone Cold coming back. Vince went to the ring to welcome back The Rattlesnake, but instead of glass shattering, the familiar sound of, “If Ya Smellll…….” blasted throughout the arena. The crowd went absolutely ballistic as it was their first time seeing The Great One in months. The Rock then stated that if Austin wanted to take his ball and run home that was fine because all the rest of the wrestlers would be there to entertain the crowd. This was a great surprise that rightfully elicited a huge crowd reaction.

6) Eddie Guerrero wins the WWE Title (No Way Out ’04)
Eddie Guerrero was a huge underdog going into the WWE Title match against Brock Lesnar at No Way Out. Everybody noted how Lesnar was better than Eddie in just about every conceivable way and most fans (including internet types) didn’t really give Eddie a chance and figured that Goldberg would be meeting Lesnar at WM20 for the WWE Title. The match started off how most people predicted with Lesnar dominating Eddie thoroughly. But then, Lesnar missed a knee charge in the corner and hope began to spring for Eddie. Soon the fans started to believe in Eddie and began cheering loudly for him to pull off the upset. After some interference from Goldberg and a frog splash, Eddie got the 3 count and the Cow Palace EXPLODED. The fans gave Eddie a thunderous ovation and it was one of the greatest moments in WWE history.

5) Austin helps The Rock dethrone Triple H (Backlash ’00)
After HHH and Vince McMahon screwed The Rock at Wrestlemania 2000, The Great One was out to claim the WWE Title at Backlash. HHH had Vince McMahon and his cronies in his corner along with Shane McMahon as the special guest referee while The Rock was suppose to have Stone Cold in his corner. At the beginning of the match, though, there was no sign of Stone Cold and The Rock had to go it alone. The Rock was able to stay in the match despite the overwhelming odds, but eventually they caught up to him with everybody ganging up on him and Vince blasting him with a steel chair. When all hope seemed lost for The Great One, glass shattered and the crowd went ballistic. Austin came out with a chair and cracked it over the head of everybody in his way (sans The Rock) which allowed The Rock to Rock Bottom Trips and win the WWE Championship. A tremendous moment to a fantastic match.

4) Hulk Hogan slams Andre The Giant (WM 3)
If you ever want to here 93,000 (allegedly) people go absolutely insane, this is the moment to see. Hogan squared off against the legendary Andre The Giant at WM3 and faced his steepest challenge yet. Andre was able to dominate The Hulkster for most of the match with his brute strength until Hogan was able to muster up enough momentum to knock the big man off of his feet. From there, Hogan Hulked up and picked the 500 pound (or 1,278 pound if you listen to Hogan) Giant and slammed him to the canvas while the crowd jumped to their feet and roared in amazement. Hogan then dropped the big leg and got the three count which absolutely unhinged the gigantic crowd. A great moment with the appropriate crowd response to boot.

3) The Rock and Hulk Hogan clash (WM 18)
The Rock and Hulk Hogan met face to face in the middle of the Skydome in front of a raucous Canadian crowd at Wrestlemania 18. Before the match even began, the fan’s reactions were off the charts. It was so loud and intense that The Rock and Hogan just had to gaze around at the crowd for a few moments before beginning the match. The crowd was easily pro-Hogan as they popped for just about everything the man did. Then when Rock seemed to have the match wrapped up with a Rock Bottom, Hogan kicked out and Hulked up which made the fans become absolutely UNGLUED! The sight of 55,000+ people marking out like 10 year olds when Hogan hulked up is one of those moments that I will never forget. A truly great crowd for a truly great match.

2) HBK fools Montreal with Bret Hart’s music (Raw, 8/15/05)
Shawn Michaels kicked off this episode of Raw by coming out and berating the Canadian fans who booed Michaels fervently and cheered relentless for Bret Hart. HBK taunted the crowd and said that he screwed Bret and if Bret had any courage, he’d come face The Showstopper right in the middle of the ring. Suddenly, Bret Hart’s music blared and the fans went CRAZY. I have to say that I literally spit up my juice and jumped out of my chair when I heard that music as I thought that the unimaginable had happened and Bret had returned to WWE TV. Of course it was just a farce and HBK yucked it up while all of us fans suffered. It’s crazy that just Bret’s entrance music could make the fans go that wild, but I guess that’s a testimony to how much all the fans really miss him.

1) Stone Cold helps Mankind win his first WWE Title (Raw, 1/4/99)
Everytime I see this moment, I get goosebumps. Mankind had held Shane McMahon hostage earlier in the night and demanded a title match against The Rock, which was granted to him. The Rock was flanked with backup in the form of The Corporation while Mankind had DX in his corner. The two men had a great back and forth match when Mankind hooked in The Mandible Claw and all hope seemed to be lost for The Rock until Ken Shamrock came in the ring and blasted Mankind with a steel chair. This got the attention of DX and soon the Corporation and DX were brawling on the outside when all of a sudden, glass shattered and the crowd went MENTAL. I remember watching this match at the time and thinking that something must be wrong with the volume setting on my TV because the pop was that damn loud. Stone Cold came down to the ring and blasted The Rock with a steel chair which allowed Mick to cover for the three count and pick up his first WWE Championship. This was just a great moment made even greater by that insane crowd reaction.

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