Jimmy Wheeler
I’ve purposely chosen five moments that didn’t feature on the cards I chose last week as I didn’t want to repeat anything. Also, I have left the Montreal Screwjob off of here as we all know the story, the theories, and what happened so it just felt pretty pointless and redundant in including it.
5 – A New Kind of Champion ~ The Gravest Challenge (1991)
I would have watched this after it happened when I was still a youngster on video. I’m guessing I would’ve been between four and six years old when I say it, so I may have seen Hulk Hogan lose to Yokozuna by this point or I may not have. Either way it’s safe to say I was not expecting to see The Undertaker win the WWF Championship on this footage I was watching. ‘Taker had always scared me, but after watching that he had overcome Hulkamania it really was like he was inhuman.
4 – An Explosive Entrance ~ A Fall From Grace (2003)
When I watched this I would have been fifteen years old and I already knew that something would happen in this match to hinder the Undertaker from beating Mr. McMahon in the Buried Alive Match. What I did not expect was when the Undertaker tried to climb inside of the conveniently placed constructive truck complete with a scoop of dirt ready to unload, that an explosion of fire would blast him off of the steps and onto the dirt. Kane who had destroyed Shane McMahon earlier in the night then stepped out and helped McMahon to victory.
3 – Hit & Run ~ (1999)
By November of 1999 we’d all seen a lot of stuff happen in the wrestling industry in a short space of time since 1997. I don’t know if anyone thought they’d see Stone Cold Steve Austin get run down by a black car. Those who were in the know probably realized he would be written out for injury reasons, but, to me it was totally out of the blue and I could not believe that I had just seen the Texas Rattlesnake got mowed down like a rednecks next meal at the From Your Grill to Ours cafe.
2 – A Tradition is Born ~ Who’s Fit to Survive? (1995)
If there’s one things fans love to chant during a wrestling match that gets a little hardcore it’s, “WE WANT TABLES!” Well, on this night in 1995 the fans didn’t even have to chant it to get something they didn’t even know they wanted yet. Diesel would send Bret Hart hurtling off of the apron and through an announce table, which at that time was just a table. As a child it was the first time I’d ever seen it and it was new to the WWF product of that time, it was completely shocking and exciting to see. Not only that, it seemed that their choice of going through the Spanish announcers table on that night started a tend that would last a long time.
1 – From the Dead to the Deranged ~ (1996)
The Undertaker has had a lot of moments at the Survivor Series. Some of them favored him, some of them didn’t. This is one that didn’t. He and Mankind gave us a great, unique match, that hadn’t been done before in the WWF in the form of a Boiler Room Brawl. It was the ending that was phenomenal though. When Paul Bearer sided with Mankind and cracked the urn of the Undertaker’s head I was completely mortified that Bearer could turn his back on his long term friend. A truly great and unexpected moment that really helped build my interest in Mankind and in the overall feud with the Undertaker.