Fantastic Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 Watching the Podcast with Vince and Austin, and the talk about the decision to end The Undertaker's streak got me thinking: Could Brock going over, be considered one of the biggest upsets in professional wrestling history? I mean think about it, nobody ever expected Taker to lose to anybody. Popular consensus, especially following Michaels' retirement match, seemed to be that Taker would retire undefeated at Wrestlemania. A feat that would never be duplicated, and thereby cemented in the history of the WWE as a talking point (and DVD seller) for years to come.Would the streak ending be considered any less of an upset if it was anybody other than Brock Lesnar (or someone similar to Brock's caliber, a name like John Cena perhaps?) who ended it?Also, this naturally lead to more thoughts. Outside of the classic jobber pushes (eg, Horowitz pinning Skip, or 123 Kid going over Razor Ramon), what other examples of incredible upsets have there been in wrestling? Specifically, I've been trying to think of times where major stars have fallen cleanly to the most unlikeliest of opponents in what is considered a huge deal, such as a title being on the line?A few nominations from me:- Yoshinari Ogawa defeats Jun Akiyama for the GHC Heavyweight Championship - Vader goes over Antonio Inoki in his NJPW debut- Shelton Benjamin pins Triple H- Ivan Koloff defeats Bruno Sammartino for the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lust Hogan Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 My immediate thought was Misawa beating Jumbo vaulting himself to the upper echelon of All Japan. Not sure if that fit the criteria. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tofu_chipmunk Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 Not sure if this qualifies, but Jacques Rougeau beating Hulk Hogan clean in 1997 stands out, Montreal or no Montreal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO-7VmwK7cU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venegas Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 Okada beating Tanahashi in 2012 was pretty big. Aries beating Joe? I know some say that expected but watching show by show Aries didn't seem nearly as big of a threat as Punk, Danielson, or Homicide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkdoc Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 Not sure if this qualifies, but Jacques Rougeau beating Hulk Hogan clean in 1997 stands out, Montreal or no Montreal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO-7VmwK7cU along similar lines, tito santana's semi-clean win over the undertaker in 1991! that was in barcelona, so they must have figured the matador gimmick would be hugely over. (part 2 should be on the side) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 Has anyone ever beaten Mil Mascaras by pinfall or submission? If so, those matches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantastic Posted December 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 My immediate thought was Misawa beating Jumbo vaulting himself to the upper echelon of All Japan. Not sure if that fit the criteria. Oh man.. I can't believe this slipped my mind! Absolutely this! Not sure if this qualifies, but Jacques Rougeau beating Hulk Hogan clean in 1997 stands out, Montreal or no Montreal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO-7VmwK7cU Great example, just a shame it didn't happen on a bigger stage. Can you imagine Jacques Rougeau going over Hulk Hogan on an episode of Nitro in Montreal?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRMD Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 i mean, Hurricane beat Rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkdoc Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 one that would have been a huge "smart fan" upset but hardly an upset at all to the live crowd: andre beating warrior clean at a house show in italy(?), during the infamous run of 30-second jobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteF3 Posted December 4, 2014 Report Share Posted December 4, 2014 I think that was some time before the big Warrior push started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMJ Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 I don't remember many of the details around it (I'm sure I could look it up, but feel lazy) - didn't Arn Anderson beat Hogan on an episode of Nitro at some point? (I'd also put the Luger title win over Hogan on Nitro in the build-up to Road Wild, I think, in 97', as a shocker and a bit of an upset considering Hogan had been champ for a good while by that point and didn't seem like he'd be dropping it - though, he did win it back days later if I remember correctly) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherwagner Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 I don't remember many of the details around it (I'm sure I could look it up, but feel lazy) - didn't Arn Anderson beat Hogan on an episode of Nitro at some point? Yes - I think Woman threw salt or powder at Hogan and Arn attacked him with a shoe or something... but back then Hogan just didn't do jobs, so it was quite the shock. In that regard, Yokozuna beating Hogan was quite an upset. Tenryu beating Inoki at a Dome show. Villano V beating Blue Panther in a mask vs mask match. Hard to believe 20+ years after the fact but Perro Aguayo unmasking Konnan was also unexpected. Even if Aguayo was a legend, unmasked guys just didn't beat masked guys in that type of matches - especially the biggest draw in the country at that time. But the biggest ever... has got to be Bruno or Undertaker losing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchistxx Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 I think the Undertaker loss was so shocking because it was a match with very little build and Lesnar didn't really need the rub. You would expect The Streak to end after a major build up and to have some real meaning in the future, either as a coronation for a new star or to kick start a major angle such as John Cena turning heel. Brock really didn't fit the description of the guy fans expected them to end the streak on. Austin Aries beating Samoa Joe for the ROH Title was a pretty major upset at the time. Aries wasn't considered in the top tier of ROH stars, even after the marathon match with Danielson, and the win came without too much build up, it wasn't part of a major feud. I think people thought that Joe dropping the strap after nearly two years would have been handled as a more major deal. Shelton Benjamin beating HHH on a random Raw was sold as a major upset, this being the period when Hunter didn't job to anyone, much less a former tag team wrestler on his first night of a singles push. Marufuji winning the GHC belt from Akiyama was a major shock at the time, especially if you were following NOAH casually and only watching the big shows. It was still the #1 promotion in Japan, at least from the perspective of western smarks - if any junior was going to move up it was expected to be KENTA, and even then it seemed hugely unlikely he would ever be elevated as far as the top title. *As a sideline to the above, just found out KENTA is now signed to WWE. Crazy. Do they plan to use him at all? Imagine if someone had told you in 2004 that one day Bryan Danielson vs KENTA could headline Raw, and how crazy it would have seemed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dooley Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 Horowitz wins! Horowitz wins! Horowitz wins! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 The first one that came to my mind was 1-2-3 Kid beating Razor Ramon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 HonkeyTonk Man beating Steamboat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamthedoctor Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 Slaughter beating Warrior as the Rumble! Even a kid in the UK felt disguisted at this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khawk20 Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 Scott Rexsteiner beating The Great Wojo for the WWA title in his debut match was, even on a scale as small as the WWA was at the time, a huge "WTF!?!?!" moment. Wojo was a long-reigning champ, and losing his title like that was pretty unthinkable. Otto Wanz beating Bockwinkel for the AWA title in 1982 was equally as "WTF', especially at the time when nobody knew the behind the scenes stuff that allowed that to happen. Hell, Jumbo beating Bock for the title in Japan was pretty much an out-of-left-field upset as well, even though Jumbo was a known entity by then. Kenny Jay and George Gadaski winning two straight falls from Ventura and Adonis in December 1981 on AWA TV was an eye-opener, until you figured out via the mags a month later that their loss and subsequent tantrum (which led to being suspended from the AWA) was done because they were heading to the WWF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkdoc Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 I think that was some time before the big Warrior push started. ah, thanks! sorry about that one dunno why but i feel like the attitude era should have a bunch of matches that on paper seem like they should qualify for this. in practice the whole crash TV approach probably killed the effect though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantastic Posted December 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 No idea what was going on with Keiji Mutoh in 99/00, but here's another pretty big upset (IMO). Muta went down to Ernest Miller I believe at one point, although it involved some kind of interference. Had that been a clean pinfall victory, it would be like Rico defeating Ric Flair (which did actually happen). Mike Awesome defeats The Great Muta - WCW Nitro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 *As a sideline to the above, just found out KENTA is now signed to WWE. Crazy. Do they plan to use him at all? Imagine if someone had told you in 2004 that one day Bryan Danielson vs KENTA could headline Raw, and how crazy it would have seemed. He's getting quite the push in NXT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchistxx Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 Feels like a bit too late to me. They should have got him in 2005 when he was young and lithe and exciting and good looking. Suppose their direction was totally different back then in terms of smaller guys who could work, and also he was probably more of a novelty/star in Japan. What prompted the WWE deal? Are they paying him great money or did the lucrative dates in the east dry up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkdoc Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 Feels like a bit too late to me. They should have got him in 2005 when he was young and lithe and exciting and good looking. Suppose their direction was totally different back then in terms of smaller guys who could work, and also he was probably more of a novelty/star in Japan. What prompted the WWE deal? Are they paying him great money or did the lucrative dates in the east dry up? FWIW in an interview with a bunch of their big developmental signings, he claimed he just wanted to see if he could make it at this level. sort of a "got nothing left to prove in japan" thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 PJ Walker (the future Aldo Montoya/Justin Credible) beating IRS is definitely up there. What was the point of this angle? They never followed it up with any kind of push for PJ Walker. Aldo did get pushed later on, but they never connected that character back to PJ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Witlon Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 A couple that I haven't seen mentioned are... - Mikey Whipwreck over The Sandman - The Genius over Hulk Hogan (through nefarious means, but still...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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