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Most Important/Memorable/Best Angles/Turns/Promos in Wrestling History


elliott

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I wanted to start this companion thread to the Most Important matches thread. What are the best, most important, most memorable angles, turns and promos in wrestling history? The matches are great, but we love the other stuff too!

 

Whether its Andre Cross Ripping, Dusty's Hard Times, Pine Boxes, Mega Powers Colliding, Cactus' Anti-Hardcore, or just a need to talk to Tom, there is no shortage of candidates.

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Glad you appreciated that. It gave me chills back in the day. Gouldie was amazing on the stick.

 

 

And... starting around the 2:15 mark here... I'd say the biggest heel turn in pro wrestling history.

 

I can imagine someone arguing for Bash at he Beach or Mega-Powers Exploding or Andre tearing the cross off Hogan's chest on Piper's Pit or the Barbershop Window, but... nah. This is the cake-taker.

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Finally (for now): I couldn't find a clip of Terry Gordy slamming the cage door on Kerry von Erich's head... but I did find this:

 

 

It's another pretty significant heel turn, starting around 5:50.

 

Love this idea for a thread. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else comes up with.

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These all fall under great promos:

 

Midnight Express promo on Tully/Arn (August 88 - WTBS Studio in response to being jumped in locker room)

Midnight Express promo on OMX (11/12/88 - WTBS Studio in response to being jumped the week before in WTBS studio)

Flair returns to WCW (09/14/98 - Nitro)

Bret Hart returns to Canada (03/29/99 - Nitro)

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Something I wrote about the Rockers Barbershop angle...

 

In January of 1992 I was 10-years-old. My Saturday morning started by getting up before everyone else, eating a huge bowl of cereal, watching cartoons until 12:00 when WWF Superstars came on, then going outside to play around with my friends. In general, the first friend I’d go see was my next door neighbor Maurice. Like me, Maurice was obsessed with wrestling. He was a huge Hogan mark, like I was a huge Savage mark, but we were both huge marks for the Rockers. The breakup of Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty during Brutus Beefcake’s Barbershop segment may very well be my biggest wrestling memory as a child. For a lot of people, Hogan joining the NWO was the most impactful heel turn they can remember, but not for me. The Rockers were everything I wanted from a team. They wrestled a fast pace, had cool entrance music, and most importantly had a finishing move that came off of the top rope. As a kid that was the trifecta for me. So when Shawn Michaels super kicked Marty Jannetty and threw him through the barbershop window, I didn’t know how to react. I remember running out of the house to find my friend Maurice, only to notice that he had just ran out of his house looking for me. We didn’t get our bikes, we didn’t go see if any of our friends were outside, we just sat under a tree and tried to make sense of what we had just witnessed. I’ll never forget what happened that day, and that is the beauty of being a wrestling fan.

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The DiBiase collection:

 

- Taking multiple piledrivers from Terry Gordy + promo from hospital, GCW, 1981

- Turning on JYD after being best man at his wedding, Mid-South, 1982 + Jim Duggan disguised as a gorilla

- The "Mr. R" angle (a mask angle involving Tommy Rich), GCW, 84

- Everything leading up to Tuxedo match with Duggan including the Tuxedo showdown, and smashing Duggan's car up with a baseball bat, Mid-South 85

- Turning on his mentors, the Funks, at the behest of Stan Hansen, AJPW, 8/31/85

- Brainbuster on the concrete from Dick Murdoch before title match with Ric Flair + afters, Midsouth, 11/6/85

 

As Million Dollar Man

 

- Swimming pool skit, late 87

- Basketball skit, 88

- Trying to buy the belt + Evil twin ref angle Main Event, 88

- Creation of the Million Dollar Belt including cape and maniacal laughter, 89

- Leadup to and breakup with Virgil, 91 including making him clean fungus from between his toes

- Destroying Brutus Breefcake's face for being a loser, 93

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The Bullet & The Stud - Bob Armstrong comes back to Southeastern after a serious injury where weights got dropped on his face and wants to make amends for the things he did during his last run as a heel, namely screwing Ron Fuller over during a World Title match with Ric Flair. Bob Armstrong offers to be Ron's partner in his feud with Arn Anderson & Jerry Stubbs but Ron doesn't trust him & doesn't want his help leading to some great promos from both of them.

 

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There are so many Memphis angles and promos, we could dedicate an entire thread just to Memphis alone and it might be more than every other territory combined.

 

Bill Dundee heel turn leading to LLT 1983

Lawler Dundee special hyping LLT 1983

Tag Team of the Year Angle for New Gabs

Drew Machine Tarred and Feathered

Entire Lawler Kaufman feud

Funeral for the Bruise Brothers

Jackie Fargo hyping the Gabs

This is your Life Jerry Lawler

Bill and Buddy Show

Dutch Mantel face turn 1986

Lawler-Snowman feud

Savage/Lawler vs Rude/Bundy studio brawl

Lawler getting run over by a car

Randy Savage and Lawler's dead daddy

Austin Idol as Lucha dor

Tommy Rich + Jimmy Valiant

Entire Lawler + Bock feud with promos esp. punching promo

Drunk Lawler leading to 1985 LLT

Flair puts a bounty on Lawler 1982

 

Those are just off the top of my head. I know I am missing some really obvious ones.

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And... starting around the 2:15 mark here... I'd say the biggest heel turn in pro wrestling history.

 

I can imagine someone arguing for Bash at he Beach or Mega-Powers Exploding or Andre tearing the cross off Hogan's chest on Piper's Pit or the Barbershop Window, but... nah. This is the cake-taker.

 

Yeah nothing beats this. As a turn, I'm sure it was just as shocking live (if not more) than Hogan at Bash at the Beach but it initiated that incredible late 96-97 CMLL run with tons of great matches and a few all timers, many of which had beautiful storytelling. While the whole NWO deal was garbage and an embarrassment to wrestling.

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This isn't an angle or promo, but it is a legendary non-wrestling performance that is well remembered and greatly enhanced the quality of a legendary match so I feel compelled to bring up Bobby Heenan's 1992 Royal Rumble Commentary Performance (and the post match interview for that matter) as something that belongs in the pantheon of non-wrestling performances on a wrestling program.

 

Which now opens the floor up to:
What some other all time great/memorable performances by a commentator? "Lance Russell" is a viable answer by itself. :)

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