Biggest Pops and Best Crowd Connection you have seen in person

[gordi]

Branched off from yesdanielbryan's thread to avod a hijacking.

 

I think it's got the potential to be an interesting topic.

 

I was saying how I saw Benoit wrestle in Calgary and in Edmonton and the connection between he and the crowd in those buildings at that time was truly incredible.

 

Also, how the closest I have experienced in a big venue here in Japan was Manabu Nakanishi in the Osaka Furitsutaiikukaikan a few years back. The crowd just lived and died with every move and gesture the big lug made in the ring. and that I saw Misawa in the Budokan twice, and I have to say that Nakanishi and the Furitsu crowd had an even more intense connection.

 

 

Matt D had what I though was a very interesting response:

 

I'm trying to think what was comparable that I've experienced. I was at Royal Rumble 03, but to me (for Angle vs Benoit), that felt like the crowd forcing it, like the crowd wanting to have that connection so badly that they were almost able to will it into being. If you looked too closely, you saw the strings. Likewise Daniel Bryan at the Rumble in 2015 where it was a year too late and everyone wanted to recapture that moment while we could but we were sort of living in the memory of it. Likewise 1998 in Boston with the first Nitro after Flair returned. He was over but we couldn't have what they had a week before in Greenville. I missed out on Foley's first title win, which was on me. I've been to a bunch of indy shows (some major level like ROH, some local stuff like Chaotic or NECW, and some weird spot shows for certain names like seeing Eddy in 02 ten feet away from me work some schlubs), but nothing with that level of connection.

Taz in NYC at MSG in 2003 coming out to destroy John Cena when he was doing an anti-Yankees rant is probably one of the top three pops I've ever experienced which is funny to say. Certain the heat Reigns and Rock got after the 2015 Rumble. That was real and visceral even if it was sort of winking. The crowd was really into Monsoon threatening Heenan at the 1993 Survivor Series?

Sorry, that was a digression, but it made me think.

I wanted to reply (without hijacking the other thread), so I started this one.

[gordi]

I get what Matt D is saying about the crowd sometimes seeming to force it. That's what really struck me about Nakanishi in Osaka: It felt totally organic. The crowd just loves the guy. It might help that he's from Kyoto, in the same region as Osaka... but there is more to it than that, I think. Particularly at Dominion '09 when he was defending the IWGP strap against Tanahashi and I expected the crowd to be split but it was a very heated 90 percent pro-Nakanishi crowd and it was just an amazing thing to get caught up in that live and in person.

 

Biggest pop I ever heard live here in Japan was when Kobashi made his first appearance after his comeback from (I think it was emergency surgery and I wanna say it was at Great Voyage in Osaka in March '09, in the same building - the Furitsutakukaikan - where Nakanishi made his title defense). The pop was astounding. I got goose bumps.

 

Pop and crowd connection are two different things, in my opinion.

 

Best crowd connection I ever saw in Canada was definitely Benoit in Calgary and Edmonton, particularly Backlash '04 and the subsequent RAW.

 

Loudest pop I ever heard in Canada was, believe it or not, watching WrestleMania III on closed circuit in the Pacific Colosseum, when Steamboat rolled Savage u for the pin. The crowd just LOST IT.

 

How about you?

 

Loudest pop you've been a part of?

 

Best crowd connection you've experienced?

[peachchaos]

Two moments where Rupp Arena came unglued while I was in attendance:

 

- The night after Survivor Series '98 for Austin vs. The Rock (I thought I was close to losing my hearing tbh)

- Jerry Lawler vs. Bret Hart in the summer of '97 when Bret was the biggest heel in wrestling and Jerry Lawler was the local hero

[gordi]

Oh, man. For some reason I have no problem believing that a fired-up Kentucky crowd could really blow the roof off of a building.

[Icopro]

Loudest pop you've been a part of?

 

Best crowd connection you've experienced?

Sandman returning to the ECW Arena in October 1999 is my answer to both questions. It was incredible live. In fact, it's my favorite live experience from any form of entertainment and I still go back to watch it a few times a year.

 

Some others....

 

RVD had an amazing connection with the crowd when I went to eight ECW Arena shows in 99-2000. Fans would chant "RVD" hours before the show while waiting in line. And this didn't just happen once or twice. It was every single time. Then there was the time they chanted "Van Terminator." Yes, they chanted for a move that hadn't even been seen yet. That's how over RVD was. You kind of had to be there to truly appreciate just how much that audience loved RVD.

 

Loudest pops other than Sandman's return are just any time I saw Austin at the Baltimore Arena from 98-00. The roof blew off the place every single time. As an Austin hater back then, I gave up booing the man like 5 seconds after seeing him for the first time. It was a futile endeavor. My feeble little boos were never going to catch on.

 

Flair had a great connection with the Baltimore crowd at the August 2002 Raw show I attended. Dark "match" was a Flair/HHH brawl with the crowd just going nuts for Naitch. But the coolest part happened afterward when I heard "WOOOO's" and saw people strutting around downtown Baltimore well into the wee hours of the morning.

 

And I can't forget about Cheetah Master at all those early 2000s ECWA shows I attended. During the (awesome) Cheetah vs. Nana cage match I realized this was as close as I was ever gonna get to seeing Lawler in Memphis or the Von Erichs in Texas so I just embraced the glorious absurdity of it all.

[joeg]

 

Loudest pop you've been a part of?

 

Best crowd connection you've experienced?

Sandman returning to the ECW Arena in October 1999 is my answer to both questions. It was incredible live. In fact, it's my favorite live experience from any form of entertainment and I still go back to watch it a few times a year.

 

Some others....

 

RVD had an amazing connection with the crowd when I went to eight ECW Arena shows in 99-2000. Fans would chant "RVD" hours before the show while waiting in line. And this didn't just happen once or twice. It was every single time. Then there was the time they chanted "Van Terminator." Yes, they chanted for a move that hadn't even been seen yet. That's how over RVD was. You kind of had to be there to truly appreciate just how much that audience loved RVD.

 

Loudest pops other than Sandman's return are just any time I saw Austin at the Baltimore Arena from 98-00. The roof blew off the place every single time. As an Austin hater back then, I gave up booing the man like 5 seconds after seeing him for the first time. It was a futile endeavor. My feeble little boos were never going to catch on.

 

Flair had a great connection with the Baltimore crowd at the August 2002 Raw show I attended. Dark "match" was a Flair/HHH brawl with the crowd just going nuts for Naitch. But the coolest part happened afterward when I heard "WOOOO's" and saw people strutting around downtown Baltimore well into the wee hours of the morning.

 

And I can't forget about Cheetah Master at all those early 2000s ECWA shows I attended. During the (awesome) Cheetah vs. Nana cage match I realized this was as close as I was ever gonna get to seeing Lawler in Memphis or the Von Erichs in Texas so I just embraced the glorious absurdity of it all.

 

 

Yeah agreed some of the loudest pops I've ever witnessed live were for RVD and Sandman at ECW Arena.

 

The loudest pop I've ever witnessed was at an ROH show at the Arena from like 08. It was a 3 way steel cage match and Delirious stabbed Daize Hayes with a spike. For some reason the building went fucking nuts. Kind of unsettling.

 

As for best connection with the crowd it would be RVD back in ECW or Danielson on his indy/ ROH run. They were working smaller buildings sure, but they had the entire crowd just eating out of the palm of their hand.

[peachchaos]

Oh, man. For some reason I have no problem believing that a fired-up Kentucky crowd could really blow the roof off of a building.

 

What's crazy is there were 5000 in attendance for the Lawler-Hart match and a year later there were almost 18,000 for the Stone Cold experience but believe me every one of those 5000 were losing their shit.

 

The 11/16/98 RAW is on the Network, by the way.

[DMJ]

I forgot what year it was - but I want to say it was post 2005 (could be wrong and it was as early as 03') but Hulk Hogan was in Cleveland for an episode of RAW and it felt like the standing ovation he got went for 5 straight minutes. I'm not sure if they cut to a commercial on TV or whatever, but it was really something.

 

Other Cleveland memories (mostly RAW) that felt like a big moment where the crowd pop or angry reaction was huge:

 

1. Tyson joining DX later

 

2. Austin winning back the World Title from Kane the night after KOTR 98'

[Wahoos Leg]

Best crowd connection I ever experienced in person was the first of the Dragon Gate six mans in ROH, back in 2006 at the first Supercard of Honor

[Edwin]

The loudest pop I've ever heard live:

 

[Icopro]

 

 

Loudest pop you've been a part of?

 

Best crowd connection you've experienced?

Sandman returning to the ECW Arena in October 1999 is my answer to both questions. It was incredible live. In fact, it's my favorite live experience from any form of entertainment and I still go back to watch it a few times a year.

 

Some others....

 

RVD had an amazing connection with the crowd when I went to eight ECW Arena shows in 99-2000. Fans would chant "RVD" hours before the show while waiting in line. And this didn't just happen once or twice. It was every single time. Then there was the time they chanted "Van Terminator." Yes, they chanted for a move that hadn't even been seen yet. That's how over RVD was. You kind of had to be there to truly appreciate just how much that audience loved RVD.

 

Loudest pops other than Sandman's return are just any time I saw Austin at the Baltimore Arena from 98-00. The roof blew off the place every single time. As an Austin hater back then, I gave up booing the man like 5 seconds after seeing him for the first time. It was a futile endeavor. My feeble little boos were never going to catch on.

 

Flair had a great connection with the Baltimore crowd at the August 2002 Raw show I attended. Dark "match" was a Flair/HHH brawl with the crowd just going nuts for Naitch. But the coolest part happened afterward when I heard "WOOOO's" and saw people strutting around downtown Baltimore well into the wee hours of the morning.

 

And I can't forget about Cheetah Master at all those early 2000s ECWA shows I attended. During the (awesome) Cheetah vs. Nana cage match I realized this was as close as I was ever gonna get to seeing Lawler in Memphis or the Von Erichs in Texas so I just embraced the glorious absurdity of it all.

 

 

Yeah agreed some of the loudest pops I've ever witnessed live were for RVD and Sandman at ECW Arena.

 

The loudest pop I've ever witnessed was at an ROH show at the Arena from like 08. It was a 3 way steel cage match and Delirious stabbed Daize Hayes with a spike. For some reason the building went fucking nuts. Kind of unsettling.

 

As for best connection with the crowd it would be RVD back in ECW or Danielson on his indy/ ROH run. They were working smaller buildings sure, but they had the entire crowd just eating out of the palm of their hand.

 

Biggest ROH pop I witnessed live was when Aries beat Joe for the ROH title. Really should have included that in my original post. The place came unglued. A few hundred people sounded like 10,000+. That finishing stretch + pop makes it my all time favorite live match (I've been to about 70 shows). It's my all time favorite ROH match as well.

 

Joe, Punk, Dragon, Ki, Daniels, and even Aries all had a pretty good connection with ROH Philly crowds at one time or another, but those guys had NOTHING on 02-03 Paul London. Philly loved London during that period. We sort of adopted him as Our Guy. At least I know I did. He was the first true homegrown ROH star and it happened right before our eyes. The "Please Don't Die" chants in the ladder match with Shane....the near unanimous crowd support he had against Xavier during their woefully underappreciated Final Battle 2002 match.....People genuinely liked and cared about Paul London.

 

Another indie name I'll throw out who had a special connection to his fans was Teddy Hart. Don't laugh! The Tedster had "it" more than any other indie guy I saw during my early-mid 2000s "drive 60 miles plus to an indie show a few times a month" phase. There was no in between with Teddy. You either LOVED him or HATED him. And, tbh, he had like 80% rabid crowd support the handful of times I saw him live at CZW & JAPW shows.

[Ricky Jackson]

I was at Canadian Stampede, so it's an easy answer for me. Second, I guess from Raw in early 2001, maybe when Storm came out?

[Mad Dog]

Bayley at one of the NXT shows I went to. You could just feel the tension in the building grow as her music was about to play and then the crowd absolutely exploded when it fired up. It was like seeing Goldberg at his peak in WCW when everyone was just buzzing because he was about to come out.

[Laz]

I wonder if Matt D was the Framingham NECW show where the Logan Brothers and Pride had a TLC match. All 30-40 people in that little YMCA were losing their minds, and part of it had to be that these guys were doing this for us.

 

Otherwise, I'm going to also chime in with RVD. I saw two ECW shows at the Worcester Palladium (end of 1998 and beginning of 1999), and both times the entire building was absolutely unglued for him. RVD chants happened during a Dudley Boyz promo, while we were waiting in line (and hoping not to get stabbed), and I want to say one happened in the notoriously awful bathroom.

 

The inversion of this would be Survivor Series 2013 when half the TD Garden started leaving during Orton/Show. That was a lovely moment for incredibly different reasons, though, which also makes me add more Bryan to the conversation.

[Migs]

The loudest pop I've ever heard live:

 

 

Related - when they appeared unexpectedly to wrestle the Young Bucks at the Manhattan Center ROH show a month before this, the crowd lost its collective mind. Absolute pandemonium. They came to the merch tables at intermission (the match led right into it) and the crowd was just mobbing them. I think it might be the biggest pop and reaction I've ever seen live.

 

Low Ki, Homicide and Da Hit Squad had a pretty great connection with the NY and NJ crowd in early 2001. They just defined that era of wrestling in that region in a way that's hard to explain. The intensity. There was something very visceral about the way all those guys performed that connected in a way that the spotfest guys (who everyone enjoyed too, to be sure) did not.

[gordi]

Wow. I am glad I asked this question.

 

Big moments at the ECW Arena, WrestleMania, Supercard of Honor, Bailey in NXT... Some amazing stuff listed here. No wonder you all are crazy about pro wrestling after an experience like that.

 

I think Ricky Jackson's experience has to be my #1 dream crowd I wish I could have been a part of. IYH Canadian Stampede! I get goosebumps just watching that on tape.

[Cap]

Just Speaking to live responses I experienced....

 

 

Mania 30 for Dragon was hands down the most electric thing I have experienced live. When he beat HHH and then when he finally won the belt that room just surged.

 

Much smaller, but James Drake and Anthony Henry willing the evolve tag titles in Charlotte last summer was also absolutely bonkers. Everyone in that room was blown away and 1000% behind their local boys. That was a moment that seemed cool on paper but if I just watched it on TV I wouldn't have felt the way I do about it now. I got totally wrapped up in how face melting hot that crowd was by the end.

 

 

Punk during the summer of punk (ROH version) was a really big deal and the crowd really connected to that story. Joe also had a massive connection to live ROH crowds (at least the ones I was a part of), especially after he was already established as ROH legend by his title run.

 

Its a really small room and a very different vibe, but when Trevor Lee's music hits in the Mid Atlantic Sportatorium the entire ethos changes. There is a strong connection to and respect for Lee there. It isn't the white hotness we are generally talking about, but it seems noteworthy to me.

[Tim Cooke]

Final 5 minutes of Aries/Joe from December 2004

Liger in ROH in 2004 (both Boston and New York)

Cage of Death 2006 (ROH)

[Laz]

Cage of Death 2006 (ROH)

Screw Canadian Stampede, I wish I was at this one

[texaspedro]

Biggest pop I ever witnessed had to be a RAW in Houston in November of 1998. The crowd pop for the Rock was unbelievable but as loud as that was it was nothing next to the pop that Steve Austin got on that night. It was unreal. I was at Wrestlemania 17 in Houston and I'm sure the pops there must have been louder but due to acoustics of the Astrodome it didn't sound as loud as that November, 1998 night at the Summit/Compaq Center. The only thing close to it would be a Smackdown taping in April of 2002 where Hulk Hogan got a 7 minute standing ovation at the same building. Not sure it was as loud as the Austin '98 pop but it was something else.

[The Thread Killer]

Reading this thread, I am forced to admit how few "big moments" I have witnessed live. This, despite my 35 years as a wrestling fan, attending quite a few live events in the Toronto area over the years. I have had the chance to attend several major shows and PPV's in the Toronto area, many of which I elected not to, because I hate crowds. For example, I was offered the chance to attend Wrestlemania 18 and see Rock vs. Hogan live, which I did not accept. In retrospect I wish I would have accepted that. (I actually turned down the chance to go to Wrestlemania 6 at the same venue many years before, which I don't regret.) I have to admit I am slightly jealous of Ricky Jackson, who experienced Canadian Stampede live.

 

Having said that, a few moments do stick out in my mind. I saw Hulk Hogan wrestle live a bunch of times at Maple Leaf Gardens during the height of Hulkamania, and that was always a guaranteed crowd mover. I'd have to say one of the most impressive reactions I remember was the response Hogan got at "The Big Event" at the Canadian National Exhibition in August 1986, when he fought Paul Orndorff, after Mr. Wonderful's legendary turn on him. That one set an attendance record for a while, 68,000 + fans.

 

On a much smaller scale, the response Kevin Steen got when he fought Nigel McGuinness at ROH Northern Navigation in July 2008 was pretty damn loud, one of the loudest I ever experienced.

 

I know this is strange, but one that really sticks out to me is the crowd reaction New Jack (of all people) got when his music hit at November to Remember 1999 in Buffalo. I went to a handful of ECW shows in Buffalo over the years, at all of them as soon as New Jack's music hit, the crowd would lose their shit. That guy was crazy over with the ECW fans at the time. If I remember correctly, that was the show where New Jack hit one of "Da Baldies" over the head with a computer keyboard, which smashed into a million pieces. The keys went flying into the air, and one of them beaned my friend in the head. He kept it as a souvenir.

 

Then there was the very last live show I ever attending, ROH Global Wars 2014. The fans were so annoying with their obnoxiousness, chanting, and overall dickish behavior that I swore off attending live wrestling ever again. That was also the night I found out who the Young Bucks were, and decided I didn't like them one little bit.

[topropepodcast]

I feel like the best overall crowd connection I've ever been a part of was at Elimination Chamber 2014 for the Wyatts vs. The Shield. Not so much the acts in particular but the overall moment and just how fucking into the match the crowd was. Every little thing had the crowd just going apeshit.

[concrete1992]

Is it weird to say big pops don't stick with me? Hardy Brothers at Mania this year was a big pop, but the reason I remember it is only because I read it in this thread and went "I guess that was pretty big".

 

All other possible options were on a smaller scale. And even then I can't remember if it was amplified because it felt big to me. Was Generico hitting the brain buster on 123 Kid truly a big pop or do I just remember it being awesome?

 

As far as crowd connection goes, had to be Brodie Lee in 2CW for me. Didn't matter where they put him on the card, which I think they noted as they kind of kept him around less over guys for a bit, he was always getting patient reactions. His final weekend for the company was a trip. No one expected him to win and keep the belt but no one was complaining. He was their guy.

[joeg]

but those guys had NOTHING on 02-03 Paul London. Philly loved London during that period. We sort of adopted him as Our Guy. At least I know I did. He was the first true homegrown ROH star and it happened right before our eyes. The "Please Don't Die" chants in the ladder match with Shane....the near unanimous crowd support he had against Xavier during their woefully underappreciated Final Battle 2002 match.....People genuinely liked and cared about Paul London.

 

 

 

Oh i was in the building for both of those Paul London matches. I don't remember if the 100 some people at Murphy Rec went nuts for Paul London because he was over or went nuts because he did crazy stuff that would pop any crowd. He did a flip off the top of a backboard. He climbed a rickety 12 foot ladder and fell off to the outside of the ring. Every one of those matches he had at Murphy Rec was absolutely insane. I was 16 or 17 at the time, and I remember this feeling in every London match that something really bad could happen at any second. The sort of feeling you have watching the high wire act at circus.

[EricR]

Large attendance, it would be Eddie Guerrero vs. Brock Lesnar at the Cow Palace, with Eddie winning the title.

 

Smaller scale would be Thatcher vs. Hero from Wrestlemania weekend San Jose. That crowd, me included, was so loudly behind Thatcher.