Top 10 Most Iconic Wrestling Moments of All Time

WatchMojo

From career-defining promos to bone-crushing bumps, these wrestling moments changed the industry forever! Join us as we count down the most iconic moments that left wrestling fans speechless. Our countdown includes Hulk Hogan slamming Andre, Undertaker tossing Mankind, the Montreal Screwjob, and more! What's your favorite childhood memory of pro wrestling?

Transcript

00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the once-in-a-lifetime

00:13pro-wrestling moments that will live on forever.

00:1710.

00:28Shane McMahon Buys WCW, WWE Raw, WCW, Monday Nitro

00:34It was one of those moments that lent credence to those old Coliseum video wrestling cassettes

00:39from the 1980s.

00:46The whole wrestling world really was watching as Shane McMahon's character pulled the rights

00:52to world championship wrestling away from his father Vince.

00:56This storyline meeting of the McMahons was broadcast not only on Monday Night Raw, but

01:01on WCW Monday Nitro as well, shocking the fan community to its very core.

01:12Oh, and this little bit of corporate rating also made for great television as well, particularly

01:21with how Vince Sells receiving this bad news on live simulcast television.

01:27Shane McMahon has fought WCW!

01:329.

01:33The Streak Is Over, WWE WrestleMania 30

01:37It's perhaps WWE announcer Michael Cole's best call on the microphone, a short and not-so-sweet

01:49emphasis about the end of an era.

01:52The Undertaker's long-standing WrestleMania streak being broken by Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania

01:5830.

01:59The 2014 matchup was a grueling one, showcasing, perhaps for the first time, chinks in the dead

02:05man's armor.

02:07A sign of father time creeping up and coming around for the man.

02:21Michael Cole could have easily developed into hyperbole or histrionics at this point in the

02:27evening, but the somber, almost sad tinge in his voice simply underlines the emotions many

02:34fans were experiencing in real time.

02:40The Streak Is Over!

02:50Number 8 Austin and Hart's Double Turn, WWE WrestleMania 13

02:56Successfully executing a double character turn in a match isn't easy, but Bret the Hitman

03:02Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin almost made it look that way back in WrestleMania 13.

03:07scene.

03:19This no-disqualification street fight essentially meant that all bets were off when it came to

03:24violent offensive maneuvers, but Hart's decision seemed to be pushing his character ever further

03:30away from his good guy-slash-babyface status.

03:42Meanwhile, Austin's refusal to submit to Hart's trademark sharpshooter helped the crowd get

03:49behind him, despite Stone Cold coming into the match as a heel or a bad guy.

03:54By the time this match was over, both characters were forever changed, with the audience coming

04:00out on top as the victors.

04:06Number 7 Hogan and The Rock Make History WWE WrestleMania X8 This was an epic clash of the titans that

04:15made the most out of a red-hot Canadian crowd.

04:23Many of the fans over at Toronto's Skydome simply refused to boo Hollywood Hulk Hogan in his match-up

04:31against The Rock.

04:33This was despite Hogan's status as a member of the NWO.

04:37What can we say?

04:38WrestleMania XVIII was fueled by nostalgia, and both men knew it well.

04:54The Rock and Hogan, as a result, called an audible and played into the crowd reaction, selling

05:00their signature moves and taunts for all they were worth.

05:04By the end, it didn't really matter that Rock vs. Hogan wasn't a technical wrestling clinic.

05:10It was a moment of pure WrestleMania magic.

05:136.

05:26The NWO Debuts WCW Bash at the Beach

05:31It's true that Hulk Hogan had portrayed heel characters in the past, but that was primarily

05:37during the early stages of the man's career.

05:40Thus, it was almost unthinkable that this icon of 1980s pro wrestling would turn himself over

05:50to the dark side.

05:51Yet, that's exactly what happened at WCW's Bash at the Beach in 1996.

05:57The crowd's revulsion is audible when it's revealed that Hogan is the mystery partner

06:11of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash, the third man who would finalize the trinity of the New World

06:18Order.

06:19Fans toss their collective garbage into the ring, while one particularly incensed audience

06:24member actually gets into the ring, although he immediately regrets his decision.

06:315.

06:32The Montreal Screwjob WB Survivor Series 1997

06:36You'd be hard-pressed to find any self-professed wrestling fan that's not up-to-date on all

06:43of the assorted lore connected to the Montreal Screwjob.

06:47It's one of the most discussed incidents in pro wrestling history, an endlessly debated

06:56affair that's still notable for being perhaps the first time where the character of Vince

07:02McMahon and the company chairman Vince McMahon began to blend.

07:06It was here when Bret the Hitman Hart was forced to drop the company's World Championship in

07:12his hometown without his prior knowledge.

07:20The match was conspiratorially called against Bret despite the fact that the Hitman hadn't

07:26admitted, nor was pinned.

07:28The fallout from the Montreal Screwjob was immediate, and Hart would soon depart for WCW.

07:384.

07:39Taker Tosses Mankind

07:41WWE King of the Ring 1998

07:44They were the bumps that had everybody talking, from die-hard grappling fanatics to those laypersons

07:51with only the most marginal of professional wrestling knowledge.

07:55This Hell in a Cell match was forever etched into the history books after Mankind, aka Mick

08:00Foley, took not one, but two horrendous falls.

08:12The first bump from the top of the cage is easily the most infamous and replayed.

08:17But Foley himself has gone on record stating how the second fall was actually worse.

08:29Want proof?

08:30Just check out that image of a grinning Mick Foley captured in a camera angle that perfectly

08:35displays the tooth lodged firmly within his nose.

08:41Number 3 Austin 316 Promo WWE King of the Ring 1996

08:50Hindsight being what it is, fans often like to point out Stone Cold Steve Austin's victory

09:07speech at the 1996 King of the Ring as a turning point for the Texas Rattlesnake.

09:13And in many ways, it was, since Austin's 316 promo would go on to define the character for

09:19the rest of his career.

09:29This change didn't happen overnight, however, and it would take a few months to shake off

09:34Austin's ringmaster gimmick and for the Stone Cold persona to fully take over the company's

09:40landscape.

09:412.

09:42I'm sorry, I love you WWE WrestleMania 24 Pro wrestling has been known to bring its fans

09:54to tears, particularly when the moments feel as palpably real as this one from WrestleMania

09:5924.

10:08Ric Flair's career was on the line during this match with the heartbreak kid Shawn Michaels,

10:14and somehow we all knew the writing was on the wall.

10:18Industry tradition almost always mandates going out on your back, and Flair did indeed stare

10:23up at those lights after getting hit with Michael's switch in music.

10:35The most profound aspects of this closing sequence are twofold.

10:40One of them is that image of Flair fists up with tears in his eyes fighting against the

10:45inevitable.

10:46The other is Michael's mouthed words in full view of the camera, I'm sorry, I love you.

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11:15Number 1.

11:16Hogan Slams The Giant WWE WrestleMania 3

11:24Does it matter that this wasn't the first time Andre the Giant had been body slammed by

11:28an opponent?

11:29Not really.

11:30It was more about how this finale from WrestleMania 3 helped define a new era for this wrestling

11:37company.

11:38The rock and wrestling era was still riding high, with larger-than-life characters like Hulk Hogan

11:43carrying the torch for professional wrestling during the 1980s.

11:47Furthermore, this main event also solidified the WrestleMania brand as something that was

11:53here to stay.

12:00This body slam was heard from coast to coast and signified how professional wrestling was

12:06never going to relinquish its grip on pop culture.

12:16What's your favourite childhood memory of pro wrestling?

12:20Let us know in those comments below.

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