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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