1. Can't believe Hogan turning heel and joining the NWO hasn't been mentioned. It's probably the most important single wrestling moment ever. The power really shifted from WWF(E) to WCW for a long time after this.

2. Ric Flair winning the 1992 Royal Rumble. Another "game-changer" in the history of wrestling, Ric Flair leaving the WCW/NWA behind to move to the WWF was the final nail in the coffin for the NWA as far as being able to compete with the WWF nationally, which was a very sad moment. Was a dark time in WCW for a while after this as well.

3. Hogan bodyslamming Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania III. The symbolic passing of the torch from one legend to the next.

4. Shawn Michaels winning the Royal Rumble after drawing #1. I was never a Shawn Michaels fan, but there was something epic about his run that made you want him to win it all once he made it this far. I remember some earlier long runs with like Ted Dibiase and Greg Valentine, but it was a great moment.

5. I guess I remember this moment more than most others because I was out of wrestling for a long time and this really got me back into it for a while, but the entrance of Chris Jericho (Y2J) to WWE. I always thought Chris Jericho was extremely underutilized in WCW and was excited to see what the WWE would do with him, and it really lived up to my expectations.

Surprised to see so many positive comments about Owen Hart. I never liked him much, but thought he had a lot of potential. The injury he caused to Steve Austin cost him much more in his career than any of the politics, at least in my opinion. I don't remember hearing a lot of great things about him either from a behind-the-scenes locker room perspective or an in-ring work perspective until after his unfortunate death, but I don't know how much attention I paid to him particularly back then.

As for pushes:

1. Curt Hennig - Really never understood why his Mr. Perfect gimmick never got a Main Event push, as I just can't imagine a heel being better portrayed than he did (except for maybe Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Man)

2. Scott Norton - Always a big fan of his and watched him a lot in NJPW, really underutilized in WCW in the mid-to-late 1990's

3. Billy Kidman - watched him pretty much grow up in WCW, always liked him for something I couldn't quite figure out, seemed to always be stuck as a lower-level member in the weirder-type factions in WCW

Brad Armstrong's next two story-lines under a mask weren't quite so well done:

I'm not quite sure this counts, but too bad.



(and the many other episodes, of course.)

Here are some classic Razor Ramon vignettes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbkth_InQ_o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWEOxIJsxws

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTuJuz3pHIE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJN2_N8dQQo

Funny commentary with Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOivAvBbcGY

Shockmaster WCW debut
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S3qsFLyrto

@ 14:00 I remember marking out to this as a kid and watching it again, it's still just as great.

Awesome hurling drink nails Dibiase at 14:30 and instantly you see a security guard booking in the background get said drink thrower.

After a long absence (falling in love killed my 2+2 time), gotta chime in on this:

VIVID RECOLLECTIONS

1. This isn't really one moment, but my becoming a pro wrestling fan coincided with Bret Hart's singles push. The first great match I saw live (on TV, rather than on tape from the library) was Hart/Perfect at Summerslam 1991 (I was 11). Then Bret beat Piper at Wrestlemania 8 and had the epic against Davey Boy at Wembley (Summerslam 1992). I still think that IC title run was Bret's best year.

I could list a million more Bret Hart moments/matches I fondly recall.

2. Shawn Michaels throwing Marty Jannetty through the Barber Shop window.

3. Mankind/Taker Hell In a Cell. The best bad match ever. Foley's description of it is perfect: It was a train wreck you couldn't turn away from.

4. Another Foley match I absolutely love and that I think flies under the radar a lot: His 2004 King of the Ring (I think) match with Orton. The elbow drop from the stage is sick.

5. Two great crowds that deserve mention: ECW One Night Stand (2005?) and 2011 Money in the Bank in Chicago. Great crowds make a huge difference.

WRESTLERS I WISH HAD BEEN PUSHED MORE
1. Curt Hennig as Mr. Perfect. He should have received a WWF title run.
2. Ted DiBiase. Ditto (I don't count the Hogan/Andre/MDM thing).
3. Rick Rude.

Oddly, I was never a huge Owen Hart fan. Could never take him seriously even though he was a hell of a worker.

Welcome back, Dan. We've missed you, sir.

Never seen that Dibiase clip with the basketball, so awesome.

What a great gimmick

Odds the kid was a prop?

From what I've read, the kid was legit, but then they paid him the money after the segment.

Indeed.

Naturally I've made fun of you in your absence and will continue to, but I like it when you post.

This is how it was explained in Ted DiBiase's autobiography.

I was so upset when the invasion angle was completely botched. But I must admit it did have several good moments, this probably being my favorite:

crazy credit to the manager of that store or whoever approved that. seriously love that so much.

Dan!! please post at least once every six months or something. we have our own forum now ffs you can find a place to squeeze something in to a thread whilst you are recharging

I quote that Goldust/Booker promo all the time. One of the favourite lol moments in wrestling. It's so creepy and disgusting.

From an old Wrestling Observer Newsletter from before WM IV, probably explaining why Dibiase didn't get pushed more:

"...there is no question that DiBiase's gimmick is over, but his wrestling ability isn't over. The casual fan doesn't see DiBiase as a great wrestler, in fact, they don't even see him as a good wrestler."

It when on to talk about how when he was in the main event the shows tended to not draw.

I asked Dave if DiBiase should have signed with Crockett and eventually became a Horseman how would have that played out and he said it would have been a logical choice due to his ability in the ring as well as his microphone skills. Flair/DiBiase/Anderson/Blanchard group would have been the best of the Horsemen group. DiBiase vs Rhodes/Windham/Luger/Koloff/Garvin would draw well also because Ted was established in GCW region as well as the Mid-South.

That's kind of nutty to me that DiBiase's wrestling ability wasn't over. As a young kid during his time, even though I obviously knew that wrestling was a work, I was still a mark that could be sold on how good/bad a guy was at wrestling. He was always over big with me in that regard, even before I grew to appreciate his gimmick fully.

Doing something like making Earthquake pass out clean for the tag titles really stuck with me, I remember. (Yes this was several years after WM IV, but the concept remains the same...you can convince a kid rather easily that a guy is good.)

It makes sense that Ted would have done well in Crockett, and it was easier for guys like Ted to make it to the top there, but I'm not sure he could would have drawn that well as a consistent, long term main eventer. Crockett could have used new people in the main event scene at this time, but what they really needed in terms of talent in the period between Magnum TA's accident and Sting emerging was a top face.

What they needed was to stop booking Dusty finishes 4 times on the card per night. As a big Ron Garvin fan it was a HUGE mistake to make him World Heavyweight Champion. I would have had no issue giving the belt to Dibiase in that role if he came in or at the very least made Starrcade Flair v.s. Williams for a title v.s. title match. They had plenty of time to build up Williams as a legit superstar after they bought the UWF.

To really know if it was true or not we would have to actually have data on what the casual fan thought at that time. Casual fans in any area do frequently hold some rather nutty views, though.