10 Most Emotional Shows In Wrestling History
Triumph, tragedy and everything in between, the business sure does run the gamut...
Today marks 22 years since the tragic, untimely passing of Owen Hart.
Owen was set to make his repelled entrance from the ceiling (as the comedic Blue Blazer) at WWE's Over the Edge pay-per-view, when something went wrong and he fell from the rafters.
He was only 34 years-old.
The show continued, with commentator and Vice President of Talent Relations Jim Ross announcing the news to the world midway through the broadcast.
Owen's death and the aftermath brought up a lot of different emotions, many of which were evident the following evening on Monday Night Raw, which was a dedicated tribute show to the two-time Slammy award winner.
Tribute shows to deceased wrestlers are typically emotional affairs, but they are not the only shows that bring up strong feelings.
Wrestling is an industry built on emotion and often tries to manufacture it with storylines and angles, but very rarely does it come close to replicating what happens when real life situations are involved, whether that results in euphoria, despair or something else.
The following are ten examples of such shows (ranked in no particular order).
10. ECW One Night Stand 2005
The death of ECW was a protracted one, caused by a thousand cuts.
While most of the roster at the time knew it was inevitable, there was no opportunity to host a proper farewell and, for many of those who had been with the company through the good times and the bad, its 2001 closure offered no sense of, well, closure.
After Rob Van Dam pitched the idea of a reunion show pay-per-view to Vince McMahon in 2005, they finally got their chance.
One Night Stand was a celebratory, cathartic night for those that felt a special connection with Extreme Championship Wrestling. Bringing back (most) of the old gang for the occasion, One Night Stand was like a supercharged 'greatest hits' event where many in attendance were visibly emotional.
It was relatively recent nostalgia, but it was pitched exactly right and provided an opportunity to close that particular chapter of wrestling history. In theory, anyway.
Highlights included the injured RVD's rousing shoot promo, Paul Heyman addressing the crowd, the Sandman making his iconic entrance, complete with Metallica score, Masato Tanaka and Mike Awesome going one more round and tearing the bingo hall down and, well, there were lots of others.
The first One Night Stand featured an energy and a passion that you simply cannot manufacture and made it stand out from any other show from the era.
Written by Lewis Howse
Features journalist for Cultaholic.com and script writer for the Cultaholic YouTube Channel.
