2017 Awards: Moment of the Year
I saved this one for last for…well no apparent reason actually.
While there are all kinds of great matches and promos, sometimes it’s something very simple that work better than anything else. The moments are the things that you remember more than anything else and some of these are bigger than others. Some of them are important moments and some of them are just fun, but they all belong on here.
Before we get to the regular nominees, we need to get a quick honorable mention. The night after Wrestlemania, Vince McMahon was about to announce the new General Manager of Raw. He mentioned the new GM being bald…..and here comes Teddy Long to accept the offer. Teddy started making a tag match but Vince said it wasn’t him. Teddy said “my bad” and danced off into the back. I laughed very hard and while it wasn’t important, it entertained me when I was sick and I’ll always take that.
Sticking with the night after Wrestlemania, there was the opening of Raw. Just….WOW. The opening sequence felt like it went on for an hour with the THANK YOU TAKER chants but once Reigns came out, the fans absolutely went off on him because he had taken their hero. This was pure anger from the crowd and that’s exactly what it was supposed to be. The follow up needed to be better but what an opening to the biggest Raw of the year.
What was the follow up? That would be Braun Strowman turning over an ambulance with Reigns inside. I’m not even sure what to say about that. Of course the visual was faked but at the same…..HE TURNED AN AMBULANCE OVER! What else can you really ask here? It was one of the coolest visuals WWE has put together in a long time and made Strowman feel like a star.
It’s been too long since we’ve gone down to NXT so we’ll have to look at Aleister Black saying Velveteen Dream’s name. I called this a promo but when the whole thing is four words long, I’m not sure you can really call it a promo. The idea of giving Dream everything that he wanted in the worst circumstances was poetic justice and an amazing moment at the same time.
We’ll stick around in NXT with Tommaso Ciampa turning on Johnny Gargano to split up DIY. They took the perfect amount of time to make this work and the Chicago fans were STUNNED. This is going to set up one of the biggest matches NXT has had in years and when Ciampa comes back, likely to screw Gargano over somehow, the reaction is going to be amazing. The split couldn’t have been better though and the beatdown worked very well also. Throw in the awesome shock and it’s very high on the list.
In a moment that I was lucky enough to be there for, we have the Hardys returning to WWE at Wrestlemania. I was in the stadium for that and heard New Day say that there was going to be another team. During the pause, I got to my feet and said out loud “they wouldn’t”. And then they did with the Hardys returning only a night after having a huge ladder match in Ring of Honor. This felt big and was the big moment that Wrestlemania needed. Well one of them at least.
The final two are about as different as you can be and we’ll start with the comedy option. Back on February 13, Chris Jericho was trying to show Kevin Owens that they were still great friends. This led to Jericho, in a shiny outfit that only he could pull off, presenting Owens various presents (including a painting involving the two of them and Jericho without pants) but the big finale made the whole thing. Owens gave Jericho a new list but it had Jericho’s name on it. Jericho pulls the list out of the box…..and it was the List of KO. The beatdown was on and the Wrestlemania match was made.
They got me. I’m not exactly easy to surprise in wrestling but I was actually shocked when that List of KO appeared. It was the perfect way to split up the team and Owens looked like the biggest heel in the world. At the same time though, Jericho looked like he was trying to be a good guy but Owens just turned on him. That’s how to make Jericho a face, and it worked to perfection. Amazing segment here and it’s going to take something special to top it.
And then the Undertaker retired (I’m going with that until I see otherwise). He took his gear off and stood in the middle of the ring in front of the Orlando crowd and then put it back on for one final time. When I looked at him, I saw Mark Callaway in Undertaker’s clothes, which was the first time that had ever been seen. Undertaker walked up the aisle and then descended through the stage to say goodbye. This one doesn’t need much more of an explanation and if it stands, will be one of the best moments in wrestling history.
Its looking like Undertaker vs. Cena this year if all reports are correct….and Balor winning rumble to crossover and face Styles. But again, just reports.