Best Of 2010s: Moment Of The Decade
IMG Credit: WWE
These are the ones that stick in your mind forever because they’re what people remember more than anything else. Some of these can come at the end of a match, during a segment, backstage, or really anywhere in between. They might not mean much in the long run or they could change everything forever. Either way, they’re the things that people remember the most and that is the case as we enter a new decade.
Honorable Mention
Big E. Langston Faces The Shield – NXT – January 2, 2012 – This is a personal one for me. NXT Champion Seth Rollins was defending against Corey Graves when the Shield interfered. GM Dusty Rhodes sent out the locker room and they all got slaughtered as well. Watching at home, I said out loud “In a good promotion, this is where the monster would come out for a showdown.” As soon as I said it, Big E. came out and the Shield ran. I was hooked.
Sting Debuts – Survivor Series 2014 – Yes, that actually happened after all the years. It didn’t mean anything in the long run, but for an old WCW fan, this was magical.
Daniel Bryan Is Medically Cleared – Smackdown – March 20, 2018 – I never thought I would see the day but it actually happened. This was a feel good story as Bryan was FINALLY back in the ring where he belonged after three long years away. Good for him and he’s still going strong.
Women Main Event Wrestlemania – Wrestlemania XXXV – At Wrestlemania XXVI, the women’s match was a ten woman tag that ran 3:26. XXVII and XXIX didn’t have a women’s match. XXVIII had a women’s celebrity match. XXX was a big cluster match. We’ve come a long way and again, I never thought I would see something like this.
Austin, Rock and Hogan Together – Wrestlemania XXX – Yep.
Undertaker/HHH/Shawn Michaels Hug
This was arguably fifteen years in the making, as the three of them had had so many battles and wars over the years. The last four Wrestlemanias had offered some of the best matches in recent memory as the three legends left it all in the ring and nearly destroyed each other in one classic after another. The final blowoff in the Cell had the best near fall I’ve ever seen. It was a roller coaster the whole way through and it had to end with something special.
That’s exactly what it did too, as all three got together and hugged on the stage, signaling that the wars were over (until Australia and Saudi Arabia needed big matches of course). This would never happen at such a level again and it was amazing to get to watch these things unfold in front of our eyes. They were incredible performers at the top of their game and deserved every second of what they got.
Kofi Kingston Wins
One of the things you hear a lot about in wrestling is the journey that you have to take to get to the goal and that is how things were with Kofi Kingston. He debuted in 2006 and seemed incapable of having a bad match. However, he also never made it close to the main event scene and the idea of him being a World Champion seemed impossible. Then we came to the Elimination Chamber in 2019 and it wound up being Kofi vs. Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship.
I don’t remember the last time that so many people snapped to attention so fast. Somehow this felt like something that could really happen and that’s what needed to happen. Kingston could actually do it and while he didn’t make it at the Elimination Chamber, he was suddenly a real threat to the title. That took us to Wrestlemania XXXV and he did it. Kofi Kingston actually did it and won the WWE Championship clean in the middle of the ring. It was a special moment and everyone knew it, because Kofi Kingston had earned every single thing that he was finally getting.
Becky Lynch Bleeds And Stands Tall
There are moments in wrestling where you can feel something is about to happen. When Hogan returned in 1984 to save Bob Backlund. When Austin Stunned McMahon. When Batista gave HHH the thumbs down. You can see the future before you and you know where things are going. The energy spikes and it doesn’t matter what happens next, because you know where it’s going.
That’s what happened on the November 12, 2018 Monday Night Raw when Becky Lynch led the Smackdown women in an invasion of Monday Night Raw. Lynch attacked Ronda Rousey in the locker room and then took the fight to the stage. A damaged Ronda came out but got taken down….as Nia Jax wildly swung and knocked Becky silly, breaking her nose and giving her a concussion in the process. Lynch wasn’t done and kept fighting, eventually being forced to flee into the crowd. The show ended with a bloody Becky posing near the top of the arena and a star was born. It was Becky’s time and everyone knew it, in case they didn’t before.
Daniel Bryan Wins
This one is similar to Kofi but I think it’s just a bit better. Kofi’s run had only taken place over the course of about six weeks while this one was over more than six months, with Bryan being screwed over by the Authority but never giving up (that’s kind of a trend with him) and eventually found his way to the main event of Wrestlemania XXX. Then the magic happened.
The main story here was a major villain, with the Authority constantly telling us that Bryan was never going to reach the top. That gave Bryan a reason to fight, and fight he did, all the way to the highest point that he could with an amazing performance that went beyond anything we could have expected. It felt like a changing of the guard in a feel good moment, which was exactly what they were shooting for. Well done indeed.
CM Punk Wins
There are times in wrestling where you say “That couldn’t happen….right?” That last word is where everything gets interesting, because all WWE has to do is go there and they have their fans right where they want them. That’s what they did going into Money In The Bank 2011, as CM Punk threatened to win the WWE Championship and leave the company with the title. That couldn’t happen…right?
Well that’s exactly what DID happen and it was one of the first times I can remember where I didn’t know what to expect. That’s an incredible feeling to have and it worked like a charm here. While it got brought down a lot by having Punk back two weeks later, it was a special moment and Punk blowing a kiss to Vince before leaving through the crowd is as good as it gets.
And now, as bad as it gets.
The Streak….Is Over
I’ve been a wrestling fan for over thirty years. During that time, a lot of things have come and gone and that is always going to be the case. When I was born, Hulk Hogan was the WWF Champion. Now, Hogan is recently back from being blackballed from the company and only gets to make the occasional legends appearance. For most of my life though, there were only a handful of constants. One of those was taken away at Wrestlemania XXX.
On that night, Brock Lesnar defeated the Undertaker, ending a Streak which began over 23 years earlier (on Undertaker’s birthday actually). It’s something I never thought I would see and I really did believe that there was a chance it would live forever. I was in the stadium that night and I could not stand up or speak. It was that kind of shock: they managed to shut me up, and that’s all the proof you need that this was one for the ages.
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