I've tried to limit myself to my top 5, since I'm sure others will
have more input to this and I want some fresh perspectives.
In no particular order, because I frankly don't know how I'd even begin
to compare them to each other...
1) Undertaker vs. Yokozuna for the WWF Championship in a Casket
Match, Royal Rumble '94. While the match itself is horribly,
OUTRAGEOUSLY bad, that alone isn't enough to merit inclusion on this list,
oh no. You see, after it takes Yokozuna and ten other
men to lock Undertaker in the casket, and after green smoke
starts seeping out of Undertaker's urn, and after smoke starts
smoking on the way down the aisle...the 'Taker appears on the Titantron
and gives the following deep warning:
"Be not proud, because the spirit of the Undertaker live within the
souls of mankind, the eternal flame of life which cannot be extinguished,
the origin of which cannot be explained. The answer lies in the everlasting
spirit. Soon all mankind will witness the rebirth of the Undertaker.
I will not rest in peace."
Oh, and just to top the whole thing off, the Undertaker (Marty Jannetty
in a Undertaker costume, to be exact) appears from behind the video wall
and starts levitating up to "heaven" (the ceiling).
2) The hatching of The Gobbledygooker, Survivor Series '90.
In the weeks prior to Survivor Series, a large egg was seen at all the
WWF house shows and television tapings. Most speculated that it
was a debuting wrestler, or at worst a celebrity guest appearance for the
Pay-Per-View. Well, sure enough, the big egg did crack at the Series,
to reveal...some guy (Hector Guerrero) in a big turkey suit. He danced
with Mean Gene Okerland for the next ten minutes to the
complete apathy of the crowd.
3) Mae Young giving birth to a hand, RAW is WAR.
It was sometime in early 2000. You see, Mae was OLD, and she was
also Mark Henry's girlfriend. How can you NOT make the the logical
jump to her giving birth to a hand?! Are you stupid or something?
4) The Shockmaster makes his WCW debut, Clash of the Champions
XXIV. The Shockmaster was really Fred Ottman, who was Tugboat
and Typhoon in the WWF. On a "Flair for the Gold" segment, Sting
and Davey Boy Smith announced their Special Mystery Partner they would
team with to take on Sid Vicious and Vader at Fall Brawl '93.
Ottman was supposed to break through a wall of the set and come barreling
in. One prob: He tripped over himself after exactly one step and
fell right on his face. Let me amend that--he fell right on his purple glittered Stormtrooper
helmet, which promptly rolled right off his face.
Ole Anderson, having no idea what was going on, continued his voiceover
while everyone on the set tried (unsuccessfully) to stop from quaking with
laughter. This gets funnier every time I see it. The sad part
is that in typical WCW form, they actually tried to push Shockmaster
as a legitimate threat after this. Come on, he FELL FLAT ON HIS FACE
and you're trying to convince me he's a contender?
5) The Brian Pillman/Stone Cold Steve Austin gun angle, RAW
is WAR. This one isn't even funny. Austin had turned on
his former Hollywood Blondes partner, brutally attacking him and on this
taping, following Pillman to his home. Pillman retaliated by brandishing
a loaded revolver (not really, of course, but that was the storyline) for
self-defense. The camera "lost transmission" for a few moments
while the gun was allegedly fired, during which time the sidearm was supposedly
wrenched away from Pillman. This was in extremely poor taste and
is one of the things the WWF doesn't like to talk about much.
(Oh my god, how could I have written this and not mentioned Great American Bash '91???)