First of all, what are the genuine contenders? He's some I pulled out of the hat:

 

Starcade 83 - first genuine supercard

 

Hogan defeats Iron Sheik - obvious reasons

 

Wrestlemania I - if it had flopped, Vince would have gone under

 

Clash of the Champions I goes head-to-head with Wrestlemania VI making Sting a big star in the process

 

Bash of the Beach 96 - obvious reasons

 

Last Monday Nitro

 

1. What other nights would be in contention?

 

2. What is the "most historic" night?

WrestleMania III has to be on the list, doesn't it?

Mania III entered mythic status long ago, probably more so than any other WWE show. Mania I, in the grand scheme of things, is likely the most important event ever.

 

(If you want to be culturally relevant, those two are really just North America specific and wouldn't mean much at all to Japanese or Mexican wrestling fans, who have their own "most historic nights")

There is no right answer to this question. Each era has its own most important night, and fans of each era will view that era's most important night as wrestling's most important night. Not only would everything mentioned so far only have relevance to an American audience, but it also would have relevance to wrestling fans who grew up before Hulkamania.

The answer is the first worked match but who knows when that was or who was in it.

The answer is the first worked match but who knows when that was or who was in it.

Abraham Lincoln's NWA title loss. He couldn't balance his political career with the demand for more and more defenses in the exspanding American territories so they worked out an elaborate plan to have him drop the strap via screw job so he could still keep his heat. Little known fact, a young Gypsy Joe who was only 20 years into the business at that point worked as the ref.

I think as far as television goes, Luger beating Hogan on Nitro to win the WCW World Title in 1997. That moment, to me, stands out more 14 years after the fact than anything I've ever seen in wrestling. The fact that Luger lost the belt 6 days later? Doesn't matter. That moment to me is the perfect wrestling moment. They built to that moment and made you want to see it and they delivered it in the way you wanted to see it.

 

Everything about it was great. Luger fighting off the nWo, PeeWee getting a measure of revenge by not calling for a DQ, the way Hogan sold the forearm and then the Torture Rack, PeeWee just flipping out as he called for the bell, the way the crowd went absolutely crazy, the match calling and the end celebration to the show. It still gets a rise out of me watching it.

I think as far as television goes, Luger beating Hogan on Nitro to win the WCW World Title in 1997. That moment, to me, stands out more 14 years after the fact than anything I've ever seen in wrestling. The fact that Luger lost the belt 6 days later? Doesn't matter. That moment to me is the perfect wrestling moment. They built to that moment and made you want to see it and they delivered it in the way you wanted to see it.

 

Everything about it was great. Luger fighting off the nWo, PeeWee getting a measure of revenge by not calling for a DQ, the way Hogan sold the forearm and then the Torture Rack, PeeWee just flipping out as he called for the bell, the way the crowd went absolutely crazy, the match calling and the end celebration to the show. It still gets a rise out of me watching it.

Never seen it, so I tracked it down on YT. Pretty awesome, right up there with Goldberg winning in '98. Luger's celebration seems so very REAL, when he jumps in the air and then lands on his knees.

 

And I love all the guys coming out to celebrate with him. I watch wrestling for moments like this one.

I wish all world title changes from long-term heel champs to babyfaces ended with the babyfaces filling the ring. I guess you need long-term heel champs to make that happen though.

Ali-Inoki. WWWF showed it closed circuit in Shea Stadium and added Andre/Wepner and Sammartino/Hansen. AWA showed it closed circuit and ran Gagne/Bockwinkel. San Francisco showed it and added Patterson/Fuji. Georgia showed it and added Brisco/Dory. Has there ever been a worldwide wrestling event of that magnitude since?

Ali-Inoki was widely regarded as an embarrassment and a flop, though. It hurt Vince Jr as a promoter, it took him a little while to recover.

In the modern era, I'd say it was the 1/4/99 Monday Night War. The fingerpoke of doom helped seal WCW's fate. When they gave away the RAW results like in the old days and it backfired, it showed exactly how far ahead WWF was than WCW.

May not be "most historic" of all time but still pretty damned important: WrestleMania XIV.

 

On one night, the WWF got everything right. They crafted the Mike Tyson angle perfectly and the night ended with the guy they were going to push into the stratosphere having his hand raised by one of the most controversial (and at the time white-hot) figures in sports. It made just about every sports media outlet in the following days and really kicked the wrestling boom into high gear.

 

Also on that night they produced, to quote Kevin Nash, Hollywood movie trailer style promo videos to hype nearly every match.

 

Oh, and that Dwayne guy cut his first real breakout promo.

The debut of Nitro, which led to the launch of the Monday Night Wars and certainly a fun period for wrestling fans.

 

Austin's KOTR speech, which set the wheels in motion for his new character.

 

Had they done a better job with the Goldberg title win, I might put it as one of the best ever. It's a great moment on its own, but can you imagine how much stronger it would have been going on PPV and leading to a reign in which it was absolutely clear Goldberg was No. 1 in the company? (For the record, Goldberg may have been the draw, but the booking still made Hogan look like he was No. 1.)

Ali-Inoki was widely regarded as an embarrassment and a flop, though. It hurt Vince Jr as a promoter, it took him a little while to recover.

Historic can be both good and bad.

I was 12 years old and well past getting worked up over this kind of thing, but I marked the hell out for the Luger title win. Like jumping around the house excited.

May not be "most historic" of all time but still pretty damned important: WrestleMania XIV.

 

On one night, the WWF got everything right. They crafted the Mike Tyson angle perfectly and the night ended with the guy they were going to push into the stratosphere having his hand raised by one of the most controversial (and at the time white-hot) figures in sports. It made just about every sports media outlet in the following days and really kicked the wrestling boom into high gear.

 

Also on that night they produced, to quote Kevin Nash, Hollywood movie trailer style promo videos to hype nearly every match.

 

Oh, and that Dwayne guy cut his first real breakout promo.

Not to mention the fact that WWE paid Tyson a couple million dollars for his participation when they were on the edge of financial solvency at the time.

I always loved Vince's rationale for that, because it was a good one. He said he'd rather lose money on 700,000 buys than make money on 400,000 buys (the numbers he said may have been different, but that's the gist of what he said).

They also did a great job pushing the match with the traditional wrestling angle (McMahon pissed at Austin for "ruining" his big announcement, Tyson joins DX, odds stacked against Austin) and also plenty of PURE SPORTS BUILD~! with those 10-minute biography pieces they were producing for both Michaels and Austin, probably to help get over to new fans why they were a big deal. For me, that was the first time WrestleMania really felt like the Super Bowl of professional wrestling.

Shawn leaving Austin laying a couple of weeks straight didn't hurt either.

 

One thing I've always wondered about, if anyone really knows. Before Shawn's back injury, what was the original plan for the No Way Out of Texas Main Event? I would assume it'd have been Michaels going over Austin to heat up their Mania match.

Tyson-Austin on RAW. Made the papers the following day, with a lot of the stories actually focused on Austin. Transformed Austin successfully from a VERY popular star to a guy recognizable outside of wrestling.

Hogan-Iron Sheik 1/23/84 needs to be in this discussion, if only for the whole "set-the-wheel-in-motion" dynamic.

There has to be some stuff that has nothing to do with Hulk Hogan or Vince McMahon, right? Wrestling has existed for over a century and it has been quite prosperous at times.

 

I don't know what "night" it happened in 1972, but obviously, Baba and Inoki breaking from the JWA to form All Japan and New Japan changed the game in Japan.

Like I said, it has to be the first worked wrestling match. It's like, "what's the most important day in the history of the world?" "The day it came into existing, duh."

Is there an agreed upon first worked match?