World Championship Wrestling/Awesome: Difference between revisions

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* Some argue in favor of a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] for [[Hulk Hogan]] that arguably trumps slamming [[Andre the Giant]] -- [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOB4UnRQfdc his infamous Face Heel Turn and joining of the newly-formed New World Order] at ''Bash at the Beach 1996'', kicking off one of the biggest angles in the history of the industry and reinventing himself in the process.

The video of that event on Youtube has a great quote: "I was a little kid when I watched this. I started crying." }}

** Also at ''Bash at the Beach 1996'': the show was kicked off with a singles match between [[Rey Mysterio, Jr.]] and his arch-rival Psicosis (Psychosis in WCW). The match itself was a classic, ranging on average between 4 and 4-and-a-half stars (depending on who you ask). The finish, when Psicosis tried to do a top rope move and Mysterio countered with a Rana ''in mid air'', brought the entire stadium to their feet. So, so many of the cruiserweights these days are following in the footsteps of Mysterio and Psicosis, and it's a Crowning Moment of '''Un'''Awesome that Psicosis never became a star like Mysterio did.

*** Speaking of the Jackhammer, [[Diamond Dallas Page]] reversing it into a Diamond Cutter at ''Halloween Havoc''.

* How about [[Chris Benoit]]'s shoot on the likes of Hogan and Nash?

* [[Ric Flair]]'s promo on the final ''Nitro'' manages to sneak one in just before the end - read the transcript [http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/video_reviews/69054/ here].

** And you have to give a small CMoA to the WCW booking team for deciding to close out the last Nitro ever with a match that capped off one of the company's longest-running feuds: [[Wrestler/Sting|Sting]] vs. Ric Flair.

** Russo's comments about Hogan being "bald" were the basis of a defamation lawsuit Hogan filed after he left the company, which was eventually dropped in 2002.

* The "party" thrown by the New Four Horsemen and Arn Anderson on ''Nitro'' in 1998, with [[Ric Flair]] returning to WCW after a long hiatus. This editor would be remiss in failing to mention the amazing amounts of WIN that was [[Ric Flair]], Arn Anderson, Steve McMichael, Dean Malenko, and [[Chris Benoit]] standing in the ring, reforming the Horsemen, as well as [[Ric Flair]]'s absolute fury at Eric Bischoff for crashing the party.

** Best part is, that was a shoot.

* [[Chris Jericho]]: Cruiserweight Champion. Working at a time when WCW's Crusierweight division could not have been hotter, Chris Jericho reached his creative peak as a slimy, whiny [[Smug Snake]] who would do anything - short of actually wrestle - to keep hold of the title belt. His feud with Dean Malenko resulted in so many Crowning Moments of Awesome, including (but not limited to) proving that he is The Man Of 1004 Holds, his introduction of the Crusierweights at ''Slamboree'', his trip to the Library of Congress and subsequent gloating to Malenko (complete with a good old finger-poke-to-the-chest), and his five-star match with "[[Rey Mysterio, Jr.]]".

* Who could ever forget the classic [[Ric Flair]] vs. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat trilogy in 1989? Dave Meltzer (who attended the ''Chi-Town Rumble'' event, where the first part of the trilogy took place) gave all three matches five stars, and the ''Chi-Town Rumble'' match is considered to be one of the best wrestling matches ever.

** Ricky Steamboat, a few years later, had another CMOA at ''Clash of the Champions XVII''. Dustin Rhodes was to challenge the then-tag champs The Enforcers (Arn Anderson and Larry Zybysko) alongside his usual tag partner, Barry Windham. The problem was that Windham was dealing with a hand injury, so he wasn't going to be competing, but this was covered up in storyline by having the heels injure him intentionally so that the thread of the Rhodes / Windham tag team would be removed. Dustin shows up anyway with a "mystery man" clad in a cloak and a dragon mask... only for the mystery man to take off his costume and reveal himself to be none other than Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, making his return after departing from the WWF just weeks earlier. The reaction of the heels is pure pants-shitting shock and awe. Arn Anderson sells Steamboat's return in particularly fantastic fashion, mentally trying to psych himself up to deal with Steamboat:

* Dusty Rhodes' amazing [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4MmynUrze8 "Hard Times" promo.] He compares the problems of mass unemployment to his injury '''and makes you believe in what he is saying.'''

* With all due respect to [[Stone Cold Steve Austin]], 1997 belonged to the man called Sting, and his [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] was at the end of that year's ''Uncensored'' PPV. For months leading up to the event, nobody knew whose side Sting was on in the WCW/nWo war. When the PPV's final match was over and the nWo was celebrating another victory, Sting descended from the rafters and proceeded to completely destroy ''the entire group'' with his now-trademark black baseball bat, culminating in a beatdown on "Hollywood" [[Hulk Hogan]] using just his fists.