'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The WWE, as a form of entertainment, have always been intent on putting up a great show across the globe. And of that, the crowd reactions in the arena have always been something important and defined the quality of content put up. There have been reactions that have altered storylines and put under-appreciated guys on the top and the most recent one, we all know of.
The crowd have always gone berserk when an old superstar returns and the nostalgic moments have been something the WWE feeds on. They have made unadvertised returns in Royal Rumble’s, WrestleMania’s and many on RAW as well. While the crowd could sometimes be dead for a match, they could also take it out to appreciate the magnitude of the moment and create some of the best wrestling moments of all time. As we look at that, let’s take a look at ten of the biggest pops in WWE history.
Triple H returns at the MSG
Triple H has been one of the mainstays of the past two decades in the WWE and was a major part of the rise of the company during the Attitude Era. While Austin went on to become the greatest face in professional wrestling and beat the WCW, Triple H had his own gimmick with the D-Generation X and went on to become one of the best heels.
In May 2001, Triple H had suffered a Torn Quad which left him in the hospital bed for around 8 months. However, prior to the 2002 Royal Rumble, he was advertised to make his return on Raw. And despite this, the crowd went over the roof as his music hit the arena. Not to mention, it was in the Madison Square Garden that night, which is one of the best WWE venues across the US. He did his familiar water spit, which the crowd would cheer as well before rounding up the night with a short beating of Kurt Angle and a promo. While Triple H may have gone into injury as a heel, he returned to one of the biggest crowd reactions we have ever seen.
Hulk Hogan Bodyslams Andre the Giant
In WrestleMania, when Hulk Hogan botched up his opening promo saying “Silverdome”, it was actually reminiscent of his feet 27 years ago. Back then, in the early years of WrestleMania, Hulk Hogan was the undisputed face of the company and the people flocked to see him in action. In the Pontiac Silverdome, Hogan would go on to face Andre the Giant, whom legend had, was undefeated for 15 years.
And after taking his blows through a slow match, owing to the limited in-ring ability of either superstar, Hulk would start his renowned come back and eventually bodyslam Andre the Giant. As he did it, it was a shocking moment and 93,000 people at the Silverdome went over the top in cheering for their hero. And eventually, he would pin Andre to retain the title and create one of the most iconic WrestleMania moments, even till date.
Whenever someone mentions the history of WrestleMania, it goes without saying that this moment was the first big spot in WrestleMania with more to come in the years that followed.
The Rock returns
After 7 long years, finally, The Rock came back to Monday Night Raw. It had been a long time since The Rock had left for Hollywood and quite honestly, the WWE had never quite managed to find a superstar as charismatic as him. The void left by him was too big to replace and when he did come back, the WWE Universe went mad over it. While viewers across the world were taken aback by his sudden return as the WrestleMania XXVII host, those in the audience showed the worth of the moment by creating one of the biggest pops in history.
Not only his return, he followed it up with a 15-minute long promo which included many of his signature catchphrases and had the crowd on their feet the entire time. He had returned as the guest host but also to kindle a feud with John Cena, which he established clearly in that very promo by ridiculing Cena. No matter how sporadic his appearances were in the next two years, the crowd cheered their hearts out that night for The Rock as they saw the People’s Champ step onto the WWE ring as a performer again, which few predicted.
Chris Jericho’s WWE Debut
Back then, in 1999, Jericho was one of the hottest superstars in the business after a successful stint with the WCW. As we have all come to know, he could do everything; being a great babyface, a heel, delivering great promos and in-ring matches as well. And when he joined the WWE, people were curious as to whom he would initially begin with, being such a talented superstar. And well enough, his first feud was with The Rock.
The Rock was delivering a promo in the Chicago Raw on August 9 with his countdown clock, and as the clock struck zero, music of “Break the Walls” echoed across the arena as Jericho made his WWE debut. The crowd went nuts for him as he introduced everyone to Raw is Jericho, a famous moniker that he would keep for the rest of his career. And immediately, he got into a verbal feud with The Rock that saw some of the best promos in the WWF back then, considering the prowess of these two men on the mic. While he did have many great moments after that, his best memory would most likely be that of his debut, and probably, the best debut any WWE superstar ever had.
The Beast returns in 2012
Unlike The Rock, Brock Lesnar was never the greatest babyface in the WWE. He had a dominating personality as a heel and was one of the strongest men around for a long time. However, his departure from the WWE coincided with the subsequent rise of John Cena, Batista and wasn’t felt so badly for a long time. And only in 2011, The Rock had returned to build up for his match with John Cena at WrestleMania XXVIII in Miami.
However, the following night on Raw, when Cena was out to congratulate The Rock on his victory, he received the ‘Beast’ instead. Few people even had a clue that he was going to return and the crowd went insane with their reaction to it. It had been a long time, and in all these days, he had become a UFC Heavyweight Champion and headlined their PPVs with over a million buys. He was a global phenomenon and seeing him return to the WWE felt really good. The reaction, however, was quite over the top as Brock went on to F5 John Cena and end the show standing amidst the ring.
Hulk Hogan v The Rock at WrestleMania X8
Dubbed “Icon v Icon”, this match was truly a battle of the generations as a heel Hulk Hogan went up against The Rock in front of a pumped up Toronto crowd. Despite a babyface Rock going into the match, Hogan got the cheers as the Toronto crowd went berserk seeing their hero of the past return to pose in front of them early into the match. And what followed was an exemplary match that brought out the true magic of professional wrestling.
The Rock didn’t play along with the script and instead chose to go with the pulse of the crowd. He played to the tune of a babyface Hogan and started getting the despicable reactions for himself. While this was a very good move by The Rock, the best part of the match was the fact it had a sustained crowd reaction from 68,000 fans throughout the match. It was an old-school wrestling match with Hulk Hogan getting all the cheers irrespective of the opponent owing to his extreme proficiency in crowd manipulation and showed the world that The Hulkster still had it left in him.
Daniel Bryan sheds the Wyatt Family skin
One of the more recent moments in the list, this was one on RAW as well. Over the past two years, it is quite evident that no superstar has had a bigger impact and reception than Daniel Bryan from the WWE Universe. Often pushed down from the main event by the WWE officials, Bryan rose beyond all this as he became the top superstar in the company and the most cheered babyface as well.
And leading up to the Royal Rumble 2014, Bryan was involved in a feud with Bray Wyatt that saw him switch over to the dark side. However, the WWE Universe was clearly unhappy with this and continued to cheer Bryan despite him moving over to the heels. Seeing that, the booking team smartly decided to have him turn on the Wyatts on RAW so as to set up a match between Bray Wyatt and Daniel Bryan at the Royal Rumble.
Following a tag team defeat inside the steel cage, Bryan proceeded to follow his ritual of submitting due to Wyatt only to back down at the last and take revenge on him. That was coupled with one of the biggest crowd reactions as Bryan prompted possibly the greatest “Yes” Chant on Raw.
Austin, Rock and Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 30
A more recent moment on the list was the night Hulk started by botching his promo with “Silverdome” instead of the “Superdome”. Who would have known then that this would set up one of the best WrestleMania moments in history just a few minutes later? As Hogan, the official guest host went on with his speech, the glass shattered after three long years as Austin returned.
This was something nearly no one anticipated and duly enough, the crowd went over the top as they always have when Austin returns. And just as he would complete an initial exchange with Hulk, The Rock’s music hit. And there they were, three of the biggest superstars in the history of the WWE, all together in one ring. This was perhaps greatly treasured due to the fact that this had never happened before, all three of them in the same ring and on the same side. They would cheer up for the crowd for the next ten minutes with a promo while each of them went on to finish off with their trademark catchphrases. And the best part of it was the beer celebration at the end, typical of a night with Austin in all of the Attitude Era. But then, the best part of the night was yet to come.
Rob Van Dam wins the WWE Title at ECW One Night Stand
This was the famous night of “Cena wins, we riot” banners as the faithful ECW crowd stood behind one of their greatest products, Rob Van Dam and led to him winning the WWE Title. Perhaps, the last true PPV of ECW and held in New York, the Hammerstein Ballroom was a hostile environment from the get-go. It was never going to be easy for Cena to come out there and put on a show and get the pops from such a crowd, who were used to seeing hardcore wrestling over the years.
After an intense match with great spots and numerous near-falls, Rob Van Dam won the match with the help of Edge. The crowd cheered for everything that came in RVD’s way as they showed the strength and following that ECW had over the years. This was the first ever successful cash-in of the Money-in-the-bank contract that RVD had won at WrestleMania and he sure made it a memorable moment in the annals of the ECW and WWE.
And without question, Paul Heyman was the guy who actually finished the match with a pinfall in place of the injured referee and awarded the ECW title to RVD two days later.
Daniel Bryan is the WWE World Heavyweight Champion
In the end, as we mentioned earlier, the best part of WrestleMania 30 comes. Arguably the greatest pop ever received by a WWE superstar, Daniel Bryan’s rise to the top of the ladder culminated in him winning the title after two excellent matches at the Superdome. 76,000 people at New Orleans rose to commend Daniel Bryan’s feat as everyone sank into ‘Yes’ chants in union.
It was the ultimate Underdog-story which had resulted in him suffering the various deeds of the Authority. A major part of this was the way the crowd had been reacting to the return of Batista, and quite despicably too, which led to the WWE creative having no choice but instil Bryan into the WrestleMania main event.
He had gone into the match with an injured shoulder but that wouldn’t prevent him from winning the title. It was quite an emotional moment for Bryan as well, who won the unified title for the first time. Despite the fact that he would lose it to injury in the near future, he made the best of his reign as every other night, he would receive a grand reaction from the crowd. And quite clearly, he owes all of this success to the “Yes!” movement.
