5 ground breaking moments in wrestling - The time factor (Part 1)

I was listening to interviews of old timers a while ago, and something caught my attention. Pro wrestling is like any other form of entertainment in the truest sense. Everything depends on the timing. Much emphasis is given to the situation and waiting for a ‘defining moment’ in a person’s career, especially when you’re waiting for a break in the business; thus, timing is of the utmost importance. When you’re waiting to make your debut, or just waiting for your 15 minutes of fame, everything depends on things falling into place.

For long, people have used the phrase ‘At the right place, at the right time’. It is applied even in the wrestling business. Although it might not always be a good thing, the promoters understood that concept more than anyone else. Either for introducing a character, or a storyline, they used to wait for the right moment. How can we forget the now legendary tale of Sgt Slaughter’s heel turn in the early part of 90s, turning against the Americans after they entered into a war against Iraq? He couldn’t go alone in public without a safety vest or security personnel. And what more, he went on to win the WWF(now E) Championship at RR by beating the Ultimate Warrior!

Anything, when done correctly, works fine. If the timing favours the decision, you create magic. In the wrestling business, it means a lot of money. And that has happened quite a few times. There are two sides of a coin, and this is not different. It can either work in your favour, which it almost always does, but it can also go against you; and when it does, it creates havoc. I have picked 5 such moments/events, which have become memorable in wrestling history, purely because of the timing.

5) CM Punk’s pipebomb promo.

2011 was an eventful year in the world of pro wrestling. Not only did we see the emergence of a crop of young talent, but we also witnessed something that changed the landscape of WWE. One person took the WWE and shook it to its very core, thus transforming what was till then a boring period in the wrestling world to one of the best periods of the modern era. June 27^th 2011 saw one of the most pivotal moments in the career of one individual, CM Punk. Punk was always an exceptional talent. He started gaining mainstream attention since his time in Ring of Honour, and the way he exited RoH created and generated a lot of buzz. Punk has always been regarded as one of the best talkers in the business. Not only can he entertain the fans, but his serious tone can bring some reality in a business which is otherwise Hollywood-esque. But why was that one promo so ground breaking and monumental? It was because of not only how it happened, but when it happened as well.

It was at a point when the fans were getting tired of WWE; the same people holding the title, the same matches happening again and again, and some were vocal about how the Rock could come back and steal the spotlight. Even though many thought about it even backstage, no one had the chance to express it. Cue the ‘saviour’, the ‘voice of the voiceless’. CM Punk delivered one of the best promos the business had ever witnessed. What followed can only be described as a welcome change in the WWE. Daniel Bryan won the World Heavyweight title, Zack Ryder won the United States title, CM Punk was the WWE Champion. Things changed, and Punk was the reason for all of that to happen. The storyline was a welcome change to the boring monotonous storylines in the WWE, and thus created magic, something that can only be created when all the stars align.

4) Bret Hart/Shawn Michaels’ rise to fame.

If you were an 80s kid, you’d know the huge impact Hulkamania made in the wrestling world. Not only was it the biggest thing to hit the world of pro wrestling, but it transcended into something much bigger. Hulkamania was a force, and it created the now famous ‘Rock n’ Wrestling Connection’, and took wrestling on to bigger and better stages. You can even go as far as to say that wrestling wouldn’t have been the same had it not been for Hulk Hogan. All the guys in wrestling were larger-than-life characters, and that included their strongman physique. It was a mindset in the business, that if you had to make it big, you must have a good physique with huge muscles popping out. During the early part of 90s, Vince Mcmahon had to go through the famous drug trial. People started to know more about the drug abuse and the steroid use in wrestling, like many other sports. This increased awareness about ‘roid-rage’ and other consequences of drug and steroid abuse. Doping tests were introduced in wrestling as well. It was one of the toughest periods wrestling had to go through. Something had to change, had to take that perspective out of peoples’ minds. So what was the solution? Change the way a champion was pictured in the company.

For quite a while, people wanted to see smaller guys stand toe to toe with the bigger brutes. The only guy who came close to doing that was Roddy Piper. But the first person to change that was Bret Hart. At a time when the management decided to pass on the baton to the smaller guys, Bret was at the right place, at the right time. And after Bret became the then WWF Champion, the door was wide open for the rest of the smaller guys. And who capitalized on that? Enter the Heart Break Kid, Shawn Michaels. Bret and Shawn paved way for other smaller guys in the organization. The likes of Chris Jericho, CM Punk, Edge and many others credit Bret and Shawn to be the pioneers of this change. And once again, it was due to the timing, and once again, it proved to be monumental.

Which are the top 3 ground-breaking moments in wrestling? Find out in Part 2 soon!