WWE has had various iconic moments throughout the years – Roddy Piper breaking a coconut over the head of Jimmy Snuka, Michaels’ Superkick on Jannetty, Undertaker vs Mankind in Hell in a Cell, CM Punk’s pipebomb etc being just a few in a very long list.
But nothing else encapsulates the spirit of the Attitude Era more than the image of Stone Cold Steve Austin riding a Coors beer truck into the arena and splashing the owner of the company, the heir apparent and the World Champion, with beer.
It perfectly portrayed the anti-hero that was Stone Cold and his total disrespect to the powers that be, We look back at the infamous beer bath that occurred 18 years ago today.
Also on today's list, WWE holds its first ever Draft lottery and Wade Barrett wins a title.
#1 Stone Cold gives the Corporation a beer bath: 22nd Mar 1999
One of the greatest ever segments in the history of RAW took place on March 22 at Albany. The year was 1999 and WWE’s popularity was sky high with the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock in the main event picture.
The heel trio of Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon and the WWE Champion The Rock – all part of the Corporation – were cutting a promo in the ring when Stone Cold’s shattered glass theme reverberated across the Arena. Austin made his way to ring on a Coors beer truck and proceeded to verbally berate the Rock.
He would then drag out a hose from the truck and sprayed the heels with beer – the moment would become legendary and remains one of the most iconic images of the Attitude Era.
#2 WWE RAW holds the first ever Draft Lottery – 2004: 22nd March 2004
WWE held its first ever WWE Draft Lottery on the 22nd March 2004 episode of RAW. RAW GM Eric Bischoff and SmackDown GM Paul Heyman would pick six names each from their bins, with everyone on each roster being eligible for the Draft.
Rene Dupree, Mark Jindrak, Triple H, Rob Van Dam, Teddy Long and Spike Dudley were moved to SmackDown whereas RAW’s first 5 picks were Shelton Benjamin, Nidia, Rhyno, Edge and Tajiri.
The final pick for Bischoff would turn out to be Heyman himself and the former ECW owner would decide to quit rather than work for his arch rival.
Also, Triple H would move back to Raw a day later, getting traded for Booker T and the Dudley Boyz.
#3 Wade Barrett wins the Intercontinental title: 22nd March 2011
By the time March of 2011 came about, Wade Barrett’s momentous push as the leader of the Nexus had come to an end.
Barrett had been removed from the Nexus after losing a match against CM Punk and the Brit would move over to SmackDown forming another stable called the Corre alongside his former Nexus stablemates and WWE Tag Team Champions Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel as well as Ezekiel Jackson.
Barrett would challenge Kofi Kingston for the latter’s Intercontinental title on the 22nd March SmackDown tapings. Kingston would fend off the interference from the rest of the Corre, but the distraction would allow Barrett to counter Kingston’s Trouble in Paradise into the Wasteland to pick up the victory and the title.
The Corre would not reach the heights of the Nexus – they would lose a tag match at WrestleMania 27 in under two minutes and would implode by June.
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