If you are reading this, there is a very good chance that you live in or are from the Chicagoland area. So my friends, this one is for you!
Chicago has long been considered one of, if not THE biggest wrestling city in the country. A passionate fan base and an arena rich in history makes every live show in Rosemont an incredible atmosphere to be a part of.
The Road to WrestleMania once again makes its way through the wooden roof of the AllState Arena tonight. What better time to take a look at the vast history of wrestling in Chicago?
To take all of the historical moments that the Windy City has produced and condense them into a Top 10 list sounds as easy as watching Raw in 1995.
It’s a tough job…but someone had to do it!
Honorable mention – “THOMAS JEFFERSON, SUCKA!”
Quite possibly one of the most entertaining promos in Raw history!
SummerSlam 2001 gave us Chris Jericho vs Rhyno and The Rock vs Booker T for the WCW Title. All four participants are in the arena along with a, um, well, recently augmented Stephanie McMahon by Rhyno’s side.
I could sit here and write page after page about it – but really, it’s just something that needs to be heard! “Booker T and Shane … the punk-ass sucka, and the SILVER SPOON MOTHERFU…” well just take a look here …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBeXcsKTYn0
10 – A Championship Match…And A Championship Match…Then Another Championship Match
The WWE Champion suffered a debilitating injury shortly before a scheduled defense at a pay-per-view show … hhmmm … that sounds vaguely currently familiar…
Yes the same situation that Seth Rollins’ leg has put us in recently happened back in the Fall of 2007 as well. John Cena was scheduled to face Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing at No Mercy in the AllState Arena . On the Raw before the No Mercy, John Cena, the WWE Champion, broke his collarbone during a match with Mr. Kennedy and would be out for the next few months…when he would make his dramatic, unexpected return and win the 2008 Royal Rumble (I’m giving an evil eye to a friend of mine right now because of this…he knows who he is!) AAAAAAAnyway…
So what to do with the title? Make a new match? Tournament? Give it to Chris Jericho, who the entire crowd was expecting to see return that night?
Nope!
The show starts with Vince McMahon and then Raw GM William Regal coming down to the ring, explaining that Cena is out, and handing the title to Randy Orton. This, however, did not go over well with HHH. The Game comes down and coaxes the new champ into putting the title on the line right then and there. HHH gets a rollup pin and takes the title from Orton. But wait, HHH was already scheduled to go up against Umaga, what of that match? Well an upset McMahon lets HHH know that the match will still go on and the newly won WWE Championship will be on the line.
The two have a great match and HHH once again walks away with the win and the title. After which, McMahon walks up to an exhausted HHH to let him know that Orton will be evoking his right to a rematch for the title that night as well – and since the crowd was expecting to see a Last Man Standing Match, that’s what they would get! HHH couldn’t get past this one and couldn’t answer the 10 count. The third and final title match of the evening sees Randy Orton ending the night just as it started, with him holding the WWE Championship.
9 – The Biggest Underdog Story
The buildup for WrestleMania 22 in Chicago was indeed an unprecedented one. A lot of the previous five months had been centered on the tragic passing of one of the most entertaining performers in history, Eddie Guerrero. While we were robbed of what could have been an instant classic with the rumored Guerrero vs 
Shawn Michaels match that could have taken place, we were still given that feel good moment when perennial underdog, and Guerreo’s best friend Rey Mysterio defeated Randy Orton and Kurt Angle to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
It seemed like the Chicago crowd was strongly behind Angle throughout the match, but when the time came to give the new champion his proper respect, the crowd did not fail. While Mysterio was greeted and embraced at the top of the stage by Vicki and Chavo Guerrero, the crowd could very easily sense Eddie’s presence with that infectious smile of his.
8 – “Don’t Do It Shane!”
Who didn’t miss Shane? In the early 00’s, The Prodigal Son gave us breathtaking moment after breathtaking moment. Being the son of Vince McMahon this is something that he obviously did NOT have to do. Whether it was for the love of the fans or the love of the thrill, the crowd was always given an amazing show whenever Shane was on the card.
One such moment came at Backlash in 2001. After defeating his father at WrestleMania 17, Vince decided to sick The Big Show on his son in a Last Man Standing match. During the match, Test came down to aid Shane who, while running from The Big Show, climbed to the top of the stage. Once Test got the giant down, he gave the signal to Shane; Shane gave the sign of the cross and made the 50 foot free fall onto The Big Show for the win.
It wasn’t the first time that Shane would make a leap like that and it wouldn’t be the last. That sentence alone sums up Shane pretty well. He wanted to give a good show – and he never failed. Will we the same in Dallas at WrestleMania this year?
7 – Record Crowd At Comiskey
We have all seen the iconic footage of the legendary “Nature Boy” Buddy Rogers in an interview immediately after defeating Pat O’Connor for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. “To a nicer guy it couldn’t happen!” Rogers – the quintessential heel of the era!
But did you know that this historic match took place at the old Comiskey Park in Chicago? 38,622 fans would gather at the old home of the White Sox to set a wrestling attendance record that would stand for 23 years. The gate for the 1961 event was $148,000, an unheard number at the time. To put that into perspective that would be the equivalent of a $1.1 million gate today! That’s WrestleMania territory!
6 – The United Center Opens Its Doors
“The House That Michael Built” has been host to two Bulls’ championship wins, a Blackhawks Stanley Cup win last year, several concerts and performances and a damn circus that drives the Bulls and Blackhawks out west for two weeks every November.
The United Center opened its doors for the first time in the summer of 1994 and the first event it hosted was the biggest party of that summer – SummerSlam. Overall the card didn’t disappoint with Bret Hart vs Owen Hart in the cage for the title, Diesel vs Razor Ramon with Walter Payton in his corner amongst other matches. While the main event was a bit confusing with The Undertaker squared, the event itself definitely set the tone for future WWE events at the Madhouse on Madison! (yeah, I don’t think they went back)
5 – Icon vs Icon
When Vince McMahon bought WCW in 2001, he wasn’t able to acquire 100% of the talent roster due to contractual restraints.
This could very well just be viewed as destiny!
Three of those contracts were the three founding members of the New World Order – Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and the man the built the WWF to the 
international powerhouse that it is, Hulk Hogan. After returning the night before in Milwaukee, Hogan came out to a huge reception at the AllState Arena to help his heel status and let the fans know they turned their back on Hulkamania.
Enter this generations “Hulk Hogan” – The Rock!
Rock comes in and gives the face promo defending the people and makes the challenge that would lead to arguably a top-10 match in WrestleMania history! The atmosphere in Toronto for WrestleMania 18 was simply electric – and it all started with the stare down in Chicago!
But wait – that’s not all! We then got what ended up being the only real nWo moment of that run. As Rock was walking back up the ramp, Hall and Nash jumped him from behind. The three started beating the Rock to the point where he needed to be taken off in an ambulance. Once in the ambulance, Hall and Nash came back out, locked Rock in the ambulance and Hogan proceeded to smash the Rock-filled ambulance with a semi-truck! Ah the days before budget restraints!
4 – It Begins
In 2002, Vince McMahon let the roster know that what was missing from the show and what was needed was “ruthless aggression.” Quick to try and impress the boss, Kurt Angle came to the ring one fateful SmackDown to tell the Chairman that he indeed had ruthless aggression. To prove this, he should show anyone in the back that would answer the challenge and show them his aggression.
Who would answer that call?
Some rookie. A kid that the WWE Universe had never seen before. Someone just trying to make a name for themselves at Kurt Angle’s expense.
Some kid…named John Cena.
Cena gave Angle a run for his money in his first match on the main roster but came up just a bit short. After the match, the young Cena (who apparently was still in Thuganomics medical school at this point) got the thumbs up from the one and only Undertaker in the back which, as we know, is THE sign that says you belong here.
Since his 2002 debut in Chicago, I’d say that rookie has done OK for himself.
3 – Ultimate Submission without Submission
It was a highly advertised WrestleMania match that neither competitor wanted to be in. At WrestleMania 13 it was announced that Bret Hart would take on Stone Cold Steve Austin in a submission match with UFC submission specialist Ken 
Shamrock as the guest referee.
Austin heard the news and was a little confused by it since he was not a submission wrestler. Hart didn’t want the match as he thought the plan was for a WrestleMania 12 rematch with Shawn Michaels for the championship – that was until Michaels went on a search for his smile.
Well the two just accepted the fact that this match would happen. What came of it? A match that most consider to be one of the greatest in WrestleMania history!
The back and forth contest literally went all over the arena as the future Hall of Famers gave the fans something to talk about. The iconic image of a bloody Austin refusing to submit in the Sharpshooter before passing out is one that we will see in WrestleMania video montages for years to come! (well, in some way that the PG WWE can show it)
2 – The Millennium Man
For weeks in 1999 the WWE Universe would be teased as Raw went to commercial with a “Countdown to the Millennium” clock. With the worry of Y2K, the initial thought was just a countdown to the end of the year. Once you realized that this particular countdown ended sometime in August, we moved on from that theory.
On that August night in Chicago, The Rock was in the ring cutting a promo on The Big Show who he was scheduled to take on later in the night. The Rock was interrupted by the familiar sound of the ticking clock which was near 10 seconds. The anticipation grew with every tick. Once the clock it zero, we got a small light show before complete darkness for a few seconds. After a shot of pyro that made me jump from my seat sitting at home, we heard the now-familiar music and the letters sprawled across the entire TitanTron … JERICHO!
Chris Jericho became the first young star to jump ship from rival WCW to the WWF solidifying the shift in sports entertainment power. Jericho proceeded to cut a promo saying that he was here to save the WWF from the boredom the show had become with the boring characters like the guy in the ring (The Rock). The Rock responded as only The Rock could and Jericho was off to start his Hall of Fame career in WWE.
1 – Chicago’s Night
Jerry Lawler made the comment on the atmosphere at AllState Arena this night that it would be like the Chicago Bears playing in the Super Bowl … if the Super Bowl were held in Chicago.
Jerry … I concur.
It was a monumental night in 2011 in Las Vegas when CM Punk drove John Cena through a table, grabbed a mic and took a seat at the top of the ramp. What came next was arguably the most controversial mic moment in the over 20 year history of Monday Night Raw. What followed was what became known as “Th
e Summer of Punk” arguably the most entertaining stretch of TV wrestling had seen since Austin/McMahon and the nWo.
The promo part of the infamous “Pipe Bomb” was that CM Punk’s contract with WWE was expiring the night of Money in the Bank, coincidently held in Chicago. His plan was to beat John Cena that night and leave the company with the WWE Championship.
Obviously something like that could not happen – so we would just get another John Cena win…right?
It is hard to determine which was more impressive, the size of the ovation that Punk received as he walked down to the ring in his hometown for the main event or the collective “BOO” coming from 99.9999999999994% of the arena as Cena’s music hit. It was clear to see who the fans were backing that night.
The match itself was amazing. Everyone was on the edge of their seat in the AllState Arena. In an effort to keep his championship in his company, Vince McMahon came down to the ring and tried to get his right hand man John Laurinaitis to stop the match a la the Montreal Screw Job. Cena knocked Laurinaitis out saying that it wasn’t going to happen that way. He rolled back into the ring, Punk hit him with the GTS and got the unexpected 1-2-3 and, as the great Gorilla Monsoon would say, the roof was about to come off of the arena!
In a last ditch effort, McMahon sent Alberto Del Rio, who had just won the Raw Money in the Bank match earlier in the night, down to the ring to cash in right now. Punk nailed Del Rio before he could cash in, hopped the gate, blew a kiss goodbye to McMahon and ran through the crowd and out of the arena.
This may be local bias, but I can’t think of a collective response from a crowd that large in WWE history. Chicago has been called one of, if not the greatest wrestling city in the country – and this night was our night!
As I mentioned before, Raw will take place in Chicago tonight. Anytime WWE comes through the Windy City the potential of a memorable will come along. Will we get another one tonight?
WHAT DO YOU THINK? WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CHICAGO WRESTLING MEMORY? IS THERE SOMETHING YOU LIKED THAT IS NOT ON THE LIST? FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @FROM_THETOPROPE AND LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!
