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For individual wrestler moments, see their individual pages.

    Other PPVs 

1996

  • The Undertaker and Mankind's Boiler Room Brawl, which was something pretty innovative for the WWF at the time and was probably the precursor to Hardcore matches. Also marked the point where Paul Bearer turned his back on The Undertaker after six years, essentially ending Undertaker's original gimmick.

1997

  • If you could only assign one CMoA for the entire Hart Family, it would have to be In Your House: Canadian Stampede, which took place in Calgary, home of the Hart clan. The main event of this PPV was a 5 on 5 tag team match featuring the Hart Foundation consisting of Brian Pillman, Jim "The Anvil Neidhart, The British Bulldog, Owen Hart, and of course, Bret Hart against the American team of Goldust, Ken Shamrock, Legion of Doom, and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. The American team was comprised of some of the hottest babyfaces on the WWF roster at the time, but their entrances, especially Austin's, was met with visceral hatred. Meanwhile, the Harts got amazing ovations as they each entered seperately, the reactions getting louder and louder with each member introduced until finally they got to Bret, at which point you tell the arena is shaking. The crowd wouldn't die at all during the match, as they cheered loudly any time the Harts had the advantage. After Owen pinned Austin, they gathered the entire extended family, including Stu and Helen, in the ring for a huge celebration and a show of Canadian national pride. It is really special as it was quite possibly the last great moment for the Hart family before the family tragedies started piling up, starting with Pillman's death and the Montreal Screwjob later that year.
  • Taka Michonoku becoming the first-ever WWF Light Heavyweight Champion against Brian Christopher at D-Generation X: In Your House.

2000

  • Fully Loaded 2000 had several of them.
    • The APA interrupted a mocking Edge and Christian promo mid-sentence before their Tag Team title match, with Bradshaw going on a tear on the team:
    "I want you two boys to hear this, because in a second, my boot's gonna be in your ear and you wont to be able to hear a damn thing! You walk into these other towns and get your cheap heat by making fun of the town... well, now you've come into the city that has five Superbowl Championships! And come into my home state that has won every major sporting championship there is! You have the audacity to poke fun at us, that's fine... when your country is known only for high-octane beer and two blond haired punks like you! So listen son, tonight in this building where, one year ago, Dallas won the Stanley Cup Championship... in this building where Dick Murdoch and Bruiser Brody, the Freebirds and the Von Erichs ruled... Tonight, we're gonna give another memorable evening they can tell about to their kids forever - the night the Acolytes made Edge and Christian their personal bitches!"
    • Rikishi pays homage to his "uncle", Jimmy Snuka, by doing a splash from the top of the cage onto a prone Val Venis. Even more awesome—Rikishi was over four hundred pounds!

2003

  • Royal Rumble '03 will probably unfortunately be remembered for the awful Triple H - Scott Steiner match. However, the PPV was redeemed by the match that followed: Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit. While fans were earlier greeted with the "Stumblebomb" (a botched powerbomb that sent Trips and Steiner to the floor), Benoit gave Angle a beautiful DDT on the apron. While Steiner annoyed fans with the Double-Underhook-What-The-Fuck-Was-That, Benoit gave Angle the "Uber-Release German Suplex" that flipped Angle completely over and caused him to land on his face. The match was full of crazy reversals, unique pin attempts, and lots of intensity. The match ended up being an unintentional apology to the fans after the stinker that was Trips & Steiner.
    • What makes this match even more amazing? Not a single punch to the head was thrown.
    • Well actually, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit did exchange a couple of punches to the head right before Benoit gave Angle the DDT on the apron.
  • Shane McMahon's entire feud with Kane in 2003 was filled with awesome moments, but their Ambulance Match at Survivor Series that year had at least two CMOAs for Shane: first, when he hits the leap-of-faith on Kane through the announcer's table, and then when he hits the Coast-to-Coast off the ambulance onto Kane. Note that the audience started chanting "Holy Shit!" after both moves. You can see the entire match here.

2004

  • Chris Benoit. The Royal Rumble. 29 men, one hour, impossible odds, and the Rabid Wolverine still accomplished what only one other man before him - Shawn Michaels - had been able to do: win the Rumble from the #1 spot.

2005

2006

  • ECW One Night Stand 2006 kicked off the "rebirth" of ECW and featured one of the biggest mark-out moments for ECW fans ever: thanks to Extreme Rules, a well-timed spear by Edge, and Paul Heyman acting as a referee, Rob Van Dam won the WWE Championship by defeating John Cena (a decision that would not only be held up, but would result in RVD holding both the WWE Championship and the newly-reinstated ECW Championship at the same time).
    • And speaking of that match: Cena/RVD quickly turned into Cena/RVD & ECW Fans. The first few minutes of the match involved John Cena playing catch with the audience (he kept throwing his jersey into the crowd; the crowd, usually with "THROW IT BACK!" chants... well, threw it back). The crowd was universally against Cena, with chants such as "You can't wrestle!", "Same old shit!" and "You still suck!" They even chanted "Fuck John Cena!" in rounds. There was no "mixed reaction" that night; anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is a liar and you should call them a liar to their face. (Or, as Joey Styles put it: "It's mixed between those flipping him the middle finger and those using the F-word!") And of course, there was the large sign in the rafters of the Hammerstein that evolved into a meme all its own: IF CENA WINS, WE RIOT
      • It's also worth mentioning that during said t-shirt-throwing, one fan upped the ante by throwing the shirt from nowhere near the front row to land it right across the top rope (not even the one facing him) like laundry out to dry.
    • This match was a big CMOA for Cena too: just watch the match and look at how he sold the crowd's reaction to him. He played off them perfectly, going right back to his heel roots in excellent fashion without really changing a thing in regards to actual presentation - even his walk to the ring, with his head down and the WWE Championship belt held over his head, reflected this. While the Cena hate still continues to some degree, his performance here is probably a big part of why Cena's won a lot of fans over since then.
    • Really, between the crowd reactions, the in ring action, the finish, and everything else in between, this match really just needs to be seen to be believed. It's another awesome match for RVD, and ranks as one of, if not THE best match Cena's ever had.
  • Similar to the "Sweetest Chin Music" example below, Unforgiven 2006 had Carlito attempt a diving move - only for Randy Orton to give him the RKO in mid-air.

2007

  • At Royal Rumble 2007, John Cena faced Umaga in a Last Man Standing Match. It ended when Cena choked Umaga out with a broken ring rope.
    • The Undertaker winning the Royal Rumble. And it was about damn time, too!
  • CM Punk vs Elijah Burke at Judgement Day 2007. Incredible match. Sadly, the audience was dead.

2008

  • In October of 2007, John Cena tore a pectoral muscle. He was assumed to be out of action for at least seven months (and upwards of a year at the most). In January of 2008, Cena made an unannounced return to action - by entering the Royal Rumble at #30 and winning (this would have been more awesome had The Undertaker not already accomplished this the previous year, making Cena the second man to win at #30). For all the crap people want to lay on both WWE (for being predictable) and Cena (for whatever reason people have to hate him), the fact that WWE kept his return so secret that nobody knew he was coming back was absolutely incredible. As was Cena managing to complete his rehab in half the expected time (three and a half months).
    • Cena repeated this feat in August of 2008, recovering from surgery to repair a herniated disk in his neck in three months. While his return at Survivor Series was heavily figured into the PPV hype (and thus spoiled), it's said that the surgery went so well that Cena was visiting astonished members of the SmackDown roster mere hours afterward.
  • Batista picks one up at the end of his Stretcher Match with Shawn Michaels at One Night Stand 2008: "Just so you know... I don't love you, and I am NOT sorry!"
  • Maryse's performance at Survivor Series 2008: Kicking Beth Phoenix in the back of the head, while standing in front of her, one of the first times fans were given confidence she would eventually become a decent wrestler.
  • At Judgment Day Beth Phoenix hoisted both Mickie James and Melina over her shoulders for the first time.
    • How about her and Melina's I Quit match? It ended with Beth practically bending Melina in half.

2009

  • Extreme Rules 2009: Tommy Dreamer becomes the only wrestler to have held hold both the original and revived versions of the ECW Championship when he defeated then-champion Christian and challenger Jack Swagger in a three-way match to win the belt. Dreamer was the last ECW Original still working for WWE, and was working an angle where if he didn't win the ECW Championship, he would retire following his contract's expiration (the contract angle was actually legit, as Dreamer's contract really did expire in June of 2009). The build-up very strongly hinted that this would, in fact, be his last match and he even put up a note on his WWE blog saying that he had arranged to be allowed to keep blogging for a month if he lost, to round out his thoughts on this career. He even said that he got a one day extension on his contract just to compete in the match. So in the match, just after Jack Swagger was going for his Gutwrench Powerbomb finisher on Christian, Tommy (in true ECW fashion) blasted Swagger with a crutch and hit his signature DDT to pick up the victory and the title. (The next day, the dirtsheets reported that Dreamer had signed a new multi-year contract.)
  • The Bash 2009: Tommy would retain the belt against four challengers (Finlay, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry, and Christian) in a Championship Scramble Match.
  • Night of Champions 2009: CM Punk delivers an absolutely golden promo wherein he preaches his hardcore/straightedge lifestyle to a very vitriolic Philly crowd, which not only cements his status as a full-bore heel in WWE, but pretty much tells everyone on the creative team that yes, the hardcore straightedge angle can work on a main eventer and it can be awesome.
  • Bragging Rights 2009: The 60 Minute Iron Man Match between John Cena and Randy Orton. Mostly for its "Holy Shit!" Quotient. Like Orton RKO'ing Cena in the middle of an FU, Cena FU'ing Orton from the top rope, Orton throwing Cena through a wall, Orton actually trying to use the pyro to toast Cena's back, Orton DDT'ing Cena from the ring apron, Cena throwing Orton through the ring barricade, and Cena FU'ing Orton through a table.
    • After being split up months earlier in the WWE Draft, The Miz and John Morrison found themselves as opponents heading into Bragging Rights 2009, both holding championship gold (United States and Intercontinental, respectively). Despite their success, their feud leading up to the event was centered around which superstar was the Jannetty of the team. Considering that The Miz has been seen as the hanger-on by basically the entire WWE audience ever since Miz and Morrison began tagging, it could easily be considered a CMoA when Miz defeated Morrison cleanly at the PPV, finally stepping out of his former partner's shadow and proving his worth as a competitor - especially considering the fact that, in winning his match, Miz became the only one of the 11 Raw competitors in a "SmackDown vs. Raw" match to leave the arena victorious (a traitorous Big Show ensured that not even the mighty D-Generation X was able to pick up a win that night).
  • An up-and-comer by the name of Sheamus was a relatively unproven commodity, having only been in WWE for six months (and in WWE's developmental territory for a while before that). That didn't stop WWE from deciding to make him a new star: at the TLC: Tables Ladders and Chairs pay-per-view in December 2009, Sheamus defeated John freaking Cena in a Tables Match to win his first WWE Championship, arguably giving him bragging rights over the single biggest upset of the decade.
  • At Surivor Series 2009, Kofi Kingston found himself in a 2-on-1 situation during his Survivor Series Match, facing down CM Punk and Randy Orton , then nailed Randy Orton with his Trouble in Paradise kick when Orton tried to sneak up on him and hit an RKO (as he'd already done twice that match to Kofi's teammates Mark Henry and Christian) and pinned him to gain the win, making him the "sole survivor" of the match in the process. For perspective: Orton and Punk are former world champions and two of the WWE's top heels...and Kofi pinned them both in the span of 10 seconds. The crowd's explosion following the pin only made it all the sweeter.
  • Rey Mysterio Jr. vs Chris Jericho's Mask vs. Title match at The Bash. This match could have contested with Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels if only it was on the same stage. Rey Mysterio - the guy whose knees are so bad that his doctors told him if he landed wrong, he would probably never walk again - was pulling maneuvers out that he hasn't done in years, like a double springboard moonsault. Chris Jericho was simply flawless, as he usually is. These two arguably put on a better match than anybody did that year—even Jim Ross thought so.

2010

  • Elimination Chamber: The Undertaker got an unsung moment here. When Taker went to do his entrance, he got burned by his pyro and was seen immediately taking his ring jacket off as it was covered in flames. Despite this, he basically has the ref pour bottles of water over him off-camera and is passed more water while he's waiting in the Chamber pod. Aside from foregoing his ominous walk to the ring (because, you know, he's on fire), he does not break kayfabe for a moment and still wrestled the match to its conclusion. That is what you call a badass. (Michael Cole, despite not knowing what happened, covered for Undertaker's break in character rather well by saying that he was ready for a fight and he didn't want to wait to get it started.)
  • Bragging Rights 2010: Bryan got another CMOA all his own at by having an awesome Champion vs. Champion match with Intercontinental champion Dolph Ziggler. This match cemented Bryan's ability to draw a crowd into a match and even gave Dolph Ziggler arguably his best match ever in the company.
    • How good was this match? Not only did the bookers have the two of them face each other again on that week's Raw and SmackDown, but WWE.com listed them as tying the WrestleMania 26 showdown between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker for the top match of 2010, giving the tie-breaker vote to the fans (it was eventually voted #2). That's quite a hearty endorsement.
  • TLC 2010 had some good moments:
    • The end of John Cena vs. Wade Barrett. Wade asked for a Chair Match, and he got more than he bargained for: after Cena won, he took Barrett to the entrance stage (where chairs were hanging from the celing) and proceeded to rain twenty-three chairs down on top of Barrett. A fitting end to their rivalry.
    • The Divas Tables Match that saw LayCool going up against Beth Phoenix and Natalya; not only wasn't the match complete garbage, but it saw one of the few times a botch actually worked in favor of the match. As Layla and Michelle McCool tried to superplex Natalya, the reigning Divas Champion pushed her archrivals off the top rope - unfortunately, LayCool didn't go through the table set up behind them. So Natalya improvised and gave them a cross-body splash to put them through and pick up the win, making for a much more satisfying finish.
    • Sheamus vs. John Morrison in a Ladder Match for the #1 Contender's spot for the WWE Championship; not only was it the match of the night, but it was arguably a breakthrough match for Morrison.

2011

  • WWE Elimination Chamber 2011: John Morrison continues to steal the show at every PPV with his innovative Parkour offense. This time, he scaled the actual dome of the Elimination Chamber structure and hit Sheamus with a cross body block. In the closing moments, he would do a TRIPLE JUMP FLASH KICK on CM Punk. Although John Cena would predictably win the match, it was first and foremost a showcase of Morrison's athletic ability.
  • Extreme Rules 2011: An all around great show, with the opening match being Randy Orton vs CM Punk's Last Man Standing Match which had both men go to town on each other with everything from kendo sticks, steel chairs, and the announcers table ending with Orton hitting an RKO from the top turnbuckle.
    • Rey Mysterio Jr. vs Cody Rhodes in Falls Count Anywhere Match, which had them literally fighting all across the arena to a hot crowd.
    • Layla vs Michelle McCool in a Loser Leaves WWE Match, which was surprisingly pretty good, with Layla getting the victory as well as securing her Heel–Face Turn.
      • The best part, however, was the debut of Awesome Kong, or Kharma as she is known in WWE, who, immediately after the match, went after an absolutely terrified McCool and hit her with an Implant Buster.
    • Christian finally winning a World Title in an awesome Ladder Match with Alberto Del Rio, with Edge coming down and celebrating with his best friend.
    • The Triple Threat Cage Match for the WWE Championship, which had John Morrison hit a Starship Pain from the top of the cage, The Miz doing a sick looking powerbomb on Morrison into the cage walls, and John Cena doing what can only be described as being a Monkey Flip from the top turnbuckle.
    • The only really bad moment was Michael Cole getting another stupid victory, but this time we got the satisfaction of actually seeing the crap get kicked out of both him and Jack Swagger. At the very least, WWE had the brains to not have Cole try and put a good offense in.
    • Cena announcing Bin Laden's death note 
  • Over The Limit 2011: After months of being subjected to Michael Cole, he finally got his comeuppance in a magnificent Humiliation Conga. Eve Torres came out and performed a moonsault on him after he had disrespected the divas for weeks, interrupting their matches. Jim Ross who had been forced to job to Cole poured barbecue sauce all over him. Bret Hart made a special guest appearance and put Cole in the Sharpshooter while Jerry Lawler made Cole kiss his foot.
  • Night of Champions 2011: R-Truth and The Miz try to assault a referee, but he blocks Miz's punch and punches him in the face.
  • Everyone raise your glasses to Kelly Kelly and Beth Phoenix who delivered three amazing matches in a row at SummerSlam, Night of Champions and Hell in a Cell. Say what you will about Kelly as Divas' Champion but she definitely brought it at each PPV. And with Vengeance behind us you can add Eve Torres in on there as well. The WWE Divas haven't had that many solid PPV matches in a row since 2003.
  • TLC 2011: The whole show. Top to bottom. Not a moment went by that wasn't completely and utterly awesome. Survivor Series was a tough act to follow, but TLC did not disappoint. It was filled with so many "holy shit" moments that this will no doubt be remembered as one of the greatest wrestling pay-per-views of all time, and the start of something big. But perhaps the best part? Among the sheer awesomeness of the show, highlights include...
    • Zack Ryder defeating the Smug Snake Dolph Ziggler for the United States Championship, his first singles title.
      • Keep in mind, that Ryder started the year as just your average jobber, and had only particularly picked up steam as his Z! True Long Island Story webshow gained popularity. So, naturally, Ryder capping off one hell of a year for him with the U.S. Title is just awesome. Woo Woo Woo, You Know It!
    • Randy Orton and Wade Barrett going at it an awesome tables match, with Orton cutting the 'Barrett Barage' short by RKOing the busted open Barrett through a table.
    • Triple H and Kevin Nash showing just how much they hate each other in a sledgehammer ladder match. It all ended with HHH pedigreeing Nash, and when Nash tried to show that they were still friends one last time, HHH gave the "suck it" taunt and nailed Nash in his skull with the sledgehammer.
    • The Big Show and Mark Henry fighting in a chairs match for World Heavyweight Championship. Despite Henry nearly breaking Show's hand, Show still knocks out Henry with the WMD before pinning him to become champion. And then, Daniel Bryan cashing in his Money In The Bank briefcase to pin the dazed Show and become new World Heavyweight Champion, to the crowd's delight and Michael Cole's shock. Hell, even Show himself was proud.
    • The Tables, Ladders, and Chairs main event between CM Punk, The Miz, and Alberto Del Rio for the WWE Championship. "Holy shit" (which was what the crowd was chanting) doesn't even begin to describe it. But Punk shows just how crafty he is when Miz handcuffs him to the turnbuckle, Punk unscrews the rope with his bare hands before proceeding to beat the everloving hell out of both Miz and Del Rio before unhooking the title to stay champion.
    • Let that sink in for a second. As of the end of this Cena-free PPV, three of the four singles titleholders are CM Punk (WWE), Daniel Bryan (World), and Zack Ryder (US). Cue. THE FREAKING. FLYING. PIGS.

2012

  • Elimination Chamber 2012: Santino Marella, nominally a comic relief midcard face, actually makes it to the final two of the SmackDown Elimination Chamber match, even eliminating both Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett in order to do so. Sure, he ultimately lost to Daniel Bryan, but holy crap, what a freakin' performance.
    • Another awesome spot during that match was The Big Show breaking into Bryan's pod, with Bryan's smug expression changing to one of pure terror, and proceeding to beat the ever loving crap out of him whilst in the pod. Given Bryan's behavior since becoming WHC, quite a few can safely say he had it coming.
      • After Bryan does his usual overcelebrations at the end of the match, he's interrupted by the arrival of Sheamus, the 2012 Royal Rumble Winner. What follows is Sheamus kicking Bryan's ass, and pretty much confirming on what title he's coming for at WrestleMania.
    • The brutal Ambulance Match between John Cena and Kane, which ends with Cena giving Kane an Attitude Adjustment off the ambulance to knock him out long enough to throw him in.
  • Extreme Rules 2012: This PPV probably surpassed WrestleMania in quality!
    • CM Punk doing Shane McMahon proud with an top-rope elbow drop through the Spanish Announcer table.
      • Both Punk & Chris Jericho had their moments during the Chicago Street Fight, with Jericho hitting a chair-assisted Codebreaker on Punk at one point, and Punk showing ingenuity in escaping the Walls of Jericho by using a fire-extinguisher to spray Jericho in the face with.
    • Sheamus and Daniel Bryan putting on a spectacular 2-out-of-3 falls match with Sheamus barely pulling out the victory after Bryan essentially took one of his arms out of play.
    • A small Crowning Moment Of Awesome for Layla making a return exactly one year after her DCL injury and winning the Divas Title, even though Nikki and Brie had used "Twin Magic!"
    • Brock Lesnar beating the bejeezus out of John Cena for 90-95% of the match, busting him open legit ((twice!)), and hanging the man upside down on a ring post by his feet! Even though he lost after a steel chain shot and an AA on steel steps, Lesnar did what said he was going to do, plain and simple: Hurt Cena.
  • Over The Limit 2012 had one of the best matches between CM Punk and Daniel Bryan that went on for nearly thirty minutes. Loud Yes chants, dueling Daniel Bryan and CM Punk chants all through out the match, as well as a "This is Awesome" chant. They did submissions holds that the commentators had not idea what to call! The only bad thing about the match is that it played second fiddle to Cena vs. Laurinaitis.
  • TLC 2012: The TLC match between The Shield and Team Hell No and Ryback was really a sight to behold. The match saw The Shield put Ryback through the Spanish Announcers' Table, 'again. Bury Kane under myriad of ladders to take him out of the game, and one sick bump through some tables off a ladder by Seth Rollins courtesy of Ryback.
    • Another great match was the Chairs match between Sheamus and The Big Show, which was won by Show finding a huuuge ass chair for the finish!

2013

  • Elimination Chamber 2013: The six man tag team match between The Shield and Sheamus, Ryback & John Cena. Aside from isolating & systematically taking apart John Cena for the bulk of the match, there's the ending - Roman Reigns spears Sheamus through the security barricade, as Cena & Ryback to hoist Rollins & Ambrose up for a simultaneous Attitude Adjustment/Shellshocked, only for Reigns to slide into the ring & spear Ryback, with Rollins landing on top & collecting a three, as a confused Cena questions the referee what just happened. The Shield didn't just beat three of the WWE's biggest faces, they did it clean & by pinning Ryback, providing the first clean defeat of his career.
  • Extreme Rules 2013: The Shield reigned supreme. Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins won the Tag Team Titles off of Team Hell No, while Dean Ambrose won the US title from Kofi Kingston.

2014

  • Elimination Chamber 2014: The Shield and The Wyatt Family finally faced off in a brutal back and forth match which had the crowd on either side which culminated in the Wyatts taking the win. To pick out one specific moment from the match is a disservice to all 6 men, but one moment sums up just how much the crowd wanted to see the match - before a single punch had been thrown, the crowd were chanting "This is awesome!".
    • The titular match had several noteworthy spots:
      • John Cena was about to give the Attitude Adjustment to Daniel Bryan until Cesaro slams the both of them while Cena had Bryan on his shoulders.
      • Orton enters the match, and upon realising everyone else was gunning for him, promptly locks himself back in his chamber. After a minute of Orton taunting him, Sheamus decides to just Brogue Kick his way into Orton's chamber & pull him out.
      • Christian performing a splash on Sheamus by jumping from atop the chamber pod.
  • Extreme Rules 2014: The pre-show had a WeeLC match between Hornswoggle and El Torito, that was somehow both So Bad, It's Good and So Cool, It's Awesome.
    • The Shield vs Evolution. Damn best match of the night. The highlights though have to be everything that occurred in the latter half of the match. First, Dean Ambrose jumping on Triple H and Randy Orton by leaping across the announcer tables and over the barricade, causing the fight to spill into the stands. Then as Hunter and Orton push Ambrose down a flight of stairs and start wailing on him, Seth Rollins comes to the rescue by jumping off an 20-foot balcony and onto Orton and Hunter. This leaves Roman Reigns and Batista as the legal men still in the ring. Batista attempts to set up Reigns for the Batista Bomb only for Reigns to counter and nail Batista with a Superman Punch, he finally hits him with the spear to get the winning pin for his team.
    • Paige defending her title in a damn good match vs. Tamina Snuka.
    • Daniel Bryan defends his WWE World Heavyweight championship against Kane in an Extreme Rules match that quickly turned into a bitter slugfest with both men wailing at each other with whatever they can find. The fight spills into the backstage area near the parking garage, where Bryan manages to clock Kane with a tire iron and then send him back to the ring using a forklift. He then proceeds to use said forklift to land a diving headbutt at Kane, which still isn't enough to put him down. After beating on Bryan for a bit, Kane then sets a table on fire and attempts to send Bryan through it with a chokeslam. Bryan however is able to reverse it and send Kane through the table instead. After Kane gets back to the ring, all it takes is one Knee+ from Bryan for the pin.
  • WWE Payback 2014: We had Bray Wyatt and John Cena in a Last Man Standing match that tests both men's endurance. Certain scenes involve Cena throwing the ring steps onto Bray from the ring and even Bray conducting Chicago in singing "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands". In the end, after run-ins from Harper, Rowan and the Usos, Cena finally puts Bray down by AA'ing him into a wooden box and then placing another box on top of him to ensure he doesn't get up for the ten count.
    • Another match of the year contender happened between The Shield and Evolution as the six men beat the everloving shit out of each other, each side getting chances on delivering brutal beatdowns before heading back in the ring where each member of the Shield gets a pin on Evolution.

      The last minutes of the match deserve to be elaborated. First, Rollins escapes the Batista Bomb and puts Batista in the path of a spear by Reigns, enabling Rollins to get the pin. Then, Orton hits an RKO on Rollins and after Reigns breaks the cover, attempts to set him up for his top-rope DDT only for Ambrose to attack him from behind and then hit Dirty Deeds onto a steel chair and pinning Orton. This leaves Triple H as the last member of Evolution standing. Hunter low blows Ambrose and goes for the Pedigree only to get a Superman Punch from Reigns. Batista comes back to spear Reigns while Orton slides Hunter's sledgehammer into the ring to even the odds. However, Rollins then jumps on Triple H from the top rope, distracting him enough for Reigns to hit the spear on Hunter. In less than three minutes, all three members of the Shield managed to sweep Evolution, and they did so as a team.
    • Brie Bella herself got a moment when Stephanie McMahon offered a Sadistic Choice to her husband Daniel Bryan: Either forfeit the WWE World Heavyweight championship or have Brie fired from the company. Brie instead takes a third option and denies Stephanie the satisfaction of firing her by telling her she quits instead, before giving Stephanie a slap to the face.

2015

  • At TLC, Kalisto (in a triple threat ladder match between the Lucha Dragons, The New Day and The Usos) hits the Salida Del Sol OFF A LADDER ONTO ANOTHER LADDER◊. Unfortunately, they didn't win, but it was still awesome.
    • While the main event itself, a TLC match between Roman Reigns and Sheamus for the WWE Championship was lackluster, with the crowd constantly shitting on it, the ending totally changed it. Roman, once more getting screwed out of winning the title, thanks to the combined might of Rusev, King Barrett and Alberto Del Rio helping Sheamus, just SNAPPED, not only spearing the four as they celebrated with Sheamus on the other three's shoulders, but murdered them with a steel chair, with Sheamus trying to run off when some refs and the Authority tried to calm things down. The sight of HHH just made Roman even more pissed, resulting in the hugest beatdown HHH has gotten in years as Roman brutalized him with multiple chair shots, a powerbomb on the Spanish announcer table and even an elbow through it, all while Roman screams that he just doesn't care if he's fired.

2016

  • WWE Battleground 2016 had a huge match between Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, considered the end of their feud. The two cut loose like they're back in ROH, one moment of the match involving Sami suplexing Owens on the edge of the mat. The finisher comes from Sami giving Owens TWO Heluva Kicks to make sure he stays down for the pin!
    • Enzo and Cass also cut an absolutely blistering promo that got the entire crowd making "soccer mom" chants through their match with AJ Styles and the Club.
    • Bayley made her main roster debut (albeit a one-time-thing for now) as the mystery partner of Sasha Banks against Charlotte and Dana Brooke, to a massive pop.

2017

  • Elimination Chamber: Bray Wyatt winning the WWE Championship (his first singles title since arriving to the main roster three and a half years prior).
  • TLC 2017: AJ Styles vs Finn Bálor for the first time ever in WWE. A dream match fans have been asking for years happened because of a series of events that led to Bálor's intended opponent, Bray Wyatt, taking a leave of medical absence, so Styles was flown in from South America to have a match with the Demon. Together, the two put on a wrestling clinic that ended with the Demon prevailing. After the match, they shared a Too Sweet, acknowledging their history with the Bullet Club, to the fans' rejoicing.

2018

  • Evolution: Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair go to great lengths to keep the other down in a Last Woman Standing match.
  • TLC 2018: Lynch, Flair, and Asuka clash in a triple-threat match for the SmackDown Women's Championship. In what would come to be considered as one of the greatest women's wrestling matches of all time, alongside the above match at Evolution, the three absolutely annihilate one another and take insane bump after insane bump, including a lethal-looking leg drop from Becky onto Charlotte from the top of a ladder and through the German announcers' table. The match concludes with Ronda Rousey screwing Lynch and Flair by pushing over the ladder to the title, allowing Asuka to take advantage and claim her first main roster championship.

2019

  • Elimination Chamber 2019: The Boss 'n' Hug Connection outlast five other tag teams inside the Elimination Chamber to become the inaugural WWE Women's Tag Team champions.
    • The WWE Championship match inside the Elimination Chamber comes down to defending champion Daniel Bryan who had started first in the match and had outlasted Samoa Joe, Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles and Randy Orton, versus Kofi Kingston who had been a last minute replacement for the injured Mustafa Ali and had come off a critically acclaimed performance at a gauntlet match on Smackdown five days prior. With the entire crowd supporting him, Kofi gives Bryan everything he has, even managing to kick out of the Running Knee and coming very close on several occasions to pinning Bryan and win his first WWE championship. At the end of the match, Kofi tries to finish Bryan off by attempting to hit a frog splash from atop a chamber pod. Unfortunately for Kofi, Bryan is able to roll out of the way and hit Kofi with the Running Knee to retain his championship.

2022

  • Clash at the Castle: WWE's first major show in the UK since 2003's Insurrextion, and the over 62,000 in Cardiff showed why UK crowds are renowned by making their voices heard (figuratively and literally), from doing the "Hey Bayley!" chant despite her being a bitchy heel, to singing along to "Broken Dreams" and "Metalingus", and making every match feel important.
    • Many agree that match of the night was the Intercontinental Title match between Gunther and Sheamus as it was less of a wrestling match, more an ugly European street brawl in the best possible way. Both men battered the life out of each other, and by the end both men's chests were black and blue and the crowd ate it up, giving Sheamus a much-deserved standing ovation by the end. This match would end up giving WWE its second 5* Match from Dave Meltzer, tying 2022 with 1997 as the years with the most 5* matches for the company.
  • Extreme Rules 2022: The entire event was great, but everyone agreed nothing could top the ending, as just as the event was coming to a close with Daniel Cormier lifting Matt Riddle's hand, the lights suddenly went out, and from the speakers sings an ominous yet familiar tune: "He's got the whole world in his hands." Then from the stands some familiar characters make their return, before a figure emerges from a door by the entrance ramp, and when the mask is removed the Philadelphia crowd goes nuts. Ladies and gentlemen, Bray Wyatt is back!
  • Crown Jewel 2022: As controversial as both he and the shows in Saudi Arabia may be, there's no denying that Logan Paul stepped up to the plate and topped his already impressive performances at WrestleMania and SummerSlam in his match with Roman Reigns, giving the Tribal Chief one hell of a fight while also hitting a very clean Buckshot Lariat and an awesome Frog Splash from the corner to the table in the process (the latter was even done while recording from his phone, and the POV footage was just as amazing).

    Other 
  • October 17, 1983: Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka splashing Don Muraco from the top of a 12-foot cage. Kind of tame by today's standards, but at the time, it was awesomeness personified.
    • 17 years later, Superfly's "nephew" Rikishi did the same thing to Val Venis; what made this so awesome was that Rikishi was well over 450 pounds when he jumped.
    • This is the same match that future pro wrestlers Mick Foley, Tommy Dreamer, The Sandman, and Bubba Ray Dudley credit as a formative moment that led them to eventually become wrestlers. That is how awesome it was.
  • January 23, 1984: Hulk Hogan defeats The Iron Sheik to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. This not only made "Hulkamania" a national phenomenon, this came at the 1980s peak of tensions between the United States and the Middle East. Thus, millions of fans celebrated Hogan's decisive win, seeing it not only as Hogan defeating a hated villian, but America conquering a hated world enemy (Iran). Today, the match remains celebrated in American culture.
  • March 1984: In the most infamous edition of "Piper's Pit", "Rowdy" Roddy Piper had "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka on as his guest. After Piper insulted and provoked Snuka with taunts and near-racist remarks, he distracted him just long enough for him to pull out a coconut and smack him upside the head with it, sending Snuka tumbling into the Piper's Pit set and allowing Piper to further beat him down. The act got Piper massive heel heat, and is arguably the most memorable moment in Piper's career.
  • The formation of the Mega Powers at the October 3, 1987, Saturday Night's Main Event. Miss Elizabeth ran backstage while the "Macho Man" Randy Savage was getting beaten by Honky Tonk Man and the Hart Foundation, and convinced Hulk Hogan to make the save. Afterward, Hogan and Savage had their first joint promo with "Mean" Gene Okerlund, a magical moment that would drive WWF for the next year and a half.
    Mean Gene: We got a little taste of it a little earlier on here at Saturday Night's Main Event, when the Madness met the Mania! (Savage and Hogan enter the promo area, and tentatively reach as if considering shaking hands) I am talking about Macho Madness and Hulkamania, two Mega Powers meeting here tonight! Hulk Hogan, what is happening?
    Hulk Hogan: Well ya know, Mean Gene, we really don't know what we're dealing with here, man, and I'm a little worried about locking up here... because we just might blow the whole planet up. Ya know, everybody knows that Hulkamania is the strongest force in this universe. But when I hit that ring, and I saw what the Madness was all about, I realized that there was a whole other universe out there; a whole other frontier; and (Hulk and Savage first grasp hands) the power of the Madness and the 'Mania just blew my 24" guns out, man!
    Mean Gene: (to Savage) You mean to tell me there's another solar system, Macho Man?
    Macho Man: Unvelievable, I'm still in a state of shock right now! In fact, I don't think I'll be coming down for a long period of time, yeah. Reckless abandon is what I used to be, yeah! But Elizabeth opened up my eyes, and the big man here, yeah, the big man, he endorsed Macho Madness, and he gave me direction, yeah! Reckless abandon used to be the direction. Now, with the mega yeah, the mega yeah, the Mega Powers, yeah! Mega Powers, yeah! I feel the power now, big man, yeah! (they grasp hands again)
  • 1991: Non-match example from Jake "The Snake" Roberts, giving the following speech:
    "'The blind leading the blind?!' Even a fool knows that a man has only five senses! A snake...has six. We... always do it better... in the dark...."
    • The camera zooming in on his evil eye as he practically cackles the line makes the delivery creepy enough to give you goosebumps.
  • October 1991: The "Funeral Parlor" segment where five of wrestling's top superstars ever — Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, Randy Savage, Ric Flair and The Undertaker — appear in the same camera shot (briefly) at the same time. Said moment came when, while Paul Bearer was interviewing Hogan, Flair came onto the set, challenged Hogan to a match and helped Undertaker attack Hogan before Piper and Savage ran in for the save. Just seeing five iconic superstars of that caliber in one place at one time is something that has never been replicated. note 
  • On the May 1st, 2007 edition of ECW on Sci-Fi, Tommy Dreamer and Rob Van Dam re-enact their famous piledriver from November To Remember '97. Tazz's "...oh no! PILEDRIVER!" and Joey Styles' "OOOOWWWW!!" make it even better.
  • The last great moment for the original ECW fans came when WWE ran an episode of ECW on Sci-Fi in one of ECW's old haunts, New York's Hammerstein Ballroom - with two WWE mainstays, The Big Show and Batista, in the main event. You don't have to be psychic to know this wouldn't end well, and the ECW fans lived up to their reputation with chants of "You both suck!", "Same old shit!" and - best of all - "Change the channel! clap clap clap-clap-clap". The problem here was that the extreme negative reaction pushed WWE in the opposite direction than intended, as they started distancing the new ECW from the old, instead of returning to its roots.
    • For his part, though, Big Show had a small CMoA himself during this when - in response to the "You Can't Wrestle" chants - he responded to the fans at ringside "I don't have to!" in the same tempo. That is how you play off heat in a venue like that.
      • This could also be translated into a CMoA for the WWE production crew, as well, for taking the fans' reaction and turning it into the most positive reaction any match had ever gotten since the "rebirth" of the ECW brand. However, this was only for the international rebroadcast.
  • After John Morrison's taste of main-eventing ECW (thanks to winning the ECW Championship after you-know-who no-showed Vengeance 2007), he was paired together with a relative rookie in Mike "The Miz" Mizanin. The end result of this off-beat pairing? One of the longest Tag Team Championship reigns in recent history, Miz improving his in-ring skills to the point where he didn't suck, and one of the most entertaining productions in WWE history (the Internet-exclusive "Dirt Sheet", which - from its inception to its end - was the most-watched WWE.com exclusive of its time).
  • February 10 2009: Months of speculation from both TNA and an endless stream of smarks was paid off when Christian made his return to the WWE as a member of the ECW brand, stealing the entire goddamn episode of ECW on SyFy in the process.
  • The June 30 2009 edition of ECW on SyFy began with Shelton Benjamin waiting for his opponent in the ring. Then a DDR-wannabe song starts playing, and out comes Japanese wrestler Yoshi Tatsu (former NJPW wrestler Naofumi Yamamoto), making his WWE debut as part of ECW's latest "Talent Initiative". The bell rings and instead of a match, Shelton proceeds to spend two-and-a-half minutes mocking Yoshi with horribly racist and stereotpyical Japanese behavior and speech; it's made even worse by the fact that even though there were plenty of boos from the crowd, there were plenty of audible cheers and laughs for Shelton's antics. And then out of nowhere, Yoshi roundhouse kicks Shelton in the head and pins him for the win as the crowd erupts in cheers, making something that could have been ridiculous into something so much better. And even more awesome, for a guy with a goofy theme and no English skills, he's pretty over just based on how good he is in the ring. Also, more than a few people like that goofy, sub-DDR entrance theme.
    • That theme is a piece of production music named, amusingly enough, "Jpop Drop".
    • There's more amusement to be had in the case of Yoshi Tatsu getting over in the 'E. While he was a dojo classmate of NJPW's intended "supernova" Shinsuke Nakamura, Yamamoto's career never really went anywhere, while Nakamura and fellow classmate Hiroshi Tanahashi were pushed to the moon, somehow having that "it" factor that got the crowd behind those two - to the point that at one point, New Japan claimed that WWE was interested in maybe taking Nakamura aboard for two years. That ended up either being a work or not panning out, and after Nakamura's star fell a bit, one day Naofumi Yamamoto has his own press conference saying that he was going to WWE first. (And although it was a dark match, he also won a 26-man battle royal at WrestleMania 26, further one-upping his former New Japan classmates.)
  • On the last ECW on SyFy of 2009, Tommy Dreamer got a Crowning Moment of both Awesome and Heartwarming with his farewell speech. It's one thing to see a multiple-time world champion and certified legend like Ric Flair get a final farewell, but for somebody like Tommy Dreamer, who was never a huge draw or a great wrestler? WWE letting him leave like this was damned classy.
  • The main event of the final episode of ECW on SyFy on Feburary 16 2010. When Zack Ryder and Rosa Mendes try to interfere with the Christian vs Ezekiel Jackson match, Tiffany comes out and gives Rosa an unbelievable spear. Christian's performance was pretty good, as well.
  • Daniel Bryan got one on the April 6 2010 edition of NXT, when he gets asked whether or not he deserved to be ranked #1 at the time. He procedes to verbally tear apart NXT and the WWE's weaker parts.
    "Well, gee, I dunno... does The Miz deserve to be a 'pro'? Does David Otunga deserve to be the guest host of RAW? Does Michael Cole deserve to take Jim Ross's spot as commentator? I'm gonna say... no."
    • For the entire rundown of Bryan's moments of awesome after his elimination from NXT, go see his page.
  • Speaking of "go see his page" guys…The Rock. Just…The Rock.
  • The late Crash Holly, the "Houdini of Hardcore". When Crash Holly won the WWE Hardcore Championship, he vowed to be the greatest Hardcore Champion of all time, and to do so, he instituted the "24/7 Rule": Crash would defend the belt any time, at any place, so long as there was a WWE official there to make a three-count. This led to a series of hilarious attempts from people — wrestlers, Divas, even referees! — to win the title off of Crash (or whomever was holding the belt at the time) in various different places: backstage at PPV events, at the laundromat, at the airport, and (in arguably the most memorable defense of the title) "Fun Time USA", an arcade/indoor playground.
  • Rick Rude proved he was the greatest heel ever with his usual entrance taunt:
    "What I'd like now is for all you fat, out-of-shape, inner-city sweat-hogs to keep the noise down, while I show these ladies what a REAL man looks like!"
    • The kicker? At one event, one guy in the audience (apparently a fat, out-of-shape, inner-city sweat-hog) was so hurt by Rude's statements that he spent the rest of the show in the bathroom crying! Also doubles as a Crowning Moment of Funny.
      • Ironically, that's what caused Rick Rude to stop using that taunt...
    • Want more Rude awesomeness? How about appearing on both Raw and Nitro the same night. On the former he was just a DX lacky, on the latter, well, take a look.
    "They say everyone has their fifteen minutes of fame. And I'd like to use a couple of my own to talk about what is right and what is wrong with the world of professional wrestling."
    • He then proceeds to run down Vince over the Montreal Screwjob. Yeah, he was playing the heel, but like the example above to have Real Life Writes the Plot is awesome.
      • And making it even more awesome, he had appeared on ECW's syndicated show that weekend, via the working arrangement the WWF had with ECW. That's right, Rick Rude appeared for all three of the '90s "Big 3" promotions in a single weekend.
      • And thanks to the time difference he could apparently go from clean shaven to growing a full beard in the space of an hour, one more Take That! at Raw being pre taped to go along with taking the WWF to task at what they did to Bret.
  • A CMOA (as well as a Crowning Moment of Funny) for Lita came from her autobiography in which she describes a phone call to Vince McMahon immediately after her neck surgery. Paraphrasing: "Hey Vince, you know how Chris Benoit managed to walk up 50 stairs right after his surgery? I just did 52!"
  • Let's give Lita another one. She was one of the only divas to get her own video and DVD. Mae Young didn't do it. Miss Elizabeth and Sensational Sherri didn't get one. Chyna missed out as well. Few other divas had that honor: Sable (who practically was running the show in 1996) and the legendary Trish Stratus.
  • In 2008, Chris Jericho had a banner year: not only did he become Intercontinental Champion for the eighth time (beating the record that he himself set), he also won the World Heavyweight Championship twice, won the Superstar of the Year Award during the revived Slammy Awards, and practically carried Raw over the summer and early fall months thanks to an amazing feud with Shawn Michaels.
    • 2009 was pretty good for Jericho as well; he faced - and defeated - three legit wrestling legends (Ricky Steamboat, Roddy Piper, and Jimmy Snuka) at WrestleMania 25, won the Intercontinental Championship for the ninth time (breaking his own record), and became one-half of the Unified Tag Team Champions with Edge. And, when Edge was injured, Jericho chose The Big Show as his replacement partner, creating the awesome JeriShow tag team, which ran roughshod over the tag team division for months.
  • WWE's video production crew are literally the unsung heroes of the company. Their video packages are sometimes the best part of a show, and sometimes they're even better than the matches they're hyping. Most people didn't really start paying attention to what they did until the "Desire" videos debuted; after that, the team just kept getting better and better, and the IWC started praising them more and more.
  • A less-talked-about moment from 1995: Barry Horowitz, a journeyman most known as a constant Jobber in the WWE, finally scores a victory during what seemed to be another squash match by scoring a sudden roll-up on an unsuspecting Skip (Chris Candido), and thus getting the biggest pop of his career. Barry would get one more moment in the sun when he beat Skip again at Summerslam that year. This was often compared to the 1-2-3 Kid incident in 1993, but Barry had been a jobber for years beforehand which made it that much more of a shock.
    • And of course, it led to Jim Ross making one of the best-known calls from that period:
    Ross: HOROWITZ WINS!!! HOROWITZ WINS!!! HOROWITZ WINS!!!
    • This wasn't a one-note incident, either; Horowitz even got a bit of a push out of it, going so far as to appear on 1995's Survivor Series as a member of Undertaker's team.
  • Finally, let's not forget one more thing: DAMN!
  • While WWE does get a lot of flack for being isolationist and seemingly unwilling to work with other promotions.note  However, they have been improving on this over the years; they have a relationship with the EVOLVE promotion (from whom they poached Johnny Gargano & Tony Nese, among others) and have worked with Progress Wrestling, ICW and other United Kingdom based promotions as well, even letting the United Kingdom title be defended on their shows.
  • With the COVID-19 virus sweeping the world and forcing sporting organisations in America to postpone or cancel major events or seasons, WWE was forced to call an audible on the 13/03/20 episode of SmackDown by hosting it at the WWE Performance Center. Despite playing in front of an empty arena, the men and women of SmackDown and 205 Live did their level best to still deliver quality entertainment for the fans who desperately needed it, especially in light of rumours that not even WrestleMania 36 itself is safe.

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