History TearJerker / ProfessionalWrestling

** YMMV, this troper found that moment to be incredibly [[{{Narm}} narmy]].

* While it was a part of a storyline, Triple H's "I love you, Pop" to Vince when he relieved Vince of his duties as chairman was absolutely heartbreaking.

** It obviously goes without saying, but the video tribute to Randy Savage that VinceMcMahon personally gave the green light to, after years of a grudge, and the song choice; The Scientist by Coldplay. The song was definitely picked for meaningful lyrics.

* The death of any wrestler I watched as a kid, whether I cheered them or booed them then, happens way too often and always makes me tear up. People told me wrestling was fake, I knew it was, but they made me suspend my disbelief for a little while. Thanks.
* Jay Lethal's dedication to the legendary Randy Savage: http://www.twitlonger.com/show/aj7llu.
* It obviously goes without saying, but the video tribute to Randy Savage that Vince McMahon personally gave the green light to, after years of a grudge, and the song choice; The Scientist by Coldplay. The song was definitely picked for meaningful lyrics.

** Bobby Heenan [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] the sappiness: "This is sickening!"

* I literally cried when KurtAngle Angle Slammed [[Dwayne Johnson The Rock]] to win his first WWF Championship. It was the first right thing that WWF had done in years.

* Jay Lethal's dedication to the legendary Randy Savage: http://www.twitlonger.com/show/aj7llu.

* Hulk Hogan's made nasty comments on his Twitter about other wrestlers before, and his real-life animosity with Macho Man RandySavage was well-known. So when Savage tragically died in a car accident, fans braced for the worst from Hogan. What we saw instead were a serious of heartfelt tweets about how Hogan and Savage had just started talking again and how much Hogan regretted a decade of animosity and missed and respected his friend.

* Hulk Hogan's made nasty comments on his Twitter about other wrestlers before, and his real-life animosity with MachoManRandySavage was well-known. So when Savage tragically died in a car accident, fans braced for the worst from Hogan. What we saw instead were a serious of heartfelt tweets about how Hogan and Savage had just started talking again and how much Hogan regretted a decade of animosity and missed and respected his friend.

* The death of any wrestler I watched as a kid, whether I cheered them or booed them then, happens way too often and always makes me tear up. People told me wrestling was fake, I knew it was, but they made me suspend my disbelief for a little while. Thanks.

* April 11, 2011 - {{Edge}} announcing his retirement. He came out on Raw and gave a {{kayfabe}}-breaking, heartfelt speech about how this life was all he'd ever wanted. From when he was a little kid watching Wrestlemania VI, to when he and [[{{Christian}} his best friend]] were training in Canada as wrestlers, {{Edge}} dreamed of becoming a professional wrestler. He went from that awestruck little kid to a '''twenty-seven time''' champion (11 world title reigns among them), the most championships anyone in the WWE has ever held. His final match in the WWE was a successful title defense of the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania, and he was so grateful to have been able to go out in the pinnacle of his career. Unfortunately, as a result of his surgically-repaired neck, he risks total paralysis if he continues to compete. The fans gave him multiple standing ovations, many Superstars have been Tweeting their support of him, and "[=#ThankYouEdge=]" and "Adam Copeland" (his real name) have been trending on Twitter for almost 24 hours straight.

* The ending to Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair at [=WrestleMania=] 24 was this all the way. It was hard not to see Ric Flair, an old, beaten veteran whose career was riding on a victory, struggle to his feet knowing full well that Michaels was going to hit his superkick and end him. The fact that Flair had to beg Michaels to do it, and once Michaels did he first audibly said, "I'm sorry, I love you," and then, right after the win was official, hugged Flair made it even worse. Seeing Flair pull himself up, knowing he was done was bad enough, but having Shawn apologize prior to hitting his finisher was heartbreaking. Flair's farewell on the following Raw made maybe even more tears than the match itself: Flair got a huge ''This Is Your Life''-style sendoff, with many of his old compadres from NWA and WCW (most prominently the rest of the Four Horsemen) coming out to greet him, followed by ''the entire roster of WWE'' - faces and heels - coming out to the ring to applaud as "Leave the Memories Alone" played on the P.A. and the crowd repeatedly chanted "THANK YOU, RIC!"
** Which, of course, was out and out wasted when Ric Flair returned to the ring a little over a year later in TNA. After the WWE had put everything into the retirement storyline, given it top billing, the works...Flair spat in their faces. That was a personal tearjerker for this wrestling fan.

* The ending to Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker II at [=Wrestlemania=] 26. Michaels did everything he possibly could to put down the Deadman but he just couldn't win. What really brings chills is that unlike Flair who accepted his retirement at the hands of HBK, just before Taker could finish off Michaels with a final devastating Tombstone, Michaels taunted Taker with his signature thumb across the throat and slapped Taker showing that Michaels would NEVER stop fighting. Then after the pinfall, Taker shook HBK's hand acknowledging Michaels once and for all as one of the best to ever set foot in the ring. ManlyTears were shed.
** The next night on RAW, Shawn Michaels would give his retirement speech, topped off by Triple H closing the show by leaving two DX glowsticks on the ramp in the shape of an X.
*** Also a [[CrowningMomentOfHeartWarming CMoH]]/TearJerker for all DX fans to realise ''they won't tag team together ever again.''

* [=WrestleMania=] 20's ending scene (pictured) is one of those it's impossible not to feel a wide range of emotions at. There are both tears of glory, over having seen both Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit reach the summit after climbing the mountain for many years, and of sadness when you consider the two's [[KillEmAll eventual fates]].
* Speaking of Eddie Guerrero, his tribute shows that aired after his untimely death. The tribute video set to Johnny Cash's version of "Hurt" made things so much worse, as did seeing guys like the Big Show and Benoit bawling their eyes out. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP2ZyH651K8 See it here]]
** The real killer was that night's main event match between Chris Benoit and Triple H, where after Benoit won, the two men embraced in the middle of the ring, both having broken down crying.
** The RealitySubtext behind the Eddie Guerrero story only deepened the tragedy, resulting in a sort of RedemptionEqualsDeath both in and out of {{Kayfabe}}. Guerrero had crashed a car and nearly killed himself while doped out of his mind years earlier, and eventually went to jail and lost the support of his wife, Vickie. He finally returned, reconciled with Vickie, and won the WWE Championship....and then became so jealous of Rey Mysterio that he transformed into a CompleteMonster and lost the support of Vickie ''again''. After a brief DespairEventHorizon, Eddie [[IGotBetter got better]] and challenged for the World Heavyweight Championship. He had embraced Christianity by this point and was trying to rid himself of his "Lie, Cheat & Steal" gimmick. When facing Batista for the WHC, he was tempted to hit Batista with a chair when the referee was not looking but resisted the temptation - and lost the match. This was the ''last'' pay-per-view match he ever had before his death.

** This troper still cries whenever he watches either the first few minutes of the first of two tribute shows WWE put on in the week following his death (which included an absolutely heartbreaking tribute video set to Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt", as well as several WWE wrestlers crying as members of the crowd -- many crying themselves -- started chanting "Thank you, Eddie!") or the video announcing Eddie's induction into the WWE Hall of Fame.

** Those episodes were so hard to watch--seeing the Big Show in tears was enough to get me going--but easily the saddest moment for [[{{rushguy1}} this troper]] was Chris Benoit's video tribute. Seeing him so stoic and calm in the first two-thirds was bad enough, but when he completely broke down at the end...forget it. It's this troper's opinion that if Eddie was still alive, Chris and his family would still be alive.
** This troper doesn't even really watch wrestling anymore. But all my memories of the day Eddie Guererro, my all time favorite wrestler died..bordered mostly between crying and feeling absolutely horrifically depressed. The tribute shows just multiplied it by a factor of ten.

* How about the Owen Hart show? It's most notable moment was Jeff Jarrett speaking on him, which even today makes this troper have to hold back tears of his own.
** This troper spent most of the two days after the death of Owen Hart in tears, and a good portion of the week in a similar state. The fact that it happened during an event I was watching just added the initial feeling of being punched in the stomach.

--->''Owen didn't die due to a heart problem likely brought on by the excessive steroid abuse; he didn't overdose on the popular combination of alcohol and pain pills; ''he didn't die by any fault of his own.'' Owen James Hart died because he was a company man, a pawn in a ratings battle that had already been over for a long time.''

** Watching the event live on PPV and seeing the usually smiling Jerry Lawler sit down at the annouce table and tell Jim Ross, "It doesn't look good" with the most shell-shocked look on his face hit this then 13-year-old troper like a semi-truck. I hugged my dad and cried as Owen was one of my favourite wrestlers
* The Chris Benoit tribute was just as bad (and in fact ended on the [=WrestleMania=] 20 ending shot) especially in light of what it turned out led to his death.

* In '''Pro Wrestling NOAH''' there's Kenta Kobashi's real-life kidney tumor diagnosis in late June 2006... possibly the only thing that could force a hiatus for a wrestler who'd already sacrificed his knees to keep the company afloat in its infancy. Fortunately, while it would be almost 18 months later, he would recover and actually returned to the ring in a match that gave NOAH its first legitimate sellout in months (if not over a year) and itself was a tearjerker. The whole scene was so emotional that the ringside announcer could be heard crying as he talked during Kobashi's entrance. (Tragically, months after that it would be reported that his mother was diagnosed with cancer.)

* The end of Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton at No Way Out 2006, where Rey lost to Randy, who had been tormenting him over being a "charity case" for several weeks at that point. Usually Rey has half the acting ability of a rotten banana, but seeing him all but burst into tears in the ring at the end and knowing that there was probably some real life anguish involved was hard as hell to watch.

* Some of Mick Foley's "Anti-Hardcore" promos, most especially the one where he tells of how he wanted desperately as a youngster to prove that wrestling could be a legitimate, respected sport. Then he had his ear thrown in the garbage in Munich in 1994, and a Nurse stare at him in shock, saying "It's all a big joke"? (He even had to tell the medics, "Vergessen sie nicht, bitte, mein ohr in der plastiktasche zu bringen!", literally, "Please don't forget my ear in the plastic bag!") There comes his revelation, and he ends it with, "Professional wrestling... will never be respected. No matter how many bones I break, no matter how many ears I lose, no matter how many brain cells have to die!"

* On the 1997 ''Thursday Night Raw'', Shawn Michaels had to forfeit his WWF Championship due to a knee injury and claiming that he had to "search for his smile that he lost". This moment was very controversial because it was rumored that Michaels didn't want to drop the title to Bret Hart at the upcoming ''[=WrestleMania=] 13''. During the actual show, Hart shot at Michaels, calling him a "phony little faker" who's suffering a "pussy-foot injury".
* When this troper was around the age of five, his favorite wrestler was "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and he watched Wrestlemania 19, he saw, for the first time, Stone Cold lose. This troper sat on his staircase for hours, bawling his eyes out.

** Booker T became the second black wrestler to hold the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
** Mick Foley winning the WWF Championship after years of mid-card and jobber status.
** Stone Cold Steve Austin winning the 1996 King of the Ring and giving the "Austin 3:16" speech.
** Hulk Hogan bodyslamming Andre the Giant at ''{{WrestleMania}} III''.
** The Rock's speeches are all legendary, but this troper would choose the duet sung with Stone Cold Steve Austin.
** Rob Van Dam winning the WWE Championship (and the ECW Championship) at ''ECW One Night Stand 2006''.

* Randy Savage and Ms. Elizabeth getting back together after the "retirement" match @ Wrestlemania VII. Six years of angles built up to one big moment. Women (and some men!) in the crowd were in tears.

* I literally cried when Kurt Angle Angle Slammed The Rock to win his first WWF Championship. It was the first right thing that WWF had done in years.

* Trish Stratus's retirement match at ''Unforgiven 2006''. She was probably the only female superstar WWE built up that ever got a "storybook" ending. In her hometown of Toronto, she faced off against WWE Women's Champion Lita, whom she had faced in her very first match and with whom she'd had an on-and-off rivalry with. In the end, she made Lita tap out to the Sharpshooter (to quote Jim Ross, "a move as Canadian as Canadian [gets]!") to win her seventh and final Women's Championship, breaking the record of The Fabulous Moolah (who had six) and earning her a standing ovation from the thousands of fans in the crowd. Hearing the "thank you, Trish" chants and seeing Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, and a teary-eyed Lillian Garcia give her standing ovations is enough to make anyone get teary eyed.
* Randy Orton winning the World Heavyweight title definitely counts since he had made history (he was the youngest man to ever become a World Champion). Either he is a really good actor, or he was genuine when he won - he was visibly shaken and could barely stand before the waterworks came. Then he shook Benoit's hand to start off his face turn and cap off the moment.
* Another person who got even more emotional than Randy Orton at winning a title was Candice Michelle. The girl who came in as a Diva Search contestant that didn't even make it to the finals worked extra hard to improve her wrestling and was rewarded with a Women's Championship reign. When she won, she promptly burst into tears and could barely walk back up the entrance ramp. An article on WWE.com said that in the locker room, Candice said, "I was always told I couldn’t do it and couldn’t be a contender and would never be a good wrestler. That I was just an actress, that I was just eye candy. It’s taken more than three years for me to prove that’s not true." Whether or not Candice really said this, it's still enough to get anyone choked up.

* April 11, 2011 - {{Edge}} announcing his retirement. He came out on Raw and gave a {{kayfabe}}-breaking, heartfelt speech about how this life was all he'd ever wanted. From when he was a little kid watching Wrestlemania VI, to when he and [[{{Christian}} his best friend]] were training in Canada as wrestlers, Edge dreamed of becoming a professional wrestler. He went from that awestruck little kid to a '''twenty-seven time''' champion (11 world title reigns among them), the most championships anyone in the WWE has ever held. His final match in the WWE was a successful title defense of the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania, and he was so grateful to have been able to go out in the pinnacle of his career. Unfortunately, as a result of his surgically-repaired neck, he risks total paralysis if he continues to compete. The fans gave him multiple standing ovations, many Superstars have been Tweeting their support of him, and "[=#ThankYouEdge=]" and "Adam Copeland" (his real name) have been trending on Twitter for almost 24 hours straight.

!!Examples

* April 11, 2010 - {{Edge}} announcing his retirement. He came out on Raw and gave a {{kayfabe}}-breaking, heartfelt speech about how this life was all he'd ever wanted. From when he was a little kid watching Wrestlemania VI, to when he and [[{{Christian}} his best friend]] were training in Canada as wrestlers, Edge dreamed of becoming a professional wrestler. He went from that awestruck little kid to a '''twenty-seven time''' champion (11 world title reigns among them), the most championships anyone in the WWE has ever held. His final match in the WWE was a successful title defense of the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania, and he was so grateful to have been able to go out in the pinnacle of his career. Unfortunately, as a result of his surgically-repaired neck, he risks total paralysis if he continues to compete. The fans gave him multiple standing ovations, many Superstars have been Tweeting their support of him, and "[=#ThankYouEdge=]" and "Adam Copeland" (his real name) have been trending on Twitter for almost 24 hours straight.

* April 11, 2010 - {{Edge}} announcing his retirement. He came out on Raw and gave a {{kayfabe}}-breaking, heartfelt speech about how this life was all he'd ever wanted. From when he was a little kid watching Wrestlemania VI, to when he and [[{{Christian}} his best friend]] were training in Canada as wrestlers, Edge dreamed of becoming a professional wrestler. He went from that awestruck little kid to a '''twenty-seven time''' champion (11 world title reigns among them), the most championships anyone in the WWE has ever held. His final match in the WWE was a successful title defense of the World Heavyweight Championship, and he was so grateful to have been able to go out in the pinnacle of his career. Unfortunately, as a result of his surgically-repaired neck, he risks total paralysis if he continues to compete. The fans gave him multiple standing ovations, many Superstars have been Tweeting their support of him, and "[=#ThankYouEdge=]" and "Adam Copeland" (his real name) have been trending on Twitter for almost 24 hours straight.

* AJ's elimination from season 3 of NXT. Here was a girl who had dreamed of being a diva since she was a little girl and had been a huge WWE fan her whole life. With one week left in the competition she was eliminated in 3rd place. She burst into tears and gave one of the most heartfelt speeches I've ever heard. Even the people at ''SLAM Wrestling'' were calling her elimination a travesty.

*** The RealitySubtext behind the Eddie Guerrero story only deepened the tragedy, resulting in a sort of RedemptionEqualsDeath both in and out of {{Kayfabe}}. Guerrero had crashed a car and nearly killed himself while doped out of his mind years earlier, and eventually went to jail and lost the support of his wife, Vickie. He finally returned, reconciled with Vickie, and won the WWE Championship....and then became so jealous of Rey Mysterio that he transformed into a CompleteMonster and lost the support of Vickie ''again''. After a brief DespairEventHorizon, Eddie [[IGotBetter got better]] and challenged for the World Heavyweight Championship. He had embraced Christianity by this point and was trying to rid himself of his "Lie, Cheat & Steal" gimmick. When facing Batista for the WHC, he was tempted to hit Batista with a chair when the referee was not looking but resisted the temptation - and lost the match. This was the ''last'' pay-per-view match he ever had before his death.
** How about the Owen Hart show? Its most notable moment was Jeff Jarrett speaking on him, which even today makes this troper have to hold back tears of his own.
** The Chris Benoit tribute was just as bad (and in fact ended on the [=WrestleMania=] 20 ending shot) especially in light of what it turned out led to his death.
*** [[PikaHikariKT This troper]] was devastated when she found out Eddie died (she still remembers looking one of her friends right in the eyes the next day and telling him the news in a dead serious tone so he would get it). And then Benoit died, and she didn't find this out until ''two hours before Raw''...cried even harder than she did for Eddie (and like everyone else, had a lot of trouble believing that it was a {{Familicide}}).
**** I can still recall where I was when I heard about Benoit. I'd just logged on to see if I could grab a preview of Raw later that night. I honestly thought it was a joke. I still wish it was. I took off my glasses and bawled for several minutes straight, then passed the info on. My friend dropped his cell phone when I messaged him about it.
**** Worse for this Troper. I was staying in my dad's at the time, which meant no internet. When RAW opened cold (I missed the "In Memory of" screen), my mind was immediately cast back to the Eddie tribute show. When Vince said Benoit's name I broke down crying. I had idolised Benoit for years, even going so far as to be the only person with a sign for him at a show in Dublin (which Benoit noticed and nodded to, despite me and my friend not being in the best seats). When I learned how Benoit had died, my passion for wrestling faded. I can never forgive the business for claiming the lives of, in my mind, two of the greatest ever (Benoit and Eddie).
*** Apparently, ''Chavo'' Guerrero called Benoit on one of the days the murders took place on (either that or a few days before) and noted in an interview that he "didn't seem himself."
* The speeches at each year's Hall of Fame can run into this, especially for deceased inductees. It's probably to call the Hall of Fame ceremony each year the most emotional night in wrestling, in both good and bad ways.
** Bobby Heenan: "I wish Monsoon was here."
* The Sandman and Raven feud in ECW. Especially the moment where, over the whole matter of Raven brainwashing his ex-wife and child, Sandman eventually broke down crying himself. The fact that everything Raven said and did had an element of truth to it made things that much worse.
* While most deaths of wrestlers are sad and tragic this troper was really devastated after hearing about the death of Eddie Guerrero.
** Given that the man cleaned himself up and was off drugs (including steroids) for over four years when he died, who ''wasn't?''

** The are this troper lived in had been suffering a massive drought. The night she received the phone call about Eddie's death, she went outside onto her porch to have some privacy on the phone with her friend. It started to rain for the first time in months. She stayed outside in it for the whole hour it rained, bawling.

** This troper doesnt even really watch wrestling anymore. But all my memories of the day Eddie Guererro, my all time favorite wrestler died..bordered mostly between crying and feeling absolutely horrifically depressed. The tribute shows just multiplied it by a factor of ten.
* This troper spent most of the two days after the death of Owen Hart in tears, and a good portion of the week in a similar state. The fact that it happened during an event I was watching just added the initial feeling of being punched in the stomach.

* A few years back, just under two years after Eddie's death, this troper went to a TNA fan festival and met his older brother, Hector Guerrero. I gave him a one-of-a-kind collectible of Eddie's, telling him I thought he would like to have it...and then was unable to help from bursting into tears. I was embarassed to no end to do that in front of him, but before I could flee, Hector pulled me close, hugged me, and sat down to talk to me for about 15 minutes about Eddie, God, and Christianity. That 15 minutes has done more for this troper's faith in God than 25 years of attending church did, and to this day, Hector checks in on me from time to time to make sure I'm doing okay.
** Give the man a CMOA, as well.

* The ending to Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair at [=WrestleMania=] 24 was this all the way. It was hard not to see Ric Flair, an old, beaten veteran whose career was riding on a victory, struggle to his feet knowing full well that Michaels was going to hit his superkick and end him. The fact that Flair had to beg Michaels to do it, and once Michaels did he first audibly said, "I'm sorry, I love you," and then, right after the win was official, hugged Flair made it even worse. Seeing Flair pull himself up, knowing he was done was bad enough, but having Shawn apologize prior to hitting his finisher was heartbreaking. Flair's farewell on the following Raw made maybe even more tears than the match itself.

* ''Sacrifice 2008''. Roxxi Laveaux getting her head shaved. Damn you, VinceRusso!

* Some of Mick Foley's "Anti-Hardcore" promos, most especially the one where he tells of how he wanted desperately as a youngster to prove that wrestling could be a legitimate, respected sport. Then he had his ear thrown in the garbage in Munich in 1994, and a Nurse stare at him in shock, saying "It's all a big joke"? (He even had to tell the medics, "Vergessen Sie nicht mein Ohr in der plastiksack!", literally, "Don't forget my ear in the plastic bag!") There comes his revelation, and he ends it with, "Professional wrestling... will never be respected. No matter how many bones I break, no matter how many ears I lose, no matter how many brain cells have to die!"
** According to his first autobiography ("Have a Nice Day!") what he actually said in Munich was "Vergessen sie nicht, bitte, mein ohr in der plastiktasche zu bringen." This does still roughly mean what was posted above.