When a promotion is trying to find a name for an event or a match, sometimes it’s good to look towards a superstar for inspiration. Plenty of big “Premium Live Events” have been named after or in honor of the superstars. Others have even been centered around them. When you have at least twelve big shows a year to build towards, it’s an easy sell.
It’s also a great honor, as many events and matches as there are named after a wrestler, it's still a microscopic number compared to the amount of superstars that have come and gone over the years.
10 Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal
On the road to WrestleMania 30, the show’s host, Hulk Hogan wanted to honor his late, great friend Andre The Giant. The result was a match he helped to make famous - the battle royal, and this one was named in his honor. Up until the pandemic, the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal had been a fixture of WrestleMania.
The most prominent event was likely the first one, which was won by Cesaro who dumped Big Show out to pick up the win. It led to nothing.
9 The Mae Young Classic
As the women’s division in WWE kept growing by leaps and bounds, it was decided that the company should showcase women from across the globe. Superstars like Piper Niven (Doudrop), Shayna Baszler, Toni Storm, Rhea Ripley, Kairi Sane, and Io Shirai among others were unknown at the time of the first Mae Young Classic back in 2017.
But the first two (and so far only) tournaments helped to not only highlight them, but more women and the division in general, as well as earn several ladies full time spots on the roster.
8 The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic
The love for Dusty Rhodes amongst wrestlers and fans knows no bounds. The American Dream is absolutely an icon whose influence might never be able to be fully quantified. The WWE decided to honor the legend by having a men’s and women’s tag team tournament in his honor - appropriately titled The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
Winners from both ends of the spectrum include former NXT and main roster champions like Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez.
7 In Your House: Rock Bottom
After joining The Corporation the previous month at Survivor Series, The Rock was gifted with an event in his name. The December 1998 PPV In Your House: Rock Bottom featured The Great One defending the WWE title against Mankind in the next chapter of their budding rivalry.
The other half of the double main event was Stone Cold and The Undertaker in a Buried Alive match for a spot in the 1999 Royal Rumble. Mankind was able to defeat The Rock via TKO, but thanks to chicanery by The Corporation, The Great One would retain the championship.
6 Ambrose Asylum
Thanks to Chris Jericho taking out Mitch, The Potted Plant, an enraged Dean Ambrose challenged Y2J to an Ambrose Asylum match (yes you read that nonsense correctly). The match itself was pretty decent, but the storyline to get us here was awful.
A steel cage match with weapons was certainly a great idea, especially for the once and future Jon Moxley’s hardcore style. Unfortunately, this match was a one and done for the concept.
5 Raven’s Rules
Despite and admittedly not understanding or caring about Raven, Eric Bischoff certainly did try. The grungy wrestler came to WCW and sat in the crowd most of the time. Whenever he wanted to wrestle, he generally did so under “Raven’s Rules.”
These matches were No Holds Barred, extreme rules matches that sometimes he didn’t even participate in, but sent one of his minions work the match for him. While it was interesting, it ultimately wasted the gifted wrestler.
4 SmackDown
The second-longest running episode program in TV history is also the first and only wrestling program to be named after a wrestler’s catchphrase. The Rock had even predicted as much when he arrived at Rock Bottom, another show named after him.
The Blue Brand is currently and rightfully being ruled by Rocky’s cousin and Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns. But fans know full well that SmackDown is undoubtedly “The People’s Show.”
3 Degeneration X: In Your House
After the events of The Montreal Screwjob, Degeneration X couldn’t have been fuller of themselves if they were sucking down helium for funsies. To celebrate how on top of the world DX was, the December In Your House show was named for Triple H, Chyna, and Shawn Michaels. In a lot of ways, it’s also the first PPV of The Attitude Era.
Triple H defeated Sgt. Slaughter in a Boot Camp Match. In the main event, Ken Shamrock did all he could to defeat Shawn Michaels for the WWE Title, but the champion was disqualified when the rest of DX interfered.
2 Beast In The East
Out of all the events on this list, the Beast In The East is one of the best, if not strangest. Taking place on July 4, which is Independence Day in the US, WWE fans in the States were able to wake up bright and early to catch the action from the Ryogoku Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
While the event was named to highlight Brock Lesnar, The Beast was only in The East for less than three minutes while he obliterated Kofi Kingston, and then the rest of the New Day. But the real reason to catch the show is the excellent match between Kevin Owens and Japan’s adopted son, Finn Balor returning to finally win the NXT Championship.
1 nWo Souled Out
After the nWo defeated the WCW in War Games, per the match stipulation, they were gifted their own PPV. On a cold Saturday in January, nWo Souled Out emanated from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The all-nWo show featured several matches, mostly which had dodgy nWo finishes (it was their show after all). But the classic match to watch this event for was Eddie Guerrero taking on Syxx in a ladder match.