If you’re reading this article or any of the other articles on this site, there’s a great chance that you are a die-hard wrestling fan. As a die-hard fan, we all know and love the wrestling business and have our different opinions on what makes it so great. But the industry itself to non-fans can sometimes be a bit of a mystery.
That’s why it is crucial when the biggest feuds break out of the wrestling bubble and head into the pop culture mainstream. Sometimes that involves mainstream celebrities doing their part as well. Other times, the feud is so great on its own that it cracks through the WWE landscape.
9 Floyd Mayweather Vs. The Big Show
When the biggest names in sports come into the WWE, headlines are immediately made. In 2009, the very biggest sports star was Floyd “Money” Mayweather, and he inadvertently popped The Big Show in the nose for real. That sent Show running faster than he had probably run in years to legitimately hurt the guy (and possibly do a lot more than hurt) until Shane McMahon calmed him down.
Not only was it a big SportsCenter moment, but it also helped seal the deal this match would be one of the big main events at WrestleMania 24.
8 Hulk Hogan Vs. Andre The Giant
First, they collided at one of the early WWE stadium shows at Shea Stadium. But the entire world bore witness to cultural icon, Andre The Giant challenging Hulk Hogan for the world heavyweight title “in the WrestleMania,” as Andre had put it on Piper’s Pit in the build-up to their epic match at WrestleMania 3.
Despite it being the third event, this is truly where the WWE as we know it began. The match became instantly iconic and the photos of the stare-down and the body slam live in immortality. To this very day, it is the biggest moment in wrestling that nearly every non-fan knows when they hear the term WWE.
7 Stone Cold Steve Austin Vs Mike Tyson
Nearly a decade before Floyd Mayweather came to town, the world's most well-known boxer was also The Baddest Man On The Planet.
On the night Vince McMahon wanted to announce that Iron Mike would be a part of WrestleMania, one of the crucial scenes of The Attitude Era would play out, when Stone Cold Steve Austin interrupted the presentation by “saluting” Tyson. The ensuing kerfuffle helped to sell WrestleMania 14 and really kick The Attitude Era into high gear.
6 Stone Cold Steve Austin Vs. Mr. McMahon
Stemming from the altercation with Mike Tyson and Austin’s subsequent victory against Shawn Michaels, there was a new era in the WWE. It was clearly Stone Cole’s time and seemingly the world was ready to cheer him on. Except for his boss - Mr. McMahon hated that guy and all he stood for.
However, McMahon also loved the money Austin was making him, so it was a Catch-22. There wasn’t a fan in the world that didn’t want to be Stone Cold and get to smash their boss every week.
5 The Rock Vs. John Cena
In 2002, two interesting events occurred in WWE. The Rock became a part-timer, leaving WWE to make his bones in Hollywood. Meanwhile, John Cena debuted on SmackDown.
It took about a decade to bring these two together but when it happened, John Cena was the biggest star in wrestling, and The Rock was easily the biggest superstar on the planet in any genre. Considering the first match was announced a full year out, it made every single time Rock was on Raw must-see TV.
4 Eric Bischoff Vs. Jay Leno
With the entertainment world being so segmented these days it might be hard to understand this - but in the mid-nineties, Jay Leno was the undisputed king of late-night talk shows.
While plenty of die-hard fans bemoan the fact that Jay Leno was able to lock Hollywood Hogan in a wrist lock, when Hogan and Eric Bischoff invaded Leno's show, it was a marquee moment. No one has ever just taken over the entire show before.
3 Muhammad Ali Vs. Antonio Inoki
In a recent podcast episode of Talk Is Jericho, The Ocho, Dave Meltzer, and Japanese Wrestling journalist Fumi Saito discussed the life and legacy of Antonio Inoki. They explained that he wasn’t just Antonio Inoki, but he was “Antonio Inoki.” The entire world knows about the legacy of Muhammad Ali. These two collided in what is widely regarded as the first-ever MMA contest way back in 1976.
While the match was slightly less than what fans expected it would be, the event did take the fight sports world by storm and retroactively has become a big piece of history.
2 Hulk Hogan Vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper
While WrestleMania 3 is really the first one to “feel” like a WrestleMania, the origins of WWE as we know it is steeped in The Rock And Wrestling Connection, and the blood feud between Hulk Hogan and Rowdy Roddy Piper.
Their war permeated throughout pop culture all the way to the first WrestleMania, The War To Settle The Score, and all across the burgeoning MTV station. It also transcended companies too. Once Hulk Hogan went Hollywood, Roddy was one of the first to try and make him pay the piper.
1 Jerry The King Lawler Vs. Andy Kaufman
With everything cataloged, quantified, dissected, and studied, it’s hard to imagine a world where folks still believed that wrestling was one hundred percent real. This is why it was a big shock to see sitcom star, Andy Kaufman wrestling women.
Then he was shut up and nearly paralyzed by a Jerry Lawler Piledriver. Their confrontation on David Letterman immediately made headlines and put the King Of Memphis on the pop culture map for all time and made Andy Kaufman the biggest heel in wrestling.