Pro Wrestling is filled with superlatives. Bret Hart is The Best There Is, The Best There Was, The Best There Ever Will Be. The Rock is The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment. Mark Henry is The World’s Strongest Man. While the validity of those claims are debatable, none of them seem too far-fetched. Unfortunately for wrestling fans, YouTube users are far more liberal with their standards. Search ‘the greatest moment in WWE history’ or ‘the best match ever’ and you’re greeted with hundreds of results. Some of the titles are accurate while others are downright laughable.
Each week’s installment of “Greatest Videos Eeeeeever” will examine one YouTube video imploring hyperbole and decide just how accurate their claims are on a scale of 1-5. Without further adieu, I present this week’s Greatest Video Eeeeeever…
Video Title: “The greatest moment in professional wrestling history”
Views: 196,734
Uploaded by CommonCents
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSRBLpK2mFo]
The Story
Ten months into his WCW career, Chris Jericho got his first taste of gold when he defeated Syxx for the Cruiserweight title at a rare, webcasted edition of Saturday Nitro. With a field like Rey Misterio, Jr., Eddy Guerrero, Ultimo Dragon and Dean Malenko in the Cruiserweight division, no one expected the young Jericho to hold onto the title for long. But honestly, no one expected his reign to be ended by the techno-loving, German sensation Alex Wright.
On the July 28th 1997 edition of Monday Nitro, exactly one month after winning the belt, a bridging German suplex earned Alex Wright a clean victory over Jericho. When the bell rang, Wright grabbed the title, held it over his head and declared “I am the best wrestler in the world!” Then in typical Alex Wright fashion, he proceeded to dance over the belt.
When a pro wrestler wins a championship for the first time, it’s usually memorable. Sadly, Alex Wright’s Cruiserweight celebration wasn’t exactly comparable to Shawn Michaels’ WrestleMania XII moment. With that said, Wright’s last match before his battle with Jericho was a no-contest with Prince Iaukea two weeks earlier. So for Wright, this might have been the greatest moment in his wrestling career that didn’t include Disco Inferno and their tag team Boogie Knights.
Conclusion
While the video title and the views expressed by Alex have no factual basis in reality, this is definitely the greatest and strangest moment involving a dancing German in orange tights in pro wrestling history.
2 out of 5 Tony Schiavones.
