When hometown heroes get their due.
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00:00The pop is one of the most important things in wrestling. For bookers and writers, it can show
00:04them how their work is being received, and for performers, it's the adulation that they strive
00:08for. Naturally, the chances of a star getting an even better crowd reaction is a matter of timing.
00:13Pairing a key storyline moment with the perfect location creates atmospheres that transcend
00:18most others. I'm Si for WhatCulture.com, and these are the 10 Biggest Wrestling Hometown Pops Ever.
00:2410. Trish Stratus in Toronto, Unforgiven 2006
00:28You don't get a memorable pop without a strong emotion behind it. The reaction of a live crowd
00:33is the greatest demonstration of emotional investment in this soap opera with super
00:37kicks and spandex. Trish Stratus is quite rightfully lauded as one of the most important
00:41women in sports entertainment history, and as such, she had a connection with the WWE audience.
00:46In August 2006, longtime rival Lita kayfabe leaked Stratus' intentions to retire,
00:52which Stratus confirmed. The time was right for Trish, as in the next month,
00:55the WWE were heading to Canada for the Unforgiven pay-per-view. There, Trish and Lita had their
01:01final showdown for the Women's Championship. Whilst they only had 11 minutes with which to
01:05work, the Toronto crowd was invested throughout. Ebbing and flowing, the bout ended with Trish
01:10cinching in a sharp-shooter, prompting certainly the loudest cheer during a women's match to that
01:15point. Stratus left Toronto and the WWE for the time being, claiming the prize for the seventh
01:20time, and fans were truly Stratus-fied. 9. John Cena in Boston, Survivor Series 2008
01:28Cena's ability to routinely come back from devastating injuries in half the predicted
01:32time or less is legendary. The first time this occurred was October 2007 with a torn pectoral
01:37muscle. Cena had been predicted to be out for six months to a year, returning instead in three
01:42months at the Royal Rumble to the sound of jaws hitting the floor. In August of 2008, Cena was
01:47put on the shelf with a herniated disc. Again, WWE's statement said that he'd be out of action
01:52for a year, so naturally he was back in less than three months at Survivor Series. Cena had already
01:58spent a few years dividing fans as he was catapulted into the position of the face of
02:02the brand. Here, however, in front of the red-hot Boston crowd, he was given a superhero's welcome.
02:07Survivor Series 2008 is remembered as an extremely lacklustre event, but the highlight is certainly
02:12the adulation of the crowd for the super athlete winning his first ever World Heavyweight Championship.
02:178. Taz in New York City, Royal Rumble 2000
02:21As the first man to instigate a tap-out in wrestling, the creator of the Extreme Championship
02:26Wrestling logo, and a wrestler of lesser stature in the era of giants, Taz truly has left his mark
02:31on the business. It's these things, and his long-serving loyalty to Paul Heyman's counterculture
02:36that made his debut elsewhere such a big deal. Taz began his career in ECW before it was Extreme,
02:43under the original banner of Eastern Championship Wrestling. Over the course of 13 years, he became
02:47a fixture of the show, rising to the top of the card before finally looking for greener
02:51pastures at the turn of the millennium. In December 1999, teasers of Taz's incoming
02:56to WWE were tromped through his trademark orange lighting and his logo appearing on the Tron.
03:01Royal Rumble in 2000 emanated from Madison Square Garden, just 30 minutes away from his
03:06home at Red Hook, Brooklyn. Here he filled the unannounced opponent slot for the oblivious heel
03:11Kurt Angle to a roaring crowd that got even louder when he tore the towel off his head to stare down
03:16the Olympic gold medalist. The match was short, vicious and shocking as the human suplex machine
03:21ended Angle's thus far undefeated streak in front of an elated home crowd.
03:257. Shawn Michaels in San Antonio, Royal Rumble 1997
03:30Michaels' time with the belt in 1996 wasn't as big of a success as the WWE hoped. As such,
03:36Vince and company decided to have their top babyface drop the belt to Psycho Sid. This
03:40way he could return once more to the scrappy underdog role and eventually reclaim it.
03:44To make this even more special, this redemption would occur at the Royal Rumble in Michaels'
03:49home of San Antonio, Texas. San Antonio showed up in their droves with a reported attendance
03:54of 60,000 fans that were more than ready to lose their minds for the Heartbreak Kid.
03:58The Hebner Special Super Slow-Mo Count created a pregnant tension that released a cacophony of
04:03crowd noise when Michaels scored the three counts. 6. Sami Zayn in Montreal, SmackDown 2023
04:10When Sami Zayn answered John Cena's United States title open challenge in 2015 in his home province,
04:16the ovation was massive. Furthermore, Zayn put in an incredible showing despite blowing out his
04:21shoulder soaking in the atmosphere before the bell. Sadly, in the years since then,
04:25his WWE career has tended to be rather up and down, as it can be in the company's midcard.
04:30However, starting from April 2022, Zayn began to align himself with Roman Reigns in the Bloodline,
04:35bringing us eventually to our most recent moment on this list.
04:39Sami Zayn on SmackDown in Montreal wasn't a revolutionary moment. This wasn't a debut,
04:44a return, or even a great match. He cut a simple promo, that is, after five minutes
04:49of constant crowd noise. However, it's in the wider context. Just a few weeks previous,
04:54Zayn had finally turned on his supposed allies by intervening on their attack on Kevin Owens,
04:59putting the target on himself. In the weeks leading up to this moment, he had minimal TV
05:03time, but the year-long story was so well built that it was all anyone could talk about.
05:08As such, walking out in front of a raucous Montreal crowd just 24 hours before Elimination
05:13Chamber and the biggest match of his career against Roman Reigns, Zayn was vindicated.
05:18For a moment, the underdog from the underground was the hottest commodity in wrestling,
05:22and Montreal made sure he felt that way. 5. Steve Austin in Houston, WrestleMania 17
05:29When talking about huge crowd reactions, something would be amiss without the mention
05:32of Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin absolutely wasn't the only person of his era with a sort
05:37of front bumper at the start of his music, but the sound of glass shattering is so iconic. It
05:42is surely the reason almost all theme songs today in WWE start with something designed
05:47to immediately generate a reaction. Because, quite simply, that sound routinely sent shockwaves
05:52throughout audiences, with Austin's biggest hometown reaction coming at WrestleMania 17.
05:57As he stepped out for the night's main event, Austin's music was drowned out by the hometown
06:01Houston crowd reacting to the sound of breaking glass. The midpoint of the Rock and Austin
06:06WrestleMania trilogy is often called the best, but it's not just about match quality. The coming
06:10together of the two biggest stars in the world and the undeniably perfect pairing with Limp Bizkit's
06:15My Way video package made this the culmination of an era. Fans in the Astrodome audibly relished
06:20their part to play in wrestling history. 4. CM Punk – Money in the Bank 2011
06:26Ever since the WWE kicked off the Attitude Era and gave themselves a counterculture slant,
06:30it's been hard to come back from. As such, fans who stick with the sport are also drawn to
06:35underdogs, dark horses and alternatives. So, when the company cements a clean-cut babyface like John
06:41Cena as their pride and joy, it's stars like CM Punk who find themselves as the voice of the
06:45voiceless. This was the perfect backdrop to the Summer of Punk 2011, a storyline which saw the
06:51Second City Saint cut through the pristine PG product of WWE to workshoot a break in the story.
06:57Punk threatened to win the company's top prize and walk out the door with it,
07:00capturing the imagination of fans who were disillusioned with WWE's tired product.
07:05Best of all, he would do this in front of his home crowd of Chicago, who were 100%
07:09on Punk's side. This blurred the line of reality further and added an atmosphere
07:13that has made the match one of the best of its decade. The roar of the crowd from his first
07:18steps onto the stage to him skirting over the barricade to leave never let up, exploding like
07:22a grenade when their hero claimed the belt. 3. The British Bulldog in London
07:27SummerSlam 1992 The United Kingdom is a country with
07:30a starving wrestling audience who often know how to make their presence felt. Across the late 90s
07:35and early 2000s, UK fans were positively spoiled by today's standards with annual or even twice
07:41WWE pay-per-view events. As such, many UK fans have fond memories of the likes of Rebellion and
07:47the Crime Against English Dictionaries Everywhere insurrection. However, SummerSlam 1992 remains the
07:53high point of the company's events in all blighty. Like a domino effect, the WWE's growing popularity
07:59in the UK led to moving the event from the US to London. In turn, the excitement of the promotion's
08:05first major event outside of North America meant a huge crowd all too keen to fill out Wembley
08:10Stadium. And at the top of the card, Davey Boy Smith competed for the Intercontinental Championship.
08:15From Bulldog's entrance to the finish, the capacity crowd got hotter and hotter throughout a match
08:20that is the personal favourite of both workers and thousands of fans. When the three count finally
08:25came, Wembley erupted. Brilliantly, Smith's music doesn't play. Instead, his victory is marked with
08:30one of the loudest pops in WWE history. 2. The Hart Foundation in Calgary
08:36It's one thing to get deafening cheers as an over-babyface, but to get one of the biggest
08:42positive reactions of the year as a heel is something else entirely. WrestleMania 13 famously
08:48featured almost certainly the greatest double turn in the business. It swapped the alignment of Stone
08:52Cold, allowing him to begin his ascent to the top, and Bret Hart, whose act needed a refresh.
08:57Later that year, the Hitman adopted an anti-American persona as part of the Hart Foundation
09:02Every week, Hart would talk smack about the United States and bathe in the booze.
09:07However, he was still and would always be Canada's Golden Boy, and the WWE knew it.
09:12So when In Your House Canadian Stampede rolled around, they lent into it. A video package starts
09:17the event discussing the company's shades of grey characters and the paradox this show would
09:22represent. Embraced as hometown heroes, every member of the Hart Foundation, Bret, Owen,
09:27Nightheart, Davey Boy and Pillman was met with main-eventer level cheers. The Hitman's entrance
09:32in particular was deafening, and it continued into the 5v5 tag match against various American
09:38superstars. Bret never badmouthed his home country, and this, and Calgary in particular being the home
09:43of the Harts, meant that the crowd had no reason not to cheer so loud that the hard cam shook.
09:481. CM Punk in Chicago, A.W. Rampage, The First Dance
09:53There are few wrestlers quite so evenly divisive as CM Punk. On the one hand, some fans simply
09:59can't see the appeal of the man's work and style, and are turned off by his demeanour that can
10:03sometimes charitably be described as sour. But those that love him, love him, and again,
10:08Chicago has made their devotion to the Voice of the Voiceless known to such a degree that
10:12it was impossible not to include two specific moments on this list. After spectacularly burning
10:17his bridges with WWE and going into relative hiding, it felt like a CM Punk return would
10:23never happen. In 2021, the rumour mill began to turn, and even as A.W. named an August edition
10:28of Rampage, The First Dance, itself a Chicago reference to spell things out, there was still
10:33a certain degree of apprehension that it was actually happening. Cue a pop that was one
10:38part excitement and one part collective sigh of relief as the Second City Saint finally walked
10:43onto the ramp. An emotional Punk and an equally emotional home crowd made that moment something
10:48incredibly special. It felt like time stopped as the audience hung on his every word. Though
10:52the future of the Chicago native is still a mystery, his return to wrestling has become
10:56one of the most unifying moments in history. And that's the list! Let us know what you thought
11:01of this video down in the comments below, which of these hometown pops is your favourite, and of
11:06course let us know of any others that we didn't include. Make sure you like this video, share it
11:10with your friends, subscribe and hit that notification bell, head over to WhatCulture.com
11:14for more content every day, I've been Si for WhatCulture, and have a good week!