For decades, New York City stood as the greatest crowd in the WWEs traveling circuit. It was the home of Madison Square Garden, which was the WWEs home base. It showcased the first, 10th, and 20th Wrestlemania. Although Canadian crowds started to rival the intensity of New York in the late 90s and early 00s after the Montreal Screwjob, New York still ruled as the top crowd. That status began to change over the past few years in the favor of Chicago, concurrent with the ascension of CM Punk as a top star in WWE. Punk openly wears his love for Chicago on his sleeve (the four stars on his wrestling tights symbolize the four stars on Chicagos flag), and Chicago has embraced him right back. That enthusiasm carries over into the entire show, and Chicago has overtaken New York as the top WWE crowd. WWEs move away from Madison Square Garden to the cheaper (and admittedly more fun) Barclays Center in Brooklyn has also lessened the impact of New York City on the WWE, who hasnt aired a televised event from Madison Square Garden since Survivor Series 2011. Next week, WWE Payback will take place in the Allstate Arena in Chicago. To celebrate another trip to the best crowd in WWE today, we will take a look at the 10 best moments in WWE history that took place in Chicago. Honorable mentions go to Wrestlemania 2, Judgment Day 1998 where Vince McMahon fired Steve Austin, Rob Van Dam vs. Christian for the Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match on Raw in 2003, No Mercy 2007 where the WWE Championship changed hands three times in the same night, and the Raw in 2009 where Randy Orton punted Vince McMahon in the head.
