10 Totally Insane Wrestling Crowd Moments

5. Fans Leave WrestleMania During An All-Time Classic Main Event

Enzo Amore Survivor Series Thumb
WWE.com

Surely there's a mistake with that entry title.

Fans leave...WrestleMania...during an all-time classic?

That can't be right.

Except it is; at WrestleMania XII, during the Iron Man match main event between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, there were "probably a few thousand empty seats by the time the match reached its climax," wrote Dave Meltzer (who attended the show in person) in the April 8, 1996 Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Even if you don't believe Meltzer, because some don't because they'd prefer to take the word of people who publicly describe themselves as "workers," wrestling fans of a certain age know the colour of the seats in the Anaheim Arrowhead Pond. They are red.

So why did this insane wrestling crowd moment unfold?

It might have something to do with the fact that the match wasn't a classic. That's no pleasure to write - Bret Hart going 60 minutes should be cause for wild mark-out celebration - but it wasn't. The first 45 minutes were worked like a TV match in picture-in-picture before the wrestlers suddenly come to life and actually do something when the full screen reappears.

On PPV.

A show with no ad breaks.

Turns out the "Boyhood dream" was working a hold as Raw rolls on.

 
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Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!