Top 5: Chairshots!

We’re kicking it at a new address this week. Now we’re all about hitting people with chairs. As I mentioned in a previous edition of this column, the chair is wrestling’s pre-eminent foreign object. When people think about wrestling, they think of large men hitting each other with folding chairs. It happens all the time, but we all know that some chairshots have more meaning than others. Here are the five times a chair entered the fray that made the greatest impact in the history of wrestling.

5. The First Chairshot I Remember

Nobody ever forgets their first, right? The first chairshots I remember seeing took place on the September 28, 1991 episode of WWF Superstars. Ric Flair had recently entered the WWF & had begun feuding with Roddy Piper, who was on commentary with Vince McMahon & Randy Savage. Flair took the opportunity to attack Piper at the announce position, which led to all sorts of craziness. McMahon, who was only known to me as a mild-mannered announcer at the time, ended up taking a chair to the back from a confused Piper that was swinging at anything that moved.

I probably saw some before then, but this memory stuck in my mind more than the others.

4. Eddie Guerrero Nearly Dies of Blood Loss

Having seen some old school CZW shows back in the day, I probably can’t say that this is the most I’ve ever seen another human being bleed. But it’s right up there. John “Bradshaw” Layfield was feeling froggy and wanted to enter the main event scene for good at Judgment Day 2004. Eddie Guerrero did a little too much to help him here, I’d say.

3. Stone Cold Helps His Old Buddy Mankind

This one sticks out in my mind for two reasons:

I. Mick Foley was one of my favorite wrestlers ever since his days in WCW. Seeing him win the WWF Championship was a seminal moment in my wrestling fandom, and proof that the underdog could reach the top of the business, even if only for three very brief title reigns.

II. That pop when Steve Austin comes out & hits Rock with a chair still rates as one of the biggest pops I’ve ever heard, and I don’t think I’ve seen a wrestling crowd collectively lose their minds like the Worcester fans did that night since. It was a combination of Austin coming back from a hiatus due to injury & doing Austin things along with the realization that Foley was actually going to win the title. Even if the show was taped, and even if WWF.com & WCW spoiled the result, it was must-see television.

2. Seth Rollins Buys In

I remember everybody wondering how The Shield’s reign of dominance would come to an end. The odds of Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins remaining together for the duration of their WWE careers were never great. It was a question of who would make their move. Most of us figured on Ambrose, as he’d been touted as a great promo for years. It ended up being Rollins, and it was the right move to make for his career. At the time, of course. Now The Shield is back together & they will surely never turn their backs on each other ever again.

1. The Chairshot Heard ‘Round The World 

Before Raven became wrestling’s go-to for sarcastic shoot interviews & Tommy Dreamer became the biggest crybaby in the history of the business, they waged a bitter rivalry in Extreme Championship Wrestling. Dreamer rarely ever got one over on Raven, so whenever he did it meant the world to ECW fans.

Heat Wave 1995 was one of those nights. Raven’s lackey Stevie Richards was facing Dreamer’s manager Luna Vachon in a steel cage because it seemed like a fair fight. One thing led to another & Raven ended up handcuffed to the cage in his trademark Jesus Christ pose while Tommy had a chair in his hand. Dreamer yelled E C F’N W & wrapped the chair around Raven’s head as the crowd exploded. This scene would be part of ECW’s show-opening montage for years afterward.