10 most emotional photos in WWE history
A quick Google search will enable you to gather a plethora of WWE photos. You can find snapshots of WrestleMania 1, or maybe you want a shot from the very first episode of RAW. Regardless, the amount of WWE related images you will come across is practically unlimited.
There is also a pretty significant number of tear-jerkers available with a few mouse clicks as well. These are the memorial photos, the retirement shots and the all around, downright emotionally charged shots. Some taken by professional photographers, while others were taken by a fan’s phone. These are the more intimate, raw pictures that were taken because of a fan's love for the industry, not because of a dream of a big payday. They are wrestling fans, in the purest form.
Throughout WWE's storied history, there have been a select number of candid, overly heartfelt moment's caught on camera that will never be forgotten. These are the ones we consider the most emotional photos in WWE history.
#10 "I’m sorry, I love you."
The year was 2008 and 'The Nature Boy' Ric Flair took his rightful place among the immortals, in the WWE Hall of Fame. During an episode of RAW, on February 25th, Flair made a challenge to Shawn Michaels, citing that if indeed he were to hang up the robes, he wanted to do so at the hand of The Heartbreak Kid.
Reluctantly, HBK accepted Flair's challenge and the dream match was set, on the biggest stage of them all, WrestleMania 24. During the match, it became painfully obvious that Michaels wanted no part of Flair’s demise.
In the closing moments of the match, as Shawn prepared to put Flair down with one final dose of Sweet Chin Music, in was similar to the scene of a person being forced to put a loved pet down. As Michaels began to tune up the band, if you will, you could visibly read his lips as he said to Flair, "I'm sorry....I love you," followed by a kick to the chin that ultimately ended a legacy.
#9 Michael Cole makes a devastating announcement
Regardless if you loved them or hated them, Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler were a constant fixture to Monday Night RAW for quite a few years. They would often play the heel/face roles off of one another with ease. On one particular September night, everything appeared to be business as usual, until suddenly, things got awkwardly quiet.
During an episode of RAW, live from Montreal on September 9, 2014, Lawler and Cole were calling a match between Team Hell No and The Prime Time Players. During this match, Lawler unexpectedly collapsed at the commentary booth. After a brief moment of dead air, Cole continued to call the contest, but it was obvious that something was wrong, bad wrong.
After a commercial break, Cole came on the screen, visibly shaken, with Lawler’s seat empty. In that moment, Cole announced that The King had gone down and had been taken to a local emergency room.
Throughout the night, Cole offered updates as they were fed through his headset. Despite suffering a life-threatening heart attack, Jerry would return to his throne on Monday, November 12th.
#8 R.I.P. Owen Hart
May 23, 1999, will be a day that will never be forgotten. It was the Over The Edge pay-per-view, in Kansas City, Missouri. During this event, The Godfather was set to take on Owen Hart's alternate persona, The Blue Blazer. As a part of his character, Owen was to make his entrance by rappelling down from the rafters, via some sort of harness device.
During his entrance, something went terribly wrong with the harness and Owen fell roughly 70 feet from above the ring. Medics and WWF doctors began working frantically to revive Owen, to no avail. Because of this accident, Owen Hart passed away from the fall.
The following night was an unbelievably difficult night for fans and Superstars alike. As the company attempted to proceed forward with Monday Night RAW, it was nearly impossible, for obvious reasons.
At the start of the show, you could see monsters such as Mark Henry, drowning in their own tears. The entire roster was heartbroken at the thought of such a beloved fellow performer having his life taken so soon.
#7 Daniel Bryan retires
From the moment he arrived in the WWE, Daniel Bryan was doubted, criticized and blatantly told he'd never make it in the world's top wrestling company. Little did his naysayers know, Bryan had an abundance of heart, courage, and skill, to make up for what he lacked in physical appearance and stature. Daniel Bryan entered the WWE battle-tested, having competed against the top talent all over the world. Now it was time for him to conquer the machine. It was his time to shine on the largest scale the industry had to offer.
Bryan had his share of hiccups along the way, but he never deviated from his course and he stuck to his original plan, of becoming the WWE World Champion. This was a plan he would see come to fruition and against all odds, Daniel Bryan did become the world champ and Daniel Bryan did become the top player in the game.
Unfortunately, injuries are a very real part of professional wrestling. These men and women do things to their bodies that most will never be able to comprehend. They do all of this for one sole reason, to give you and I, the common fan, the experience of a lifetime. This is something they do unselfishly, realizing the overwhelming chances of injury they put themselves in.
After a hiatus to recover, the day finally came when Bryan was forced to face his own mortality, as well as his reality and that reality was, it was time to walk away from a business that not only gave him everything, but he gave it everything in return. For Bryan, a person who was a true fighter in every sense of the term, it was a tough pill to swallow.
On February 8, 2016, Daniel Bryan made his way to the ring, in front of his hometown Seattle crowd and delivered a farewell speech that no one, including the speaker, wanted to hear. He spoke of his love for the business and his desire to keep moving forward. But he also spoke of the realness of the situation and how it was simply time for him to walk away.
Thankfully, Daniel Bryan was able to return to the ring after a gap of more than two years after being cleared by independent doctors outside WWE. Since his return, Bryan has had a fantastic run on SmackDown, winning the WWE Championship as well as the SmackDown Tag Team Championship (with Rowan) in the last two years.
#6 The streak ends
If I would've had one million dollars to bet on the outcome of one match at WrestleMania 30, it would've been the Taker vs. Lesnar bout and needless to say, I would've lost that million.
While there may have been a handful who predicted the Beast would conquer the streak, I think it's safe to say that a majority of fans figured The Undertaker's undefeated streak would remain intact until he retired. However, WWE powers that be had a different plan for that festive night.
Some say it was a last-minute decision, some say it was known for weeks and others, like myself, well, we just don't know and even if we did, it still doesn't take away the fact that on April 6, 2014, hell froze over, time stood still and the earth stopped spinning on its axis. At WrestleMania 30, in New Orleans, Brock Lesnar conquered The Undertaker's undefeated streak.