Relive The Best Pro Wrestling Moments Of The Joe Louis Arena, Before The ‘Last Show At The Joe’

Back in April, the Detroit Red Wings hosted their final game at the legendary Joe Louis Arena. Next season they’ll be moving into the brand new Little Caesars Arena in midtown. Joe Louis will be demolished.

The arena will officially close its doors on July 30, but on July 29 — this Saturday — WWE will pop back in for one final live event, headlined by Brock Lesnar vs. Samoa Joe, as the “Last Show At The Joe.” That should be an emotional night for a lot of reasons, but mostly for the building’s role in creating so much of the wrestling history we’ve experienced in the modern era.

To celebrate the life of a building with a river view but no windows, let’s look back at some of the greatest pro wrestling moments in the history of Joe Louis Arena. If we forget any, be sure to drop down into our comments section below and let us know.

The Undertaker’s First Championship Victory

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYQ4bzY8msg

By the time his 30+ year career came to a close at WrestleMania 33, the legendary Undertaker had racked up 7 world title reigns; four with the WWE Championship, three with the World Heavyweight Championship. But his first came at the Joe on November 27, 1991, at Survivor Series.

Although the reign only lasted six days — thanks, Hulk Hogan! — the controversial finish to the match and its rematch at This Tuesday In Texas set up the 1992 Royal Rumble, the greatest Rumble ever.

The (Supposed) Biggest Match In Wrestling History

For over a decade, the biggest fantasy match-up in pro wrestling was WWF Champion Hulk Hogan vs. WCW/NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair. Flair spent some time in the WWF in the early ’90s, but they never pulled the trigger on a televised singles match between the two. WCW took advantage of that fact and booked Hogan vs. Flair at Halloween Havoc ’94, a rematch of the Hulkster’s big arrival at that year’s Bash at the Beach.

Instead of just doing Hogan vs. Flair, WCW overbooked it like nobody’s business. First of all, they put it in a steel cage. Then they made it career vs. career. Then Mr. T became the special guest referee, and Muhammad Ali was involved, and Hogan kicked Sherri Martel in the face, and the post-match angle involved Brutus Beefcake betraying Hogan by dressing up in a black bodysuit and mask to execute Nancy Kerrigan attacks on him.

Oh, and Hogan won, if you were wondering. And per the match stipulation, Ric Flair never wrestled again. [loudest coughing noises in history]

The Mummy Butt-Hug Heard ‘Round The World

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4zumib

Due to the success of Havoc ’95, WCW brought the event back the following year. How do you top Mr. T getting handcuffed to a cage while Muhammad Ali watches Hulk Hogan end Ric Flair’s career in a cage? With a Cobo Hall rooftop monster truck battle and a 7-foot mummy attack that has to be seen (or at least read about) to be believed.

From our write-up of Halloween Havoc 1995:

Hulk Hogan had his neck broken twice in one month. The Giant fell off a building about 20 minutes ago. Neither man sells the other’s offense, and neither man feels like the trauma they’ve gone through excuses them for taking a pin. So Hulk Hogan’s non-wrestling manager who is literally half the size of The Giant’s leg starts randomly attacking people with a title belt and Hogan wins by DQ. This causes the Giant to WIN THE WCW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP. Not to spoil the next night’s Nitro for you, but Jimmy Hart has Hulk Hogan’s power of attorney and signed a contract saying Hogan would lose the belt if he got DQ’d.

Somehow even this is not the worst part of the show. Remember that HIMALAYAN ICE MUMMY?

Hogan has no-sold two neck injuries, no sold a post-monster truck sumo battle choking WITH a twice broken neck and no-sold most of a 7-foot, 400-pound man’s offense in a wrestling match. Jimmy Hart hits him in the back of his broken neck with a 15-pound gold belt and he no-sells it. The Giant locks him in a bear hug, but THAT’s not going to be enough. So here comes an extremely tall Himalayan ice mummy to bear hug him at the same time but from behind and just sorta wiggle his hips while he does it.

The greatest proof that Hulkamania is immortal is that the only thing powerful enough to stop it is ancient Egyptian DP.

The fans at Joe Louis Arena that night were the only ones to ever see the mummy version of The Yeti in person. Lucky. It was also The Giant/The Big Show’s first WCW Championship win, but not his last, and not the last title he’d win at the arena …

Both Of The Big Show’s First Title Wins

Show’s first WWF Championship win also came at Joe Louis Arena, because wrestling loves repeating itself in front of geographically specific crowd.

The Big Show — Paul Wight, if you’re big nasty — won a triple threat match against Triple H and the Rock at Survivor Series on November 14, 1999, thanks to interference from Vince McMahon. And despite interference from D-Generation X. It was the late ’90s, that’s how everything happened.

From Show’s farewell to the Joe, posted earlier this year:

“I know Joe Louis Arena always holds a special place in my heart, the fans in Detroit because my very first match was in Joe Louis Arena against Hulk Hogan in 1995. I walked out with the World Heavyweight Championship my first match. Every time I’ve walked into that arena I’ve always been reminded of my very first day in the business, my very first day in front of the crowd on pay-per-view.

“Thank you Detroit and thank you Joe Louis Arena, all the wonderful championships and teams and performers that have gone through that arena. It’s going to be sad to see you go, but thank you.”

Fun note: It was also the first time we got to see Big Show cry on WWE TV!

Kurt Angle’s Debut

Most people remember Survivor Series ’99 for the debut of current Raw general manager and WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle. While you might not be able to tell from his debut (which was pitch-perfect, a rare feat for debuting WWE stars), Angle would go on to hold the WWE Championship four times, the World Heavyweight Championship once, the WWE-owned version of the WCW World Heavyweight and United States Championships one time each, the Intercontinental Championship, the Hardcore Championship and the European Championship. And he was one half of the inaugural WWE Tag Team Champions. And he won the King of the Ring.

That’s not even getting into the championships he won in Japan, his six times as TNA World Heavyweight Champion, holding pretty much every belt you can hold in TNA, his NCAA Division I Championship, his numerous amateur wrestling championships OR his Olympic gold medal in heavyweight freestyle wrestling in 1996. This guy was pretty good.

The Best And Worst Of Stone Cold Steve Austin

One of the most famous Stone Cold Steve Austin moments happened at the Joe Louis Arena on September 28, 1998, when Austin interrupted Mr. McMahon’s championship celebration for Kane and the Undertaker by driving a Zamboni to — and into — the ring.

While that will make it into Austin highlight reels from ’98 until the end of time, Joe Louis was actually a bad luck charm for Stone Cold. For example, Austin was thrown off a bridge by the Rock during a Detroit show …

… and in 1999, the Joe was the site of a famous attempt at vehicular manslaughter.

That turned out to be Rikishi, who did it for the Rock. A lot happened at the 1999 Survivor Series, huh?

John Cena’s Pay-per-view Debut

Less than a month after debuting on Smackdown, once and future Face That Runs The Place John Cena made his pay-per-view debut against Chris Jericho at Vengeance on July 21, 2002. Despite being a rookie (with ruthless aggression), Cena was able to pin the first-ever Undisputed Champion, because of course he was. Cena would go on to win at more PPVs than not for the next 15 years and counting, but you saw it first, Joe Louis Arena.

Vengeance 2002 also featured Brock Lesnar’s first WWE loss (by disqualification, to Rob Van Dam), Hulk Hogan losing the Tag Team Championship to Lance Storm and Christian — no, seriously — and a killer triple threat main event between The Rock, Kurt Angle and The Undertaker.

The Undertaker Returns

The Undertaker “returns” a lot, but the coolest return to date (at least in our opinion) happened at the Joe Louis Arena at Survivor Series on November 27, 2005.

About a month earlier, Randy Orton and his dad teamed up to defeat the Undertaker in a casket match. They not only put the Phenom in a casket, they set it on fire. Assuming he was dead, and assuming they would not go to jail for shoot murdering one of their co-workers, the Ortons were riding high. At Survivor Series, Orton eliminates Shawn Michaels to win an elimination match for Team SmackDown and be his squad’s sole survivor. But he’d be forced to face ANOTHER survivor … ah, you know where I’m going with this.

You haven’t seen the Undertaker return until you’ve seen him emerge from a flaming casket that’s just been struck by lightning. Say what you want about the slow walking in mood lighting, but THAT’s how you make an intimidating entrance.

Royal Rumble 2009

Orton had a better night at the Joe seven years later, when he was able to win the 2009 Royal Rumble and go on to headline WrestleMania. He’d end up losing that match to Triple H, however, so maybe it still wasn’t great. Winning the Royal Rumble and losing at WrestleMania is the original “fail to cash in Money in the Bank.”

Orton would repeat the feat and win his second Royal Rumble in 2017.

Batista Quits

WWE brought pay-per-view back to the Joe in 2010 with Over The Limit, and headlined it with an “I Quit” match between John Cena and Batista.

Cena’s never been known as a gracious winner. The finish of the match sees the two do battle on a car — because the pay-per-view’s name tangentially involves cars — and Big Match John threatening to toss Big Dave off the roof with an Attitude Adjustment. Batista quits before it can happen, giving Cena the win. Cena dumps him off the car through the stage anyway.

The next night on Raw, Batista would quit for real. He wouldn’t appear on WWE TV again until 2014.

Daniel Bryan Wins, For A Day

WWE brought Night of Champions to the Joe on September 15, 2013, and headlined it with Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship. Orton had leaned on help from Triple H and cashed in Money in the Bank to snatch the championship from Bryan at SummerSlam, so this was the leader of the Yes Movement’s chance to settle the score. Bryan won the match clean with a running knee, and became WWE Champion for the second time, but for the first time for real.

At least until the next night on Raw in Cleveland when Triple H claimed Scott Armstrong made a fast count and stripped Bryan of the championship. The story would culminate in arguable the greatest WrestleMania story ever at WrestleMania 30 in New Orleans the following year, but it’s still depressing to see the final good year of a wrestler’s career spent getting dicked out of his accolades.

Shane McMahon Returns

From last year:

Monday’s episode of Raw opened with the presentation of the Vincent J. McMahon Legacy of Excellence Award, a Mr. Burns-esque trophy awarded by Vince McMahon to his daughter, Stephanie. What started as an excuse for The Authority to congratulate itself turned into a moment WWE fans will never forget: the shocking return of Shane McMahon, Shane O’ Mac, to WWE after a six year absence.

Shane — famous for stepping into the ring and accomplishing dangerous feats against Kurt Angle, Steve Blackman, Test, Kane and others — left the company in 2010 to pursue his own business interests. Shane returned to confront Vince and Stephanie about the job they’ve been doing running the company, and … man, we can talk about where the WWE storyline goes all night — and we will — but play that video again. Listen to the crowd response. Watch him tear up when the crowd absolutely can’t stop “yes” chanting and cheering for him. That’s an incredible moment.

Shane would end up losing a Hell in a Cell match to the Undertaker at WrestleMania that would’ve given him control over Monday Night Raw had he won. Vince McMahon gave him control of the show anyway, for some reason, and eventually we got another brand split with Shane taking over Smackdown. [shrug]

The Final Raw

WWE brought Raw to the Joe for the final time this March with a Shawn Michaels appearance, a fire and brimstone WrestleMania promo from Paul Heyman and, of course, Big Show getting a final win in the building.

It also featured Braun Strowman showing up and trucking Roman Reigns, which is always a highlight:

Last Show At The Joe

That brings us to this Saturday, and the final show at Joe Louis Arena. Can WWE resist sending one of their most important buildings away without a major event? Could we see Samoa Joe defeat Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship to add intrigue to SummerSlam, and give people something to talk about as the Joe shuts its doors on Sunday? How great would it be if the Joe’s final match is a guy named Joe winning WWE’s top title?