Corey Graves On What Is The Most Important Match In WWE History
The "WWE on FOX" Twitter account and The Rock sparked a spirited debate on social media recently when the conversation about "What is the most important match in WWE history?" was brought up. The Rock responded on Twitter, saying the match he viewed as the most important was Hulk Hogan vs. The Iron Sheik in 1984 at Madison Square Garden.
Joining in on the conversation on the latest episode of WWE After the Bell, Corey Graves and Vic Joseph shared their opinions on the topic. Graves agreed with The Rock while also adding another Hogan match to the list.
"Without Hulkamania, there's a good possibility that the three of us aren't sitting here talking amongst ourselves about this business," Graves said. "I actually agree with The Rock's [pick] but my answer was going to be the main event of the first WrestleMania. If the addition of Mr. T, as questionable as it is now, and you look and go 'Why the hell was Mr. T in the first main event of WrestleMania?' Mr. T was the dude at the time! He was Americana, pop culture, he was one of the biggest stars in the world at the time so to have him in that match, alongside Hulkamania which is red hot, Orndorf and Piper on the other side of the ring playing the villainous foil. If that doesn't succeed and pack the house and do well on pay per view, WWE definitely doesn't exist as we know it, maybe it doesn't exist at all."
Joseph admitted that it is hard to argue with The Rock, but we named another memorable WrestleMania main event as the most important.
"It's hard to argue with The Rock," Joseph stated. "I go back to my Mount Rushmore moment and it's Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant, WrestleMania 3. It's everything about Hulkamania up until that point, it's the reason WrestleMania had the indoor attendance record of over 93,000 people in the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan for so many years. That to me, that moment, that bodyslam, Gorilla Monsoon on the call, that stands to me as the most important match in WWE history."
Continuing to speak about Hogan, Corey Graves recalled the earliest moments of his childhood and being conflicted about who to side with at WrestleMania 6 when he wrestled The Ultimate Warrior. The RAW commentator said that feud is a major reason he's in the business today, because it peaked his interest so much into professional wrestling and WWE.
"My earliest memories in life are being approximately three or four years old and I was gifted for Christmas wrestling action figures," Graves recalled. "It was probably worth a million dollars nowadays but my Dad's friend got me that for Christmas because he knew I was obsessed. I just started to get to the age where I had opinions and this Ultimate Warrior guy is awesome.
"I don't think I've ever experienced human conflict at that age, that's why it still resonates with me. That was the first time I felt conflict as a child. I felt like I love the Ultimate Warrior, he's my guy, I want to see him win but Hogan's been my guy for so long, he didn't do anything wrong, I'm betraying Hulk if I root for Warrior and to this day that resonates with me. That's the first time I experienced those emotions."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit WWE After the Bell with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.