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WWE’s Biggest Moments In Detroit

Darrell Tealer Jr June 9th

The WWE has a longstanding history in the city of Detroit and has provided generations of Detroiters with exciting and memorable events.

Let’s take a look back at some of the biggest WWE moments in the Motor City!

  • Kurt Angle Makes His WWE Debut

    ITSTRUE

    US Olympic gold medal winner, Kurt Angle made his debut at the ’99 WWE Survivor Series which took place at the Joe Louis Arena.

    Angle’s vignettes had been airing on WWE programming for weeks leading to the debut where Kurt defeated Shawn Staziak all while reminding the Detroit crowd that “you do not boo an Olympic gold medalist!”

  • Battle of the Billionaires

    trump

    Downtown Detroit and Ford Field played host to WrestleMania 23 in 2007.

    One of the event’s biggest matches was the ‘Battle of the Billionaires’ that saw former POTUS Donald Trump and his representative Superstar, Bobby Lashley defeat WWE CEO Vince McMahon and his representative Superstar, Umaga.

    The result of the match saw McMahon get his head shaved live on pay-per-view!

  • The Rock On Belle Isle

    ROCK

    Arguably the two biggest names in WWE history were in the midst of a championship rivalry and headed into the ’99 Backlash event, The Rock had stolen Stone Cold’s custom championship, challenging the Texas Rattlesnake to meet up with him on Belle Isle to get the gold back.

    What resulted was a historic moment in RAW history.

  • Cody Rhodes Has His First WWE RAW Match in 6 Years At The LCA

    RHODES

    “The American Nightmare” made his WWE RAW in-ring return after 6 years away, and it happened in Detroit!

    The Detroit fans were ready to welcome Cody back to the Motor City!

  • The Rock and Stone Cold vs. The nWo

    HALL

    Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock – usually embattled in a championship feud – joined forces against a common enemy in the nWo, and it happened in 2002 at the Joe Louis Arena.

    It would be the only time we’d get Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan in a WWE ring with any physicality, as well as being the only time the original founders of the  nWo would team together on RAW.

  • The Dead Man Returns

    The Joe Louis Arena hosted the ’05 Survivor Series, and the main event saw Randy Orton stand tall as the sole survivor for his team.

    Afterwards, a Superstar that Orton was confident he had put away for good, made his return.

  • Cena & Batista Brawl In 'The Joe'

    CENA

    2010’s WWE Over The Limit event took place from the Joe Louis Arena.

    The main event saw John Cena and Batista battle it out in an “I Quit” match.

  • Shane McMahon Goes Through Hell

    SHANE

    2017’s Hell In A Cell event took place at the Little Caesar’s Arena in Detroit, and featured the main event of Kevin Owens vs Shane McMahon inside the event’s namesake.

    Never one to shy away from taking a major spill, McMahon put his body on the line as the Detroit crowd looked on.

  • Jeff Hardy Puts It All On The Line

    hardy

    Detroit hosted WrestleMania 23, and that event featured a Money in the Bank match where both Matt and Jeff were participants.

    Moments away from grabbing the briefcase, Jeff Hardy decided he wanted to make an impactful ‘Mania moment.

    Unfortunately, it would come at the expense of both he and Edge.

  • Stone Cold Zamboni!

    AUSTIN 316

    The Joe Louis Arena hosted WWE RAW in September of ’98, and in one of the more memorable moments of the Austin / McMahon rivalry, Stone Cold decided to get some payback after being screwed over the night prior by the duo of Kane and Undertaker who were working on behalf of McMahon to get the WWE championship off of Austin.