[The Show Off]

Originally Posted by nick55555 1. Austin 3:16 speech (just the merchandise alone it sold is amazing) 2. Montreal Screwjob (still talked about/debated now) 3. Hogan turning heel (I believe is a solid third place)

nWo shirts sold a shitload as well...

I'd have to go with the creation of the nWo as the most important moment on wrestling in the 90's. If it wasn't for the nWo bringing main stream wrestling an edge Austin may never have become a big deal. Everyone needs to remember that Austin wasn't in line for a huge push from King of the Ring he just won it because of the breaking of Kay Fabe with Triple H, or else Hunter would have been the '96 King of the Ring. I think the creation of the nWo changed WWF's thinking and made them take a second look at Austin and really give him a run...

As for the Montreal Screwjob being important? No.

The Montreal Screwjob wasn't important... It was shocking and memorable but not important. 6 months after the screw job Shawn Michaels was out of the buisness and Bret Hart was mired in the obscurity of WCW. The only thing that can be claimed to come out of the screwjob was Vince McMahon becoming the evil boss... which it didn't create the evil Vince character.

The evil Vince character was born when he "wouldn't let Austin wrestle" months earlier. If you watch the weeks after the Screwjob Vince only did one interview and then disappeared from TV for months until he started promoting Tyson at Wrestlemania. The Evil Vince character was only really created in the build up to Austin/Michaels and really exploded after Mania XIV. All the Screwjob was to Vince's character was something to look back at in retrospect, it's wasn't utalized in the weeks afterward.