Why do we love TABLES so much? It's always a mark out moment when they pull them out. Why are they even under there? You ever see a botch and you're thinking the whole time, dude that's not gonna break. Obviously never taken a bump but I know a vertical suPLAY is gonna be a slide more than a slam ya feel me? Let's talk about these spots. And make sure it's stylized in all caps!

There is something deeply psychologically satisfying about it I can't pin down. It's not just a pro wrestling thing either, if you watch through Walker Texas Ranger you rarely get any episodes where nobody goes through a table in a fight scene. One of the Goat table breaking spots is Jean Claude in Kickboxer the bar fight(after THAT dance scene) where there is a guy holding up a table to shield himself but Van Dam spin kicks through it and drills the guy through a hand rail into the water.

The 1995 ECW show Gangstas Paradise that had Coolio theme song and something like 22 shattered tables, epic

Favorite table spot will always be the Bret black table cloth spot at Survivor Series 95, that was where my obsession started right there buddy.

Mar 10, 2024 1:32:47 GMT Neo Zeed said:

Favorite table spot will always be the Bret black table cloth spot at Survivor Series 95, that was where my obsession started right there buddy.

Argument to be made for a potential Attitude Era starting point?

Have thought about this a lot and have decided that the crunch sound of a table break is as important as the visual because it's where the spectacular finds a sound to accompany the wonder of the action itself. It's the perfect combination of sight and sounds that make some of the most satisfying physical actions to observe. The swish sound that goes with a beautiful jump shot. The crack of a bat that goes with the perfect swing. The crunch of a table as Masato Tanaka finally gets his revenge on Mike Awesome with a picture perfect powerbomb from the ring to the floor at Heatwave '98. 

I love that there have been legit shoot table spots in boxing and Brazilian mma/Luta livre bouts in history, where guys fought through the ropes and crashed through the fucking timekeepers table for real. I wish they were on film.

People pop for tables breaking because it looks cool and makes a nice sound. Simple as.

Held off on posting until now because I didn't want to have heat with Neo Zeed after telling him I got tired of table spots for the most part 20+ years ago. As with most things it worked best in moderation. At some point it became an expected part of WWE main events, hardcore matches in all promotions, and lost a lot of its appeal through overuse. At best it was a trope to be checked off, at worst a crutch lazy wrestlers relied on to get a cheap pop.

That Raven/Sandman match I reviewed fairly recently is a great example of tables jumping the shark. They broke 3 or 4 in a 9 minute match. And they weren't even GOOD table breaks! One time one of them fell back into a table to break a sleeperhold ffs. And while I'm ranting, why do they keep tables under the ring in the first place? Some 'smart' tag team with Nowinski or somebody like that should have removed the tables from under the ring to foil the Dudleys one plan. EDIT #2: Wait. Did this happen one time? Cuz now I'm feeling like it did. 

Best table spots are the outta nowhere ones. Nobi already brought up the gold standard in Bret/Diesel. Saw another good one recently. Think it was on AEW. Don't recall the match. Jericho/Cole? Edge/Christian? Doesn't really matter. Anyway, they set up a table, but it was a good 5-10 minutes before somebody went through it. And it came outta nowhere when it finally did happen. That's the good stuff. Piledrivers through tables are always awesome as well provided the table doesn’t collapse prior to the move being executed.

EDIT: You old ECW fans will get a kick out of this. Was watching another modern(ish) wrestling show where the crowd chanted "We Want Tables." 2023-24 and fans still want tables. I honestly assumed fans had outgrown tables. I was wrong. Maybe I'm the outlier here and breaking tables is timeless to most? Yeah, that's probably it.

As a general rule, the table stood up vertical in a ring corner usually sucks. It tends to be a lame Irish whip spot where the victim throws himself backwards to go through it (a Raven Special). Taz is the only one that really perfected a good corner table spot, but that was also just because Sabu was willing to take an insane suplex bump into it, so maybe that's just Sabu being the Table GOAT, per usual.

Tables set up in a ring tend to be kinda lame. This is why ECW started stacking them, then stacking them and setting them on fire. Something about the table bouncing from the ring makes it less satisfying than when it's on a steady floor outside the ring. That being said, another shout out for Heatwave '98 because the stereo top rope legdrops from Sabu & RVD onto Hayabusa & Shinzaki is probably the coolest single table ring breaks in a ring.

Moral of the story, Sabu is probably involved in one of the greatest examples of every table break variation.

A table outside the ring, I'm going to enjoy 9 out of 10 times. It's going to be a cool spot, it's going to be a great sound, just a good time.

Baker has me requestioning my life, do I really love pro wrestling or am I just obsessed with motherfuckers going through the wood. I love how this became a thing that Buffalo Bills fans do at tailgating, flaming tables, etc. It just transcends pro wrestling and should become a cultural phenomenon of it's own.

I can't help but also bring up the gonzo balls nuts fan fiction match I came up with in my ECW 2001 fed back in the day on PW, over 12 years ago, a few years before Lucha Underground did their Aztec Warfare matches(which were brilliant) it was the Anarchy Rulz Match, 30 men, 29 tables, 1 winner. Basically an ECW Royal Rumble but eliminations happen by going through the table(and wrestlers can just fight anywhere in the arena through the match). There were tables set up around the ring, in every corner of the ring, then stacks of them out on the entrance ramp(WCW catwalk style). I'm waiting on somebody in real life to have the balls to try this. You could have the Luger/Bret spin on a finish where 2 guys go through the same table, instant replay to see who touched it first. Evidence proves to be inconclusive.

Was smoking the good shit when I wrote that match, good times.

Mar 10, 2024 14:13:01 GMT Baker said:

People pop for tables breaking because it looks cool and makes a nice sound. Simple as.

Held off on posting until now because I didn't want to have heat with Neo Zeed after telling him I got tired of table spots for the most part 20+ years ago. As with most things it worked best in moderation. At some point it became an expected part of WWE main events, hardcore matches in all promotions, and lost a lot of its appeal through overuse. At best it was a trope to be checked off, at worst a crutch lazy wrestlers relied on to get a cheap pop.

Exactly my view on tables. It's fun when it happens but I wouldn't be sad if a table spot never happened again.

Here is a fun little exercise. List the first 5-10-15-whatever table spots that come to mind. I'll spoiler tag mine to avoid influencing. Let's see how many we have in common. No cheating. No deleting. Go with your gut. I did 15.

SPOILER: Click to show

Bret at Survivor Series 95
Sabu springboard DDTs RVD off the barricade
RVD counters another Sabu springboard DDT with a fisherman's buster on the floor
Brian Lee chokeslams Dreamer through all the tables
Mick Foley Hell In A Cell
Funk piledrives Flair after Flair/Steamboat
Race belly flop vs. Hogan on SNME
Savage piledrives Morton
Raven piledrives a Pitbull at Gangsta's Paradise
Cactus piledrives HHH on Raw at MSG
Bubba Bomb on Mae Young
Bubba Bomb on Spike- think it was in the ECW intro for a while
Jeff Hardy balcony Swanton on a Dudley
HBK/Mankind crash and burn at Mind Games
Diesel powerbombs Shawn through a table at Good Friends, Better Enemies.

Gonna avoid Bret/Diesel since it was already brought up but it would've made the cut.

SPOILER: Click to show

- Kurt's cuncussion @ Summerslam 2000
- Vince Legdrop @ WM19
- Rockbottom to Heyman @ SS02
- Taker legdropping Austin @ SS98
- Taker chokeslamming Shane from post to the TABLE on the outside (underrated in terms of replays) @ KOTR00
- Foley's famous one @ KOTR98
- Benoit double suplay @ WM20
- The double dive or whatever it was @ Mind Games
- For some reason I remember HHH elbowing Goldberg @ Armageddon 03 w/ Kane

Feel like that's a decent enough list and I've run out of instances...

Honestly, could go on forever, but made myself stop.

SPOILER: Click to show

Harley Race belly flops a table against Hulk Hogan

Bret Hart goes through a table out of nowhere (Survivor Series '95)

Chris Benoit powerbombs Sabu from the top rop onto Rocco Rock through a table (ECW Double Tables)

Rocco Rock moonsaults off the cage onto two tables (Heatwave '95)

Sabu triple jumps over the guard rail with a sommersault onto a table that 2 Cold Scorpio rolled off of (Cyberslam '96)

Sabu triple jump DDT's Mikey Whipwreck on a table bridged from the apron and guard rail (some ECW Arena event in 1996)

RVD Fisherman Busters Sabu onto a table bridged from the apron and guard rail (The Doctor Is In)

Mike Awesome powerbombs Masato Tanaka from the ring to the floor (Elks Lodge July/1998)

Undertaker throws Mankind off the Hell in a Cell (King of the Ring '98)

Masato Tanka powerbombs Mike Awesome from the ring to the floor (Heatwave '98)

Taz dragon suplexes Sabu onto a table at the ECW Arena (Late 1998)

New Jack and Spike Stereo balcony dive onto the Dudleys (Living Dangerously '98)

New Jack on Mustafa (Living Dangerously '99)

Sabu splashes Taz onto a table that is bridged in the corner of the guard rails (Living Dangerously '99)

Jerry Lynn sunset flip powerbombs RVD onto a table on the floor (Hardcore Heaven '99)

Jeff Hardy swanton from ladder (WrestleMania 17)

Bonus: Mike Awesome powerbombs HULK HOGAN through a table on a Nitro during the New Blood/Millionaire's Club feud

Oh yeah

SPOILER: Click to show

Rock getting stunned while holding the camera was on the TABLE]

I remember a table spot from Nitro where they had a good table and it did not break. Think it might have been the Steiner Bros and maybe High Voltage or Public Enemy I'm not really sure anymore.

TABLE SPOTS vs. The Announce Booth/TABLE, do you think one has the better ratio?

Shout out to Francine getting powerbombed off the top rope through a table by the Pitbulls. A couple years later, women getting put through tables became Bubba Ray's gimmick, but absolutely no woman was doing that shit before her.

In terms of tables in wrestling, I feel like there should have been an "Ironman" Tables Match at some point. Probably featuring the Dudley Boyz, but just a 30 minute match, where the team that wins is the one who puts their opponents through the most tables.

Leper Messiah reminded me I actually liked Table Matches. The Dudleys were good in them.

PW's Most Memorable Table Spots (3 Voters)

3- Bret @ Survivor Series '95
3- Mankind @ KOTR 98
2- Michaels & Mankind @ IYH Mind Games
2- Race belly flop vs. Hogan @snme
2- RVD Fisherman Busters Sabu

None of us mentioned it (much to my regret) so I'll give a shoutout to Foley for going HEAD FIRST through a table vs. Undertaker @ IYH Revenge of the Taker.

Was Rhino pildriving a Sandman's Wife mentioned? Neo Zeed,

Mar 12, 2024 22:53:27 GMT Leper Messiah said:

In terms of tables in wrestling, I feel like there should have been an "Ironman" Tables Match at some point. Probably featuring the Dudley Boyz, but just a 30 minute match, where the team that wins in the one who puts their opponents through the most tables.

Sheer brilliance

Mar 14, 2024 14:00:54 GMT Neo Zeed said:

Mar 12, 2024 22:53:27 GMT Leper Messiah said:

In terms of tables in wrestling, I feel like there should have been an "Ironman" Tables Match at some point. Probably featuring the Dudley Boyz, but just a 30 minute match, where the team that wins in the one who puts their opponents through the most tables.

Sheer brilliance

In roh they crowned their first championship in a 4 way iron man. I want more stuff like that.

SCRAMBLE TABLES MATCH

Big Dick Dudley at Barely Legal is one of my favs.

There was an ECW table spot in 96 with I believe Brian Lee choke slamming Pitbull 2 off the equipment truck through 2 or 3 tables, pretty glorious spot that I noted in my reviews bitd that it’s odd the clip was rarely/never replayed or shown in any clips, just a 5 star table spot that happened one week on HCTV and was just another day at the office for ECW.

Some of the table spots in the Credible vs Sabu match at Anarchy Rulz 99 were pretty great, love that match. All of the tables spots from that show stand out, the Goat wrestling event in history of tv imo.

my first taste of ECW was Dreamer getting choke slammed by Brian Lee off the top of something through several stacked tables

Mar 14, 2024 14:07:53 GMT Neo Zeed said:

There was an ECW table spot in 96 with I believe Brian Lee choke slamming Pitbull 2 off the equipment truck through 2 or 3 tables, pretty glorious spot that I noted in my reviews bitd that it’s odd the clip was rarely/never replayed or shown in any clips, just a 5 star table spot that happened one week on HCTV and was just another day at the office for ECW.

The old WWE advertisement for live events always said the rush in indescribable.

On the other hand the proper CRUNCH from a TABLE spot is VERY describable. You just *KNOW* it like when your lawn mower runs over a piece of plastic.