The Ruthless Aggression Era

[Big Pete]

After the incredible success of the Attitude Era, the WWE were on an incredible wave of momentum. Stars like Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock were household names and the WWE dominated pop culture and were frequently featured on talk shows, magazines, video games and television shows. It seemed as if they were in the middle of a golden age but things changed quickly.

After losing a lawsuit to the World Wildlife Fund, the World Wrestling Federation had to change it's name to the WWE and the stars who had such a hold on youth culture were beginning to flame out.

The WWE had to come up with new ideas and new stars to keep fans engaged. This was difficult in an industry that was struggling to remain relevant in the digital age and with competition from MMA, the WWE had to offer something that competitive sports couldn't.

Therefore the Ruthless Aggression era was born. The WWE would split itself into two brands, RAW & SmackDown, which would allow veteran talent like Triple H, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle to remain icons while giving guys like John Cena, Batista, Randy Orton and Brock Lesnar the opportunity to become main event stars.

It was an era that gave us the SmackDown Six, The Diva Search, The Elimination Chamber, General Managers, Money in the Bank, Taboo Tuesday, Cyber Sunday, Beat The Clock Challenge, Tough Enough, Tribute To The Troops, The Highlight Reel and the many clones that followed.

More importantly it was the first era a lot of us discussed here on LU. If you dig through the archives you'll find some very interesting takes.

So I'm curious to hear what the consensus is. Does the era hold up better now? What were some of your highlights/lowlights? Favourite wrestlers? Underrated wrestlers? Overrated wrestlers? Let's talk it out

 

[Big Pete]

So there is a lot of ground to cover, but I wanted to start off by focusing on the post-Brock years. I started posting here around SummerSlam 2004 with Randy Orton and John Bradshaw Layfield as champions.

It was a rough time for the company. Eugene, a 'special needs' wrestling savant, was being featured heavily on RAW. Meanwhile The Undertaker found himself embroiled in this never-ending feud with manager Paul Heyman. After refusing Heyman's services and freeing himself of the 'urn', Taker found himself face to face with Heidenreich, a very deranged and intense brawler. Heidenreich was best remembered for kidnapping and simulating sex with Michael Cole.

Things would take a turn heading into Wrestlemania XXI with the WWE taking over Hollywood. The WWE filmed several film parodies to promote the show that really helped make the show seem larger than life. On top of that, the card was strong top to bottom and the in-ring segments with Hogan-Hussein and Austin-Piper made for a balanced show.

With Batista and Cena on top, the company felt like it was heading in an exciting new direction. It also seemed like they could present the best of both worlds. While the show seemed fresher with Batista, Cena, Orton, MNM, Benjamin, Carlito, Hussein etc. being featured but they were also doing a better job of incorporating nostalgia into the mix. Hogan had another great run in the company culminating in a big match against Shawn Michaels that's still talked about today.

Then you had ECW One Night Stand, which maybe one of the best reunion shows put together by any entertainment venture, period. Not only did it capture the feel of a classic ECW Supercard, but it also incorporated the WWE personalities in a clever and effective way.

It seemed like the company had found it's footing only for things to go awry. The WWE happened to film a controversial segment with Muhammad Hussein right around the time of the London Bombings, effectively killing off one of the biggest stars in the company. Efforts to book a Hogan/Austin match fell through and Austin would go on another sabbatical from the company after creative differences. Finally, respected veteran Eddie Guerrero died of a sudden heart attack casting a shadow over the company.

Wrestling deaths had grown all too common as wrestlers abused pain killers and steroids to perform at a mainstream level. The Eddie death rocked the company and was a huge deal here too with users sporting an RIP Eddie Guerrero signature.

It was a rough time, especially since Eddie was featured prominently on SmackDown and was set to play a pivotal role in the title picture. I've heard rumours Eddie was either supposed to win the title, or help Orton win the title before going off and having a dream match with HBK at Wrestlemania. Either way it was a big loss and would have huge ramifications for the company.

I'll cover 2006-07 next, focusing on John Cena, DX, Vince McMahon, ECW, Benoit etc.

 

[Pippen94]

After the incredible success of the Attitude Era, the WWE were on an incredible wave of momentum. Stars like Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock were household names and the WWE dominated pop culture and were frequently featured on talk shows, magazines, video games and television shows. It seemed as if they were in the middle of a golden age but things changed quickly.

After losing a lawsuit to the World Wildlife Fund, the World Wrestling Federation had to change it's name to the WWE and the stars who had such a hold on youth culture were beginning to flame out.

The WWE had to come up with new ideas and new stars to keep fans engaged. This was difficult in an industry that was struggling to remain relevant in the digital age and with competition from MMA, the WWE had to offer something that competitive sports couldn't.

Therefore the Ruthless Aggression era was born. The WWE would split itself into two brands, RAW & SmackDown, which would allow veteran talent like Triple H, The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle to remain icons while giving guys like John Cena, Batista, Randy Orton and Brock Lesnar the opportunity to become main event stars.

It was an era that gave us the SmackDown Six, The Diva Search, The Elimination Chamber, General Managers, Money in the Bank, Taboo Tuesday, Cyber Sunday, Beat The Clock Challenge, Tough Enough, Tribute To The Troops, The Highlight Reel and the many clones that followed.

More importantly it was the first era a lot of us discussed here on LU. If you dig through the archives you'll find some very interesting takes.

So I'm curious to hear what the consensus is. Does the era hold up better now? What were some of your highlights/lowlights? Favourite wrestlers? Underrated wrestlers? Overrated wrestlers? Let's talk it out

Lowbrow, creatively bankrupt period. The most interesting developments were happening elsewhere. Waste of time revisiting.

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

Fantastic read Pete. Appreciate the effort and trip down memory lane!

 

[Marshall_magic]

It was an interesting time. After WCW went under WWE put their greatest show of all time on, which ended with Austin’s heel turn which whilst creatively was very entertaining, didn’t work as the fans didn’t want to boo him. Also the Rock had taken a leave which left no faces to go against him. I believe the plan was for HHH to turn face and be the top guy but he got injured.

A bungled invasion angle later, they put the top prize on Jericho to usher in 2002. During 2002 the WWE had the greatest roster in wrestling history but fans were actively leaving in droves. The stars were also filing out. They bet the mortgage on Lesnar at Summerslam then doubled down at Wrestlemania 19, but he would also walk out the door.

As a result they looked towards smaller guys like Eddie, Benoit and Angle, and we know what happened there. A young Randy Orton was also groomed as a top star for years to come but his face turn flopped hard. At Wrestlemania 21 they’ve decided to put the belts on the two most over guys at the time who would dominate the title scene for 5 years. Orton found his place as a great heel and guys like Edge also stepped up.

 

[Big Pete]

By the time 2006 rolled around, the WWE had well and truly established that nobody was on the level of John Cena and Batista. It was a noticeable shift from having the babyfaces chase the heel and I must admit I struggled to adapt.

By the time New Year's Revolution '06 rolled around John Cena found himself in an Elimination Chamber match with Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels, Kane, Carlito and Chris Masters. I thought if Cena was ever going to lose the championship this would be the occassion because he's up against five other guys and you could always make him look strong in defeat.

I thought either Kurt or Shawn would walk away with the championship, I didn't expect it to be Edge.

Edge was one of my favourite wrestlers when I started watching. Both he and Christian earned my sympathies when they fell short at SummerSlam '99 and No Mercy '99 respectively and I always thought he had potential to be a main event talent. By the time he returned from neck surgery in 2004, the fans had largely moved on but when he turned heel he started to find himself and I was enthralled in his rivalry with Matt Hardy.

Edge's reign was a breath of fresh air and I was on board. The live sex celebration, beating Ric Flair in a TLC match, it was a fun character to boo and I was on board with Cena delivering him his comeuppance. I just didn't expect it to come so soon and initially I was disappointed we didn't get a Cena/Edge main event match at Wrestlemania.

Fortunately the WWE had better ideas and gave us a Mick Foley vs. Edge match instead. Foley was my favourite performer of all-time. The first WWE DVD I bought was his DVD compilation: Greatest Hits and Misses and I couldn't put his two autobiographies down. I was so excited for the match that I had to break my duck and order my first PPV. The match well and truly delivered, so I felt like I got my money's worth. Reading through the discussion thread, I find it funny that I'm basically telling Mis to f**k off and watch TNA - the more things change.

I actually enjoyed Mis' takes on TNA & ROH at the time so it seemed completely out of pocket

The other exciting thing to come out of the show was Shawn Michaels and Triple H doing the DX crotch-chop. It seemed like both guys were going to up the ante and really challenge Cena's place in the pecking order. The WWE had me on the hook with the DX reunion, but when it turned out to be a vehicle for the WWE sit-com writers where each episode of RAW became another opportunity for DX to get under the skin of the McMahons I lost interest. It essentially took one of my favourite performers in Shawn Michaels, miscast him as this degenerate and it was easily my least favourite part of his return.

For me DX was the ultimate be careful what you wish for moments. The fans wanted it, both guys had basically done everything at this point but it was just never going to live up to expectations.

Meanwhile over on SmackDown, Batista suffered a long term injury so the show was in some serious trouble. They quickly rebooted the show with Kurt coming in with Rey Mysterio being groomed as the next champion. Rey was somebody who always deserved to win the title at some point, so the victory made sense. However the WWE went so overboard with the Eddie Guerrero tribute that it over-shadowed Rey's accomplishments and it led to a very underwhelming reign.

Otherwise I wasn't a huge SmackDown guy at the time. I'd read for years the Giant Gonzales vs. Undertaker feud was one of the worst rivalries in the history of the WWE so I was shocked when they revisited it with The Great Kahli. Finlay was a channel changer for me when he was with WCW but I actually enjoyed his run in the WWE and felt his style worked better. Otherwise I was all about the tag team division with Paul London & Brian Kendrick taking on all-comers. They didn't have much in the way of personality, but the matches were always exciting and thought both guys deserved better.

Still have a lot to cover - ECW, Vince, Orton etc.

 

[Pippen94]

By the time 2006 rolled around, the WWE had well and truly established that nobody was on the level of John Cena and Batista. It was a noticeable shift from having the babyfaces chase the heel and I must admit I struggled to adapt.

By the time New Year's Revolution '06 rolled around John Cena found himself in an Elimination Chamber match with Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels, Kane, Carlito and Chris Masters. I thought if Cena was ever going to lose the championship this would be the occassion because he's up against five other guys and you could always make him look strong in defeat.

I thought either Kurt or Shawn would walk away with the championship, I didn't expect it to be Edge.

Edge was one of my favourite wrestlers when I started watching. Both he and Christian earned my sympathies when they fell short at SummerSlam '99 and No Mercy '99 respectively and I always thought he had potential to be a main event talent. By the time he returned from neck surgery in 2004, the fans had largely moved on but when he turned heel he started to find himself and I was enthralled in his rivalry with Matt Hardy.

Edge's reign was a breath of fresh air and I was on board. The live sex celebration, beating Ric Flair in a TLC match, it was a fun character to boo and I was on board with Cena delivering him his comeuppance. I just didn't expect it to come so soon and initially I was disappointed we didn't get a Cena/Edge main event match at Wrestlemania.

Fortunately the WWE had better ideas and gave us a Mick Foley vs. Edge match instead. Foley was my favourite performer of all-time. The first WWE DVD I bought was his DVD compilation: Greatest Hits and Misses and I couldn't put his two autobiographies down. I was so excited for the match that I had to break my duck and order my first PPV. The match well and truly delivered, so I felt like I got my money's worth. Reading through the discussion thread, I find it funny that I'm basically telling Mis to f**k off and watch TNA - the more things change.

I actually enjoyed Mis' takes on TNA & ROH at the time so it seemed completely out of pocket

The other exciting thing to come out of the show was Shawn Michaels and Triple H doing the DX crotch-chop. It seemed like both guys were going to up the ante and really challenge Cena's place in the pecking order. The WWE had me on the hook with the DX reunion, but when it turned out to be a vehicle for the WWE sit-com writers where each episode of RAW became another opportunity for DX to get under the skin of the McMahons I lost interest. It essentially took one of my favourite performers in Shawn Michaels, miscast him as this degenerate and it was easily my least favourite part of his return.

For me DX was the ultimate be careful what you wish for moments. The fans wanted it, both guys had basically done everything at this point but it was just never going to live up to expectations.

Meanwhile over on SmackDown, Batista suffered a long term injury so the show was in some serious trouble. They quickly rebooted the show with Kurt coming in with Rey Mysterio being groomed as the next champion. Rey was somebody who always deserved to win the title at some point, so the victory made sense. However the WWE went so overboard with the Eddie Guerrero tribute that it over-shadowed Rey's accomplishments and it led to a very underwhelming reign.

Otherwise I wasn't a huge SmackDown guy at the time. I'd read for years the Giant Gonzales vs. Undertaker feud was one of the worst rivalries in the history of the WWE so I was shocked when they revisited it with The Great Kahli. Finlay was a channel changer for me when he was with WCW but I actually enjoyed his run in the WWE and felt his style worked better. Otherwise I was all about the tag team division with Paul London & Brian Kendrick taking on all-comers. They didn't have much in the way of personality, but the matches were always exciting and thought both guys deserved better.

Still have a lot to cover - ECW, Vince, Orton etc.

 

[Big Pete]

In June of 2006, the WWE held the second ECW One Night Stand show. The event was built around Rob Van Dam cashing in his Money in the Bank and defeating John Cena infront of the ECW faithful at the Hammerstein Ballroom. This was a must-see show and it led to one of the craziest title defences with the ECW faithful tearing into John Cena unlike anything else in the industry. The crowd was right behind Rob and when he won the ECW title it appeared that the WWE had thrown their full support behind their exciting new brand.

Unfortunately three weeks later, Rob Van Dam and Sabu were arrested for marijuana possession and the venture would take hit after hit. In August, the WWE would lose one of their performers after Kurt refused to get treatment for his painkiller addiction. Head writer, Paul Heyman would quit after the disasterous December to Dismember and it just kept going from there.

Here in Australia, we actually missed the opening dozen or so episodes. The show debuted in June over in the US but would only start airing in September. By that point it was clear that the show wasn't going to live up to the initial hype, still I enjoyed watching Rob Van Dam around this time and watching guys like CM Punk, John Morrison, Elijah Burke, The Miz etc. find their footing.

In 2007, the WWE would enjoy one of their most successful PPVs of all-time in Wrestlemania XXIII. The show was promoted around the Battle of the Billionaires with Donald Trump and Vince McMahon putting their hair on the line as Lashley (representing Trump) and Umaga (representing Vince) duked it out.

This was a show I had little interest in at the time, but since I had nothing better to do I ordered it and had an absolute blast. Just about every match on the card delivered, some like Taker-Batista blew away expectations and it just served as a reminder that when it comes to the big events, the WWE can put on a hell of a show.

One of the drawbacks coming off the show was Vince. Vince had done every devious thing you could imagine and yet they were still trying to find ways to push the envelope. I enjoyed Vince in small doses but often his feuds would divulege into shlock and we entered that in 2007 with the death of Vince angle followed up by the bastard son angle.

Neither of which went to plan because in June of 2007, tragedy would strike when Chris Benoit murdered his wife, Nancy Benoit and his seven year old son, Daniel Benoit before hanging himself. It remains the darkest day in Pro Wrestling history, there were so many theories floating around, admittedly I was even in denial but as time went on it became clear that one of the best in-ring performers committed an atrocity.

This would have major ramifications. The Eddie death had served as a warning, but the WWE had to prove a point with the Benoit death and several of the wrestlers including the top stars were suspended. This included Mr. Kennedy who was reportedly in line for a huge push as Vince's bastard son, only to lose it to Hornswaggle as the WWE decided to go in a more light-hearted path.

On RAW, John Cena and Randy Orton were finally embroiled in a main event program but before Cena could do Orton a favour, disaster struck as John Cena suffered an injury in a match against Kennedy. Cena was set to sit on the sidelines, which would have been a welcome boost but it caused another re-shuffle and Randy's big title win had to be cobbled together.

On a brighter note, Jeff Hardy had found a new lease on life after returning to the WWE and was beginning to build momentum towards a main event run. Jeff always had potential and charisma but his recreational activities had often derailed his career. This would also coincide with the return of Chris Jericho who had taken a sabbatical but was set to return with a brand new haircut and finisher.

With JBL and the Big Show also returning, John Cena working over-time to make a surprise appearance at the Rumble and the emergence of guys like Montel Vontavious Porter, CM Punk, John Morrison etc. I was excited for what laid ahead.

There's always the question of how do you define an era? When does it end? There's no concrete answer but if I hazard a guess I'd say it was in 2008, either when the company went HD in 2008 and changed the sets. Or when it went PG in July of 2008. The show went from trying to appeal to that male 18-34 demographic to being a more light-hearted family affair.

It was certainly a strange adjustment period. The Attitude Era had broken so many rules and laid such new ground that it was always going to be difficult to follow up. However the Ruthless Aggression era wasn't without it positives and still there were some great events, angles, matches, personalities that gave us something to look forward to and discuss. Even if we were just venting, I enjoyed sharing that time with all of you, reminiscing about the good ol' days and booking our own cards.

I'd love to hear more impressions - favourite/least favourite shows, wrestlers and the like. I do want to write another post just reflecting on the fan experience particularly as an Aussie.

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

I'd love to re-visit these RAWs.
I was a WCW fan boy, and once I saw Vince on WCW TV, I tuned off the industry completely.
I missed pretty much everything from 01 through to later 05 then came back.

I remember thinking at the time, that it just wasn't the same. Sure, if you write on paper who was there, the roster was elite - Angle, Taker, Kane, Cena, Edge, Triple H, Batista, HBK, Orton, Flair etc.
But it just didn't seem to hit right. Angle soon left for TNA. Kane wasn't a scary monster anymore. DX were fueding with the McMahons, and constantly battling the likes of male cheerleaders, or being put in 'against the odds' matches. Batista, as mentioned was a long term injury. Booker T becoming King Booker is something I'll not forget in a hurry.

The divas were still largely eye candy - I did enjoy Mickie James feud with Trish though, and Maria always made me laugh. Outside of those, and throw in Lita for good measure, there wasn't much depth, as was the norm.

The undercard just seemed so off to the point where I was excited to see returns of Road Warrior Animal and Tatanka. There were a few shining lights, I really enjoyed Bobby Lashley's introduction. I think they fumbled Carlito and Masters. Could have worked well as a tag team but they split quite quickly, and neither really went up in the card after the Elimination Chamber. How many times did we see MnM face the Hardyz?! Probably not as many as I seem to remember.

Mysterios championship run felt extremely underwhelming, it felt more like a tribute to Eddie than a well deserved win for it's own merit.

I'd love to watch from 02-08 again, however Netflix doesn't seem to have them up. I do miss the WWE Network.

 

[Big Pete]

I'd love to watch from 02-08 again, however Netflix doesn't seem to have them up. I do miss the WWE Network.

I feel like this is the first time in years that the company has short-changed it's fans. We've spent the past decade having the entire library a click away to only bits and pieces. Even so, it doesn't appear Netflix is in any hurry to release anymore episodes on the RAW or SmackDown vault.

Which is a shame because every now and then I'd get the craving to go back and watch episodes I may have missed.

Still, the PPV catalogue is mostly there, so if you have a craving they're well worth checking out.

 

[Big Pete]

Which is something I wanted to touch on with the fan experience. These days we're so accustomed to streaming and on-demand television that it makes watching the show an absolute breeze. If anything the biggest challenge is trying to keep up because we're talking dozens of hours of TV a week and that's just WWE and AEW.

It wasn't like back in the day and how we were at the mercy of PayTV.

When I first started watching, I had Optus which meant I could only get WCW Nitro on a Saturday Night. The one up-side is that after the latest episode would air, they'd often follow up with a classic Nitro episode from 95-97 so you could learn more about the history of the company and it really cemented the key moments like Hogan joining WCW, Scott Hall's debut, Bash at the Beach etc.

Fast forward to 2001, Optus gets the rights to FoxSports which means we get Monday Night Raw at 8pm on Tuesday nights. This was only hours after the US, so you could avoid spoilers, watch the show and be a part of the discussion.

Unfortunately by the time Optus got Fox 8, Foxtel had a dispute with the WWE so SmackDown and PPVs were off the air. If you wanted to watch PPVs, you had to go to a local Birch Carroll and Coyle. Did anyone ever do that? So we missed out on what's considered this golden era of SmackDown with the SmackDown Six.

We did get the tail end of the era in August of 2003 when the WWE came to an agreement. Supposedly in the interim, Fox would broadcast a syndicated version of NWA-TNA which somehow I missed which annoys me because I remember the PPV ads promoting the X-Division, namely Amazing Red, AJ Styles and Jerry Lynn and wanting to watch those.

Regardless SmackDown was back and we'd get the tail end of the golden era. All was largely right with the world, except RAW was eventually moved from Tuesday nights to 9:30pm on Friday nights. It made it difficult to keep track of the show and usually I just found myself parroting what was said online.

Around the 2004 Olympic games, RAW was moved to Wednesday nights before finding a home on Wednesday afternoons at 3:30pm. While this was an improvement over the Friday time-slot, the damage had already been done. We lived in an age where people were spending more time online so it was far more convenient to read through the results and draw your conclusions from there.

I don't think Pro Wrestling lends itself to message boards. I don't think the show is meant to be taken that seriously and for the most part it really is just mindless entertainment. Which presented a problem because the Ruthless Aggression happened to coincide with the first wave of social media - message boards and fans desperately wanted to talk about Pro Wrestling.

However the WWE were playing it relatively safe during uncertain times so the shows weren't that exciting and the roster was relatively stale. There were alternatives out there in TNA and ROH but that shows weren't readily available. Impact wouldn't debut in Australia until April of 2008 and ROH only became accessible through their streaming service I want to say in 2012 - and even that had some major issues.

So it wasn't the best climate. Especially when you factor in PPVs. Imagine being a fan back then, paying $300+ to watch every PPV and you're either rushing home to catch the 6pm Monday replay or having to go to the trouble of setting up a VCR/DVD recorder and hoping there are no issues. I can't imagine it and even if you go down the more affordable route of just renting the show when it comes out on DVD, there's every chance your local video shop didn't have it.

Which is to say the era always felt awkward. You couldn't get a complete picture of the show like you can now, but fans thought about the show more deeply than they did with the Attitude Era. It's an era that's improved over time, especially now that we've seen Batista and John Cena go onto bigger and better things. I'm genuinely excited to see John Cena play Peacemaker - which is something I never thought I'd say 20 odd years ago.

 

[Valheru]

Great thread Pete

I will put forward a more considered response another time but start by saying that in ring the product absolutely stands up and was better than the attitude era. Perhaps creatively they were a bit more reserved but the talent shone through.

I would strongly argue that the 02/03 roster is the greatest assembly of wrestling talent there has ever been.

 

[Shaun Hewitt]

Just on Netflix and streaming etc.

I don't understand what they are doing with the WCW YouTube channel. I'm under the understanding that it's where WCW will be streamed from. However, they are uploading Nitros and Thunder in such a random order, that there is absolutely no consistancy. It's missing the majority of PPVs.

I wouldn't even know where to stream ECW at this point.

And with the mentioned Netflix missing a huge chunk of the RAW vault, it makes revisitng yesteryear a very dissappointing experience despite having the PPVs.

How we've gone from having a network with everything at our fingertips, to now being unable to watch WCW properly, or watch WWF/E from a certain time period a limited selection.

Funnily enough, I've been watching the random Nitros on YouTube, and I miss wrestling the way it was. I just loved everything about it, the presentation, the arena, the commentary. The fact that the majority of the show was actual wrestling. Promos were fairly short but effective. The majority of the gimmicks weren't too over the top.
I think they had a fantastic undercard - Then you had veterans like Valentine, Hacksaw, Funk, Eaton, heck even Janetty, Bulldog and The Anvil. I liked the tag teams you know Harlem Heat, Steiners, Faces of Fear, Outsiders, Nasty Boys, Public Enemy, High Voltage, American Males etc.
They had a plethora of main eventers, which ironically partly led to their downfall (as in, outside of DDP and Goldberg, no one really rose up the card)
I guess it was a wrestling show firstly, and an entertainment show secondly.

Prior to WWE going to Netflix, I did a rewatch of WWF from when DX were forming, i really enjoyed the gang warfare even if no one from the DOA or Las Barricuas stood out too much. NOD did obviously. The rise of Rock, the SCSA/Vinnie Mac feud was a thing of beauty. I really liked the HBK/Hart feud, they have a natural chemistry that I guess came about because they generally had a dislike for each other. The introduction of Kane. Ministry of Darkness Taker, Coporate Ministry. The battles that Kane, Taker and Mankind had with each other. Ken Shamrock is someone I'd love to have seen hold the world title... seemed he could snap at any time.

What a trip down memory lane

 

[Manurewa_Marlins]

Drove a lot of us to the internet to find alternative wrestling.

Ring of Honor, NJPW, Dragon Gate heck even TNA.

I even got into MMA during this period of time due to what was getting shoved down our throats by the WWE.

 

[Big Pete]

Drove a lot of us to the internet to find alternative wrestling.

Ring of Honor, NJPW, Dragon Gate heck even TNA.

I even got into MMA during this period of time due to what was getting shoved down our throats by the WWE.

One company can't sustain an entire industry. So having those alternatives and being able to take your favourite parts from each was vital for a hardcore fan.

With that said, I'm throwing a flag on NJPW. Were you really into the era where Brock Lesnar big leagued the promotion and Inoki tried to murder his guys with legitimate MMA fighters? NOAH was the internet darling of the time. NJPW itself wouldn't find it's footing until 2012 with Okada coming in as this rookie sensation and challenging Tanahashi's spot as the ace of NJPW after Tanahashi had basically kept the company afloat.

 

[Manurewa_Marlins]

Yeah you're right, I got em bungled up there, should have said NOAH!

 

[Marshall_magic]

Wrestletalk did a review of every PPV/major event of 2002 on 3 words or less recently. The main takeaway from that was,
-Raw was unwatchable
-Smackdown was a very good show led by the Smackdown 6 and Brock
-This was a company in chaos as fans were leaving in droves every week. They went crazy trying to bring them back or keep them
-Austin’s creative was absolutely dire in the buildup to his walkout
-HHH egomania had well and truly set in ahead of the reign of terror, he was having main events that went 10-15 minutes longer than they had any right to

 

[Big Pete]

-Smackdown was a very good show led by the Smackdown 6 and Brock

During the pandemic, I made a point to watch all the SmackDown Six, Cruiserweight and Brock matches. Everyone has their preferences when it comes to the in-ring action and that period for me was 'just right'. The thing with the SmackDown Six - it was Rey, Edge, Benoit, Angle, Eddie and Chavo - but there was also Kidman, Team Angle, A-Train, John Cena, Rikishi, Tajiri etc. to expand on it and it gave the show such a strong core.

-Austin’s creative was absolutely dire in the buildup to his walkout

Austin was notoriously difficult to write for. Everyone talks about Hogan and the fu-man chu but Austin would downright tell the writer the creative sucks without offering any alternatives. Russo typically came up with something, but with Gerwitz in charge as the head writer, he found it harder and harder to write.

Every creative meeting would begin with 'how does Stone Cold raise hell this week?' and after five years and a failed heel turn they really didn't have anywhere to take the character.

Keep in mind, this was the What era which pissed a lot of the hardcore fans (and talent) off.

In hindsight, the nWo should have debuted, wiped Austin out, let him sit home and then you can build towards an Austin/Brock or Austin/Goldberg match.

-HHH egomania had well and truly set in ahead of the reign of terror, he was having main events that went 10-15 minutes longer than they had any right to

I've never gone back to watch them but his matches against HBK at Armaggeddon 2002 and Bad Blood 2004 are notorious for this.

I was all on board for HHH's main event push at the start of 2002. However the storyline with Stephanie was so lame, especially since HHH was over as an anti-hero. Maybe it would have worked better if Jericho stole Stephanie away like Jericho suggested but regardless.

I liked the HHH/Flair pairing, but considering the company went through something of a reboot between Vengeance and Unforgiven I would have preferred to see a fresh face with the title. RVD/Brock your two champions with HHH eventually coming in with Evolution.

I don't have fond memories of RAW in 03, but I have to say I watched an episode right around the time Kane unmasked that was pretty watchable. They set up a HBK/Jericho rematch, Test got a win over Nash and there was an unofficial Austin match in the main event with Kane where the two just brawled around.

 

[Marshall_magic]

During the pandemic, I made a point to watch all the SmackDown Six, Cruiserweight and Brock matches. Everyone has their preferences when it comes to the in-ring action and that period for me was 'just right'. The thing with the SmackDown Six - it was Rey, Edge, Benoit, Angle, Eddie and Chavo - but there was also Kidman, Team Angle, A-Train, John Cena, Rikishi, Tajiri etc. to expand on it and it gave the show such a strong core.


Austin was notoriously difficult to write for. Everyone talks about Hogan and the fu-man chu but Austin would downright tell the writer the creative sucks without offering any alternatives. Russo typically came up with something, but with Gerwitz in charge as the head writer, he found it harder and harder to write.

Every creative meeting would begin with 'how does Stone Cold raise hell this week?' and after five years and a failed heel turn they really didn't have anywhere to take the character.

Keep in mind, this was the What era which pissed a lot of the hardcore fans (and talent) off.

In hindsight, the nWo should have debuted, wiped Austin out, let him sit home and then you can build towards an Austin/Brock or Austin/Goldberg match.

I've never gone back to watch them but his matches against HBK at Armaggeddon 2002 and Bad Blood 2004 are notorious for this.

I was all on board for HHH's main event push at the start of 2002. However the storyline with Stephanie was so lame, especially since HHH was over as an anti-hero. Maybe it would have worked better if Jericho stole Stephanie away like Jericho suggested but regardless.

I liked the HHH/Flair pairing, but considering the company went through something of a reboot between Vengeance and Unforgiven I would have preferred to see a fresh face with the title. RVD/Brock your two champions with HHH eventually coming in with Evolution.

I don't have fond memories of RAW in 03, but I have to say I watched an episode right around the time Kane unmasked that was pretty watchable. They set up a HBK/Jericho rematch, Test got a win over Nash and there was an unofficial Austin match in the main event with Kane where the two just brawled around.

I’ve always heard that the older guys who refuse bad creative and not pitch much of their own. Whereas the younger guys tend to pitch their own matches. Austin seemed to be done after his heel turn didn’t get over (although the work is actually very good, the angle match at summerslam 2001 is criminally underrated). His build up to his walk out was long PPV matches with big show and an out of sorts Undertaker, often with Flair as referee. It was very repetitive and completely stale. Although at the time I thought it should be Hogan/Austin, hindsight says the rock was the right man, as the lineage of torch holder now has Hogan > Rock > Cena > Cody with the matches to show for it. Ideally you would have Bret and Shawn and Steve in the middle, but Hogan wouldn’t do business at Mania 9.

Triple H had a lot of 20-25 minute main events inn 2002 and none really delivered apart from Summerslam. The three stages of hell match with Michael’s went 41 minutes and could have easily been a 15 minute street fight. 2003 was basically HHH buries WCW guys - Steiner, Booker, Nash, Goldberg….was there any wonder he inexplicably won in Sting’s debut. The man is very much Vince’s protege. Much like how Steph is very much his daughter.

 

[Big Pete]

I’ve always heard that the older guys who refuse bad creative and not pitch much of their own. Whereas the younger guys tend to pitch their own matches. Austin seemed to be done after his heel turn didn’t get over (although the work is actually very good, the angle match at summerslam 2001 is criminally underrated). His build up to his walk out was long PPV matches with big show and an out of sorts Undertaker, often with Flair as referee. It was very repetitive and completely stale. Although at the time I thought it should be Hogan/Austin, hindsight says the rock was the right man, as the lineage of torch holder now has Hogan > Rock > Cena > Cody with the matches to show for it. Ideally you would have Bret and Shawn and Steve in the middle, but Hogan wouldn’t do business at Mania 9.

Honestly, I wish more top guys pushed back. Look what happened with Roman, basically packed his bags and wouldn't come to work unless the WWE made it worth his while. Suddenly they come up with the Bloodline and it's one of the best storylines the WWE had ever put together and Roman was made to look strong, at least for the first half which really carried the entire storyline.

That's why I think the fans always turned on The Rock, he never really stood for anything so his character came off as a phony. Same deal with Cena, who lost his edge and didn't really have that many interesting arcs. The recent heel turn threatened to be one of the best things they did, but they took it in such a cliche nonsensical direction that they lost the fans surprisingly quickly.