2008, best year year in WWE since 2002?

[fullcollapse]

With WWE putting out quality pay per view after quality pay per view this year and all the surprising title changes we've seen over the course of this year has 2008 been WWE's best year since 2002?

[MGH]

So far yes, and by a really big margin. 2005 was second best, but that's mostly just because of the amazing Summer we got that year with the extended draft.

I'd go as far as to say this year is on par with 2001.

[steamboat1]

In terms of actual wrestling product and originallity, yes this is without a doubt the best year since 2002, mainly because for the first time since then, title matches aren't predictable anymore. CM Punk's entire reign so far has been a "OMG he's gonna lose finally". This unpredictability is what really makes for a good product.

[4real]

imo they are giving a lot more guys a better chance to get over, so yes this has been a great year so far.

[wrestlecrapcrap]

Yup.

Lack of injuries, and a deeper roster have meant their long term storylines can be planned out a bit better.

I also think that they are starting to appeal closer to our sort of age group again primarily. I'd say before they would target families, but want to get the ten and unders interested mostly. Now though, it seems it's been going back to more age 12-15 type of programing, at least since Backlash.

[fullcollapse]

Jul 22, 2008 12:27:04 GMT -5 wrestlecrapcrap said:

I also think that they are starting to appeal closer to our sort of age group again primarily. I'd say before they would target families, but want to get the ten and unders interested mostly. Now though, it seems it's been going back to more age 12-15 type of programing, at least since Backlash.

yea, I can definitely see that, and as someone very special would say "That's not a bad thing....it's a good thing"

[Bravo Echo November]

Yes it is because new stars are being pushed, and people are not getting injured (I'm looking at you 2007!).

Each brand has some redeeming quality. Raw is unpredictable again, Smackdown is no longer treated as a "B" show, and ECW is being used as a platform of sorts for new wrestlers like Bourne, and giving pushes they can't get anywhere else (Mark Henry).

PPV's have been awesome, each PPV since the No Way Out (IMO) has been shockingly good, to give you an example, I came close to ordering the Bash because of the recent streak WWE has had with their PPV's.

[wrestlecrapcrap]

I would actually second the notion that this year has been at least as good as 2001. In terms of PPVs, I'd say this has actually been the best year I've ever had as a wrestling fan.

I started in 99, and so while I guess the term would be that I was in full 'mark out' mode at that point. However I didn't order all the PPVs. Infact I'd barely care about any of them, because unless the title match was good, a lot of the other stuff was just mid card filler. Something like Scotty Too Hotty vs Dean Malenko for the Light Heavyweight title would never make PPV today, but it did in 2000.

Now though, the PPVs are absolutely stacked with must see matches in my opinion. If it isn't one title match, there's another. If it isn't that, there's usually at least 2 good upper mid card offerings from either brand, plus the remaining main eventers that aren't in title matches. That's massive quality, and now I order every one.

I also think that there will have been kids that will have thought that the last few years were really good though. That's who the company has tried to target. It's not our age, so we can't expect everything to appeal. Its telling that a lot of people thought the Punk vs Batista matches were really good, but I didn't care all that much. People love Punk and have a real emotional investment, where as I don't. That just goes to show that if their are characters that people can relate to, they will likely like what they are watching. I love Kennedy, and loved his match with Umaga, but it got called boring.

So the product is coming round to a slightly higher age group I see, and slightly closer to the average age on here I would assume. Therefore it's no surprise that we all think it's been a good year. Cena has become slightly more edgy. The endings to Raw are a bit more edgy, a bit more confusing. It's that kind of thing that leads me to believe they are targetting slightly older people. It's still a family product, but probably more to early teens rather than pre teens.

[Max]

Barely. So many surprising things and great things for the show this year.

The draft where actual big names were moved
CM Punk....
Kofi IC champion
Mark Henry ECW champion
John Cena winning the rumble no matter how horrible it was
The HBK-Batista-Jericho which is now HBK-Jericho
Cryme Time coming back
D'Lo coming back
Santino keeps doing his thing
Jeff Hardy and William Regal being pushed up to main eventers......wait scratch that
Some great matches
Ric Flairs retirement match

Sure a few bad things but doesn't every year have something bad?

[Aaron E. Dangerously]

It's been every good. Whenever a rough spot has come up, they've been quick to fix it, and improve things. I gotta credit the draft, it has brought great things for all three brands.

[Big Daddy Bad Booking]

Yes. Not one horrible PPV, the young talent have almost all the belts, but even more important, it's actually made me interested. Especially in SD!, a program I haven't regularly watched since 2006.

[bob]

it's too early to tell, let's revisit this when the year is up

[-Lithium-]

First half of 06 alone made 2006 the best year. Was a great time...

[macdaddysquid]

I like 03 a lot

[mo]

I said no. The last 2 or 3 weeks have been great, but it will take more than that to make me call 2008 the best year.

[VeggieOverlord]

I'd say so. And good call on 2005. That was a pretty good year too.

[ilggant]

i will say since 2003. but yes

[Jeff]

yes

[Bo Rida]

Definitely their most consistently interesting year in along time, they've got me watching regularly again.
The quality of the PPVs have been high, and the writing/overall direction have been pretty good on the whole (obviously it's unrealistic to like 100% of their programming).

It's just unfortunate that Jeff Hardy and Regal screwed up their pushes and prevented the year for being as great as it could have been, I think if those angles concluded as planned we'd be talking about the best calender year since 2000.

Which is a long way of saying yes.

[rrm15]

I think its been a pretty good year. I don't know why you cite 2002, though. The later half, particularly on RAW, was pretty bad.