WWE stuff that has improved with age?

[Bo Rida]

Basically the reverse of the other thread.

What things in WWE weren't particularly well liked at the time but have become more appreciated in retrospect?

I guess JBL's title run would be one of the better examples.

Obviously this doesn't include cases like Mark Henry being terrible for years before improving as nobody is suggesting he actually was a great wrestler in 2002.

[MrBRulzOK]

NXT used to be a terrible joke; now it's arguably the hottest product of the WWE.

[I'm Team Bayley and Indi]

I don't think Big Boss Man's antics in late 99 where liked that much at the time, now I think a lot of people like it for just how evil he was

[1 Free Moon-Down with Burger]

Stephanie Mcmahon.

Haha Im kidding! Don't get mad.

Seriously though John Cena.

[canal]

Jeff Jarrett with his country singer gimmick. It's ridiculously entertaining to me now.

[Dub H]

Jul 2, 2016 13:45:08 GMT -5 MrBRulzOK said:

NXT used to be a terrible joke; now it's arguably the hottest product of the WWE.

I think he means things that you look back and like it,not things that changed over time.

But in the same answer,NXT

[Nickybojelais]

I think people now look back on Sid a lot more favourably than they did at the time.

[ellisdee]

New Generation. Maybe the biggest down period for the company, financially, but Bret, Shawn, Owen, Bulldog, 123 Kid etc etc, all had some amazing matches. Watching that period back, the match quality was awesome. WM 10 is one of my faves if for nothing but Owen/Bret and HBK/Razor.

[Cieto]

Debatable but I'd say the Miz's WWE career.

[Deleted]

Jul 2, 2016 15:53:40 GMT -5 Cieto said:

Debatable but I'd say the Miz's WWE career.

Yeah I would disagree. I think a lot of people have forgotten how over Miz was in his prime and that headlining Wrestlemania actually made sense at the time.

[Tiger Millionaire]

The career of Owen Hart.

[Ricky Nightshade]

WCW's terrible run at the end... if you watch it through the lens of WWE revisionist history.

[Big Bad Kahuna]

1993 and 1994 as a whole were alot better than people assume

Yeah there were some duds (Giant Gonzalez, Bastion Booger, MOM, Hogan...), but stories were consistently good, young/new guys got pushed heavily (Bret even though he was in his mid-30s already, Owen, Kliq, Yoko) and there were alot of great matches

[Limity (BLM)]

Jul 2, 2016 17:46:12 GMT -5 Ricky Nightshade said:

WCW's terrible run at the end... if you watch it through the lens of WWE revisionist history.

For whatever reason, for the past few days I've been watching what few Nitro and Thunder episodes there are on YouTube from 2000 and 2001. And I'm absolutely loving it.

[Deleted]

General Manager Bischoff vs General Manager Steph. Been rewatching a lot from that era lately, and it's better than I remember.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

Jul 2, 2016 15:58:38 GMT -5 @nichotine said:

Jul 2, 2016 15:53:40 GMT -5 Cieto said:

Debatable but I'd say the Miz's WWE career.

Yeah I would disagree. I think a lot of people have forgotten how over Miz was in his prime and that headlining Wrestlemania actually made sense at the time.

He literally did the equivalent of climbing the ladder rung by rung. He went from the US title, to the tag titles, to the MITB, to the WWE title. 

You don't see guys climb the ladder like that and as you said people forget how over he was and the big wave of momentum he had leading up the WWE title win. 

[Allie Kitsune]

The thing that stands out most to me is John Cena.

[Jeff Mangum PI]

A lot of people trashed WWECW for years when it was on the air, but looking back it was pretty awesome. The Originals vs New Breed in Extreme Rules, Miz & Morrison as tag champs, Mark Henry as ECW Champ, Christian as champ, Tommy Dreamer finally getting the belt, etc.

[cabbageboy]

WWECW was basically what NXT is today. In fact ECW was replaced by the initial voting seasons of NXT, which later became the developmental/whatever it is NXT of today.

Speaking of which, I think some are on the right track with the 1993-94 talk but here's a reason why. It also connects to NXT. It's amusing to me that people fall all over themselves to praise NXT for its sparse 1 hour a week storytelling and the use of jobber matches. To me that is basically the formula for a typical 1993-95 era Raw episode, and believe me when I say this was not any sort of ultra beloved style of show back then.

I mentioned this in the 80s WWF thread, but I think early 90s wrestling (1991-92) is largely underrated due to some of the ill remembered things from that time period (Slaughter's pro Iraq gimmick, Flair being fired by Herd, etc.). It also had some of the most brilliant wrestling ever and some of my favorite PPVs. From that time I'd say most WWF PPVs from 1991-92 were great stuff (maybe not Survivor Series 1991, but the rest are) and WCW had some really good, underrated stuff especially in 1992. The business overall was down from the 80s boom period, but the best work of that era stands the test of time even today.

[Perfect Timing]

Crush.

Back in the day he was just another hoss, but taking a look closely and he would be awesome bodyguard if he was alive today. He had a good look and it was unique IMO. I think the opinion was he sucked but I don't see it.