Post by sungod2020 on Oct 9, 2022 14:32:47 GMT -5
In response to the thread of which boom period for the WWF was better(or aged better), what slower periods for that same company was better?
New Generation: With major stars such as Hulk Hogan, Randy "Macho Man" Savage, Roddy Piper and other huge Rock n' Wrestling Stars leaving the company, if not taking a less prominent roll, this lead to smaller, more technically sound guys such as Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels being the torch bearers for the World Wrestling Federation. the New Generation certainly wasn't all roses(or else it wouldn't be a down period then, would it?) though, as the undercard was filled with occupational gimmicks(race car driver, plumber, hockey player, garbage man) that rarely made it to PPV.
Also, while over with the existing audience, Big Daddy's Cool near year long WWF championship run was not fondly remember. Sure, some circles called him the lowest drawing champion(which I never seen evidence to back that up), I highly doubt anybody could've done better since the company(and industry) was in a down period anyway. Was his reign piss poor? Maybe. Was his unnecessarily long? I don't think that's hard to argue with, but I don't think it's fair to put it solely on the 7 foot mothertrucker(as he called himself).
Just like any era in the company, boom or down, this time period had it's ups and downs.
Ruthless Aggression: Coming off the heels of the Attitude Era and Monday Night Wars, the now WWE certainly had a tall order when it came to living up to it's past. With competition no longer breathing down it's neck(I wouldn't count TNA as a serious threat) and flagship stars "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Rock retiring and going off to Hollywood, the WWE were forced to create new stars.
The beginning of the post-Attitude Era certainly didn't age well(and it was poorly received at the time too) as they were milking that crash TV teet long after it's expiration date with embarrassing angles such as Hot Lesbian Action, Billy and Chuck's gay wedding, Dawn Marie sexing Al Wilson to death, and perhaps worst of all, Katie Vick.
If you haven't heard of the last one, consider yourself lucky. Basically it was Triple H accusing Kane of accidentally killing his girlfriend at the time(wasn't he suppose to be hidden away from society by his dad Paul Bearer) in a car accident, and then (and I wish to GOD I was making this up), humped her corpse. They even played that skit where Triple H wore a Kane mask and simulated intercourse with a mannequin in a casket. Seriously, now I can see why Attitude Era fans moved on from this, sometimes I wish I was right there with them(I myself stuck it out until 2009, and haven't watched full time since).
Yes, the Attitude Era could be embarrassing to watch at times, but as one poster said on this form, for every one embarrassing angle in the Attitude Era, there was four embarrassing angles for the Ruthless Aggression Era. It went from "YEAH, WE'RE EDGY" to "See, we're still edgy.....please come back."
The Ruthless Aggression Era wasn't all bad though. On RAW you had rising stars such as RVD and Booker T, while Smackdown had the famously dubbed "Smackdown Six" consisting of Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Chavo Guerrero, and Chris Benoit.
Brock Lesnar was also on the rise, and I think it's safe to say he lived up to his "next big thing" moniker. Not much of a talker, the Beast Incarnate did his talking in the ring, and at Summerslam 2002, he became the youngest WWE champion in history when he beat The Rock. He was later featured exclusively on Smackdown where he dominated the next year and a half before embarking on a failed NFL career(but a successful MMA one).
And how can you mention the Ruthless Aggression Era without mentioning perhaps the most famous star in John Cena? While eventually he was overexposed and kept in the main event spotlight longer than the audience wanted him to, there was no denying his rise to the top was organic. Debuting in 2002, the Doctor of Thugamonics was directionless until he came up with that rapper gimmick. Starting out as a baddie, his no-nonsense freestyles won the admiration of fans and the company decided to turn him babyface accordingly.
His he won the United States Championship at Wrestlemania XX, then a year later he became the WWE champion. While fans might've turned on him later in the year, he certainly was one of the highpoints for that era. Also, Randy Orton, to many his RAW counterpart, was moving up the ranks in his own right with the Legend Killer gimmick where he defeated and humiliated the stars of yesteryear to the dismay of fans.
So yeah, I'm sure there's more to type that I'm missing out, but you know where I'm coming from. So for you personally, which down period was better?
New Generation: With major stars such as Hulk Hogan, Randy "Macho Man" Savage, Roddy Piper and other huge Rock n' Wrestling Stars leaving the company, if not taking a less prominent roll, this lead to smaller, more technically sound guys such as Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels being the torch bearers for the World Wrestling Federation. the New Generation certainly wasn't all roses(or else it wouldn't be a down period then, would it?) though, as the undercard was filled with occupational gimmicks(race car driver, plumber, hockey player, garbage man) that rarely made it to PPV.
Also, while over with the existing audience, Big Daddy's Cool near year long WWF championship run was not fondly remember. Sure, some circles called him the lowest drawing champion(which I never seen evidence to back that up), I highly doubt anybody could've done better since the company(and industry) was in a down period anyway. Was his reign piss poor? Maybe. Was his unnecessarily long? I don't think that's hard to argue with, but I don't think it's fair to put it solely on the 7 foot mothertrucker(as he called himself).
Just like any era in the company, boom or down, this time period had it's ups and downs.
Ruthless Aggression: Coming off the heels of the Attitude Era and Monday Night Wars, the now WWE certainly had a tall order when it came to living up to it's past. With competition no longer breathing down it's neck(I wouldn't count TNA as a serious threat) and flagship stars "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Rock retiring and going off to Hollywood, the WWE were forced to create new stars.
The beginning of the post-Attitude Era certainly didn't age well(and it was poorly received at the time too) as they were milking that crash TV teet long after it's expiration date with embarrassing angles such as Hot Lesbian Action, Billy and Chuck's gay wedding, Dawn Marie sexing Al Wilson to death, and perhaps worst of all, Katie Vick.
If you haven't heard of the last one, consider yourself lucky. Basically it was Triple H accusing Kane of accidentally killing his girlfriend at the time(wasn't he suppose to be hidden away from society by his dad Paul Bearer) in a car accident, and then (and I wish to GOD I was making this up), humped her corpse. They even played that skit where Triple H wore a Kane mask and simulated intercourse with a mannequin in a casket. Seriously, now I can see why Attitude Era fans moved on from this, sometimes I wish I was right there with them(I myself stuck it out until 2009, and haven't watched full time since).
Yes, the Attitude Era could be embarrassing to watch at times, but as one poster said on this form, for every one embarrassing angle in the Attitude Era, there was four embarrassing angles for the Ruthless Aggression Era. It went from "YEAH, WE'RE EDGY" to "See, we're still edgy.....please come back."
The Ruthless Aggression Era wasn't all bad though. On RAW you had rising stars such as RVD and Booker T, while Smackdown had the famously dubbed "Smackdown Six" consisting of Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Chavo Guerrero, and Chris Benoit.
Brock Lesnar was also on the rise, and I think it's safe to say he lived up to his "next big thing" moniker. Not much of a talker, the Beast Incarnate did his talking in the ring, and at Summerslam 2002, he became the youngest WWE champion in history when he beat The Rock. He was later featured exclusively on Smackdown where he dominated the next year and a half before embarking on a failed NFL career(but a successful MMA one).
And how can you mention the Ruthless Aggression Era without mentioning perhaps the most famous star in John Cena? While eventually he was overexposed and kept in the main event spotlight longer than the audience wanted him to, there was no denying his rise to the top was organic. Debuting in 2002, the Doctor of Thugamonics was directionless until he came up with that rapper gimmick. Starting out as a baddie, his no-nonsense freestyles won the admiration of fans and the company decided to turn him babyface accordingly.
His he won the United States Championship at Wrestlemania XX, then a year later he became the WWE champion. While fans might've turned on him later in the year, he certainly was one of the highpoints for that era. Also, Randy Orton, to many his RAW counterpart, was moving up the ranks in his own right with the Legend Killer gimmick where he defeated and humiliated the stars of yesteryear to the dismay of fans.
So yeah, I'm sure there's more to type that I'm missing out, but you know where I'm coming from. So for you personally, which down period was better?
