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Post by sungod2020 on Dec 8, 2022 18:35:51 GMT -5
Inspired by the thread someone made about the WWF/E in 2002, what other years in wrestling(WWF/E or otherwise) went through a change where the beginning of the year and the end looked completely different in terms of star power and presentation? Here are my picks...
1984:After being the centerpiece of the company for nearly 6 years, Bob Backlund's time on top was coming to an end. Losing the championship to the Iron Sheik before the new year, the "Howdy Doody" of the World Wrestling Federation hasn't tried to reclaim it. However, a new(ish) name came was on the horizon to avenge what turned out to be his predecessor, in the name of Hulk Hogan.
Previously a heel, The Hulkster saw the error of his ways and immediately vanquished Sheiky Baby for the coveted prize. The dawning of Hulkamania as well as the Rock n' Wrestling Era has begun. Not only did the WWF have a new centerpiece that would bring them into great heights never seen before, it was expanding Nationally at a fast rate, venturing into new territories as well as bringing in new stars, as well as a new set of managers.
While they were still working on getting the formula right(such as presenting a pop culture/semi-cartoony image, as well as finding it's footing on cable TV), the seeds to planted on how we've come to know pro wrestling as.
1997:This is gets talked about alot, so I'll just give it a brief run down. Some say 1996 was considered a transitional year for the WWF and they wouldn't be completely wrong, however on the whole the end of the year/beginning of the next year still came off as New Generation-y(the block logo, the RAW set, somewhat edgier than before).
1997 however came off very noticeable. If you stopped watching in January and continued in December, you'd think you'd be watching a different show(in a good way) with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin becoming the top babyface, Bret Hart leaving, new stars coming in or rising up the ranks(such as Mankind, HHH, The Rock), Shawn Michaels going from a poor attempt of a white meat babyface to a degenerate heel, more sex and violence etc etc. The stage was set for what became The Attitude Era.
That was pretty much 1997 in a nutshell.
Also, here's one that dosen't get talked about much, but August 1999 and February 2000 looked slightly different from each other for the following reasons:
August 1999:Chris Jericho debuts
September 1999:Shamrock leaves right as he was about to have a match with Chris Jericho
October 1999:Vince Russo leaves the company for WCW and his close buddy Jeff Jarrett follows him about a week and a half later.
November 1999:Kurt Angle debuts at the Survivor Series
January 2000:Tazz Debuts at the Royal Rumble, The Radicalz debut a week later.
February 2000:Mick Foley retires
Even though it was all within the Attitude Era and the company overall had a similar identity, there were huge and notable changes. They even toned down the Crash TV element a bit and put more emphasis on the wrestling aspect with the tag ranks(headed by Dudleys, Edge and Christian, and Hardys) getting featured more and more. It was like a mini-transitional phase they were going through.
Any years you can come up with?
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Post by wildojinx on Dec 8, 2022 18:53:20 GMT -5
1986. Pretty much the last vestiges of the pre-Hogan era were leaving (Ivan Putski, Pedro Morales, Tony Atlas, Lou Albano, Freddie Blassie, the Samoans, the Moondogs). A few guys from that era stuck around longer (Andre and Nikolai Volkoff being most prominent), but this is when the 80s WWF became what we most know it as.
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Post by Triangle Lancer on Dec 8, 2022 21:23:36 GMT -5
1983 WWF was transitional in the sight of seeing all these guys Backlund defeated before coming back. Sgt. Slaughter, Ivan Koloff, George Steele, Don Muraco.
(Hell, the Samoans came back, too. And Tony Atlas.)
Muraco crowned IC Champion and holding the title for a year-plus.
Snuka and maybe Rocky Johnson were the only things that seemed 'fresh' out of the cards. Maybe Masked Superstar near the end of the year.
Still seeing all the same enhancement guys open these shows. Tony Garea and Iron Mike Sharpe slipping down the card.
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Post by ChitownKnight on Dec 8, 2022 21:48:18 GMT -5
2014?
-the Shield were being groomed as the future and they split up starting their singles runs
-Cena’s time as the top guy pretty much ended that year with Brock destroying him
-Speaking of Brock, he became the final boss by ending the streak and then winning the title from Cena
-Batista returns as a face but it flops leading to a successful heel run
-Daniel Bryan winning the title at Mania 30
-CM Punk’s walkout
-launch of the wwe network changing how PPVs were presented
-changing of the wwe scratch logo to the network logo
-new wwe championship design which I think they kept since
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Post by Hypnosis on Dec 8, 2022 22:52:05 GMT -5
2020, but that was also a transitional year for the world in general, not just wrestling.
I did like AEW and later WWE using wrestlers as the crowd for a positive distraction from how bleak life was looking two years ago.
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Post by bogussting on Dec 9, 2022 5:41:20 GMT -5
Arguably 1992. 1993 felt pretty New Generation-y and was in full swing by 1994.
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tafkaga
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Post by tafkaga on Dec 9, 2022 9:51:57 GMT -5
Let's talk WCW 1995-96.
'95 is cartoony Hulkamania 2.0 era, but the debut of Nitro starts to shift the tone in a more edgy/unpredictable direction. The top of the card is still very much centered on Hogan vs. Dungeon/Horsemen through early '96, but down the card the face/heel lines become much more blurry. By the summer of '96, Hogan is out, after having already teased a darker version of himself, and the whole focus is about to shift to a hostile takeover from a pair of outsiders which unexpectedly unites the whole WCW roster.
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thecrusherwi
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Post by thecrusherwi on Dec 9, 2022 10:46:23 GMT -5
1986. Pretty much the last vestiges of the pre-Hogan era were leaving (Ivan Putski, Pedro Morales, Tony Atlas, Lou Albano, Freddie Blassie, the Samoans, the Moondogs). A few guys from that era stuck around longer (Andre and Nikolai Volkoff being most prominent), but this is when the 80s WWF became what we most know it as. The big thing about 1986 too is the change in television production and schedule. The early part of the year has TV tapings in dimly lit arenas and they are using the Championship Wrestling and All Star Wrestling shows they had been using since the 70s. Early 1986 doesn't look much different than it did 10 years before. By the fall of 1986, you have the launching of WWF Superstars and WWF Wrestling Challenge and the arenas are much more brightly lit. Fall of 1986 television looks more like 1992 or 1993 than it does the spring of 1986. |
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Post by Milkman Norm on Dec 9, 2022 11:10:55 GMT -5
1986 was also the year that the bottom fell out of two of the final territories, World Class & Mid South/UWF. Within a year Watts would sell to Crockett and though World Class would carry in various forms until the 90s both were done for all and intents and purposes by the end of 86.
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Post by sungod2020 on Dec 9, 2022 11:33:58 GMT -5
Arguably 1992. 1993 felt pretty New Generation-y and was in full swing by 1994. That's a good one. I'll say the 91/92 was an early attempt to get edgy, even if some was in a cartoony sort of way such as... -Undertaker locking Ultimate Warrior in a casket -Earthquake squashing Jake Roberts pet snake -Jake Roberts turning to the dark side by convincing Warrior to be in a room full of snakes, unleashing his cobra on Randy "Macho Man" Savage, and slapping his wife Elizabeth -Ric Flair claiming she had an affair with Miss Elizabeth before she met Randy -Papa Shango's voodoo hijinks -Nailz's beatdown on the Big Bossman -Doink as an evil clown It still felt overall like a hangover from the Rock n' Wrestling era, but where at least trying to take a darker turn. They did soften up on it considerably in 1993 though, but it did seem like they were testing the waters a little bit to be more adult-oriented. |
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Goon
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Post by Goon on Dec 9, 2022 14:06:32 GMT -5
2022/2023
In WWE it's still a hybrid of Vince stuff and Triple H stuff. I don't think we will be able to fully see were it is heading under the new regime until this time next year.
In AEW the honeymoon period seems to be over and most people seem to realize that it is isn't the perfect wrestling company many made it out to be in the beginning.
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Post by ThankGodForSidJustice on Dec 9, 2022 15:19:03 GMT -5
I would consider 1988 a transition year. A lot of guys who were big stars at the beginning of the Hulkamania era (Steamboat, Steele, Bulldogs, Muroco, Patera, JYD) leaving and a lot of new faces coming in (Boss Man, Perfect, Bad News Brown, Rockers, Brain Busters, Powers of Pain, Bushwhackers).
Hulkamaia era was pretty much 1984 to 1992 but you can kind of split it up almost into two different era. 84 to 87 was the Rock and Wrestling half of it, 88 was the transition year and then 89 to 92 was like the Hasbro era with them switching figure companies and a lot of the guys who I and probably most fans around my age were more familiar with were coming in.
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Post by sarkerpolseng on Dec 9, 2022 15:34:50 GMT -5
2002-2003
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Post by sarkerpolseng on Dec 9, 2022 15:35:49 GMT -5
2014? -the Shield were being groomed as the future and they split up starting their singles runs -Cena’s time as the top guy pretty much ended that year with Brock destroying him -Speaking of Brock, he became the final boss by ending the streak and then winning the title from Cena -Batista returns as a face but it flops leading to a successful heel run -Daniel Bryan winning the title at Mania 30 -CM Punk’s walkout -launch of the wwe network changing how PPVs were presented -changing of the wwe scratch logo to the network logo -new wwe championship design which I think they kept since NXT was getting high praise too |
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Post by wildojinx on Dec 9, 2022 17:57:38 GMT -5
For a WCW one, how about 1994? The early part of the year still resembles WCW and in fact, an improvement over 1993, but then Hogan, Duggan, Beefcake, Honky, and John Tenta come in. Then Steamboat and Rude are forced to retire, and Cactus Jack leaves and the company looks very different by Halloween Havoc. And once Nitro debuted the next year, it hardly resembled the WCW of 1988-93, let alone the JCP era.
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Venti
Unicron
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Post by Venti on Dec 9, 2022 18:09:10 GMT -5
2014? -the Shield were being groomed as the future and they split up starting their singles runs -Cena’s time as the top guy pretty much ended that year with Brock destroying him -Speaking of Brock, he became the final boss by ending the streak and then winning the title from Cena -Batista returns as a face but it flops leading to a successful heel run -Daniel Bryan winning the title at Mania 30 -CM Punk’s walkout -launch of the wwe network changing how PPVs were presented -changing of the wwe scratch logo to the network logo -new wwe championship design which I think they kept since Good call on that one. WWE pre-2014 and post-2014 seem vastly different to me. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2022 18:11:10 GMT -5
2022/2023 In WWE it's still a hybrid of Vince stuff and Triple H stuff. I don't think we will be able to fully see were it is heading under the new regime until this time next year. In AEW the honeymoon period seems to be over and most people seem to realize that it is isn't the perfect wrestling company many made it out to be in the beginning. Yeah, it seems to become more of a Triple H show with each passing week. Which is a good thing, if WWE just changed overnight it would have been jarring. Imagine if the first week all at once people got gimmick changes, the 24/7 title got trashed, NXT stopped being 2.0, NXT UK ended, etc. It would have felt like a mess. |
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Post by buckethead on Dec 9, 2022 22:37:21 GMT -5
AWA 1986
In November and December 1985, the best wrestlers on their roster...the Road Warriors and Ric Martel...lose their titles to Garvin & Regal and Stan Hansen.
They will quickly transition into empty venues and no one capable of stepping into the breach.
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Post by David-Arquette was in WCW 2000 on Dec 10, 2022 4:18:10 GMT -5
2022/2023 In WWE it's still a hybrid of Vince stuff and Triple H stuff. I don't think we will be able to fully see were it is heading under the new regime until this time next year. In AEW the honeymoon period seems to be over and most people seem to realize that it is isn't the perfect wrestling company many made it out to be in the beginning. I've only really kept up with AEW through clips and on here so I might be way off, but I think AEW have had arguably the best first two years of any company prior. You could say that the first couple years of WWF once they went national were more successful, but it depends on if that counts. Anyway, no doubt the pandemic hurt the company, but it seemed they handled it very well, and the came out of the pandemic with the ultimate catch.. CM Punk. A year removed from his wrestling return, however, and it seems most of the industry have turned on him. As a result Tony Khan looks like a chump and a mark. As for the product itself, for various reasons the company seems to lack direction. Part of that IS the whole CM Punk debacle, but I think a big part is them having spent the two years or so before that hammering through massive matches, and a lot of them on free TV. That along with huge spots, blood, weapons and gimmicks on a near weekly basis, as well as the influx of former WWE guys... Where do they go from there? How do they remain fresh and new? This really needs to be a period of transition for them right now. Tony needs to learn from the mistakes and situations that have presented themselves over this last year and make an effort to change direction a bit. Whatever that direction may be. |
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Post by theironyuppie on Dec 10, 2022 6:13:28 GMT -5
2014? -the Shield were being groomed as the future and they split up starting their singles runs -Cena’s time as the top guy pretty much ended that year with Brock destroying him -Speaking of Brock, he became the final boss by ending the streak and then winning the title from Cena -Batista returns as a face but it flops leading to a successful heel run -Daniel Bryan winning the title at Mania 30 -CM Punk’s walkout -launch of the wwe network changing how PPVs were presented -changing of the wwe scratch logo to the network logo -new wwe championship design which I think they kept since NXT was getting high praise too Yeah, the Charlotte/Natalya Takeover match in particular was pivotal in helping change how women’s wrestling was perceived. By the end of the year you already have the first notable Charlotte/Sasha match. |
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