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Post by Gerard Gerard on Apr 10, 2024 22:14:19 GMT -5
Lost in all outrage around Brock killing Kofimania is the fact a not insignificant portion (me included) of the audience thought VKM had recast Dominik with Cain.
Hadn’t a breeze who the guy was and, to be frank, could not have cared less even when it was outlined to me. Did it make Wrestlecrap? Kofimania getting derailed so Brock could kayfabe avenge a shoot loss to guy that got released the following year regardless.
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Mochi Lone Wolf
Fry's dog Seymour
Development through Destruction.
Posts: 24,037
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Post by Mochi Lone Wolf on Apr 10, 2024 22:15:20 GMT -5
WWE in 2018 and 2019 made me quit watching regular for the first time since the guest host era started.
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bog
ALF
Posts: 1,002
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Post by bog on Apr 10, 2024 22:28:38 GMT -5
I'm bad with time frames, but I can remember the last time I was truly invested in WWE:
Shield, Wyatt Family, Evolution, and Rhodes family were tearing it up
Cesaro and Kidd were the greatest tag team in the world
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Post by "Playboy" Don Douglas on Apr 10, 2024 22:49:03 GMT -5
Some Lows I can think of: Pandemic Era, the PC Fan Era especially Kofi Kingston losing to Brock Lesnar in like 30 seconds on the first FOX Smackdown The Super Cena eraSting's WWE Run Roman winning the 2016 Rumble, which was ruined halfway through via Bryan's unceremonious elimination Special shoutout to Goldberg beating The Fiend in Saudi, HHH/Michaels vs Kane/Taker in Saudi... and the Saudi shows in general! You really still can’t get over that shit already? This was a huge part of what lead to me not watching wrestling for the first time in my life. I’ve literally only came back even casually in the last year and half or so. For some of us, it was absolutely that bad.
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Post by theironyuppie on Apr 10, 2024 23:17:09 GMT -5
Roman-Brock in 2018. One of the worst Wrestlemania main events of all the time then rather than cut losses...they did it again the next month...then they had yet another and main evented Summerslam. And after all that Roman didn't even get a clean win in the end. Braun distracted Brock and it seemed like Roman was lucky to capitalize and not really the better man. For all the fan paranoia at the time about Roman's inevitable 'coronation', Vince didn't have the guts to just run with it.
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schma
Hank Scorpio
Posts: 6,728
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Post by schma on Apr 11, 2024 8:57:59 GMT -5
I figure highs for me off the top of my head were Litdown, the Evolution PPV (women's PPV), Becky's rise to becoming the man.
Becky had always had fans despite rarely being featured before Litdown (she was often just Charlotte's friend). Through 2018, support for her had grown and grown until people were chomping at the bit for her to win and...Charlotte returned, got put in a chamipionship match because she's Charlotte and won the title with Becky turning on her. That did not go how they planned. I was in the audience in Toronto for Smackdown a few weeks later and at one point Becky runs in and beats Charlotte down brutally and the crowd starts chanting "you deserve it". I actually momentarily felt bad for Charlotte. Really though, the higher ups had done a terrible job of reading the room when it came to just how much people wanted to cheer Becky. However, in something that was rare in that era, they listened to the crowd and pivoted and the rest is history.
Evolution was a genuinely good PPV that showed that the women could absolutely hang with the men and if given the ball would run with it. Regardless of what anyone thinks of Ronda, her presence did give the women's division a sustained push. It was kind of awesome seeing that brief period of time where there were multiple storylines involving women and they weren't just the tired old catty shit. They put on the PPV of the year in my opinion. It's just a shame that the day after Ronda left, Vince and co lost all interest in the women's division.
Daniel Bryan winning at 'mania was awesome. The build to it was terrible unless you just see the highlights.
Sting was a lowlight for me. I was a teenager during the Monday Night Wars and followed both companies. I had watched mostly WWF as a kid but also some WCW and so I was a fan of Sting. The idea of him finally appearing in WWE was exciting. Then he ended the authority...for a week or two. Lost a match to Triple H where his historic enemies the NwO came out to help him and he shook Triple H's hand after he cheated to win? And then he got murked by Seth and that was it. Also, the commentary in the Triple H match were continuously crowing about beating WCW which was insufferable, especially when Sting himself in promos had stated this had absolutely nothing to do with WCW. It's a shame that they ran him into the ground like that and proved him right.
Saudi shows are a lowlight for sure.
Kofimania was great. Kofi getting murdered and put back in his place as a midcard tag guy was bs.
Braun not being done with Roman yet was a lot of fun.
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Post by froggyfrog on Apr 11, 2024 9:15:06 GMT -5
High for me was early-mid Black and Gold NXT. That was special man
Low were the 15 hour Manias we got like 4 or 5 in a row each more exhausting and forgettable than the last
A few more that come to mind:
Lows: I stopped watching for like 3 years around the start of the Pandemic, so whatever was going on then must’ve been a turn off. The Authority angle lasted seemingly forever. Sting losing at WM 31 plus nWo inexplicably helping him was pretty bad. Brock Lesnar vs Dean Ambrose.
Highs: Seth cashing in at WM31. The Shield and its initial breakup. Team Hell No. Early Wyatt Family. Those random WWE Network tournaments, Cruiserweight Classic, Mae Young etc
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Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on Apr 11, 2024 11:23:48 GMT -5
Some Lows I can think of: Pandemic Era, the PC Fan Era especially Kofi Kingston losing to Brock Lesnar in like 30 seconds on the first FOX Smackdown The Super Cena eraSting's WWE Run Roman winning the 2016 Rumble, which was ruined halfway through via Bryan's unceremonious elimination Special shoutout to Goldberg beating The Fiend in Saudi, HHH/Michaels vs Kane/Taker in Saudi... and the Saudi shows in general! You really still can’t get over that shit already? Clash. Beloved. Buddy. Pal. You seriously don't understand the irony here?
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Post by saneiac on Apr 11, 2024 12:01:00 GMT -5
Braun not being done with Roman yet was a lot of fun. "I'm not finished with you!" might be my favorite episode of RAW ever. They just kept escalating the craziness. Lows: Zack Ryder being punished for getting over, Rusev being punished for getting over, Cedric and Shelton being punished for getting over, Buddy Murphy being punished for getting over There are a lot of nincompoops in high positions in the entertainment industry, but only one was stupid enough to accidentally stumble onto something that the paying audience found entertaining and intentionally ruin it. Repeatedly.
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4real
Wade Wilson
Posts: 27,673
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Post by 4real on Apr 11, 2024 13:07:28 GMT -5
High points:
CM Punk pipe bomb into MITB 11. It fell off after but I hadn’t been as excited about wrestling since the Attitude Era.
The Shield run in 12-14 felt like an apology for the Nexus booking. Not everything hit because of course it didn’t but The Shield had more hits than misses especially in their matches
The 2014-2019 NXT Gold run. 2015 in particular due to Balor & KO’s debuts, Sasha v Bayley in Brooklyn & NXT London. The run of great PPV’s and matches was insane.
2016 Smackdown after the draft was such a fun show as already mentioned.
The more positive vibes since Trips took over have been welcome. Again it’s not a perfect product but I’ve been a lot more positive about watching.
Despite it dragging on way too long Roman’s tribal chief run especially early on was fantastic. How gripping were those first 2 Jey Uso PPV matches in the Thunderdome?
Low points:
2015 Rumble. You have 3 hot faces in Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler & Dean Ambrose but NO you want Roman! And thus began years of Vince desperately trying to make Roman the new Cena.
Jinder Mahal title run. Just why? Absolutely awful idea and it was torture to sit through this in 2017
Dean Ambrose’s heel turn in 2018. By the time Royal Rumble 2019 comes up Ambrose is completely cooked and a laughing stock of a heel character getting butt injections and wearing a goofy gas mask. Awful awful creative. Immediately made redundant by Ambrose deciding to leave and he was teaming again with Seth & Roman before he left.
The late 2018 Baron Corbin GM run was horrendous in general. Bobby Lashley was such a dud as a heel until the pandemic when WWE finally got off their arse and booked him credibly. Drew McIntyre as a moody heel was also rubbish.
Shane McMahon heel run in 2019. I’ve generally liked Shane but this run was just unbearable. Ruining Miz’s face run and pinning Roman when barely anyone got to at that point.
Royal Rumble 2022. Man I didn’t think 2015 rumble could be topped but this men’s rumble was completely joyless. With horrendous theme music too. A mess.
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Post by Andee9001 on Apr 11, 2024 19:34:14 GMT -5
Smackdown post Mania 33. It was the end of Litdown. We got WWE Champion Jinder Mahal, American Kevin Owens, anti-American Rusev, Luke Harpers push disapeared and the guys who helped make Smackdown so good the prior year like Dean, Miz, Bray, etc were drafted to Raw.
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Zen411
Dennis Stamp
Posts: 3,746
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Post by Zen411 on Apr 11, 2024 20:30:42 GMT -5
This is a great thread. This whole era blurs together for me. Here's what comes to mind:
Highs: Wyatt Family and Firefly Funhouse/Fiend and that awesome night Wyatt came back with the life-size puppet characters and the white rabbit clues. New Day with booty-o's Reunion of Evolution Shield vs Wyatt Family Nxt with Asuka, Finn Balor, Glorious Bobby Roode, Andrade, Four Horsewomen, Drew McIntyre, Shinsuke, etc. AJ Styles front Rumble debut through champ that runs the camp era The Miz is awesome era and most of his cronies from Damien Mizdow to The B Team Braun Strowman heel monster era Cm punk pipebomb to summer of punk
Lowlights Saudi shows.. the blood money, goldberg vs taker, Mansoor, bald hbk and hhh vs brothers of destruction etc. Massive releases including Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman and a lot of folks eventually brought back Vince mcmahon being an old miserable pos intentionally wrecking anything he didn't create from sting to nxt to the guys who got their start in hhh nxt and creating nxt 2.0. Forcing face roman down out throats and trying to push austin theory as his protégé. Lashley vs rusev Wyatt when he was just showing up and rambling and teaming with Matt hardy Baron Corbin Ending the streak Nash vs punk? Del rio cashing in on Daniel Bryan Wwe chanp jinder Absentee champion Brock lesnar Old man Goldberg
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schma
Hank Scorpio
Posts: 6,728
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Post by schma on Apr 11, 2024 21:01:30 GMT -5
Oh man I had forgotten to mention absentee champion Lesnar...which I guess is fitting since I spent that entire reign forgetting who was the champion. I actually had to look it up a few times.
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EZ: Brainy Bae
King Koopa
I be like SHEESH
Posts: 12,393
Member is Online
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Post by EZ: Brainy Bae on Apr 11, 2024 21:32:00 GMT -5
The Seth/Fiend HIAC no contest (the 2nd year in a row HIAC ended in a no contest, btw) and Brock/Kofi back to back in 2019 nearly broke my brain. It was the first time I felt comparisons to late WCW were accurate. A gross combo of arrogance and flailing desperation. They were making money hand over fist but I've yet to rewatch almost anything from 2019.
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Post by Doo Doo is Worse Than WCW 2000 on Apr 11, 2024 22:47:34 GMT -5
The Seth/Fiend HIAC no contest (the 2nd year in a row HIAC ended in a no contest, btw) and Brock/Kofi back to back in 2019 nearly broke my brain. It was the first time I felt comparisons to late WCW were accurate. A gross combo of arrogance and flailing desperation. They were making money hand over fist but I've yet to rewatch almost anything from 2019. That shit was worse than WCW 2000!
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UN PLOMBIER NIGHTMARE #blm
Grimlock
Sponsored by Skittles/Burger King/Chef Boyardee/LUGZ Boots/BOD Body Spray/FRAM Air Filters/STRIDEX
Posts: 13,015
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Post by UN PLOMBIER NIGHTMARE #blm on Apr 11, 2024 23:17:35 GMT -5
The Seth/Fiend HIAC no contest (the 2nd year in a row HIAC ended in a no contest, btw) and Brock/Kofi back to back in 2019 nearly broke my brain. It was the first time I felt comparisons to late WCW were accurate. A gross combo of arrogance and flailing desperation. They were making money hand over fist but I've yet to rewatch almost anything from 2019. That shit was worse than WCW 2000! this but actually. WCW 2000 was pure boring void stupidity, this shit felt like it was even more on purpose. people think 2000 was just wacky dumb shit after dumb shit but what really sealed it was how dull it all was, nonsensical as it may have been too go back and watch that HIAC and listen to the crowd. insanity
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Post by Allison Reynolds on Apr 11, 2024 23:38:20 GMT -5
Highs that came to mind that I hadn’t seen:
- Cruiserweight Classic and Mae Young Classic was such a great way to introduce new talent/characters with banger matches. Got me looking into NXT, NXT UK, 205 live. And at least the NXT’s were fantastic during this era, which makes me sad what happened to some of these NXT stars later in the main roster.
(I had written a lot but the forum ate my post so some clif notes instead 😭😭😭)
- King Neville King of The Cruiserweights
lows - making nxt stars like nakamura and bayzler into chumps who have never recovered
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Post by eJm on Apr 12, 2024 2:36:59 GMT -5
- Cruiserweight Classic and Mae Young Classic was such a great way to introduce new talent/characters with banger matches. Got me looking into NXT, NXT UK, 205 live. And at least the NXT’s were fantastic during this era, which makes me sad what happened to some of these NXT stars later in the main roster. Honestly, I love the CWC more just because you’re seeing people on TV who you might see again but you also might not but they were also there with something to prove. The literal first match was a Chilean named Alejandro Saez hitting a shooting star press from the apron to the floor on Gran Metallik in a 4 minute sprint And that’s before stuff got really good! The Mae Young Classic was full of PC people and “Of course they’d be there” names, which made for better matches but I liked the mess of the CWC! Give me someone from some deep part of Europe hitting diamond cutters in 5 minute sprints, damnit!
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john84
Fry's dog Seymour
Proud Father of 3 :)
Posts: 22,780
Member is Online
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Post by john84 on Apr 12, 2024 2:45:24 GMT -5
Highs that came to mind that I hadn’t seen: - Cruiserweight Classic and Mae Young Classic was such a great way to introduce new talent/characters with banger matches. Got me looking into NXT, NXT UK, 205 live. And at least the NXT’s were fantastic during this era, which makes me sad what happened to some of these NXT stars later in the main roster. (I had written a lot but the forum ate my post so some clif notes instead 😭😭😭) - King Neville King of The Cruiserweights lows - making nxt stars like nakamura and bayzler into chumps who have never recovered King Neville was amazing. Hated that they ruined it by trying to make Enzo a thing. Agreed about Nakamura and Baszler (in particular Baszler) into lower cards at best because they're so good when allowed to be.
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Nosnorb
El Dandy
Nachos and Fraggle Rock are TIMELESS.
Posts: 7,672
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Post by Nosnorb on Apr 12, 2024 3:05:25 GMT -5
Lost in all outrage around Brock killing Kofimania is the fact a not insignificant portion (me included) of the audience thought VKM had recast Dominik with Cain. Hadn’t a breeze who the guy was and, to be frank, could not have cared less even when it was outlined to me. Did it make Wrestlecrap? Kofimania getting derailed so Brock could kayfabe avenge a shoot loss to guy that got released the following year regardless. The thing is that Cain actually wanted to be there and showed in Mexico he wasn't bad working a Heavyweight Lucha style, and dude was on the flight that was held up in KSA. But Vince decided to use him Inoki style.
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