Post by Greer on Dec 30, 2009 9:54:14 GMT -5
I have been a wrestling fan since 1990. I have seen the highs and lows of the WWF, now WWE. It has been a long time and a long journey and now I am very close to leaving it all behind folks.
Wrestling use to be my escape from my troubles and problems. It was my chance to really enjoy the stories, action and drama unfold right before my eyes on a weekly basis. Unfortunately now I need an escape FROM wrestling.
The crowds were hot, the angles were hot and the matches were sensational. Please excuse me since I am not looking anything up, this is all from my head so I may forget things or be a bit inaccurate with some things. BTW this will be long but my main point is at the end if you wanna skip everything else.
The early 90's saw Hogan tearing it up and being the biggest name in pro wrestling, as well as pro sports in general. Macho Man and Jake Roberts engaged in one of the most personal storylines in the last TWO decades, and surprises like Ric Flair jumping ship to the WWF with the big gold belt, the betrayal of Ric Flair and Heenan by Mr. Perfect, as well as Savage/Warrior Hype, the Undertaker's rise to fame and even more to name.
1990-1992 was brilliant stuff. Not all of it....but for the most part it is remembered more for the good than the bad.
The early-mid 90's saw a decline in the product with Hogan gone to film movies and hop over to the competition. While Bret was becoming a star with up and comers such as Razor and Shawn, it was a solid product, but not a good one. You still had great drama with Bret/Owen as well as Bret/Lawler.
You had the birth of McMahons new Hogan in Big Daddy Cool Diesel, which was a bit of a failed experiment. He was over...but nowhere near Hogan. You also had Owen and Yoko competing as unlikely yet successful tag team champions and HBK getting enormous pops and winning the IC title in a great match against Double J in a match that proved Michaels was ready for the big time. It was also a slow turn to a more adult prodcut with the emergence of Goldust and his story with Razor Ramon.
1993-1995 was a very stagnant era. Nothing really happening at all. The product was just...there. No major stories to get you going. Some good stuff here and there but mostly just a blah time period.
The mid 90's kicked off with a great HBK Rumble performance and the legendary...yet kinda boring Iron Man match. This would lead to the HBK era along with the temporary departure of Bret. You also had the departure of Hall and Nash to WCW and The Birth of Austin 3:16. The product was getting more interesting with slightly more adult language, mostly thanks to Austin's mouth. He was making the product unpredictable and fun. The build-up for him and Bret was some of the best written stuff I have ever seen.
This was all happening during the Monday Night Wars as both companies clamoured to put on the best product possible with surprises, hot matches and hot angles.
DX was to rival the nWo and Austin was to rival Hogan. It worked as each company tried it's best to top the other on a weekly basis with WWF coming out on top in the end of a knock down drag out. Monday nights became exciting. You could not wait to get home to see what would happen and talk about it the next day at work or school. It was that good.
1996-early 1998 is personally my second favorite time period of the WWf. It was kind of an awkward transition into the Attitude era but it was a whole lot of fun seeing the things DX, or Austin, or the Hart Foundation would say or do.
1998 began with the Austin era and Austin/McMahon feuding for the entire year. You also had the Rock's push into superstardom as well as DX becoming even more prominent. Mick Foley was also finally getting his due. It was the most fun time I have ever had as a fan. Was it the greatest wrestling? No. But its not about that all the time. Sometimes you just wanna watch a show and go "Holy crap that was fun". Wrestling was the most popular thing going. It was all over MTV, the news, talk shows, tshirts, fast food chains. Everyone wanted a piece of wrestling. It was the hottest it has ever been. Any casual person on the street knew who Stone Cold was.
However like most trends, it wore off and in came the invasion. The NWO angle was poorly booked followed by a memorable Hogan/Rock match. WCW invading was just sloppy and not enough mega stars were brought in.
The next few years were a blur so I will sum it up quickly. Angle, Eddie, Benoit,Lesnar kicked ass for a few years. Then Batista era/ Cena era. HHH....HHH....HHH...Cena...Cena...ECW ONS.....RVD gone....HHH...Cena...Orton...DX vs Spirit Squad...HBK teams with God...Vince gets head shaved and gets head shoved in Big Show's butt...Vince wears a Du Rag...HHH...Cena...Ric Flair "retires"...Orton...Orton...and more stuff that we always complain about. Mid carders being held down and such.
The main point of this is to look at where we have come from. Will wrestling ever be what it once was? Will people want wrestling like they did before? I have lost great interest as the years have gone on because of repetition. The internet has not helped and the fact that kayfabe is all but dead doesn't help either. Wrestlers are literally guys reading from scripts and RAW has turned into a variety show with guest hosts shilling merchandise. The titantron even shills merchandise as the show is going on.
Will wrestling recover and become the hottest thing going again? People knew who Stone Cold was and they didn't even watch wrestling. How many people hear John Cena and go.."Oh yea the wrestler!!" They just say "who?", scratch themselves and move on.
Does another Monday night war need to happen? Can it happen? We use to have 3 options in ECW, WCW, and the WWF. We still have 3 options but TNA is floundering, ROH is not on a channel most people have including myself, and WWE is a snoozefest.
How have your views changed from when you started watching to now? Is it because we are older that the product doesn't excite us the same way or is it the product itself?
Does Vince McMahon need to finally step down and hand the reigns over to someone else?
These are not easy questions to anwer and there might not even be an answer to what can save the WWE or wrestling in general but I have to say I am losing interest weekly. Anyone else feel the same?
Wrestling use to be my escape from my troubles and problems. It was my chance to really enjoy the stories, action and drama unfold right before my eyes on a weekly basis. Unfortunately now I need an escape FROM wrestling.
The crowds were hot, the angles were hot and the matches were sensational. Please excuse me since I am not looking anything up, this is all from my head so I may forget things or be a bit inaccurate with some things. BTW this will be long but my main point is at the end if you wanna skip everything else.
The early 90's saw Hogan tearing it up and being the biggest name in pro wrestling, as well as pro sports in general. Macho Man and Jake Roberts engaged in one of the most personal storylines in the last TWO decades, and surprises like Ric Flair jumping ship to the WWF with the big gold belt, the betrayal of Ric Flair and Heenan by Mr. Perfect, as well as Savage/Warrior Hype, the Undertaker's rise to fame and even more to name.
1990-1992 was brilliant stuff. Not all of it....but for the most part it is remembered more for the good than the bad.
The early-mid 90's saw a decline in the product with Hogan gone to film movies and hop over to the competition. While Bret was becoming a star with up and comers such as Razor and Shawn, it was a solid product, but not a good one. You still had great drama with Bret/Owen as well as Bret/Lawler.
You had the birth of McMahons new Hogan in Big Daddy Cool Diesel, which was a bit of a failed experiment. He was over...but nowhere near Hogan. You also had Owen and Yoko competing as unlikely yet successful tag team champions and HBK getting enormous pops and winning the IC title in a great match against Double J in a match that proved Michaels was ready for the big time. It was also a slow turn to a more adult prodcut with the emergence of Goldust and his story with Razor Ramon.
1993-1995 was a very stagnant era. Nothing really happening at all. The product was just...there. No major stories to get you going. Some good stuff here and there but mostly just a blah time period.
The mid 90's kicked off with a great HBK Rumble performance and the legendary...yet kinda boring Iron Man match. This would lead to the HBK era along with the temporary departure of Bret. You also had the departure of Hall and Nash to WCW and The Birth of Austin 3:16. The product was getting more interesting with slightly more adult language, mostly thanks to Austin's mouth. He was making the product unpredictable and fun. The build-up for him and Bret was some of the best written stuff I have ever seen.
This was all happening during the Monday Night Wars as both companies clamoured to put on the best product possible with surprises, hot matches and hot angles.
DX was to rival the nWo and Austin was to rival Hogan. It worked as each company tried it's best to top the other on a weekly basis with WWF coming out on top in the end of a knock down drag out. Monday nights became exciting. You could not wait to get home to see what would happen and talk about it the next day at work or school. It was that good.
1996-early 1998 is personally my second favorite time period of the WWf. It was kind of an awkward transition into the Attitude era but it was a whole lot of fun seeing the things DX, or Austin, or the Hart Foundation would say or do.
1998 began with the Austin era and Austin/McMahon feuding for the entire year. You also had the Rock's push into superstardom as well as DX becoming even more prominent. Mick Foley was also finally getting his due. It was the most fun time I have ever had as a fan. Was it the greatest wrestling? No. But its not about that all the time. Sometimes you just wanna watch a show and go "Holy crap that was fun". Wrestling was the most popular thing going. It was all over MTV, the news, talk shows, tshirts, fast food chains. Everyone wanted a piece of wrestling. It was the hottest it has ever been. Any casual person on the street knew who Stone Cold was.
However like most trends, it wore off and in came the invasion. The NWO angle was poorly booked followed by a memorable Hogan/Rock match. WCW invading was just sloppy and not enough mega stars were brought in.
The next few years were a blur so I will sum it up quickly. Angle, Eddie, Benoit,Lesnar kicked ass for a few years. Then Batista era/ Cena era. HHH....HHH....HHH...Cena...Cena...ECW ONS.....RVD gone....HHH...Cena...Orton...DX vs Spirit Squad...HBK teams with God...Vince gets head shaved and gets head shoved in Big Show's butt...Vince wears a Du Rag...HHH...Cena...Ric Flair "retires"...Orton...Orton...and more stuff that we always complain about. Mid carders being held down and such.
The main point of this is to look at where we have come from. Will wrestling ever be what it once was? Will people want wrestling like they did before? I have lost great interest as the years have gone on because of repetition. The internet has not helped and the fact that kayfabe is all but dead doesn't help either. Wrestlers are literally guys reading from scripts and RAW has turned into a variety show with guest hosts shilling merchandise. The titantron even shills merchandise as the show is going on.
Will wrestling recover and become the hottest thing going again? People knew who Stone Cold was and they didn't even watch wrestling. How many people hear John Cena and go.."Oh yea the wrestler!!" They just say "who?", scratch themselves and move on.
Does another Monday night war need to happen? Can it happen? We use to have 3 options in ECW, WCW, and the WWF. We still have 3 options but TNA is floundering, ROH is not on a channel most people have including myself, and WWE is a snoozefest.
How have your views changed from when you started watching to now? Is it because we are older that the product doesn't excite us the same way or is it the product itself?
Does Vince McMahon need to finally step down and hand the reigns over to someone else?
These are not easy questions to anwer and there might not even be an answer to what can save the WWE or wrestling in general but I have to say I am losing interest weekly. Anyone else feel the same?
