Your Thoughts on WWE in 2002....

[sungod2020]

As you know, the year 2002 was a transitional period for the WWE. The well beloved Attitude Era has lost it's shine along with two of it's biggest main event players("Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Rock) getting a less prominent role, with Austin eventually quitting and Rock going off to Hollywood, allowing new stars such as RVD, Kurt Angle, Booker T, Edge, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and Brock Lesnar to rise in the upper mid-card and main event picture. In a juxposition to making new stars, the company also brought back old stars such as Ric Flair(that was in late 2001 though), Hulk Hogan(along with the nWo) and Shawn Michaels.

Also, with losing competition in WCW the previous year, the company decided to artificially make competition with itself, hence the brand split pitting Smackdown vs. Raw against each other. 

This was also a year where the company was continuing to lose viewers and were milking the crash TV teat more than ever in response to that. Late 2002 screamed desperation with segments of HLA(Hot Lesbian Action), HHH accusing Kane of accidentally killing and then humping his dead girlfriends corpse(I wish to god I was making this up!), Billy and Chuck's gay wedding, as well as Dawn Marie having an affair with Torrie Wilson's dad to her dismay, concluding with sexing him to death. 

I mean, this paragraph aboves pretty much states that the post-Attitude Era was far more raunchy(or at least pathetically attempting to be) than the Attitude Era itself. It went from "YEAH!!! WE'RE EDGY!!" to "See, we're still edgy....please come back." Kinda like that old out of touch uncle who's still trying to be young and hip.

To make it even more transitional, it was the year of the name change as they got the F out and replaced "Federation" with "Entertainment."

While I was still very much a fan, that year made me realize wrestling wasn't as popular as it use to be. I remember back in Middle School I use to talk weekly with my friends about the latest ongoings within WWF(or WCW) and then when I got to High School, those same friends were asking me if I still watched that crap? Like it was something to be shameful of(which it kinda was with their booking).

This was the first time I was questioning my fandom, something I never done before. I mean, I was introduced to it by my father and brother at a very young age to Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and The Ultimate Warrior, stuck through that god-awful New Generation period, and my fandom peaked through the Attitude Era only to see the company struggle once again, and this time, they wouldn't fully recover.

With me though, I was still a devout fan and went to two Wrestlemanias(XX and XXIV) throughout the remainder of the decade before my full-time fandom fizzled out immediately after Wrestlemania 25. There were times I really questioned the product leading up to it(those Hornswoggle skits, along with misusing talent played a big role). 

That being said, what was your opinion on that bridge between The Attitude Era and Ruthless Aggression called 2002, both back then and now? 

[Instant Classic]

It’s the year I became a fan. 7 year old me was in love. 2002-2007 is my favorite time period in wrestling.

[sungod2020]

Anybody else?

[chronocross]

Personally I loved 2002, I was into Smackdown at the time and got tickets to see Survivor Series at MSG that year and enjoyed it every moment of it.

The product wasn't as hot as it was but I still liked Hogan's return and title win, Brock's dominance and the Smackdown Six.

[BorneAgain]

2002 is notable to me in how loaded the roster was and yet how wasted so many people felt until the Smackdown Six era in the fall. On paper there are so many huge names, great workers, and general continuity with a major boom period in wrestling... and so much of the TV and PPV's often felt lackluster. There were exceptions like Summerslam, but its remarkable that kind of quality seemed to rarely be achieved despite the depth of talent there.

[moonpies88]

Sounds like I'm a few years younger, but I wa sin 8th grade in 2002 and all the people I knew who watched wrestling stopped and when I would talk about it they would look at me like I was crazy

I would check it out every now and then but I had stopped watching every week

[Bob Schlapowitz]

2002 was they year that I slowly began to lose interest in WWE. Between the brand split (I know I'm in the minority, but I thought it was a stupid idea from the start.) The beginnings of the reign of terror, and the increasingly lame attempts to outdo the sleaze of the Attitude Era my interest, which began in 1985, started waning.

[06vwgti]

2002 was the year when I felt Raw started to feel the same from then to present. However I did enjoy SD

[dgenerationmc]

I started watching wrestling in 2002, so there is sentimental value for me. However, looking back at it now, it's clear that WWE was in full panic mode over the wrestling bubble popping at that point.

[Feargus McReddit]

Aug 7, 2021 2:28:45 GMT -5 dgenerationmc said:

I started watching wrestling in 2002, so there is sentimental value for me. However, looking back at it now, it's clear that WWE was in full panic mode over the wrestling bubble popping at that point.

Very much the same for me. I started in 2001 and after that, it felt like you were arriving at a really cool party that was just wrapping up and the only people left were annoying drunks who wanted to carry on to another bar even though all of them would likely be closed or not let them in by now.

[humanoid33]

Over here, the channel which had rights to WWE lost them in mid 2000. Then another network popped up and signed the deal with WWE in 2002. So, me being a 14 year old, was super hyped for the return. I thought Smackdown was awesome, also since I wasn’t able to watch the invasion stuff, it was surreal to see Hogan and Rock on the same show, same with Austin and Flair.

I gradually switched to solely watching Smackdown as the reign of terror stuff started and then completely lost interest in around 2006.

[mattyy]

Aug 5, 2021 18:28:57 GMT -5 Instant Classic said:

It’s the year I became a fan. 7 year old me was in love. 2002-2007 is my favorite time period in wrestling.

same boat, though, my I lasted until 2009 before my interest dwindled.

I started in late 2001, but 2002 was the year I fully became interested. One of my favorite childhood memories is being picked up from school by my grandparents, staying with them for the weekend, and being so excited for Saturday Night, because it meant Velocity and Confidential. I was always hopeful that my parents would wait until 7pm to come pick me up on Sunday so that I could finish Heat.

[David-Arquette was in WCW 2000]

Some of the PPVs that year were great. I enjoyed Royal Rumble and Survivor Series in particular. However, the weekly shows, especially Raw felt like WWE was trying too hard to be edgy. The product overall just wasn't as good or fun as it was two years prior.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

I stopped watching in 2002 when I no longer had access to any PPVs.

When I watched stuff from around that time back when I returned as a fan, I was struck by how WWE had the best roster in wrestling history - nWo, Rock, Austin, Hunter, Flair, the Attitude Era midcarders, Mysterio, Angle - and it felt like they barely took advantage of it at all.

[sungod2020]

Aug 7, 2021 3:18:05 GMT -5 Feargus McReddit said:

Aug 7, 2021 2:28:45 GMT -5 dgenerationmc said:

I started watching wrestling in 2002, so there is sentimental value for me. However, looking back at it now, it's clear that WWE was in full panic mode over the wrestling bubble popping at that point.

Very much the same for me. I started in 2001 and after that, it felt like you were arriving at a really cool party that was just wrapping up and the only people left were annoying drunks who wanted to carry on to another bar even though all of them would likely be closed or not let them in by now.

That's a good point you make. Even back then, I felt something was missing compared to 2000 or even 2001.

[thechase]

Just got out of a miserably deflating 'leg-up programme' in College and about to start the regular courses at the time, so the summer and latter half of 2002 ideally fit the kind of person I was growing into, for better or worse. I remember finding RAW a tough sit, but loved the Smackdown end of things...but overall, I wasn't in a particularly good place as a person so I found it difficult to really 'enjoy' myself. Loads of issues.

That summer was amazing though, spent a good time in England where I saw Bischoff become GM live on Sky Sports, and was looking forward to see Vengeance that weekend, and then the folks sprang a surprise wedding invite to the whole family on us so I missed it live.

[dgenerationmc]

Aug 7, 2021 3:18:05 GMT -5 Feargus McReddit said:

Aug 7, 2021 2:28:45 GMT -5 dgenerationmc said:

I started watching wrestling in 2002, so there is sentimental value for me. However, looking back at it now, it's clear that WWE was in full panic mode over the wrestling bubble popping at that point.

Very much the same for me. I started in 2001 and after that, it felt like you were arriving at a really cool party that was just wrapping up and the only people left were annoying drunks who wanted to carry on to another bar even though all of them would likely be closed or not let them in by now.

I distinctly remember being 5-6 years old wondering where the bald, beer drinking guy was because he was on all the 7/11 posters but wasn't on TV. And then 10 years later, I find out he had walked out on the company a week before I started watching.

[Chiral]

I started watching in 2003, so my first taste of 02 was Shut Your Mouth, and it just seemed like almost a mythical year to young me, when I started collecting the DVDs 02 was a big priority.

[Super Duper Dragunov]

Goddamn reading this thread makes me feel old

[simplydurhamcalling]

On paper it was an incredibly exciting time as the combined roster was possibly the best it had ever been or has been since, the booking/writing just wasn't at the same level unfortunately, especially on the RAW side which seemed to have a major identity crisis.

Smackdown was largely decent still and had some great wrestling, big memorable moments etc.

There were also some excellent PPVs produced in this time in particular I'd recommend Vengeance, Summerslam and Survivor Series. I also really enjoyed Wrestlemania that year though I know there's mixed opinions on that one.