2017 - 2020: The worst period in WWE history?

[hijuko]

It was during this period that we had the biggest digest of shitty PPVs (Fastlane 2017, Battleground 2017, Backlash 2018, Extreme Rules 2018, Crown Jewel 2018, Hell In A Cell 2019, Super ShowDown 2019 and 2020) with Mahal champion and part-timers that mobilized the M-Es and the world titles and buried current talent. Not to mention the global pandemic that has plagued a whole year with McIntyre who had to do his entire reign in front of no one.

[Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!!]

Nah as rough as it could be it'll never touch 1994-1996 when Bret was the only thing keeping the lights on

[Feargus McReddit]

For as much it was the period that finally drove me away from WWE from the amount of bizarre booking decisions (and everything to do with The Authority is why them doing 1.8m rather than 1.2-1.5m is a celebration in comparison), it definitely wasn't even the worst of that decade. The Guest Host period is probably the most creatively bankrupt period in company history that doesn't involve giving everyone a side hussle.

[clc]

When was "The Authority"? That was the worst WWE was for me. Steph comes out, buries all the talent, and never gets any sort of comeuppance. Same cycle for what seemed like months. I stopped watching for quite awhile.
Have no idea how they thought that was good? It's like they were trying to recreate the Mr McMahon, only when Mr McMahon was feuding with Austin, Austin frequently won. It was great escapism to see the beer guzzling "regular guy" beat up his boss. With Steph, nothing bad ever happened to her. She was just a reminder of how you are powerless against your boss.

I understand why lots of people dislike the lockdown era. I personally really enjoyed it. Especially the early lockdown era when WWE was forced to get creative. MITB 2020 was probably one of the most fun PPV events ever. Bayley, Asuka, and Sasha really carried the company through the early lockdown era. That whole pandemic time was really hard, and WWE gave me something to look forward to every week.

[YAKMAN is ICHIBAN]

Jul 19, 2023 9:07:57 GMT -5 Feargus McReddit said:

For as much it was the period that finally drove me away from WWE from the amount of bizarre booking decisions (and everything to do with The Authority is why them doing 1.8m rather than 1.2-1.5m is a celebration in comparison), it definitely wasn't even the worst of that decade. The Guest Host period is probably the most creatively bankrupt period in company history that doesn't involve giving everyone a side hussle.

Guest Host era was my knee jerk reaction

[polarbearpete]

I’d say the New Generation era was pretty dire, although I have some nostalgia for that period just because of my age at the time.

As to more recent times, it’s hard because sometimes Raw was bad while Smackdown remained a fun show. The period when Heyman was running Raw was rough.

[Feargus McReddit]

Jul 19, 2023 9:33:44 GMT -5 clc said:

When was "The Authority"? That was the worst WWE was for me. Steph comes out, buries all the talent, and never gets any sort of comeuppance. Same cycle for what seemed like months. I stopped watching for quite awhile.
Have no idea how they thought that was good? It's like they were trying to recreate the Mr McMahon, only when Mr McMahon was feuding with Austin, Austin frequently won. It was great escapism to see the beer guzzling "regular guy" beat up his boss. With Steph, nothing bad ever happened to her. She was just a reminder of how you are powerless against your boss.

It was technically 2014-2017 and objectively dropped ratings like a stone so you're not the only one that felt that way.

[theironyuppie]

I think you can break it down further. 2016-early 2018 was the brand split PPV era, so some of the weak cards were understandable due to thinner rosters. Although 2017 definitely had its problems, 2019 strikes me as a particularly rough year in that period, with bizarre creative decisions (including the 'wildcard' era and that time when Vince demanded there be no wrestling during commercials so every second match was a 2/3 falls one) and a general air of chaos.

[Friday Night SmackOwn]

Jul 19, 2023 9:47:00 GMT -5 Feargus McReddit said:

Jul 19, 2023 9:33:44 GMT -5 clc said:

When was "The Authority"? That was the worst WWE was for me. Steph comes out, buries all the talent, and never gets any sort of comeuppance. Same cycle for what seemed like months. I stopped watching for quite awhile.
Have no idea how they thought that was good? It's like they were trying to recreate the Mr McMahon, only when Mr McMahon was feuding with Austin, Austin frequently won. It was great escapism to see the beer guzzling "regular guy" beat up his boss. With Steph, nothing bad ever happened to her. She was just a reminder of how you are powerless against your boss.

It was technically 2014-2017 and objectively dropped ratings like a stone so you're not the only one that felt that way.

The Authority was the original “misery booking”.

[PKO]

Jul 19, 2023 9:07:57 GMT -5 Feargus McReddit said:

For as much it was the period that finally drove me away from WWE from the amount of bizarre booking decisions (and everything to do with The Authority is why them doing 1.8m rather than 1.2-1.5m is a celebration in comparison), it definitely wasn't even the worst of that decade. The Guest Host period is probably the most creatively bankrupt period in company history that doesn't involve giving everyone a side hussle.

Yeah Guest Host era is probably my least favourite era, just because of how paint by numbers everything was. Then it led on to Heel Cole which was horrendous.

[salz4life]

New Generation is still the bottom of the barrel for me... but that period was getting there, for sure.

[Mid-Carder]

Guest Host Raw era is my pick too. My guy Orton was all over the shows but otherwise the shows were awful. I remember quite a few times changing the channel in front of non-wrestling fans because I was so embarrassed by it, something I rarely do.

The Shield was the kick up the butt the show needed.

[Jumpin' Jesse Walsh]

Late '00s/early '10s WWE was so cringe. I really, really don't want this to be misinterpreted as anti-PG, but it felt they were trying SO hard to be PG during that time, if that makes any sense.

[CeilingFan]

As someone who stopped watching in May 2021, I would say the period between WM34 and WM37.

[HIM]

Nah, we still had amazing workers, dope matches and an entertaining storyline here and there like the Samoa Joe vs Lesnar stuff. I can't say the same for that New Generation Era even if it's when I started watching wrestling.

Like, don't tell me you care about Men on a Mission vs The Quebecers. You don't.

[chazraps]

I think 2018 was a big dropoff from 2017, and outside the build-up to Mania 35 and the event itself, 2019 was really bad as well.

I'd probably call 2018-2021 the worst period. Even after the return to live crowds, they'd learned nothing and the product was still terrible.

[chazraps]

Jul 19, 2023 13:24:57 GMT -5 HIM said:

Like, don't tell me you care about Men on a Mission vs The Quebecers. You don't.

But Quebecers vs Marty & 1-2-3 Kid was incredible.

[chazraps]

Jul 19, 2023 13:16:09 GMT -5 Jumpin' Jesse Walsh said:

Late '00s/early '10s WWE was so cringe. I really, really don't want this to be misinterpreted as anti-PG, but it felt they were trying SO hard to be PG during that time, if that makes any sense.

I think the words you're looking for is that they were trying so hard to be "Family entertainment" and not a "wrestling show that's fun for the whole family."

They tried to crib so much from family-oriented franchises without really grasping what made them work. Just like why all the in-house post-"Total Divas" reality shows made without the input of anyone who actually made reality television were so bad.

[BRV]

That time period from around 2017-2019 just blends together into this weird hodgepodge of awful. Like, I don't remember what year any of the following were, on in what order they happened, I just remember some truly awful things such as:

General Manager Baron Corbin; the McMahons returning and blaming everything on General Manager Baron Corbin, then deciding that THE FANS were in charge; the 24/7 Championship; Mick Foley's weird "the 10 p.m. hour of Raw is now edgier!" promo, which just led to the LED lights on the screen changing from red to black (?); the Saudi shows and the sad in-ring return of Shawn Michaels; the Australian shows with Goldberg and Undertaker taking turns trying to literally kill each other; the "Wild Card" rule; those weird 2-out-of-3 falls matches to avoid commercial interruptions; Raw Underground; the Bobby Lashley-Lana-Rusev-Liv Morgan love quadrangle; and so much more I'm sure I'll think of the moment I hit "Create Post."

That being said, it's still runner-up to the Guest Host Era from 2009-10, when - on a weekly basis - WWE trotted out C-list celebrities who seemed like they actively hated the product and despised the fans. It was the most intelligence-insulting era of WWE programming, when they were so unbelievably desperate for any sort of good PR that they'd have NASCAR drivers gift a car to Randy Orton or Jeremy Piven and Ken Jeong participate in a match or Bradley Cooper visibly wincing on stage having to talk to wrestling fans for 30 seconds.

It was all done to get a quick hit on SportsCenter or Good Morning America or Entertainment Tonight or anything else, totally at the expense of the product and consumers. WWE likes to dump all over WCW for stuff like David Arquette winning the championship or Jay Leno wrestling in a match, but the entire Guest Host Era was literally that. It was the worst of WWE smushed together with the worst of WCW.

Also, the in-ring stuff during that era was GHASTLY. I've always said the only time an in-ring product would make me stop watching would have been if Hornswoggle won the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship, and you can't tell me we weren't close to that in 2009-10.

[Rudy Gobert Weather Machine]

Jul 19, 2023 13:16:09 GMT -5 Jumpin' Jesse Walsh said:

Late '00s/early '10s WWE was so cringe. I really, really don't want this to be misinterpreted as anti-PG, but it felt they were trying SO hard to be PG during that time, if that makes any sense.

It's like dead on though lmao

PG wouldn't have been the scary letters of doom to my tiny baby smark brain if the show wasn't this Pizza Hut looking nightmare with bouncy ass music and everyone dressed like they're at the Teen's Choice Awards