Guest TestKick Report post Posted August 20, 2002 Very good rant, EPD. I agree with everything you said in there. I just can't express myself as well as that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest RickyChosyu Report post Posted August 20, 2002 1. At the time, neither did HHH, who was just as unproven and (seemingly) undeserving as Test has ever been. After Test got stood up, he had a very usable amount of sympathy heat, becaues the wedding angle with HHH and Steph got over very well. When that heat was wasted one Raw match, it wasted the potential for a feud that could have elevated both guys. Test might not have stuck the way Trips did, but it was a logical booking move. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TheZsaszHorsemen Report post Posted August 20, 2002 Actually at the time HHH was a former World Champ, not an unproven rookie. The wedding happened before Armageddon. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest RickyChosyu Report post Posted August 20, 2002 Actually at the time HHH was a former World Champ, not an unproven rookie. The wedding happened before Armageddon. I meant unproven in the way Lesnar is unproven (even when he gets the title, he will be unproven as a draw). HHH had been given the title, but he had not proven he could hold his own as a main-eventer. Of course, the Stephany marriage angle and the series with Foley changed all that, but he and Test weren't that far appart in terms of value to the company, other than the fact that HHH was obviously a guy they wanted to push to the main event and Test was someone they seemed quite unsure about. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TheZsaszHorsemen Report post Posted August 20, 2002 He's more like Jericho is now. A former heel world champ. In Hunter's case he was on the verge of getting more over than ever before. While Test had joined 4 monthes earlier and had shown NO signs of being read y for ME statis. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest RickyChosyu Report post Posted August 20, 2002 He's more like Jericho is now. A former heel world champ. In Hunter's case he was on the verge of getting more over than ever before. While Test had joined 4 monthes earlier and had shown NO signs of being read y for ME statis. I suppose you're right, but I still think a cup of coffee run in the main event for Test wouldn't have hurt anybody, and definitely would have made sense with how they were booking the angle with Steph. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TheZsaszHorsemen Report post Posted August 20, 2002 I think it would have made more sense to book the Steph angle with someone Hunter was willing to feud with. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest RickyChosyu Report post Posted August 20, 2002 I think it would have made more sense to book the Steph angle with someone Hunter was willing to feud with. No arguement here. That surely would have made more sense. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TestKick Report post Posted August 20, 2002 Test was ready to feud with Hunter. HHH wasn't ME material, then. HHH couldn't talk on the mic. Test was in the exact same position. It's the shitty writers that buried Test after the marraige bit. Even today, Test is more than ready to feud with Hunter... but due to political games, Test was screwed out of that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TheZsaszHorsemen Report post Posted August 20, 2002 Test had only been in the company a little less than half a year, Teskick. Even you will have to admit he shouldn't be in the number one feud in the company at that early stage. Â Right now, I think Test is exactly where he should be. Midcard. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest El Psycho Diablo Report post Posted August 20, 2002 Wait. Number one feud? o_o Call me crazy, but who was champ at the time? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest RickyChosyu Report post Posted August 20, 2002 As much criticism as he draws, HHH was capable on the microphone in '99. Test, on the other hand, hand't even been handed the mic on very many occasions, so I think it's unfair to say that HHH wasn't ME material. HHH had the potential to be a successfull draw, he just needed the right angle to make a star out of him. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TheZsaszHorsemen Report post Posted August 20, 2002 Big Show Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TheZsaszHorsemen Report post Posted August 20, 2002 The top feud was HHH/Vince McMahon followed by Big Show/Bossman. Â The saddest part: Nitro was worse Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TestKick Report post Posted August 20, 2002 I do think that Test is where he belongs, in the midcard... he still has a long way to go in speaking, and more than just being a power wrestler to be a serious main-eventer. Â My argument is that HHH was never ready for the main event. Even in 1999-2001, guys like Rock, Austin, Angle and Taker seemed much more like the guys you had to watch. HHH always went out there yapping for 20 minutes a week, boring me to death. HHH had the 2 great matches with Foley (which I think Foley deserves the most credit for), besides that I don't think HHH put on anything more than ****. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Mulatto Heat Report post Posted August 20, 2002 Even in 1999-2001, guys like Rock, Austin, Angle and Taker seemed much more like the guys you had to watch. HHH always went out there yapping for 20 minutes a week, boring me to death. HHH had the 2 great matches with Foley (which I think Foley deserves the most credit for), besides that I don't think HHH put on anything more than ****. I agree 100% with that. For some reason, HHH and the World title never sat well with me. Ever. Now I realize that he's just the product of exceptional booking (that isn't seen at all these days) and guys willing to bump and sell like hell to make him look good. That's all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest J*ingus Report post Posted August 20, 2002 But it's not just that. Look at ANY of HHH's pay-per-view matches in the year 2000 (except for when he was dropped in a car, and the dumb booking in the Hunter-Steph-Kurt triangle). There wasn't a bad one in the bunch. Two great ones with Foley, a decent WM main event, a good one with Rock, a GREAT Iron Man match, a not-bad six man with Taker, Kane, and the McMahons all involved, a very good last man standing match, a three-way-dance which was abruptly turned into a singles match and had to be improvised (and was, and well), a pretty good match with Angle that the booking ruined, a smokin' bout with Benoit, a so-so brawl with a still-recovering Austin that was marred by a dumb ending, and the underrated 6-pack hell in a cell match. (Not to mention his excellent pre-injury work in 2001). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest RickyChosyu Report post Posted August 20, 2002 Jingus is correct. Hunter had a gift back then. You could see it in his brawling Foley, and Jericho. Along with the Iron man match, and the kick ass match with Benoit, HHH had stellar porfances for a good year and then some. His match with Angle from 2001 (the Royal Rumble match) gets almost no love, and was as psychologically deep and interesting as anything I've ever seen. The booking hurt it a lot, but if you want great performances, just watch Hunter in that match and how awesome he is at using the good nuances of Flair and combining it with his own style. Hunter, from 2000-2001, was a really great worker, and paid more attention to his craft than almost anyone else at the time (save Benoit, and Austin, one he healed up). His performances have been over-blown to an extent, and I think he wasn't as big a star as he believed he was, but HHH showed signs of brilliance on more than one occasion, even if he stopped being good way too abruptly to realize it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest alfdogg Report post Posted August 20, 2002 How did I know Shiro would side with TestKick... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest El Psycho Diablo Report post Posted August 20, 2002 I dunno. I'm a sucker for lost causes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest TheZsaszHorsemen Report post Posted August 21, 2002 No one mentioned No Way Out's classic HHH/Austin 3 Stages of Hell match? Â For SHAME. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Brian Report post Posted August 21, 2002 It wasn't that classic. It was a good match, but classic... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest CanadianChick Report post Posted August 21, 2002 I thought it was a bit overrated..but it was still a good match. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest RickyChosyu Report post Posted August 21, 2002 That's probably being a little too generous. I'm not a big fan of that match. Like, at all. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
