Will WWE ever be as great as they were in 2000?

[BigDawgCarl 0]

I wonder why everybody just loves Austin's 2001 campaign. Sure, it was his was his best wrestling year post-surgery, but character wise, he was OK as a heel, and the "What?" phenomenon gave him something to do. Character wise, nothing's topping Austin's run from late 96-Nov 99. If he didn't have that run, alot of things would be different.

[AmazingRen 0]

I think it was more about him helping put people over (Jericho,Angle,Benoit) than it was his character.

[Papacita 0]

Nah, Austin didn't do a whole lot to put people over in 01 (remember Tazz?), but he really was an entertaining character. I agree that he wasn't at 96-98 levels, but still he was pretty damn fun to watch in his skits with Angle, Tajiri, etc. It showed how versatile he was as a performer, and really he basically carried WWF during the Invasion era. His performances were among some of the few bright spots from that period, IMO.

[Hawk 34 0]

Nah, Austin didn't do a whole lot to put people over in 01 (remember Tazz?), but he really was an entertaining character. I agree that he wasn't at 96-98 levels, but still he was pretty damn fun to watch in his skits with Angle, Tajiri, etc. It showed how versatile he was as a performer, and really he basically carried WWF during the Invasion era. His performances were among some of the few bright spots from that period, IMO.

 

I say the newly arriving, RVD played a big part in carrying the invasion period alongside Austin and even Heyman.

 

That was an interesting time, in the absence of Triple H and Benoit, Rhyno got pushed as did Tajiri (by making him the best comedy bit on the show). It had things like Stasiak's idiotic actions. The goofy over-the-top antics from Kanyon and DDP, Tazz, (which should have culminated in Tazz choking Austin out in the survivor series match). The work was better...

 

RVD was emerging as a superstar....2001 is really under-looked. Just because the angle was a flop doesn't mean it was a bad year.

[AmazingRen 0]

Yeah I'll never forget interaction between Austin and RVD espeacially when they tried to find out which invasion member was going to jump to WWE and Austin gave RVD an interrogation.

[CBright7831 0]

Nah, Austin didn't do a whole lot to put people over in 01 (remember Tazz?), but he really was an entertaining character. I agree that he wasn't at 96-98 levels, but still he was pretty damn fun to watch in his skits with Angle, Tajiri, etc. It showed how versatile he was as a performer, and really he basically carried WWF during the Invasion era. His performances were among some of the few bright spots from that period, IMO.

 

I say the newly arriving, RVD played a big part in carrying the invasion period alongside Austin and even Heyman.

 

That was an interesting time, in the absence of Triple H and Benoit, Rhyno got pushed as did Tajiri (by making him the best comedy bit on the show). It had things like Stasiak's idiotic actions. The goofy over-the-top antics from Kanyon and DDP, Tazz, (which should have culminated in Tazz choking Austin out in the survivor series match). The work was better...

 

RVD was emerging as a superstar....2001 is really under-looked. Just because the angle was a flop doesn't mean it was a bad year.

This is true.

 

Alot of people say that 2001 was the beginning of the downfall for the WWE, but I disagree, I think it was 2002 that started the hell that we are currently in today.

[Si82 0]

I think 2001 was Austin's best ever year. He managed to make a hell of a comeback after his neck surgery. He had some great bout through the year and his heel turn was great. The parternership with Kurt Angle gave us some great comedy and then when they split it lead to some great matches. Of course, once the invasion angle was over and he turned face again it was all downhill. That was probably the last time I really liked Steve Austin. Now, when he isn't walking out, he's just does the same old routine he being doing for almost ten years. Sad really.

[Promoter 0]

2000 is the financial peak, but is it a fair comparison to other years? I don't know myself, but it's like comparing the buy-rate of WM III to the buy-rate of WM X-7. Prices, merchandising, and ad revenues were probably at its highest in those years too. Business wise you have to consider those things and if it was at its highest then it was because of the resurgence in 1998 and 1999. I mean you can't compare 1995 to 2005 systematically for obvious reasons. Today they charge the normal ppv cost what Mania use to sell for, while having IYH shows that cost about $20. They really started overload from the start of smackdown in 1999 and overdid it in terms of pricing the hell out of things. It's also not fair to compare USA to TNN either, but in the grand scheme of things 2000 has to get the nod. Creatively I loved it myself.

 

Austin's character in 2001 was a nice change of pace, but I kind of have to say the Invasion angle kind of ruined it. When that happened Austin became a de-facto face and then they turned him into a comedy piece. I liked the paranoid Austin who was doing anything to keep his spot as champion. The feud with Angle was good up until SummerSlam and after that it stunk up the joint imo because of "Stone Cold" Angle. The only thing that can touch Austin of 1996-98 is Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Randy Savage, and The Rock in their primes.

[Papacita 0]

I think a lot of the stuff that made 02 so bad were there in 01 (lack of elevation, bad writing, overly scripted promos, nonsensical turns/feuds, etc). What was cool about Austin in 01 was that he'd be involved in a lot of stuff that you'd think was bad from a booking/writing standpoint, but he was just so great a performer that you just couldn't help but enjoy it. If HHH et al were even half as entertaining in 02 as Austin was in 01, I don't think people would've complained as much.