Best Time Period....

[RonL21 0]

Im partial to the period of my youth...the early-mid 90s....I remember All-American Wrestling w/ HillBilly Jim and Prime Time Wrestling a little bit...Bret's Title Run I remember everyone was a legitimate contender...I prefer this time to now...I don't see how kids today do it nowadays actually.....I just think matches overall were better back then..I was unaware of finaincials and things like that but I never understood how you can say Bret never drew money or Kevin Nash never drew...Wrestling was just not popular during this period....I think the Steriod Thing had a lot to do w/ it But i don't think it was particulary Bret's or Diesel's fault...It obviously took the right folks at the right time coming along and people actually coming up w/ fresh ideas like the NWO, ECW, Attitude Era to reach a whole new breed of Folks....I always wondered for the folks who complain about the product now....how would the think of the period between 93-96 in the WWF I loved it when i was a kid and prefer it but im sure it would be dreaded if it were goin on now...

 

And this is for you Humanoid......I think 98 was probably the best year as far as PPVs go....I don't think there was one bad PPV that year with SummerSlam 98 probably being the Best..The Highway to Hell Song/Theme was just so Perfect to go along w/ that show Rock/HHH in the Final great fued of the IC Title was pure Greatness...

 

Discuss your fav era/year/period......

[razazteca 0]

WCW

Jim Crockett NWA/WCW was the golden era of tag team wrestling with 4 Horseman, Midnite Express, Rock & Roll Express, Fantastics, Road Warriors.

 

1994 was shit with Hogan fighting Vader, Dungeon of Doom, and various other fat bastards or giant slugs.

 

1995 was watchable due to the partnership with New Japan working with WCW

 

1996-1998 Monday Night Wars *Insert Tony Schiavonie quote* ruled

 

WWF

1999-2001 had Hardys vs Dudleys vs Edge & Christian in table, ladders, chairs.....OH MY matches

 

2002 Austin and Rock leave town resulting in WWE being in general disarray and is forced to push unproven rookies

 

2003 had Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, Chavo Guerrero, Edge, Christian, Kurt Angle own Smackdown

 

2004 wrestling god Chris Beniot gets a short title reign

 

2005 Brock Lesnar decided to play football and leaves town

 

2006 Eddie Guerrero dies and WWE wants you to never forget it.....oh and Rey Mysterio gets a token title reign

 

2007 RVD fucks up, Edge becomes the main event, ECW gets thrown in the shitter

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

When this question was posed about two years ago, I had said 98 for WWE, '00 for ECW, and '00 overall.

 

But I'm going to go with the entire period between Final Four IYH and Heatwave 98, if I can get away with such a broad answer. (March 97 to July 98). In that time we saw Bret-Austin at WM13, Barely Legal, Terry Funk winning the ECW title, the debut of the Hart Foundation and Bret's Heel turn, the debut of HIAC, a fantastic Wrestlemania 14, the revamped DX, the revamped Nation of Domination, the debut of the Triple Threat, RVD's TV title win, Shane Douglas getting some redemption by winning the ECW title, the Dudley's first title reign, and the incredibly good Heatwave 98 PPV.

 

Just imagine how my list would look if I'd watched WCW.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

WCW you have the emergence of Bill Goldberg at least.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

Fall 1991-Spring 1992.

 

In the WWF you had Ric Flair jumping with the NWA World Title, Savage/Roberts, the rise of Bret Hart, the fantastic events surrounding Royal Rumble, and more. It was such a fun period which ended up almost being a passing of the torch thing as the old guard from the 80s were moving on and the next generation was taking over (Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, etc.).

 

In WCW you had the Dangerous Alliance/Kip Frey period which would be the best the company would see until 1996.

[CanadianChris 0]

Fall 1991-Spring 1992.

 

In the WWF you had Ric Flair jumping with the NWA World Title, Savage/Roberts, the rise of Bret Hart, the fantastic events surrounding Royal Rumble, and more. It was such a fun period which ended up almost being a passing of the torch thing as the old guard from the 80s were moving on and the next generation was taking over (Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, etc.).

 

In WCW you had the Dangerous Alliance/Kip Frey period which would be the best the company would see until 1996.

Winner. I don't think there was ever another time when both promotions were putting out such quality at the same time.

[humanoid92 0]

It all depends on how people make the distinction between "best" and "favorite." Favorite is completely subjective and best has more to do with establishing a list of criteria. It seems like when people bring up "best" they want to talk about drawing money and PPV buys and TV ratings, etc. "Favorite" has nothing to do with any of that- no one can tell me my favorite isn't my favorite.

 

I think everyone is always going to be partial to the time period when they really first got hooked by wrestling, whenever that may be. As for me, I had watched wrestling occasionally in the early 90's, but I really, really got hooked around '92 or so. This is undoubtedly why I go around writing wacky posts defending WM 9. I loved '93 because I loved Bret in the main events and Michaels put on great matches with the IC Title. Even as a little kid, I had never liked Hogan matches so I had always looked at main events as sort of a bonus match- it wasn't why I watched but it was there anyway. With Bret in the main events, it finally made me care about the main events because he always had great matches... Raw was new and fresh, Heenan was still around. There were some great commentary pairs around this time- Gorilla and Heenan, Vince and Heenan, Vince Lawler and Savage, Gorilla and JR, JR Savage and Heenan, etc. The first KOTR, I thought, was a great concept and pulled off perfectly. I just miss the little things about that time like the way things were presented. Superstars and Challenge still mattered.. once 95 came around those shows were done. There were still shows like Summerslam Spectacular and March to WM, and Survivor Series Showdown. I miss renting old PPVs and tapes and watching them at least twice before I had to return them. I miss getting excited for a PPV. I miss that there were only 5 per year and they were such a big deal. I liked PPVs starting at 4 PM sometimes. Survivor Series being held the day before Thanksgiving (for all you nitpickers, I'm aware that it used to be on Thanksgiving night, and while we're here, I also know there were previous untelevised KOTRs). Stuff like that. Plus, most importantly, I was a kid. It was fun. I get nostalgic for that time. This goes for '94 too, even though Heenan left. I loved the Bret/Owen saga. They'll always be my two favorites (and no, I'm not even Canadian).

 

I can understand people getting excited for the boom period as well. It was really weird that wrestling was popular all of a sudden. I certainly was hooked again from 98-01 and loved it. It was a great time to be a fan, but the difference is now that it's over, I'm certainly not nostalgic for it. I can understand feeling that way if that's when you first got hooked on wrestling, or if you were 9 or 10 years old in 1998, or both. I mean, I thought 2000 was awesome (well, the first half certainly). But I was also 16. I just don't look back on it nearly as fondly as I do with the stuff from '92-'94 or the stuff before then that I got into during that time by watching old tapes, reading old magazines, etc.

 

...I don't see how kids today do it nowadays actually.....

 

As far as the kids of today, I truly don't know that if I was born after 1993 that I ever would have gotten into it in the first place. I guess I wouldn't have had anything to compare it to, but nothing feels special anymore. I don't know. I just really hate the product since 2002/3 or so. Yes, there have been some great matches but I don't feel an attachment to any of them because it's so hard for them to stand out in the current homogenized environment. I really don't care for the hole obsession with history, show-within-a-show style of booking they've gone with the last couple years now. It's really an unprecedented philosophy- no wrestling show has ever succeeded with that mindset before, but then again up until Vince bought his competition, wrestling regularly re-wrote history, trained fans not to care about the past, and basically had them erase people and events from memory once those people left the company.

 

I was unaware of finaincials and things like that but I never understood how you can say Bret never drew money or Kevin Nash never drew

 

I'm with you on this. Honestly, as a fan, why the hell do you care what Vince's bottom line is? As far using the term "drawn money" to form arguments against certain people for "not drawing", I think it's bullshit. Other than the OBVIOUS no-brainer major draws of all-time (Andre, Hogan, Austin, Rock, even Vince, etc.) it just doesn't matter. Other than a those select few (not saying those are the only select few), no one guy has ever been responsible for drawing the majority of the people to the show. This is really a whole other thread, but I've mentioned my thoughts on that before.

 

And this is for you Humanoid......I think 98 was probably the best year as far as PPVs go....I don't think there was one bad PPV that year with SummerSlam 98 probably being the Best..The Highway to Hell Song/Theme was just so Perfect to go along w/ that show Rock/HHH in the Final great fued of the IC Title was pure Greatness...

 

That I'm gonna have to disagree on. Summerslam was a really good show. WM 14 was good and definitely did good business, but I think a lot of people overrate it. The 98 PPVs have two things going for them, aside from the obvious being that Austin vs. McMahon was red-hot and they did good business: 1) I don't like Russo, but one thing he did do was give people a reason to at the very least be interested in midcard guys. He paid attention to the midcard, and that's something McMahon hasn't always done historically, and 2) Because every match on Raw was no longer than 3 minutes and didn't have a finish, the PPV matches actually mattered because it was the only time you could see your favorite midcard guys wrestle for longer than 3 minutes and your main event guys go longer than 5. That's not necessarily the best way to do things, but it's true- in order to see actual matches, you really did have to order the PPV.

 

The "best" year for PPV issue plays right back into best vs. favorite, though. Also, how do you compare an era of monthly PPVs and weekly live two hour TV shows to an era of month-long pre-tapes and 4-5 shows per year. It's apples and oranges.

 

I always hated main events in '98 and '99 because they were mostly garbage formula matches. Brawl into the crowd, back into the aisle, do a gag with the set, back in the ring, then it's break the announce table, and go to the finish. And don't forget to mix in some chairshots. Plus, TV and PPV matches alike seemed to never end with anything other than a finisher or interference. And that's it. This really detracted from every match for me because set-up moves, pinning combinations, etc. never got a fall. The crowds never bought any near falls unless it was a finisher or interference. So there's just a lot of ugly things about the '98 shows that I've never liked.

 

In the monthly PPV era, I'd have to say 2000 turned out my favorite shows. It definitely dipped downhill after Summerslam, but they were on a serious roll (other than KOTR) until then. There may not have been an overnight change but they really flushed out the crap once Russo left. With Austin gone, the main events felt a lot more fresh, and let's face it- HHH was the man at this point. The brawling style in main events was still around but not nearly as bad as it was before (talking about brawling in regular matches- not the likes of the HHH/Foley Street Fight and HIAC). And the undercards improved drastically with the Jericho, Angle, Benoit, Eddie, E & C, Hardyz, etc. all in the mix, as opposed to people like Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, Chyna, Shamrock, Test, etc. in those roles in '98 and '99. As always, just my opinion.

[RonL21 0]

...I don't see how kids today do it nowadays actually.....

 

As far as the kids of today, I truly don't know that if I was born after 1993 that I ever would have gotten into it in the first place. I guess I wouldn't have had anything to compare it to, but nothing feels special anymore. I don't know. I just really hate the product since 2002/3 or so. Yes, there have been some great matches but I don't feel an attachment to any of them because it's so hard for them to stand out in the current homogenized environment. I really don't care for the hole obsession with history, show-within-a-show style of booking they've gone with the last couple years now. It's really an unprecedented philosophy- no wrestling show has ever succeeded with that mindset before, but then again up until Vince bought his competition, wrestling regularly re-wrote history, trained fans not to care about the past, and basically had them erase people and events from memory once those people left the company.

 

I was unaware of finaincials and things like that but I never understood how you can say Bret never drew money or Kevin Nash never drew

 

I'm with you on this. Honestly, as a fan, why the hell do you care what Vince's bottom line is? As far using the term "drawn money" to form arguments against certain people for "not drawing", I think it's bullshit. Other than the OBVIOUS no-brainer major draws of all-time (Andre, Hogan, Austin, Rock, even Vince, etc.) it just doesn't matter. Other than a those select few (not saying those are the only select few), no one guy has ever been responsible for drawing the majority of the people to the show. This is really a whole other thread, but I've mentioned my thoughts on that before.

 

And this is for you Humanoid......I think 98 was probably the best year as far as PPVs go....I don't think there was one bad PPV that year with SummerSlam 98 probably being the Best..The Highway to Hell Song/Theme was just so Perfect to go along w/ that show Rock/HHH in the Final great fued of the IC Title was pure Greatness...

 

That I'm gonna have to disagree on. Summerslam was a really good show. WM 14 was good and definitely did good business, but I think a lot of people overrate it. The 98 PPVs have two things going for them, aside from the obvious being that Austin vs. McMahon was red-hot and they did good business: 1) I don't like Russo, but one thing he did do was give people a reason to at the very least be interested in midcard guys. He paid attention to the midcard, and that's something McMahon hasn't always done historically, and 2) Because every match on Raw was no longer than 3 minutes and didn't have a finish, the PPV matches actually mattered because it was the only time you could see your favorite midcard guys wrestle for longer than 3 minutes and your main event guys go longer than 5. That's not necessarily the best way to do things, but it's true- in order to see actual matches, you really did have to order the PPV.

 

The "best" year for PPV issue plays right back into best vs. favorite, though. Also, how do you compare an era of monthly PPVs and weekly live two hour TV shows to an era of month-long pre-tapes and 4-5 shows per year. It's apples and oranges.

 

I always hated main events in '98 and '99 because they were mostly garbage formula matches. Brawl into the crowd, back into the aisle, do a gag with the set, back in the ring, then it's break the announce table, and go to the finish. And don't forget to mix in some chairshots. Plus, TV and PPV matches alike seemed to never end with anything other than a finisher or interference. And that's it. This really detracted from every match for me because set-up moves, pinning combinations, etc. never got a fall. The crowds never bought any near falls unless it was a finisher or interference. So there's just a lot of ugly things about the '98 shows that I've never liked.

 

In the monthly PPV era, I'd have to say 2000 turned out my favorite shows. It definitely dipped downhill after Summerslam, but they were on a serious roll (other than KOTR) until then. There may not have been an overnight change but they really flushed out the crap once Russo left. With Austin gone, the main events felt a lot more fresh, and let's face it- HHH was the man at this point. The brawling style in main events was still around but not nearly as bad as it was before (talking about brawling in regular matches- not the likes of the HHH/Foley Street Fight and HIAC). And the undercards improved drastically with the Jericho, Angle, Benoit, Eddie, E & C, Hardyz, etc. all in the mix, as opposed to people like Road Dogg, Billy Gunn, Chyna, Shamrock, Test, etc. in those roles in '98 and '99. As always, just my opinion.

Bret Hart is the reason i got into watching wrestling and he just seemed so Popular along w/ Kevin Nash...Im glad I was a Mark during this time.....The only reason I still watch wrestling is simply because I always have except from about late 2001 to eary 2005...Ive smartend up and look at it differently of course..but I definetly think my view is different..than say someone who started to watch in 98-99....

 

2000 did have some good PPVs too..But SummerSlam 98 is definetly one of my all time fave PPVs...even the post show on the Home Shopping Network was great....

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

I've got really fond memories of WWF 94 with Owen and Bret Hart fueding, it pretty much turned into a fued between me and my best friend at the time too. He was a total Bret Hart mark, so I decided to back Owen Hart, basically when the shows ended up TV we'd continue talking about who was going to win in the end. It was totally awesome, that didn't really happen again until about 96-98 when we'd try to stay awake watching Nitro/Thunder on Friday Nights over here in the UK (TNT showed it back to back from 9pm-2am). It wasn't much the quality of wrestling but the experience of watching it with my best mate.. how's that for lame!