2007: Most disastrous year in WWE history?

[Dobbs 3K 0]

(Put this in the discussion thread, but thought this should have it's own topic)

 

Question: Is 2007 going to go down as the most disastrous year in WWE history?

 

Look at everything that has happened this year:

 

- Chris Benoit kills himself after murdering his wife and son. Huge media coverage ensues.

- Drugs scandals become public, and WWE is repeatedly mentioned in a negative light in the media (more so than usual). The Wellness Policy is publicly derided as a joke.

- The "Who Killed Vince?" storyline is abruptly aborted, due to the Benoit tragedy.

- The current "Who is Vince's bastard son?" storyline has a lousy joke payoff (of course, this could change).

- Booker T quits. Ric Flair supposedly threatens to quit.

- RVD apparently leaves the company, leaving ECW without their top face.

- Marcus Cor Von drops off the face of the planet, while being lined up for a push in ECW.

- Pretty much every SNME has had bad ratings, and bad reviews. WWE has basically no mainstream exposure at this point. Ratings for other shows, notably RAW, get to their lowest point in years.

- A ton of people are fired, or quit, including a good portion of the ECW roster. Some even while in midst of pushes (Cryme Tyme).

- Everyone who wins the World Heavyweight Title ends up injured (Undertaker, Edge). Kennedy also gets injured after being the heir apparent to the title.

- Bobby Lashley gets injured in the middle of a huge push. Rey Misterio is out for a good portion of the year with an injury, and is mentioned in the drug scandal.

- Triple H gone for much of the year due to injury.

- Brian Adams dies and is linked to WWE in the media.

- Something like a dozen people are suspended for drug issues.

 

I'm probably forgetting a bunch of stuff, but wow, is that a lot of junk that has happened this year, and it's only September. There were some positives, especially at the beginning of the year. You could argue that the Donald Trump angle was a big thing for WWE, but other than that, it seems like a pretty rough year. Sure, they're still making money, but this company seems like it has some serious issues to come to grips with. However, with no company giving them a serious run for their money (maybe if TNA ever gets their act together), it doesn't seem like there will be another "boom period" anytime soon.

 

[Black Lushus 0]

didn't they have a year or two in the 90s that brought them perilously close to closing the doors due to finances? I'd say that was worse than this shit. They're not closing up shop this year, anyway.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

This year isn't over yet. There could be more negative stuff to be added.

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

Strangely enough in the T-Zone data for TEW07, WWE falls in size (from International - Cult), loses its TV deals, fires half the roster, and then loses the big names that think that WWE is too small for them. And here's me thinking the data was shite and inaccurate.

[Boxer 0]

1992 was pretty bad all due to Vince almost going to jail. Or was it 1994?

 

Also, was it 1996 or 1997 that the WWF was bleeding money and almost went under?

[Hunter's Torn Quad 0]

1992 was pretty bad all due to Vince almost going to jail. Or was it 1994?

 

Also, was it 1996 or 1997 that the WWF was bleeding money and almost went under?

Around 1997. Vince took out some big loans to keep the company afloat, and Raw was very close to being canceled on USA.

[slimm44 0]

Let's not forget what started it all - K-Fed pinned John Cena!!!

[HollywoodSpikeJenkins 0]

They've been through worse. Hell, they probably aren't THAT worried right now. Yeah, with the suspensions that they have to keep up cause of Congress and whatnot, but Vince has been through worse. He's shrugging everything off (except for the Benoit Murders, that was...the worst case scenario) and I truly believe his mindset is "No publicity is bad publicity."

[KingPK 0]

didn't they have a year or two in the 90s that brought them perilously close to closing the doors due to finances? I'd say that was worse than this shit. They're not closing up shop this year, anyway.

 

That was when they actually had a viable competitor. They don't have that now, so while this year has been horrendous from a PR standpoint, it probably won't be a disaster financially. And that's what really counts to any business.

[Guest Hasbeen2]

Has there been anything lately on the rumoured Hogan federation, I wonder what kind of backing he'd have. It wouldn't take much to empty the WWE's roster of everyone besides those not over and those who've been suspended or injured. (and besides HHH).

[spman 0]

I would say publicly, 2007 so far has probably been the worst year for the WWE, and it's really only looking to get worse.

 

From a business standpoint however, I think the year and a half long period from about June 1995 with Mable winning the King of the Ring until Survivor Series 1996 when Austin finally started getting his push to the top, was the absolute lowest period for the product, and they have never even come close to getting that bad since. That period saw the most worthless lugs getting main event pushes, an undercard roster filled from top to bottom with comedy gimmicks and has-beens, and just some of the most god awful bad wrestling product your eyes will ever witness. So no, as bad as Hornswaggle McMahon and The Great Khali are, they aren't even in the same galaxy as Triple H fighting Henry Godwin in a farm match, or Jim Neidhart doing a Who's On First Gimmick.

[Mr. S£im Citrus 0]

I thought that Who was a WCW creation?

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Yes, 1995 was a gawd awful year for US wrestling in general, notably for WWF. That was probably my least favorite year ever as a fan, and at one point I almost completely stopped watching, sometime after Mabel won the King of the Ring (can you believe he's still getting pushed 12 years later, though?).

 

Anyway, like I mentioned in my original post, business-wise, the WWE isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Anytime business is a little down state-side, they can always run another tour in Europe, or Japan, or India, etc. and draw huge. My main point is how much has gone wrong this year, and there aren't a lot of bright spots on the horizon, other than we can expect more Triple H and Cena. Undertaker is coming back, but should he really be one of their biggest stars at this point? I just think this company needs some kind of kick in the ass, but I have no idea what that could be at this point.

[CanadianChris 0]

I thought that Who was a WCW creation?

Nope. Although it would fit them perfectly.

[cabbageboy 0]

Yeah the New Generation 1995-96 era was the true nadir in terms of quality and business. Some years like 1992 were crap financially but yielded some truly timeless shows that rank among my favorites ever.

 

Truth be told I don't think most fans really cared about the steroid trial. In 1994 when all that was going down there really wasn't much in the way of internet reporting, so unless you were reading Meltzer's newsletters it wasn't a big deal for fans.

[Ginger Snaps 0]

This year has been pretty disastrous. Maybe worst in a decade or so.

[Black Lushus 0]

again, it just depends on how you view it. They have to be doing quite well financially, which is ultimately what it's all about. Wrestling has always been viewed as trashy, carny, garbage...this past year just enforces that image.

 

However, next year they could tank finacially, a direct result of this years mishaps and then we could probably call 2007 their worst year.

 

To me, almost losing my business is shittier than havign scandals that aren't really hurting my cash flow. Scandals can be often times be overcome.

 

I suppose we just have to wait and see.

[Hoff 0]

PR-wise, this is the worst it's been in a long time, but if you're looking at it as a fan, I don't see how this beats out 2003. If I remember correctly, all of the following nonsense happened in '03:

 

- Scott Steiner @ the Royal Rumble (and in general)

- Brock nearly killed himself

- Angle and Brock: homoeroticism FTW!

- HHH vs. Nash is your main event

- Zach Gowen

- Mr. America

- Vince beats up his own daughter

- Kane vs. Shane, ball electrodes and whatnot

- Kane lighting JR on fire

- Goldberg

- Nathan Jones

- Booker T and "his types" not being championship material

- JR and King, RAW superstars

- G-G-G-G-Goldust!

- Lance Storm's manufactured personality, because being a great wrestler isn't enough

- Steiner vs. Nowinski; Monday Night Debate, y'all!

- probably more I've repressed

 

This was also the height of HHHate, as the few good matches he had in '02 faded into memory and he just killed anyone's momentum and popularity when they stepped in the ring with him. Literally no match had a well-booked finish; common occurences were Evolution cheating during a blowoff match, and HHH hitting the Pedigree, lying hurt for a minute, and STILL getting the cover. We all remember the Goldberg feud. There were some bright spots (Cena's emergence, Benoit's push -- yeah yeah, it was a good thing at the time, HBK lighting up the ring), but given how overall bad the year was it's a miracle WMXIX was as good as it was.

Edited September 13, 2007 by Hoff

[haws bah gawd 0]

PR-wise, this is the worst it's been in a long time, but if you're looking at it as a fan, I don't see how this beats out 2003. If I remember correctly, all of the following nonsense happened in '03:

 

- Scott Steiner @ the Royal Rumble (and in general)

- Brock nearly killed himself

- Angle and Brock: homoeroticism FTW!

- HHH vs. Nash is your main event

- Zach Gowen

- Mr. America

- Vince beats up his own daughter

- Kane vs. Shane, ball electrodes and whatnot

- Goldberg

- probably more I've repressed

 

This was also the height of HHHate, as the few good matches he had in '02 faded into memory and he just killed anyone's momentum and popularity when they stepped in the ring with him. Literally no match had a well-booked finish; common occurences were Evolution cheating during a blowoff match, and HHH hitting the Pedigree, lying hurt for a minute, and STILL getting the cover. We all remember the Goldberg feud. There were some bright spots (Cena's emergence, Benoit's push -- yeah yeah, it was a good thing at the time, HBK lighting up the ring), but given how overall bad the year was it's a miracle WMXIX was as good as it was.

 

I've warmed up to HHH since 2004ish when it seemed he all of a sudden learned how to work good matches on a more consistent basis. That being said though, it pissed me off royally when he did that shit to Booker T at WMXIX. The running theme of that particular WM was that MOST wrestlers were either having to hit their finisher multiple times, or pull some surprise pin out of their ass to win (see HBK vs Jericho). Not HHH though! One single Pedigree, followed by HHH laying there for a minute or so was more than enough to put away Booker.

 

[Hoff 0]

Oh, fuck! I forgot about Booker and "his types" not being worthy of holding the World Title. But yeah, that is exactly what I'm talking about. As for HHH, he definitely seemed to step his game up in 2004. I've always guessed that it's because he knew Benoit was going to outshine the fuck out of him, so he dropped some weight, hooked up with Shawn, and started wrestling again. He definitely had some good non-Michaels or non-Benoit matches in '04, though, which is more than you can say about '03, or really even '02. The opportunity was there with RVD, but HHH was still running at like 600 pounds and wouldn't really bump or move so RVD could work. Plus, we all remember how that feud ended.

[Diamonddust 0]

Was it 2003 or 2002 when they "merged" the titles meaning they basically only had the World Titles and Tag-Team Titles?

[Hoff 0]

'02. If I remember correctly, the rumored plan was to merge everything into the IC title, and have that become RAW's big belt. That wasn't a great idea, especially with how devalued the IC title had become (although it has nothing on the present day), but it was no worse than just handing HHH a belt. They then proceeded to merge the IC belt into it, so they basically stuck to their original plan on that one.

[haws bah gawd 0]

It was 2002 I believe. Brock took the Undisputed title exclusively to SD, and RAW was going to push the Intercontinental belt as it's top title. HHH, who had won a #1 contender match on RAW before Brock left, (if my memory serves me correctly) was supposed to be handed the IC belt, but backstage he said he was too good for it. Thus they had Bischoff hand him the old WCW World Title, and he beat Kane for the IC belt at the following PPV (Unforgiven?) to "unify" the belts.

 

*Edit* Beat me to it!

 

On another note, does anyone know exactly, or around when HHH stopped carrying around the actual WCW belt, and started using the current version with the WWE logo?

[Hoff 0]

That would lead to Kane unmasking, which, five years later, I feel justified in saying has led to nothing good. Kane was a MONSTER; now he's just a guy. He actually has good facial expressions, but I've personally always felt he's missing something without the mask.

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

Actually, yeah, I stopped watching 2002/2003, so I'd say from an actual product stand point that was the worse year for me so far.

[Diamonddust 0]

PR-wise, this is the worst it's been in a long time, but if you're looking at it as a fan, I don't see how this beats out 2003. If I remember correctly, all of the following nonsense happened in '03:

 

- Scott Steiner @ the Royal Rumble (and in general)

- Brock nearly killed himself

- Angle and Brock: homoeroticism FTW!

- HHH vs. Nash is your main event

- Zach Gowen

- Mr. America

- Vince beats up his own daughter

- Kane vs. Shane, ball electrodes and whatnot

- Goldberg

- probably more I've repressed

 

This was also the height of HHHate, as the few good matches he had in '02 faded into memory and he just killed anyone's momentum and popularity when they stepped in the ring with him. Literally no match had a well-booked finish; common occurences were Evolution cheating during a blowoff match, and HHH hitting the Pedigree, lying hurt for a minute, and STILL getting the cover. We all remember the Goldberg feud. There were some bright spots (Cena's emergence, Benoit's push -- yeah yeah, it was a good thing at the time, HBK lighting up the ring), but given how overall bad the year was it's a miracle WMXIX was as good as it was.

 

Yeah... you forgot Nathan Jones.

[Hoff 0]

Oh, man. I'm gonna keep editing my list as we remember more terrible things that happened.

[The Tino Standard 0]

PR-wise, this is the worst it's been in a long time, but if you're looking at it as a fan, I don't see how this beats out 2003. If I remember correctly, all of the following nonsense happened in '03:

 

- Scott Steiner @ the Royal Rumble (and in general)

- Brock nearly killed himself

- Angle and Brock: homoeroticism FTW!

- HHH vs. Nash is your main event

- Zach Gowen

- Mr. America

- Vince beats up his own daughter

- Kane vs. Shane, ball electrodes and whatnot

- Goldberg

- Nathan Jones

- Booker T and "his types" not being championship material

- probably more I've repressed

 

This was also the height of HHHate, as the few good matches he had in '02 faded into memory and he just killed anyone's momentum and popularity when they stepped in the ring with him. Literally no match had a well-booked finish; common occurences were Evolution cheating during a blowoff match, and HHH hitting the Pedigree, lying hurt for a minute, and STILL getting the cover. We all remember the Goldberg feud. There were some bright spots (Cena's emergence, Benoit's push -- yeah yeah, it was a good thing at the time, HBK lighting up the ring), but given how overall bad the year was it's a miracle WMXIX was as good as it was.

 

Don't get me wrong, that stuff was all terrible. But really, it's all a case of bad booking. And no matter how bad your booking is, in no way can you make a sane argument that it's a worse scenario for a company than having a former world champion murder his family and hang himself, have your "wellness policy" shredded once it comes under public scrutiny and then have to suspend 11 wrestlers (many of them in top angles) and fire a couple more, not to mention having three former champions decide they're so fed up with things, they'd rather just quit.

 

The product quality in 2007 isn't great, but there have been worse years in that department. From a long-range business standpoint, though, I can't think of a more damaging year. This stuff probably won't sink the company, but it is definitely going to haunt WWE for a while.

 

[Brocklock 0]

These probably aren't as bad as the above, but they still made for terrible television in 2003:

 

The Steiner/Nowinski debate

 

The Eddie/Big Show feud was awful with really stupid poop humor replacing what could've been a good feud.

 

Kane lighting JR on fire

 

Lance Storm is boring gimmick/Dancing Lance Storm/Lance Storm has a big dick gimmick

 

Stuttering Goldust (Although, It wasn't as bad as it could've been)

 

JR and King being in way too many matches. I think they wrestled more on Raw in September 2003 than some of the roster.

 

Most of the Vince stuff was really bad in 03. I find some of it stupidly entertaining and funny now, but it was boring as hell back then.

 

Their were a few highpoints though (Smackdown was pretty good this year save for the last three months. Brock was awesome in 2003, Taker was pretty motivated throughout the year, etc...)

[Hoff 0]

BL -- "Thanks" for the memories, I'll add them.

 

Tino -- I'm not arguing which year is more damaging. I'm talking entertainment value, which I thought I made clear. 2007 has had some crap, especially involving Vince McMahon, but there's been some good stuff and the wrestling has been, on average, very watchable in my opinion.