WWE

[Super Cena]

Having not watched wrestling regularly since 2006, I finally got back into watching Raw and Smackdown at the end of last year - and how glad I am that I did. I've not enjoyed wrestling this much since 2001; I honestly believe that the product WWE is putting out at the moment is that good. I kept up to date with the happenings throughout the latter half of the past decade via sites like this and magazines such as Powerslam, but never felt the need to actually watch it.

 

Whenever I did catch the odd glimpse of a show, I just didn't feel the urge to invest into it. When I look back at the '07-'10 era, I already find much of it indistinguishable. When I pick up a DVD in HMV of said era, it seems as though every show is one and the same, barring the covers. The main event bracket through those years didn't have the 'oompf', for lack of a better word, to entice me into the product and there just seemed to be too much nonesence and 'humour' on the under card. But enough of that, I'm not going to go on bashing that product. Instead I was going to see if you UKFFers agree that right now the WWE product is the best it's been in a very long time.

 

This Monday's Raw summed up everything that is right with WWE, from Daniel Bryan having a superb match with Miz to Del Rio oozing charisma and everything in between, and was capped off by the return of The Rock.

 

Instead of blabbering on even more, I'll bullet point what I think is great about the WWE product right now.

 

- The Rock: For the first time ever, non or former fans are genuinely interested in WWE now that Rocky has returned. I was amazed at the response to a status I put on Facebook. It'll be interesting to see where they go with him and even if it isn't anything spectacular, you know it'll be entertaining and the eventual Rock versus Cena clash will be iconic.

 

Michael Cole - I know that Michael Cole isn't everybody's cup of tea, but his commentating is a highlight for me. He plays his role to perfection and is completely believable: you genuinely feel as though that is his true persona.

 

The Miz - He's got charisma to spare and is superb as champion and is enjoying the best heel title run since JBL. He's also been involved in two of the best matches of the year so far (14/2 Raw versus Daniel Bryan, and the first Raw of the year against Morrison).

 

The titles - The championships have seemingly all been given a new lease of life - Danielson's having a superb run with the US title and the main event titles haven't changed hands once since I've started watching again. I remember times when it was hard to keep up with whether or not Cena was champ.

 

Daniel Bryan - He's been allowed a superb amount of freedom in his matches, even performing a German suplex this Monday against The Miz. He's putting on quality matches left, right and centre. Though he's not defending it too often, coming to the ring each week with the US title around his waist is doing him no harm whatsoever.

 

Kofi Kingston - Taking over from Carlito as the 'cool' mid-carder, Kofi is a hundred times more entertaining than Carlito. His character, presence, gimmick, entrance and move set are a shining example of how to appeal to all age groups.

 

Alberto Del Rio and Wade Barrett - Two of the most charismatic stars of the past decade, Del Rio and Barrett are going to achieve big things.

 

Dolph Ziggler - With Vickie Guerrero as his mouthpiece, Ziggler is an awesome heel. Often the heels end up being cheered, but not Dolph. Nor is he booed for just being plain shit. It's quite scary thinking about how much heel heat Vickie G can actually garner.

 

CM Punk - A superb character and a superb athlete playing the role. Is a joy to watch each Monday.

 

Nexus and The Corre - Though they're not white hot right now, I think that we could see something spectacular from the two factions post Wrestlemania.

 

John Cena - Not having Cena completley overexposed of late has meant that I can actually bear him a lot more and find him entertaining enough. I thought that his match with Punk on Raw this week was hugely entertaining.

 

2.21.11 vignettes - Whoever it turns out to be, it's got us all talking and excited about it.

 

Royal Rumble - The RR was one of the best pay per views of the past few years and one of the finest Rumble's ever.

 

Little stupidity - There just seems to be such a little amount of unfunny skits and whatnot which has meant that the rare times it has happened, it's actually been, actually funny and entertaining as opposed to annoying.

 

Wrestlemania 27 - This years WM is lining up to be one of the best ever.

 

WWE's product just seems to be brilliant in general and I'm sure I've missed a few stuff from that list - I'll post some more when I remember.

 

Everything seems to be logical such as the storylines and characters all seem to have a purpose - something which I think is under-looked in wrestling a great deal. Too much in the past has happened just for the sake of it. There's some superb wrestling going on too.

 

I also must point out that another major reasoning for this is because for the first time in years, the main event bracket is so fresh. When Ziggler, Del Rio and Barrett all cement themselves as main eventers, then it will be even greater.

 

Am I blowing WWE up way too much and over hyping it? Or do you agree that it's the best it's been in years? Do you agree with me that this week's Raw was one of the best in the past decade?

[ChapManiA]

Wrestlemania 27 - This years WM is lining up to be one of the best ever.

 

 

You are VERY optimisitc!

[Fatty Facesitter]

I've been feeling the exact same way since the tail end of last year when the quality of Raw in particular really started picking up in terms of entertainment. I forget who it was in the Royal Rumble thread, Butch I think, but it was summed up perfectly when they said that the Royal Rumble was so good because it had something for everyone. You had the nostalgia buffs going mental for Booker T and Diesel, you had the internet and technical purists going crazy for CM Punk and Daniel Bryan and the women and kids were loving guys like Cena and Hornswoggle.

 

Right now the WWE product has something for everyone and right now they seem to have just the right balance of new talent merging with more experienced talent in creating overall one of WWE's best collective rosters since the early 00's.

[Super Cena]

Wrestlemania 27 - This years WM is lining up to be one of the best ever.

 

 

You are VERY optimisitc!

 

Perhaps I over-exaggerated with the use of the word 'ever'. However, I certainly think that it will be the best one we've seen in a very long time. Look at how skeptical people were regarding the Rumble, and how good that turned out to be.

[AshC]

Roughly since the Nexus formation, Raw has been excellent television.

[ChapManiA]

Wrestlemania 27 - This years WM is lining up to be one of the best ever.

 

 

You are VERY optimisitc!

 

Perhaps I over-exaggerated with the use of the word 'ever'. However, I certainly think that it will be the best one we've seen in a very long time. Look at how skeptical people were regarding the Rumble, and how good that turned out to be.

 

I feel the potential for 'Mania to be great has dropped a little since the lack of focus on the Nexus and the Corre. Also, there are no feuds currently for the minor titles. Once again the writers only care about the main event and everything else is just filler

 

One thing I am looking forward to though is the thought of half the crowd cheering the Miz like crazy vs John Cena!

[DJ Kris]

- The Rock: For the first time ever, non or former fans are genuinely interested in WWE now that Rocky has returned. I was amazed at the response to a status I put on Facebook. It'll be interesting to see where they go with him and even if it isn't anything spectacular, you know it'll be entertaining and the eventual Rock versus Cena clash will be iconic.

I was under the impression The Rock was just back to guest host WrestleMania?

[IANdrewDiceClay]

I was under the impression The Rock was just back to guest host WrestleMania?

He is, I'd imagine. He'll probably just do the Steve Austin thing now he's back onside. We'll see him once a year or something. Cant see him coming back fulltime. He's got two movies he's currently working on and a one he's due to start promoting so 2011 will probably be another full one for him.

[DJ Kris]

I was under the impression The Rock was just back to guest host WrestleMania?

He is, I'd imagine. He'll probably just do the Steve Austin thing now he's back onside. We'll see him once a year or something. Cant see him coming back fulltime. He's got two movies he's currently working on and a one he's due to start promoting so 2011 will probably be another full one for him.

When he said he was back and not going anywhere, I assumed that's what he meant, that he'd been away too long and would now drop by from time to time. Would still love to see him back full time though, he is missed! :\

[The Total Package]

Well my fav year in WWE is 2003 and for me this current product is still miles off from what that was.

 

For those that cant remember 2003 is where Evolution were killing everybody on RAW, Goldberg,Booker T etc and on SD! The Lesnar era was going on, along with Vince vs Hogan etc and so much more, it was fn great time.

 

Yeah The Rock is back erm kinda, but that is showing me WWE havent really moved on since, he totally destoryed everything seen last year bar the nexus attack on Cena, in about 20minutes he showed what wrestling had been missing.

 

WWE start with good ideas but they go nowhere, the nexus thing and corre it was good at the start but they ruined it, Sheamus feuding with TripleH and then becomes KOTR and ends up feuding with Mark Herny and if Taker is facing TripleH at Mania that means they well and truly have given up on Sheamus for now.

 

Jack Swagger wow talk about falling off the map, the complete destruction of the tag divison, really at the mo I care very little for anything outside main event stuff, and that was never the case when I used to watch this stuff every week.

 

imo with old fans interest peaked again in The Rock, WWE will have too capitalize on making some of the new guys look really good, otherwise people will just change the channel as soon as the Rock is not on.

[Sexy Dad]

The Rock's return aside, you're bang on about WWE's programming stepping up compared to recent years. The addition of Barrett, Sheamus, Del Rio, Daniel Bryan and Ziggler are defining an era outside of the monotinous Triple H/Cena/Orton years. All three guys mentioned are obviously assets but were featured together far too often together. I'd have to say the Legacy stable made Raw fairly shit throughout 2009, talk about a boring generic group, it was so bland it didn't actually manage to elevate any new stars. Cody's fought to the position he has got to now on Smackdown as if he was a new signing in my opinion.

[ClutchedByTheCamel]

WWE has started to become interesting ever since the start of this year and end of last year, with the CM Punk taking over the New Nexus, The Miz being champion, they gave John Morrison a chase (showing that they're giving new people the chance), Mason Ryan looks to be the next big thing in a years time I can see him being on the front of video games, posters, DVD's and move onto Movies eventually, no doubt he will be world champion. The Rock returning was the best thing in years. All I'd like now is for WWE to pull there head out of Randy Ortons arse, at first I wanted him to win the WWE title when he was chasing it against Cena in 2008 but now im bored every time and stopped caring.

 

Would still like to see the Bryan Danielson vs CM Punk feud go ahead but without the New Nexus, hopefully after Wrestlemania they ditch the whole big faction craze.

 

But it should be mentioned I can actually sit through a whole Episode of Raw

[Super Cena]

WWE has started to become interesting ever since the start of this year and end of last year, with the CM Punk taking over the New Nexus, The Miz being champion, they gave John Morrison a chase (showing that they're giving new people the chance), Mason Ryan looks to be the next big thing in a years time I can see him being on the front of video games, posters, DVD's and move onto Movies eventually, no doubt he will be world champion. The Rock returning was the best thing in years. All I'd like now is for WWE to pull there head out of Randy Ortons arse, at first I wanted him to win the WWE title when he was chasing it against Cena in 2008 but now im bored every time and stopped caring.

 

Would still like to see the Bryan Danielson vs CM Punk feud go ahead but without the New Nexus, hopefully after Wrestlemania they ditch the whole big faction craze.

 

But it should be mentioned I can actually sit through a whole Episode of Raw

 

I watch each episode all the way through now, albeit without ad breaks as I watch online. The only thing I tend to skip through are the divas matches until the finishing sequence but other than that, there's not much of an episode of Smackdown or especially Raw that I feel is a chor to watch as it has been in the past.

[King Pitcos]

I've found Raw generally fantastic since after the last Cena/Orton feud ended. Since the start of 2010, I think it's been better than it had been any other year after 2001.

 

Smackdown's really picked up since the start of this year as well, I'd found it atrocious for ages before that.

[Super Cena]

I've found Raw generally fantastic since after the last Cena/Orton feud ended. Since the start of 2010, I think it's been better than it had been any other year after 2001.

 

Smackdown's really picked up since the start of this year as well, I'd found it atrocious for ages before that.

 

I agree that Smackdown has been superb this year already too. Edge isn't at the level that he once was, but he is still more than adequate to carry the World Heavyweight strap.

 

I really hope that WWE can keep up this momentum for as long as possible and with the younger guys all starting to take shape, I think that they'll do just that.

 

A lot of people panicked after the departures of HBK, Batista and Jeff Hardy and the reduced schedules of guys like Undertaker and Triple H, but it could have been the best thing to have happened to WWE in a long time.

 

Edge has said on more than one occasion that he's not far from retiring; Mysterio's knees have plagued him for years and Undertaker isn't going to be around forever. If they play their cards right and have a bit of luck on their side, this should make no difference to WWE.