humanracer Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 What would you say are the classic and not so classic years of the WWE/WWF. I have only done 1994-2001 but I would be interested to hear your views of the years before and after. Also you can say if you agree or disagree with my choices.  Classic:  1994: Bret vs Owen feud Razor and Diesel Shawn Michaels Rise of "The New Generation"   1996: Shawn Michaels as champ Mankind vs Undertaker feud Vader Jim Ross Return of top babyface Bret Hart Rise of Steve Austin  1997: Monday night wars Austin/Hart double turn at WM 13 Canada vs USA feud Undertaker as champ British PPV Hell in a cell Birth of the Attitude era DX  1998: True beginning of Attitude era at WM 14 Austin vs McMahon Nation vs Dx Decent mid card and tag matches Rise of The Rock  2000: McMahon-Helmsley era Rock vs Triple H Tables, Ladders and Chairs Hardcore matches Rise of Kurt Angle Return of Steve Austin Chris Jericho  Not so classic:  1993: Return of Hogan Yokozuna as champ Poor matches on RAW (watch the best of RAW DVD from this year to see what I mean. Shawn Michaels being totally destroyed by Jim Duggan!)  1995: Diesel as champ for too long Bob Backlund Celebrity matches Top face Bret Hart relegated to mid card and dark matches  1999: Tedious Ministry of Darkness storyline (the reveal of Vince as the higher power ruined any impact this storyline might have had) Death of Owen Hart Big Show Return of British Bulldog Austin injured  2001: Yes it had X7 and Austin's heel turn. But Austin's character was awful as a heel but the year was quickly ruined by the missed opportunity that was the purchase of WCW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted June 14, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted June 14, 2011 1993: Poor matches on RAW (watch the best of RAW DVD from this year to see what I mean. Shawn Michaels being totally destroyed by Jim Duggan!) Shawn Michaels vs Marty Jannetty, 123 Kid vs Razor Ramon, Doink vs Randy Savage and Flair vs. Perfect werent exactly poor matches. Raw was only one hour at the time, so for that amount of time, Raw's matches were quality during this period. They had some class wrestlers during this period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PowerButchi Posted June 14, 2011 Moderators Share Posted June 14, 2011 Also you can say if you agree or disagree with my choices. Â Ta. Â Â Anyway, 1993. Steiners vs Quebecers and some awesome Steiner Squashes that year as well. There was a quality Terry Taylor vs Mr Perfect match the week before Flair vs Perfect as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members garynysmon Posted June 14, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted June 14, 2011 Everybody rips 1993, and i'm not quite sure why. 1995 and even parts of 1996 were much poorer in my opinion. Â While the size of the arenas in 1993 weren't what they used to be, businesses had died a death by two years later. Â What about the Flair vs Mr Perfect, Mr Perfect v Bret Hart, 1-2-3 Kid v Bret Hart and Shawn vs Jannetty matches? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members IANdrewDiceClay Posted June 14, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted June 14, 2011 1993 was the best anyone could do in the circumstances really. In 1992/93 Hogan, Warrior, LOD, Davey Boy, Sid Vicious, Flair and others all left sharpish. WWF had to rebuild really quick. And I think they did an OK job. King of the Ring, SummerSlam and Survivor Series were great PPV's in my opinion. And everyone looked great in 1993. WWF seemed to throw the colour black out the window and tell everyone to dressed in the most fucked up colours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members garynysmon Posted June 14, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted June 14, 2011 1993 was the best anyone could do in the circumstances really. In 1992/93 Hogan, Warrior, LOD, Davey Boy, Sid Vicious, Flair and others all left sharpish. Â I remember being really pissed off as a kid that all my favourites were disappearing overnight, but you're totally right. 1993 was far from a poor year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reznor Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 After 1991, 1993 is probably my favourite year in the WWF. It tends to get shat on a bit for its weaker PPVs and lack of star power at the top of the card. That definitely did have an effect on the masses, but it didn't bother me to have new faces like the Hitman at the top of the card in place of cartoon figures like the Warrior (who i enjoyed just as much in previous years). Â 1993 had a whole lot going for it. The Hitman, The King, Shawn Michaels getting real good, The tag Division, Bigelow, Yoko, Jannetty, The Kid, Crush, Doink, Perfect etc etc. There was very little shit. I'll maybe give you Lugers turn, although i think he was perfect in his original narcissst gimmick. I'd even defend Giant Gonzales on the basis that he was anovelty who took up little time in programming (was he only working a part time schedule or something?), and the visual impact of that awesome debut mid-Rumble was worth it. Â The introduction of Monday Night RAW was another big thing. From the first episode there was a certain something about it that you knew it was going to be successful. Being in the setting of the Manhattan Centre didn't hurt matters, and the mix of top matches with squashes tended to work right. It was a whole lot fresher and more relevant than Prime Time Wrestling, which was great, but tended to feel more like a rough collection of matches from the past few months thrown together where nothing particularly controversial was going to happen (unless it was a repeat of something from Superstars/Challenge). Â Then, as mentioned above and which i agree with, all the colour added a whole vibrancy to everything. I know it sounds a bit trivial and if something's good, it should be good whether they're all in fancy attires or black trunks, but it does make a difference imo. It's theatre, we want larger than life characters with looks to match. The WWF just went to town that year, everyone was colourful and most of the time it suited them. Â Even the low ranked JTTS guys from that year were all interesting from Max Moon, Lance Cassidy, Damian Demento and Terry Taylor at the outset of the year, onto Owen in his awesome sky blue gear, Well Dunn, Bastion Booger and even Tito Santana continuing to piss off the purists for half the year. Â I could list individual examples of good stuff all night but you get the picture. 1993 was ace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobra_gordo Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Strange there's been no mention of 1992 yet. An utter classic year for me. The rumble that year tends to be brought up regularly as one of the best ever, I remeber loving the Undertaker/Kamala feud from that year and obviously Taker against Jake Roberts at Mania VIII (and that awesome Jake promo) and then obviously Summerslam. 1992 is my joint favourite year with 2001 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie Freebird Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 As I posted in the 1999 thread, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnybgoode82 Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Best  1988  The whole controversy over the title at the start of the year 1st Royal Rumble Rick Rude - Jake Roberts feud Ultimate Warrior winning the IC Title An awesome Survivor Series The Mega Powers and Savage's slow burn turn A real swansong for Andre, from his Hogan stuff to the Duggan feud, the Roberts feud and his matches with Savage  1991  Awesome PPVs throughout the year Savage-Warrior career match Taker goes from new face to main eventer encompassing the start of the streak & his first title The Warrior-Taker-Roberts skits Virgil and DiBiase LOD's tag title win The formation of the Natural Disasters Earthquake kills Damian Hogan is on fire on promos in the early part of the year Debuts of Sid Justice and Ric Flair Piper back on form The emergence of Bret as a singles guy  1992 The best Rumble of all time The Savage-Flair feud SummerSlam 1992 Papa Shango setting people's feet on fire Return of the Warrior Nailz debut Undertaker's turn The return of Marty Jannetty Bret becomes champ HBK becomes singles star  1993 The HBK-Marty series Yoko squashing Hogan Monday Night RAW Quality KOTR, SummerSlam and Survivor Series Debut of the Kid The Lex Express Hart Family dissension Razor becoming IC Champion  1997 The USA-Canada feud Emergence of Austin as top face Hell in a Cell A long overdue run with Taker as champ The New Nation Ken Shamrock The 3 Faces of Foley Debut of Chyna HBK Losing His Smile Montreal The hotshotting of the WWF Title in Jan/Feb/Mar  1998 Taker/Kane Austin Era Mr McMahon Hell in a Cell 2 DX-Nation feud Emergence of HHH/Rock Debut of some quality new characters Return of the Bossman  2000 Debut of the Radicalz HHH/Cactus series Rock/HHH series Austin returns at Backlash King Kurt Benoit/Jericho series Who ran over Stone Cold? Match quality at arguably its highest ever Debut of Tazz Return of Taker at Judgement Day  2002 The return of HHH The nWo Flair/Taker feud Maven eliminates Taker from the Rumble The early days of brand exclusive SD Rey Mysterio Brock Lesnar The SD Six HBK returns Debut of Scott Steiner  2006 Edge wins title cashing in MITB Edge-Cena feud RVD cashes in MITB The emergence of ECW Big Show's ECW reign King Booker The debut of the Great Khali The return of SNME The return of DX Edge-Foley HHH-Cena at Mania  2010 Great build to Mania Return of Bret Miz cashes in MITB Kane back on form The SES The Nexus debut Jericho still on top form Return of Edge  Worst  1995  Too many stupid gimmicks Too many poor PPVs RAW lags behind Nitro in the big match stake The company nearly went out of business The burial of Bret in the midcard Lumbering Taker with every immobile monster going when he was capable of so much more  1999  A lot of stupid characters brought in Some poor PPVs Death of Owen Too much Russo TV Bringing Jericho in and not knowing what to do with him for 6 months Big Show's 238 turns over the course of 10 months  2003  Rosters too big and the pushing of veterans who stank up the joint Guys being brought in who weren't ready Brand split PPVs leading to some awful performances and matches and guys who should never had been on the main roster  2007  Really uninspiring TV The glass ceiling in full effect Some really poor PPVs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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