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When it’s Good it’s Fucking Great.


Supremo

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On 11/15/2018 at 8:03 AM, JakeRobertsParoleOfficer said:

Hogan vs Rock at Wm for me

I was 22/23 and marked out like I was 8 all over again

100%. My belief was suspended to fuck for the entire match and I screamed at the TV like I was in the last 20 minutes of a football cup final. Absolutely wonderful.

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That match is such a bizarre turning point to me. It might be the definitive moment in wrestling history where the fans shifted to celebrating yesterday more than today, almost a subconscious accepting that after the War, the best days were behind them and the here and now didn't mean as much. Even if it was just marking out for ol' Terry, it was what it symbolized. I watched Rock/Hogan and my jaw was on the floor with the response to Hogan, but almost in a "what the hell is going on, what are you people doing!?" kind of a way. Here is this unbelieveable star that smoked Hogan as a talent at that point, and all those times Rock would mock WCW and Hogan for being old and out of touch in 1999 and had every right to, and people loved him for it. Now, here they were cheering for Hogan. I'm not sure I remember many matches where I was as unhappy with how it played out while it was going on than that one. 

Edited by Liam O'Rourke
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Part of me wonders if the response would have been different in America rather than Canada, without the "bizarro world" aspect in play.

Whenever people suggest that Austin was nuts for not taking the match with Hogan that year, I think it's very easy to forget what a surprise that reaction was, and how crazy it would have seemed to suggest that Hogan had one more decent run left in him. Hogan was absolutely toxic before then, had been seen as washed up and a byword for aging politicians clinging to their spot. The idea that he'd have an iconic, classic match at all by that point was far from assured.

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4 hours ago, Liam O'Rourke said:

It might be the definitive moment in wrestling history where the fans shifted to celebrating yesterday more than today, almost a subconscious accepting that after the War, the best days were behind them and the here and now didn't mean as much.

You could say that about the entire year that was in it, really. Whilst the Invasion didn't take long to reveal itself to be a creative disappointment, I remember the Alliance stinking so much that the angle did still make me mark out in the conventional sense that I couldn't wait to see the good guys vanquish this silly shit once and for all. I remember having conversations with my friends about what the place might look like the night after Survivor Series. New sets, new logo, new Attitude. Capital A. So even though the writing was on the wall, there was this sense that things would be fine once Vince kayfabe buried the competition and hit the ground running as the only game in town. 

Then the whole of 2002 was just...weird. Almost instantly weird. Everything felt fucking exhausted. Flair and Vince were whacking each other around like it was a Thunder overrun, Austin was in cockamamie comedy skits, the three guys who everyone wanted to see mount a proper invasion were...invited by Vince to do a proper invasion. Have a look at the state of the undercard on WrestleMania X8 compared to the momentum behind everything one year previous. It's not a bad event, but it's such a change of pace. Foot's off the gear. 

Then you have the brand split and they lose the right to their own name. That's pretty much when you went into school the next day and the tastemakers were back to arguing about Arsenal and United, because wrestling was back in its place as a gay curiosity again. "You don't still watch that shit do you?" And for a lot of those people, it's never changed. Wrestling's been shit since 2002. They'll tell you today as fresh as they did nearly 20 years ago. Is there any other franchise or entertainment product like that in the world? Something which has two intensely profitable golden eras and a general consensus on it being lost since? 

Might as well cap off the sporadic rant by saying I love 2002. It's mental. Raw was godawful dull for most of the year but loads of the PPVs are great fun when you watch them back on the Network. Judgement Day, SummerSlam, No Mercy and Survivor Series are all top quality.  At the time the wheels came off, though, in spectacular fashion. 

One of the most fascinating years in the business ever. I've been watching through it in work this week, hence the above! 

Edited by Gay as FOOK
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Incredible thread. I'm going to really settle into it later. Immediate takeways:

Constantly forget The Miz was world champion and won at Mania. Want to forget again.

Mark Henry retirement angle is the angle of the decade. No doubt about it. Probably.

What a motherfucking mess they made of all three members of the Shield post break up.

That SummerSlam finish involving Jon Stewart is the worst of the last ten years.

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What a tremendous Twitter thread. The rise and fall and rise (?) Of Daniel Bryan is wonderful, the Undertaker had his moments but the Goldberg return and squash is my all time favourite wrestling moment. Beautifully played out.

I often think of the current product as shite but when the right people are in the right place at the right time, it's great. Some wonderful moments in this decade.

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What a thread! I was thinking of starting a, “best of the decade,” thread but that comprehensively covers it!

I think Brock’s music hitting for his return is my favourite moment of the decade. Fucking brilliant.

Edited by Supremo
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I’ve mentioned it before, but every time I see this hammers it home that bit more. What a moment. How this wasn’t the catalyst for a smug prick heel turn is absolutely beyond me. Roman would be the biggest babyface on the planet by now. 

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