Paid Members garynysmon Posted August 13, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted August 13, 2021 (edited) My abiding memory of 2001 is the overdue return of WWF shows in big stadiums. That sight of a full Astrodome for Wrestlemania 17 was one we hadn’t seen since 1992, other that a few Raws at a half full and badly lit Skydome which don’t really count. WCW had a few shows at the Georgia Dome and the WWF could easily have filled a stadium for 15 and 16, and probably 14, and left a lot of money on the table for not doing so. But yeah, it all felt so exciting. Little did I know that the wheels were falling off though. Edited August 13, 2021 by garynysmon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perry Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 2 hours ago, garynysmon said: My abiding memory of 2001 is the overdue return of WWF shows in big stadiums. That sight of a full Astrodome for Wrestlemania 17 was one we hadn’t seen since 1992, other that a few Raws at a half full and badly lit Skydome which don’t really count. There was the Rumble at the Alamodome in '97 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted August 13, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted August 13, 2021 I’ve always felt the wheels fell off creatively in late 2000. Pretty much exactly when they killed the Stephanie-Kurt-Triple H love triangle with Stephanie just choosing Triple H. It was all downhill from then onwards, the whole of 2001 and the relative successes they had were just evidence of how ridiculously stacked their roster was and how much momentum they’d previously built. That much talent you’d be hard pressed to put on a PPV that didn’t deliver, even if all the storylines supporting them were completely off the rails. Wasn't late 2000 when Stephanie became head of creative? Or am I remembering that wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 13, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted August 13, 2021 Not 2001 so apologies but this thread caused me to spend about an hour earlier watching Regal skits and interviews on YouTube. Completely forgot about this bit of commentary from him; “Bit his eyeball out, and ate it. Unbelievable. Ate his eyeball.” Back on the subject of the thread, I know it’s only Lance Storm but that moment when he hopped the rail during a nothing happening mixed tag on Raw was pretty cool at the time. Especially with it being in Calgary. I think he was the first of the WCW guys to ‘invade’ wasn’t he? And at that point I didn’t know about all the Turner contract stuff and really thought it was the start of something mega that would see the likes of Goldberg, Sting, Steiner etc coming in within months. RVD was a breath of fresh air in the WWF in 2001. And much needed with The Rock not being around so much and Triple H missing half the year. I hadn’t seen that much ECW at the time either so his style was pretty new to me. The fact that he was mixing with the likes of Austin, Rock and Angle regularly from very soon after his arrival, yet never seemed out of place, was quite something looking back. He was so popular for a spell there. Not saying he should’ve been ‘the guy’ but it did feel like there was an opportunity missed there and by early 2002 he’d cooled right off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Tommy! Posted August 13, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted August 13, 2021 53 minutes ago, Supremo said: Wasn't late 2000 when Stephanie became head of creative? Or am I remembering that wrong? You are right I believe, her first big call was the rikishi turn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonworden Posted August 14, 2021 Share Posted August 14, 2021 18 hours ago, Tommy! said: @simonwordenhave you ever seen any of the WWA shows they were doing in late 2001? Looking back it's a proto TNA with Jeff and some of his mates getting a holiday to Oz for few week. The most memorable part is Disco vs bananas in pajamas (IIRC there's a video on YouTube of a banana taking a bump off a cage to the floor and missing the table) but I'm sure they had Bret and Lawler in non wrestling roles over there too. Ah! I completely forgot about WWA Tommy! Thanks for reminding me. Brian Zane did a decent recap of it not too long ago and I think most of the shows are floating about on Youtube now, they're even in 28th gen tape trader quality for that real shit VHS experience. Out of interest were people talking online about WWA being a big deal and getting TV etc or was it only ever seen as special tours and occasional PPV's where you could see old WCW guys and some others? 18 hours ago, Infinity Land said: The back half of 2001 World Wrestling All-Stars would have been the #2 promotion in terms of scale for an English speaking audience. As they had the Australian and UK tours booked by that point. TNA before TNA. Jersey All Pro carried a certain level of profile until RoH claimed that spot. XPW were still just trying to be West Coast ECW. It wouldn't be until 2002 when they went to Philly. Main Event Championship Wrestling were the one event wonder wannabe ECW. MLW would have that spot come 2002-03. I remember JAPW doing those on the pier shows back around that time, they were quite good fun to watch with a different look to the show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCW Posted August 14, 2021 Share Posted August 14, 2021 I remember listening to Prichards pod and him mentioning that RVD was reluctant to start a love Angle with Steph around Summerslam or Unforgiven 2001 as his then wife would have difficulty with it, & Vince wasn't impressed. The idea that they thought white hot RVD in 2001 (the only success of the invasion really) needed to be paired with Steph on-screen is incredible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Tommy! Posted August 14, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted August 14, 2021 2 hours ago, DCW said: The idea that they thought white hot RVD in 2001 (the only success of the invasion really) needed to be paired with Steph on-screen is incredible. It is to everyone outside the tent looking in, but to them Steph was the star & the McMahon's were the draws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Jazzy G Posted August 14, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted August 14, 2021 Some friends and I went to the WWA show at the MEN Arena. The main event was Jarrett & Bagwell Vs Sting & Luger. Sabur wrestled Saturn. Jeremy Borash did in arena commentary with Simon Diamond in the first half, but he was shit so they binned him of for Disco Inferno in the second half. Shark Boy wrestled the opener in a triple threat against "Spider" Nate Webb and another guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollthedice Posted August 14, 2021 Share Posted August 14, 2021 WrestleXpress ruined all my good memories of 2001. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam O'Rourke Posted August 14, 2021 Share Posted August 14, 2021 My mate got me so pumped for WrestleXpress, and talked me into going live. I'm still waiting for him to get back to me about tickets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollthedice Posted August 14, 2021 Share Posted August 14, 2021 I went to FWA's Evil Intentions in 2000 as I'd been into ECW for a year or so and Sabu was headlining. I was salivating at the thought of seeing RVD in 2001. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WeeAl Posted August 16, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted August 16, 2021 Every year we get further away from a year like 2001, it ages better. RVD become a big favourite with my brother and myself when he came in. Pulling the trigger on Van Dam at No Mercy would have been the move I would have made, clearly not something WWE were likely to do though. However winning the title and dropping it quickly may have hurt him even more, and if he won it, it would never have been for a substantial period of time. So much happens in this time period though. It feels like there's a thousand course corrections, a lot of options to take, and a lot of them aren't good choices. However the roster was so star laden at the time, that it could paper over a lot of the booking cracks. Kurt Angle is an absolute king during this year though. By fuck was he on fire throughout. Of course they fuck about with the flip flopping of his character, but whatever he gets given he bloody well goes for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ReturnOfTheMack Posted August 16, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted August 16, 2021 On 8/13/2021 at 2:22 PM, BomberPat said: one of my favourites from him as Commissioner was putting down Tajiri, saying, "now now, stop all that bowing, we'll have no ethnic stereotypes in the WWF! Now fetch me my tea and crumpets" I've been trying to find this clip for ages! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam O'Rourke Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 1 hour ago, ReturnOfTheMack said: I've been trying to find this clip for ages! This might be wrong, but I think its the episode of Smackdown with TLC3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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