2008 Running Pro Wrestling Thread

Can't believe I didn't mention the wow factor of watching the PPV when Owen died.

I remember Jim Ross' words exactly. "We need some help out here. I mean it!"

Seeing the other wrestlers go through their matches after that, especially Jeff Jarrett was heartbreaking to say the least.

 

The Invasion/Alliance storyline was so good. There's way too many videos to post, but every week just led to a new "holy shit" moment that you would have never expected (i.e. Stone Cold turning on the WWF).

 

Couple of others that I've thought of:

Austin driving the Zamboni and accidentally crashing it into the ring. It was funny because he legitimately had problems driving it. Also, it was great because it was one of the first times that Vince was beaten up, which was a major novelty at the time.

Hogan/Rock at Wrestlemania. Great match of different generations

The first time that Vince, Bischoff and Heyman were all in the ring together right before One Night Stand. Even though you know Eric and Paul E were on Vince's payroll, it was strange to see the three leaders of the late 90s wrestling companies in the same ring.

 

That angle sucked. It also didn't have the wow factor since the truly bigger names didn't jump from WCW.

 

Really? I thought the angle was mostly a letdown, except for Kurt Angle's rise to the top of the company and a few other highlights here or there. The storylines were an absolute mess.

To me, my biggest WOW moment was One Night Stand 2005 when Heyman cut the hilarious "shoot" on WWE.

"Hide your wives, it's Edge!" "JBL held the title for a year because HHH didn't want to work Tuesday!" etc. It was so fresh, creative, and edgy after two or three years of shit coming from the company. (2002-2005 was the down period for WWE in my book.)

 

So, what do you call this time frame?

 

It's far better than that era, from the matches to the storylines to the PPVs. I know there's many who will disagree, but I generally enjoy the WWE's current product. The actual in-ring matches, particularly the PPV ones, are better than the Attitude Era's. Many of the storylines are decent...at the very least, they are coherent. There is a good mix between young stars and established guys. If only the company could get some of the edge and unpredictability back, but the industry works in cycles and it'll return sometime.

 

See, other than a few things, I can't stand the current product.

Storylines are being rehashed in what seems like a vicious cycle that is doomed to keep repeating itself; (most) matches suck; none of the young stars (at least those who haven't been around as long as someone like Orton) have any of the singles titles (at least, I don't think so ... can't remember off the top of my head); and nothing they do is fresh anymore.

The Attitude Era will never come around again. And that's a damn shame.

 

Abyss and Beer Money Inc. getting drunk on Impact. Hilarious.

Abyss kisses Jacquline.
Abyss: "Does that mean I'm not a virgin anymore."

Oh man...

 

Why do you say that?

 

Which part?

 

The Attitude Era would be very hard to be duplicated.

1. You had the rise of the Internet, which led to the breaking of the longstanding wall of kayfabe. It was a major novelty when you would see that fourth wall broken down at the time. Today, it usually looks forced. You also had constant discussions about wrestlers' workrates and analysis of matches, storylines and bookings.

2. You had the Monday Night Wars between WCW and WWF. Two live TV shows, going head-to-head with each other. Each show was doing all they could to top the other one, at least until WCW got stale.

3. There was the rise of the 'cool' heel that was getting cheered while beating up the babyface. Austin, The Rock and the NWO all were among the most popular stars. Even when they would turn good (in Austin and Rock's case), they kept their edge (no pun intended). Today, you have Cena, who has lost all his coolness (his rapper image).

4. The WWF's sex references were pretty novel at the time, although I remember thinking to myself that someday, they would wonder what they were thinking about.

Unless a new, and strong, No. 2 show were to emerge, and different technologies, it would be pretty hard to duplicate the Attitude Era. There might be a similar one, but nothing close to the original.