2017 Pro Wrestling Thread

Bret Hart was the quintessential IC champion of my childhood but like so many of his contemporaries it served as a stepping stone and his career defining programs were world title feuds.

One guy whose career defining program was IC is probably Miz. Maybe Ricky Steamboat.

Underrated IC champ? Jeff jarrett. Just over enough to make a chase that belt matter but not even going to jump up to the big one.

Razor Ramons a good one too. Scott Halls best stuff would come in the nwo but his best ring work mightve been vs HBK for the IC belt.

 

Don Muraco also was an excellent early IC champ. He had feuds with Pedro Morales and Jimmy Snuka that were big draws.

 

My pick is also the Macho Man.

Next question is a tough one: Best year in Wrestling(WWE/F only) in the last forty years.

 

I'll narrow it to two: 1984 and 1998.

1984 saw the birth of Hulkamania in the WWF (it started earlier in the AWA), a whole host of new stars, like Piper, Orndorff, the British Bulldogs, and Heenan came in, who would be mainstays for years. Plus, it was when the company really took off on its national expansion.

1998 essentially saved the company. It finally shook off the kiddie stuff once and for all, Austin was running rampant, McMahon was incredible as the evil boss, The Rock was showing signs of greatness, Triple H was emerging into a top star, Kane was getting himself firmly established and Foley took his bumps off the top of the cell. Creative-wise, it was their best year.

 

In the more modern era, I'd go with late 1997 to 1998. You had the modern WWE coming into its own post-Screwjob (which didn't happen until November 1997), iconic wrestlers like the Rock, Triple H, Austin and Foley finding their groove, the development of the Evil McMahon character that became the basis for every wrestling authority figure character of the next 20 years, and scads of other memorable moments and minor figures.
I've often mentioned how bizarre it is to go back and watch the 1997 Royal Rumble -- when Rock was still Rocky Maivia, Triple H was still the Blue Blood, Bret Hart was still around, Shawn Michaels was a babyface champ pre-DX, Austin was just emerging as a star, and the production values sucked ass -- and then compare it to the 1998 Rumble when all of those guys had undergone radical transformations and the company was kicking into high gear creatively.

Also, while he specified WWE/F, it's impossible to ignore the other promotions in that era.
WCW was hitting its high water mark with the nWo-Hogan-Sting angle right at the same time. You had future superstars like Chris Jericho, Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio and Chris Benoit killing it (no pun intended) on the undercard, and Goldberg becoming a phenomenon.
WCW had a precipitous decline shortly thereafter, but the amount of talent that cut its teeth during that 1997-98 period carried the WWE through the early 2000s.
And then, of course, you had ECW becoming its own underground phenomenon at the same time. Even though it didn't reach the heights of the other two promotions, it definitely influenced them.
It's really one of the few times in the past 40 years when you had multiple promotions all hitting a peak at the same time. Maybe at some point in the early- to mid-80s with the WWF, NWA and AWA, but that was nowhere near the peak of 1997-98.

 

Greatest IC champ? The GOAT, Chris Jericho.

 

I think 99-2000 stands above 98. You get rid of late addict hbk, you have rock fully fleshed out, Foley still doing his thing, plus Angle, plus Edge and Christian and the Hardys hitting some stride. Top to bottom that was some great stuff.

 

The only Wrestlemania I've attended was the one in 1999, and I know it's not necessarily reflective of the entire year, but it was a steaming pile of shit.

 

Oh, by the way, the Elimination Chamber PPV is tonight. Do we finally get a Bray Wyatt title reign that will make the entire internet wrestling community simultaneously orgasm? Followed by a six-week long bitch session about how he's only a transitional champ to get the belt back on Orton and clear the way for Cena to break Flair's hallowed record?

 

Who is this weird-looking guy anchoring the pre-show, and how did he steal Doink's haircut?

 

Sam Roberts??

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...soP2gWmcxdL1LwQOw&sig2=WJb42moplmLKbnELQ7H8-g

 

That's him. Knew the name, had never seen his face. I know he knows his stuff, but good God that hair ...