 |
| source// wwe.com |
Sometimes it’s tempting to get caught up in the past as a WWE fan. When you think back to childhood memories of watching Hulk Hogan fight for what’s right Monday nights, to watching Stone Cold Steve Austin give the middle finger to the man, it can be hard to imagine any modern WWE storylines even coming close to the “good old days.”
But while everyone will always have their favorite era of WWE, the truth is that living in the past can sometimes make you blind to greatness in the present. WWE is a 24/7, 365 day a year brand of entertainment and with that much content, they are bound to produce something excellent even in leaner years.
In fact, recent years have produced several storylines that could easily stand toe to toe with the very best WWE has ever produced. Among them, these are the very best.
*Note: The time frame for consideration was January 1st, 2011 to January 1st, 2016.
10. CM Punk’s Heel Turn
When CM Punk won the WWE Championship from Alberto Del Rio at Survivor Series 2011, it felt like WWE was ready to fix the errors of the “Summer of Punk” angle from a couple of months prior (more on that later) by letting Punk get a run as the face of the company. However, as Punk defended his title in great matches vs. the likes of Chris Jericho and Daniel Bryant it just felt like there was something missing.
WWE and CM Punk would discover that missing piece when Punk turned heel by attacking The Rock on the 1000th episode of Raw. In doing so, Punk picked up where he left off with his famous pipe bomb promo by spending the next several months airing his grievances about the state of WWE and its top performers. With the WWE Championship around his waist and Paul Heyman at his side, CM Punk did a brilliant job of turning all but his most adamant supporters against his increasingly paranoid and diabolical persona.
CM Punk started his incredible 434-day championship run struggling to stay edgy as an anti-hero in the PG WWE world but ended it by once again proving to everyone that he is indeed one of the most naturally gifted heels to ever step into the ring.
9. "Dashing" Cody Rhodes’ Disfigurement
Had the entire “Dashing” Cody Rhodes angle not began before the cut-off time, you can be sure that it would have made this list. However, 2011 did give us the greatest piece of the Dashing storyline and one of WWE’s greatest character turns in some time.
After Cody Rhodes legitimately broke his nose in a match against Rey Mysterio, he began to wear a protective mask and take on certain character changes. By placing paper bags over both his opponents and fans that he found to be ugly as well as using his protective headgear as a weapon, Cody Rhodes slowly turned into a kind of sociopathic supervillain fueled by his “permanent disfigurement.”
While the idea of a wrestler using a medical device for an in-ring advantage is nothing new (Cowboy Bob Orton wore a cast for years) Cody Rhodes so perfectly played the part that he was able to elevate himself to a top tier heel in the company and even used the character to bring back the much loved white strap Intercontinental Championship belt.
8. Christian And Randy Orton’s World Heavyweight Championship Feud
Professional wrestling storytelling doesn’t always have to be complicated. At its heart, a pro wrestling story is usually based around two people that don’t like each other and indeed some of the industry’s best tales involve nothing more than that concept.
A perfect example of this would be the feud between Christian and Randy Orton in the Summer of 2011. The set-up was simple: Randy Orton won the World Heavyweight Championship from Christian and Christian refused to give it up easily. What made it so great, though, was a brilliant heel turn by the obsessed Christian and the unbelievable in-ring chemistry these two had. They consistently found a compelling reason to keep wrestling each other and every match seemed to improve on the one that came before.
This seemingly simple rivalry ended up generating months’ worth of content for Smackdown and would prove to be one of the best feuds in either man’s considerable careers. It was the kind of simple booking brilliance that sometimes makes WWE fans ask “What’s so hard about that?”
7. Brock Lesnar’s Year Of Destruction
When Brock Lesnar returned to WWE in 2012 and proceeded to lose his first match to John Cena, opinions among the fanbase were split. While some felt that the part-time Lesnar shouldn’t be defeating full-time stars, others believed that the uniquely talented Lesnar should have been booked as strong as humanly possible.
Those in the latter camp were rewarded in 2014-2015 when Brock Lesnar used his few appearances to end The Undertaker’s streak, squash John Cena at SummerSlam and win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. While having a part-time WWE champion could have been a disaster, the “big fight” presence of Lesnar combined with his limited work schedule meant that every defense of the title felt like a major event.
Watching Brock Lesnar tear through the very best of WWE with apparent ease and put on some classic matches in the process lent a feeling of excitement to the main event scene that few champions in recent years have been able to replicate. Actually, there is only really one that I can think of in recent years that bests it…
6. John Cena's U.S. Title Open Challenge
When Daniel Bryan won the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 31 and John Cena won the United States Championship the same night, it was clear that WWE intended to use two of its biggest stars to elevate its secondary titles to heights they hadn’t seen in years. Unfortunately for fans everywhere, whatever plans were in store for Daniel Bryan were cut short by his injury and subsequent retirement.
John Cena more than lived up to his half of that plan, though, through the U.S. Title Open Challenge. Almost every week, Cena would walk into the ring and announce that anyone that wanted a shot at his title just had to come out and ask for it. The result was not only weeks of incredible matches that helped previously underutilized talent get a chance to shine, but this storyline would also help introduce NXT stars like Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens to WWE fans everywhere.
The very best wrestling storylines make you tune in every week to see what will happen next and that was most certainly the case with the U.S. Title Open Challenge. This is one angle WWE can feel free to turn to repeat whenever they want.
5. The Summer Of Punk
In some ways, the Summer of Punk storyline of 2011 is a case of “What may have been.” From CM Punk’s hasty return to his questionable feuds with Alberto Del Rio and Kevin Nash, there was enough bad in The Summer of Punk to understand why some consider it a failure.
But while the angle may not have reached its full potential, it’s hard to deny that from the time CM Punk cut his pipe bomb promo to around the moment he returned after Money In The Bank 2011, this story was as captivating as any that wrestling has ever produced. While few believed CM Punk would really run away with the company’s belt in tow, the angle itself was told so far out of the usual WWE style (including Punk’s surprise visit at Comic Con 2011 to taunt Triple H) that for the first time in a long while there was genuine intrigue surrounding what exactly would happen next.
Years later, it’s easier to remember the Summer of Punk for everything good it gave wrestling fans rather than the bad. Perhaps that’s the way it should be remembered.
4. Sami Zayn’s Road To Redemption
There are few wrestlers today more likeable or talented than Sami Zayn. The former El Generico’s high flying in-ring style and infectious personality make him a difficult man to root against. Yet all that cheering did little to bring Zayn closer to the NXT Title as he grew a reputation there for being a loveable loser.
After a loss to champion Neville at NXT: Fatal 4-Way, though, Zayn vowed to start a road to redemption that would end with him as NXT champion. Along the way, Zayn not only defeated the top contenders for the NXT title but would have defeated Neville himself had he not turned heel against Zayn. With his career on the line, Zayn finally defeated Neville at NXT R Evolution and immediately entered an incredible with his best friend/worst enemy Kevin Owens.
NXT would later repeat this storyline slightly with Bayley, but this was an angle tailor-made for Sami Zayn. It truly felt as if Sami would consistently be unable to win the big one, especially against Neville whose heel work late in the feud was simply brilliant. Though his time with the championship wouldn’t be long, Zayn’s path to the title would help put NXT on the map as something special.
3. Mark Henry’s Hall Of Pain
It’s safe to say that prior to 2011, Mark Henry’s WWE career story had been that of an underachiever. Coming in on a wave of hype as legitimately one of the strongest men that ever lived, Henry spent 15 years in WWE accomplishing nothing more memorable than a brief stint as a sex addict comedy relief act.
But that year, Henry would flip the proverbial switch. After a heel turn on the night he was drafted to Smackdown, Mark Henry began to eliminate some of the biggest men in WWE and in the process induct them into his “Hall of Pain.” The level of violence and intensity that Henry began to display in his matches and promos was unlike any heel WWE fans had seen in years and by the time that the former Sexual Chocolate captured the World Heavyweight Championship, there was nobody laughing at the man any longer.
Henry had always possessed inhuman strength and an imposing nature, but he’d never really been able to get it across before in the ring. However, this 2011 run more than made up for lost time as “Hall of Pain” Mark Henry remains one of the most dominant and memorable heels in WWE history.
2. The Shield Get Revenge Against Evolution
From the moment they debuted, the trio of Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns rarely failed to entertain. During the roughly two-year run of The Shield, they would engage in some of the most compelling angles WWE ever produced. So which was the best? Their feud against the Wyatt Family? Their undefeated streak? That series of title matches against the Rhodes brothers?
No, that honor have to go to their path of vengeance against Evolution. While fans had been rooting for The Shield for some time, WWE had kept them in the heel/tweener roles for most of their run. That all changed when Triple H used The Authority and the recently reformed Evolution to try to take out The Shield. While Triple H and crew targeting young superstars as their victims usually works out in their favor, this time they clearly picked the wrong target as The Shield quickly turned into the hunters. Their destruction of Evolution was so complete that it would take Triple H luring Seth Rollins to the dark side to stop The Shield .
Besides the quality of the matches, what made this rivalry so great is how dominant The Shield got to be against a group of wrestlers that aren’t prone to losing. This was the story that showcased the group at their best and the one that directly led to turning each of these men into bonafide singles superstars.
1. Daniel Bryan Vs. The Authority
Although Daniel Bryan’s on-screen feud with The Authority wouldn’t begin until SummerSlam 2013, you could argue that it unofficially started the day he walked into WWE. Treated as a guy WWE just didn’t see anything special in, Daniel Bryan would suffer a number of embarrassments early in his career that included a humiliating 18-second loss against Sheamus at WrestleMania 28.
But after that loss, something amazing began to happen. Fans everywhere started to revolt in unison against the treatment of Daniel Bryan by chanting his name and “Yes!” catchphrase even when he wasn’t involved in the current match. This supposed “B + Player” had won the hearts of nearly every WWE fan until things finally reached a point where the company could no longer ignore them and put the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on Bryan at WrestleMania XXX.
You can debate where real life ends and the story begins regarding the rise of Daniel Bryan, but the fact you can debate that is part of what makes this story so very compelling. Up until the moment that Daniel Bryan won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, WWE had you believing that the moment would never happen. They may try for years and years afterwards, but it’s doubtful WWE will ever be able to recreate what was accomplished here.
No comments:
Post a Comment