 |
| source// wwe.com |
While it can sometimes be easy to get caught up in the moment as a WWE fan, the truth is that the product, like any TV show, should be judged based on what it accomplishes throughout an entire season.
And in WWE, ‘seasons’ are essentially entire calendar years. If that seems like a harsh way to judge an entertainment show that runs nearly every single day, that’s because it is. Given the amount of content that WWE generates in a given year, they are guaranteed to never have the perfect season.
When you have a 24/7 entertainment machine like WWE, you have to consider it a job well done if you can go through 12 months of shows, injuries, writer changes, casting changes and everything else that comes with the industry and manage to produce a show that is, by and large, entertaining.
Despite seemingly battling against the odds, the company has enjoyed some truly incredible years. Perhaps not years without blemish, but years we forever look back on, admiring their greatness and asking ourselves “How did they do it?”. They are the years that remind us all just why we can’t help but love professional wrestling and these are the greatest of them all.
10. 1988
WWE were able to run through much of 1987 off of the overwhelming success of WrestleMania III, but when the calendar turned to 1988 they were suddenly faced with the very daunting prospect of needing to top the year that put them firmly on top of the wrestling world.
While many figured the surest path to doing so involved topping WrestleMania III with WrestleMania IV, WWE instead completely expanded the scope of their PPV operations by adding the Royal Rumble and SummerSlam to their event calendars. In the process, they created a yearly structure of major events that the company still adheres to this day.
Of course, more shows means having to produce more content and here again WWE came through spectacularly by implementing some of the largest changes at the top of the card in years.
It started with the company’s decision to finally take the belt off of Hulk Hogan and put it on Randy Savage at WrestleMania IV and continued as the two formed the fabled Mega Powers team while slowly building towards one of the most compelling feuds that WWE ever produced.
Elsewhere, The Ultimate Warrior would shock the world by ending the record Intercontinental Championship reign of The Honkey Tonk Man at SummerSlam and Demolition would begin a record run of their own after winning the Tag Titles from Strike Force at ‘Mania IV.
It was risky business changing up all of your champions in 1980s pro wrestling, but WWE made all the right calls and soon each of those men would become the hottest acts in the company. The company would certainly top themselves in 1988, but ironically they would do it with everything but the bigger WrestleMania everyone was sure they needed.
9. 1996
Although the mid-nineties have historically been portrayed as the time period in which WWE almost lost it all, the truth is that it also gave us some of the best moments in their history.This is especially true of 1996.
While the year is best remembered in the wrestling world for the formation of the nWo, WWE used this period to finally start figuring out what life beyond the company’s glory days would look like. For the first time in a long while, the right young talent was beginning to get the spotlight.
This led to a series of strong feuds such as Mankind vs. Undertaker and Hart vs. Austin dominating television, as well as a significant improvement in general match quality owed in large part to Shawn Michael’s WWE Title victory over Bret Hart at WrestleMania XII and his subsequent reign as a fighting champion.
This is also the year in which the WWE began to explore edgier content.
The Nation of Domination formed and provided WWE’s infamous style of not so subtle social commentary. Goldust began using homosexual actions to throw his opponents off their game. Brian Pillman participated in the incredibly controversial “Pillmans Got A Gun” home invasion segment. The Ringmaster would use his King of The Ring victory to cut perhaps the most famous wrestling promo of all-time and complete his transformation into the biggest pro wrestling character ever; Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Of course, that last event would only come as a result of Hunter Hearst Helmsley’s role in the famous “Curtain Call” incident which would, in its own way, forever alter the course of professional wrestling.
You can easily group 1996 into the WWE dark age and there was a lot of negatives at the time, but in doing so you will miss out on significant moments in professional wrestling history and a lot of great stuff, too.
8. 1992
Behind the scenes, 1992 was a rough year for WWE.
A massive steroid scandal and trial threatened to undo the name the company had made for itself in the 1980s and the resulting controversy forced WWE to release some of its biggest names (The Ultimate Warrior and The British Bulldog) or otherwise move them away from the main event spotlight (Hulk Hogan). For the business side of things, the scandal was a tragedy.
However, in any tragedy there is room for opportunity and opportunity is exactly what WWE found in 1992. By being forced to move away from their physically bigger stars, WWE gifted fans everywhere with one of the greatest years in wrestling history from an in-ring perspective.
Things got interesting in a hurry this year as Ric Flair shocked the world by capturing the WWE Championship in the greatest Royal Rumble match of all time and would go on to lose it to Randy Savage at WrestleMania VIII in one of the most underrated WrestleMania title matches of all-time.
On that same show, Bret Hart would capture the Intercontinental Title from Roddy Piper in an equally underrated contest and go on to drop it to the British Bulldog at SummerSlam 1992 in front of one of the largest crowds the WWE ever drew.
These champions all proved capable of putting on show stealing quality matches and they had no shortage of opponents to put them on with as the WWE also used this time to shine some undercard spotlight on rising stars. The most notable among them would be Shawn Michaels who used the year to build his famous Heartbreak Kid persona en route to a WWE Championship match against Bret Hart at Survivor Series, but you also had Razor Ramon debut and give WWE fans a chance to root for the bad guy.
On the other side of things, Mr. Perfect would make his long-awaited face turn during an extended angle with Macho Man Randy Savage. WWE may have not moved away from the big man era entirely willingly, but they still managed to do so in spectacular fashion.
7. 2005
Although the image of Eddie Guerro and Chris Benoit standing side by side as world champions at the end of WrestleMania XX suggested that WWE was finally going to pull the trigger on a new era of top stars in 2004, it would ultimately prove to be something of a false dawn.
Instead, it is 2005 that deserves credit for ushering in a truly new era.
On the Raw side of things, Batista would finally put an end to the reign of Triple H while John Cena took Smackdown’s WWE Title away from JBL and never let go. There’s an argument to be made that the two were not quite ready for the spotlight in some ways, but WWE’s commitment to both throughout 2005 helped to produce a series of fresh match-ups and storylines that allowed each to grow and prosper.
Those two would certainly dominate the top of the WWE scene throughout the year, but further down the card you had some all-time greats putting on some of the best work of their career. Shawn Michaels in particular engaged in a series of superlative matches with the likes of Shelton Benjamin, Edge and Kurt Angle.
He even got to enjoy a brief heel run and star in some of the most legitimately funny segments in wrestling history during his feud with Hulk Hogan.
Meanwhile, Edge used a real life situation involving Matt Hardy as well as his win at WWE’s first-ever Money in the Bank match to tweak his amazing Rated-R Superstar character. 2005 even saw one of the most unlikely PPV events in WWE history, as ECW was brought back to life at the incredible One Night Stand.
The tragic death of Eddie Guerro would cast a heavy shadow on the year, but through the darkness fans everywhere were able to enjoy the bright lights of a new day on the horizon.
6. 2011
When looking back on 2011, it’s hard to not focus on the year’s Money In The Bank PPV.
So let’s just get that out of the way now. With the possible exception of WrestleMania X-Seven, Money In The Bank 2011 is the greatest PPV WWE has ever produced. While the card is exceptional from top to bottom, it is best remembered for the main event between John Cena and CM Punk in front of the one of the hottest wrestling crowds ever seen.
That match, of course, is as big as it was due to CM Punk’s earth shattering pipe bomb promo on RAW. Even though WWE would fail to fully capitalise off of the angle they built with CM Punk, for the few weeks surrounding Money In The Bank they had created a storyline that drew people into professional wrestling in a way that hadn’t been experienced for years.
Outside of that incredible event, though, the WWE had a lot of good things going in 2011. Randy Orton and Christian were putting on one of the most underrated feuds ever, Daniel Bryan was starting to showcase the in-ring work that had already established him as one of the best wrestlers in the world, Dashing Cody Rhodes brought back the best-looking belt in WWE history and Mark Henry shocked the world by revitalising his career and becoming one of the greatest monster heels wrestling had ever seen.
The company was even on such a hot streak that they were able to get The Miz, of all people, over as a main-event heel with nuclear heat.
2011 took a little while to get rolling, but once it did fans everywhere were treated to some truly special moments.
5. 2014
When Batista won the 2014 Royal Rumble and prepared for the main event appearance at WrestleMania XXX, the WWE fans in attendance revolted with the same chant they had long been using to reflect their frustrations with the company’s creative direction:
“Daniel Bryan!!! Daniel Bryan!!!”
Before the year was over, though, the WWE faithful would be rewarded for their patience as Daniel Bryan captured the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in one unforgettable WrestleMania moment. Though the overwhelming fan favourite would succumb to injury shortly thereafter, the WWE would go on to produce a number equally satisfying creative decisions throughout the year.
A personal favourite among them would have to be the company’s booking of The Shield. From their dream match against the Wyatt Family that tore the house down at Elimination Chamber 2014 to their rivalry with Evolution and the shocking break-up that it led to, the WWE ended their near perfect booking of the faction by turning them into three singles superstars.
Of course, nobody had a more shocking 2014 than Brock Lesnar who ended the Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak to the surprise of literally everyone and would go on to beat John Cena in a glorified squash match at SummerSlam. His limited exposure and Suplex City persona gave the WWE one of their most unique champions ever.
Add to this all the rise of NXT as one of the greatest wrestling promotions in the world and you’ve really got to start wondering what years could possibly be better than this.
4. 1998
“Oh, sh*t” – WCW, 1998
While the accuracy of that quote is perhaps somewhat dubious, the sentiment of it is hard to argue against. Although they had been building towards it for some time, the world wasn’t quite ready for what WWE had in store for us when they unleashed the full force of the Attitude Era.
While that certainly includes all the sex, violence and immature – yet irresistible – humour that goes along with that particular time, it’s mostly a statement about how Stone Cold Steve Austin secured victory for the WWE in the Monday Night Wars through his rivalry with Vince McMahon.
Every week that the glass shattered and Austin continued his battles with the boss, millions of people that had never watched a pro wrestling match in their lives found themselves unable to resist seeing what would happen next.
Of course, the Attitude Era and 1998 were about more than just one man. The number of all-time classic moments that took place in 1998 is daunting to narrow down to the best of the best, but who will ever forget Mick Foley’s dive off the cell at King Of The Ring, The Rock taking over the Nation of Domination and feuding with Triple H’s DX or Kane and Undertaker’s compelling soap opera rivalry.
Every single week, WWE was using Monday Night Raw as a platform for the most shocking and unexpected entertainment on all of television. Their considerable creative efforts during this time helped the company pull away from WCW and never look back.
The Attitude Era is the most beloved period in wrestling, and 1998 was the year that made it such a big deal.
3. 1997
Although 1997 is not as infamous as 1998 – nor would it bring about the same kind of ratings for the WWE – it does remain perhaps the most intelligent year in WWE history.
Yes, that’s right; intelligence in professional wrestling. Before the WWE would go all-in on edgy Attitude content, they spent much of this year implementing compelling shades of gray into nearly every storytelling aspect. We often talk about antiheroes and “tweeners” in pro wrestling, but this is the only year I can remember those concepts being executed to perfection.
This is the year that saw Steve Austin act as a bonafide 100% heel and get more cheers than anyone on the roster. This was the year that saw Bret Hart become the biggest heel in America while remaining the biggest babyface in Canada. This was the year that saw Shawn Michaels and Triple H get treated like gods for telling people to “Suck It” and in which Rocky Maivia became an international star by telling us how much he hated the fans.
Nothing played out quite the way that anyone expected it to, but by rolling with the punches WWE produced a higher quality form of wrestling storytelling than anyone thought was possible. Even better, the match quality during this time never suffered in the same way it sometimes would when the overbooking of the Attitude Era was in full swing.
From Bret Hart and Steve Austin’s game-changing I Quit Match at WrestleMania 13 to Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker’s bonafide five-star Hell in a Cell classic, this year contained some of the greatest WWE matches of all-time.
No, this wasn’t the year that made WWE the king of the world, but it is a most compelling mixture of old-school pro wrestling and new era storytelling.
2. 2002
After botching the invasion storyline in 2001, wrestling fans everywhere wondered if WWE were capable of thriving in a world without real competition. It was a fair question made all the more intriguing by the fact that the company had just received a significant influx of new talent that would all need to find a home in this new world where the WWE was the only real game in town.
Yet, with the weight of the wrestling world on their shoulders, the WWE came through in spectacular form in 2002. Starting with the tremendous return of Triple H at Madison Square Garden, WWE seemed determined to produce weekly television worthy of beating the very toughest competition – even though there was very little to be found.
They apologised for the invasion in their own way by bringing back the nWo and key pieces of talent like Rey Mysterio who were sorely missing during the angle. They gave the wrestling world one of the most awe-inspiring matches of all-time as The Rock took on Hulk Hogan. Shawn Michaels made a stunning return and immediately entered into a heated feud with Triple H.
Just when you thought that they couldn’t possibly top themselves, they did so week after week after week.
Through it all, though, the one storyline everyone seems to remember is the rise of Brock Lesnar. Dubbed “The Next Big Thing” this towering spectacle of a human quickly proceeded to tear through the WWE roster in a way that nobody ever had. His meteoric rise to the top was paved with the blood of Hulk Hogan, The Rock, The Undertaker and anyone else who got in his way.
WWE had never quite went as all-in on a superstar so early in their career like they did with Brock Lesnar and it wasn’t long before fans found themselves tuning in to see how far they would take him next.
All of this and no time to mention the first Elimination Chamber, the Smackdown Six or that gripping ladder match between The Undertaker and Jeff Hardy. How could you begin to cover every single piece of greatness this year gave us?
1. 2000
Upon its bloodied knees and unable to form a fist to fight with, a beleaguered WCW looked upon the WWE empire and used one of its last breaths to whisper “Mercy.” Vince McMahon looked down at them from his Titan Tower and said simply “No”.
The WWE spent the year 2000 celebrating and showcasing just how they had conquered the wrestling world. A big part of the credit for the success of this year has to go to Triple H whose heated on screen and off screen relationship with Stephanie McMahon propelled him to the top of the card and into the prime of his career.
His work during the year 2000 was equal to the greatest work of any champion in wrestling history. That’s especially true of his unbelievable feud with Mick Foley and his stellar continued rivalry with The Rock, which included an outstanding Iron Man Match.
The funny thing about 2000 WWE, though, was that it was filled with so much talent that you could have hall of fame wrestlers doing curtain jerks only because there were other hall of fame wrestlers filling out the rest of the card.
The unbelievable influx of talent that WWE received courtesy of the arrival of The Radicalz, the rise of Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle, the maturation of the company’s young tag team division and the eventual returns of The Undertaker and Stone Cold Steve Austin meant that your average Raw and PPV looked like a dream match supercard.
Never before had the WWE had so many incredible wrestlers to work with and yet they somehow found a way to insert nearly all of them into a series of compelling angles.
Containing more classic moments than 2002, more attitude than 1997 and more intelligent booking than 1998, this was the year that the WWE figured out what they did best and provided nothing but the good stuff. Mostly.
share your thoughts below in the comments.
