The Next Generation/Era

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

Are we on the brink of the newest outbreak in the WWE?

First (albeit obviously not the first wrestlers) we had our group of those like Hogan, Savage, and Flair.

In the mid-90s, they started to take a step backwards and we had "the New Generation" filling in the gap with the likes of Bret & Owen Hart, HBK, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and the Undertaker.

It slowly blended in with the Attitude Era, starting arguably with DX, Austin, the Rock, Mick Foley, and Kane.

Then, there was the era that I wasn't watching wrestling, dealing with the Alliance and the hectic reorganization of the entire company, with the talent from the three biggest companies (WWF/WCW/ECW).

To me, it seems like we've crossed the threshold into the beginnings of the next comfort zone of the WWE...but we have no name for this new section, nor do we have any solid crossover identity. We still have the men from the previous eras, but we're surely heading into a new frontier with some of these guys. I mean, right now, the way I see it, we've got, all things considering and taking into account that nothing happens to spoil them:

1. "Within the next 3 years, will be MAJOR main event players and the top of the food chain" = Mr. Kennedy, John Morrison, MVP, Jeff Hardy, Umaga, CM Punk, and then the three guys that have already broken out into this realm, Cena, Orton, and Edge.

2. "Midcarders right now, could main event in a few years" = Elijah Burke, Carlito, Shelton Benjamin, Matt Hardy.

3. "The next solid midcarders" = Cody Rhodes, Kenny Dykstra, Santino Marella, The Miz, Festus, Paul Burchill, Kofi Kingston, Jimmy Wang Yang, Shannon Moore



So do you guys agree with me that, within the next 2 years or so, we should see the catalyst for a new generation in wrestling? If so, what do you think that catalyst will be? Personally, I think it will be Kennedy when he finally breaks out of his shell and earns that spot that we all know he's capable of holding. (And by the way, if this has been done before and I just haven't come across it, feel free mods to merge it with the other topic.)

["Rush" GSP]

I think we just m,ight be. Every era needs the one stand out MEGA star, such as Hogan and Austin, and whether people like it or not John Cena is that guy. Everyone is just gonna have to accept it. You then need that next wave of SUPERSTARS and i think you need 4 to 5 of them. Theres two clearly in Randy Orton and Edge. I think this topic for debate is more legit now with Orton winning at Mania. It could have been easy to put the title on Cena or HHH but they kept it on Orton which i think shows the trust in him now to have overcame his past and makes a statement that he is a main player . Edge is the same the obv have trust in him to main event mania over a match with arguably there top two draws in Cena and HHH. Now i knw Taker is deserving of closing Mania but this shows Edge is proven too.

I still think they need two more SUPERSTARS. From that list i'de have to go with Kennedy if he realizes his potential and Jeff Hardy if he gets his head out of his ass. I'de also throw Jericho in there too. But you still need guys such as MVP, Umaga, Punk to step up as main eventers and even a few more so things dont get stale.

But i truely believe we are at the very beginning of a new era. I think this mania is the start of it with Edge proving he cant main event Mania, Orton retaining as a heel at mania, and Cena for obvious reasons.

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

Mania is definitely the thing that got me thinking about this, and for the reasons you stated above. Edge and Orton were given major nods and expressions of trust in my opinion. That and how Flair retired and was essentially the last of that era (unless you count Hacksaw, but, c'mon, the guy's never even won a tag team title). With Flair's departure, the next to go are those like HBK and Undertaker, although for their age they're still arguably two of the top 5 guys in the company in every aspect. Once they go, it'll be up to this new group to hold the reigns.

[SpiralHands]

WWE without a doubt is going through another phrase another era, they are HD, the sets are getting immecly huge, the production is brilliant and overall WWE is really prospering I think and in the next 2 years without a doubt, the midcarders of today will be the main eventers of tommorow. I mean CM Punk is Mr.Money in the bank and we have Orton, Cena, Edge and loads more coming I think, by 2010 WWE will be in a new phase.

[ExtremeIronChef]

If it's up to these new guys to carry the company then I'll pass. I just don't see what is so special about most of them. MVP and Santino are the only ones who have really impressed me. Matt and Jeff Hardy have been around for years, so has Edge, and Orton, Cena, Kennedy and Umaga don't do anything for me. I realize that you have to build new stars to take over the reigns once the older guys are gone, but these ones I just can't stand behind. Now that Flair is gone the only ones I really care about are HBK, HHH, Taker, and... wait, that's it, with the exception of MVP, Santino Marella, who needs to stop being buried, Edge, and basically the guys who have been there for a longer time. I guess basically I like the older guys more because I grew up watching them and they are familiar to me.

[patman81]

i think that with cm punk winning MITB within the next few years he will be a main event. Along with Kennedy, MVP, Jericho, Orton, Cena, Edge, and Jeff Hardy. I also think MAtt Hardy might finally get out of the shadow of his great tag teams and he will be a great singles wrestler, and i see him winning the title in a few years

[alwayssideways]

as much as i hate to say it. john cena as much as i hate him him and a few other have been passed the torch. but i don't think they can do as good as a job as those before them. me and the wife were watching mania on sunday. and she made a remark to me that got me thinking. she said that wrestlemania is only a year older then her. so started to think about the first five manies i went to as a kid. those days were the best in my opion and i go to the events to this day when they come back to my area. don't get me wrong i still have love for wrestling as a whole. but for me when hogan came back to msg for the first time in 10 years at a house show and came out the old way music and all. i was 25 and when he hit the ring i actually cried and when he left the ring the era i loved left with it.

[michaelj817]

WWE is perpetually floating in an era without a moniker. Looking back in ten years, the current product will probably be referred to as the Cena era, but it is and has been lacking anything to truly set it apart from the remnants of the attitude era. Since then, the show has been toned down from a controversy standpoint, but the format, storylines, and style haven't changed much since 2001/2002. The difference between the Hogan, New Generation, and Attitude Era's and this current nameless era is that major changes took place in the wrestling industry to cause them.

Hogan Era-After purchasing the WWF from Vince Sr. in the early 1980's, Vince Jr. set out on a warpath to take over all of the old guarded territories. If the old promoters didn't sell out, he simply ran them out of business by scooping up their top talent and running shows in the old regional territory anyway. However, cable TV was just beginning to emerge at this time and Vince took advantage of this in a couple of different ways. First he took over local cable TV contracts by brokering better deals with the cable operators than what the regional promoters were brokering. Next, he changed the demographic of pro wrestling by tying it into the infant cable station MTV, and suddenly wrestling was mainstream and cool. Next, he basically invented a new type of revenue for not only wrestling but the cable industry as well in the form of Pay Per View.

New Generation-After coming dangerously close to going to jail for the steroid trial in the early 1990's, Vince implemented a strict drug testing policy within the WWF. As a result, gone were the slow lumbering steroid monsters of the Hogan era. This opened the door for a new style to flourish in the WWF, and allowed younger athletic wrestlers to step up and be the new stars of the company. Chief among them Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels who would be the company's top stars for most of the decade.

Attitude Era-Eventually all of the other promotions in the US were out of business but the Crocketts, and with a name change to WCW, a prime time slot against Raw, and a new boss at the helm named Eric Bischoff, the Monday Night War would rage on TV sets across the country for half a decade. Scooping up Vince's established stars forced Vince to create new stars. WCW also innovated a different type of wrestling program which was more adult, and that wasn't filled with squash matches. On the brink of going out of business, WWF adapted to create an edgy, adult themed wrestling program with new stars that appealed to the fans of the time, and drew in new fans like crazy.

I was hopeful after the Benoit tragedy and implementation of a new strict drug policy, a new era and style of WWE TV would come about. However, I now do not see that happening. Plus, for how over HHH, Shawn Michaels, and Undertaker are, you are not going to see any of their top spots being given to younger wrestlers anytime soon. In the early and late 90's WWE had to make new stars because of reasons I stated above. However, 15 and 10 years later, it is those same stars that dominate the top of the card. Don't get me wrong, I am as big a fan of those guys as anyone else, but until they eventually step aside, you aren't going to see any major changes to the hierarchy of the roster. This is a Catch 22 for WWE, because in essence, they don't need any new top stars to do business as usual. But over the course of the next few years they will, because none of these guys are getting any younger. For anyone who thinks WWE gets stale these days, just wait a few more years. I am by no means in favor of getting rid of guys like Michaels, Taker, and HHH. WWE needs to gradually phase them out of being featured in the top angles on TV weather it gets good ratings or not. If WWE doesn't ready the current crop of undercard wrestlers to be top players in the coming years and stand on their own away from their predecessors, we as fans are facing a continued perpetual purgatory of an era without a moniker.

[jpfizzle]

Originally Posted by michaelj817

I was hopeful after the Benoit tragedy and implementation of a new strict drug policy, a new era and style of WWE TV would come about. However, I now do not see that happening. Plus, for how over HHH, Shawn Michaels, and Undertaker are, you are not going to see any of their top spots being given to younger wrestlers anytime soon. In the early and late 90's WWE had to make new stars because of reasons I stated above. However, 15 and 10 years later, it is those same stars that dominate the top of the card. Don't get me wrong, I am as big a fan of those guys as anyone else, but until they eventually step aside, you aren't going to see any major changes to the hierarchy of the roster. This is a Catch 22 for WWE, because in essence, they don't need any new top stars to do business as usual. But over the course of the next few years they will, because none of these guys are getting any younger. For anyone who thinks WWE gets stale these days, just wait a few more years. I am by no means in favor of getting rid of guys like Michaels, Taker, and HHH. WWE needs to gradually phase them out of being featured in the top angles on TV weather it gets good ratings or not. If WWE doesn't ready the current crop of undercard wrestlers to be top players in the coming years and stand on their own away from their predecessors, we as fans are facing a continued perpetual purgatory of an era without a moniker.

I've bolded the points in this post that I most agree with and would like to reiterate what they mean to me. The idea that we are in the new "era" is just wishful thinking for now. The top guys like I've bolded from the comment above are too over to phase out just yet, kudos to triple h for letting randy orton get over at mania and kudos to the undertaker as he has let many guys go over in the past including kennedy. However, the positions of the big 3 legends left in the WWE: Michaels, HHH, and 'Taker are too safe.

For the next era we need the WWE to take risks and with the state of pro wrestling atm with the steroids scandals breaking out and deaths etc... combined with lack of competitions means that unfortunately for now the WWE will remain as it is. It should only be a few years though, and I pray that they utilise the Morrions, Kennedys and MVPs as best they can, as these are the three I could see personally leading us into the next generation should it happen.

Yeh, I feel one coming to, they'll probably call the High Definition Era... I'm excited to see what's going to happen with TNA and WWE. As TNA develops a stronger fanbase and new talent, it might be like WCW vs WWF all those years ago. I don't like it how the WWE say that all the wrestlers in WCW like flair was and they say there were in the WWE for their career.