The 80's, 90's, or 2000's?

[Big Ace]

Which was a better decade for professional Wrestling? Don't get your opinions mixed up with cold hard facts. I wouldn't be surprised if people from 90's say that the 90's are the best, just as I wouldn't be surprised if people who watched in the 80's think that was the best or someone who barely turned on the TV last week would say that the 2000's are the best.

I grew up in the mid-90's. I would obviously say that the 90's are best. IMO, they produced the most stars. Foley, Austin, Rocky, HHH, HBK, Bret Hart, and much more. Which is the best decade, and why?

Edit: Sorry if you all think I'm re-making this thread from an old one titled ''Which Era is best'' This one is different IMO.

 

[A.J.]

Well Ace i will have to agree with you on the 90's. I myself also grew up in the 90's so most of my watching wrestling begin in the early 90's even though I have been able to watch some classic 80's stuff, which I must say if your true wrestling fan watch the classic their great. Back to the subject at hand hands it has to be the 90's

The 90's had it all when you think about you have the biggest ratinsg War ever which produced some of the biggest stars ever in WWE and IMO mae wrestling a cant miss thing. Before the 90's wrestling was something taped and not shown that often, but the 90' smade wrestling live and enjoyable and gave the fans something that grabbed you attention.

Talking about Star power as Ace said you had guys like Austin, Rock, HHH, HBK, and many others made during this time. These men here single handly changed wrestling forever.

One can go on and on how the 90's impacted wrestling why that is the better decade of professional wrestling but I'll just mentioned this. Still 90's hands down.

 

[kennyg9]

90's....by far in my eyes

Early 90's you still had Hogan, Savage, Warrior to name a few but those guys were being weeded out.
Mid 90's you had Bret Hart taking over as the main man in the company as well as the undertaker becomming a top level superstar later reaching the title in 1997.
1996 saw Shawn Michaels elivate to superstar level and in his first run i believe he really earned the names of The Showstoppa, The Icon, The Main Event.
1997 saw the birth of in my eyes the biggest reason why the 90's was the best.....STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN.
Basically Austin dominated the rest of the 90's making you watch every Raw for the entire 2 hours never missing anything cause you never knew what he would do, i mean we could have a whole thread on just stuff he did on a weekly basis. Also big stars during the Austin Era were born in The Rock, Mic Foley(Mankind), Kane, and Triple H to name a few.

 

[RSN89]

1990s, however The 80s after Wrestlemania is a close second. The wrestling improved in the 1990s and IMO was at its peak, improved from the slow and boring days of the 80s but not at the crazy tripple backflip stuff you see sometimes today. The 80s had Hulkamania, and that alone is awesome, as well as classic storylines that somewhat faded. The 90s however just had too much to offer, including the explosion onto the scene of athletes like Bret Hart, HBK, HHH, Austin, The Undertaker etc. On top of that the Monster Heels of the 90s were awesome, Yokozuna, Vader, and Kane were a great offset to the Hitman, HBK and Austin. And then take into consideration that even with the stars in the WWF, the Ratings war forced the best storylines and constant improvement between WWF and WCW. On top of that you could always put on ECW, back when it was watchable, and get an extreme match. In the 80s wrestling just didnt have the funding and the push that it did in the 90s. The 90s also had the first RAW, Smackdown and Nitro. On top of all that most of the stars from the 80s, Hogan, Warrior, Rude, Snuka, Piper, and Savage all wrestled into the 90s anyway.

 

[Prax]

I'm going to have to go with the 80s on this one boys and gals.

The 80s contained the following elements that swayed my decision:

- Hulkamania: Wrestling wouldn't be wrestling without Hulkamania, whatever people think of Hogan these days. In my opinion, Hulkamania was bigger than anything Austin did in the late ninetees. Austin just had a weekly measure for what he did.

- Wrestlemania: It was created in the 80s and is the staple of professional wrestling. It's the epitome of professional wrestling. Not a single fan grows up watching wrestling without wishing they could main event the show one day.

- Ric Flair: We've been having a great Flair vs. Hogan discussion as of late, and I have to bring up the fact here that the 80s were considered Flair's prime. Since he's arguably the best wrestler of all time, you have to consider this in your decision.

Although there are many other factors, these are the three that I consider the major points.

Now the 90s obviously did a lot for the business, especially in the attitude era, and I think, personally 1992 was one of the best years for the business (and it shows with how Star Studded the Royal Rumble was that year, where Flair won the WWF title), not to mention Hogan's heel turn, which I think is the most important event in pro wrestling history, the NWO, ministry undertaker, Y2J, the Rock, etc... but it had a lot of sour memories too...

Pretty much anything between 1990 and 1996, minus the previously mentioned years of late 1992 and early 1993, sucked. Not many good memories from those years, especially after Hogan left for WCW.

The 80s were simply more consistent, for each of the 10 years in that decade. I actually consider those years to be the best non-WWF years as well, even though we didn't have a Monday night war to show up or ratings. Just grab yourself some old NWA or WCW tapes to prove it. Not to mention the behemoth that WWF became in the 80s as well.

For these main reasons I choose the 80s.

 

[TNA Smark]

I have to say the 90's. I downloaded some matches from the 80's and they were hard to watch because they were boring imo. I grew up in the 90's when wrestling was heading toward the Monday Night Wars and it was going to boom. You had WCW, ECW and WWF competing to be #1. NWO, one of the best stables in wrestling history debuting and setting trends even leading to DX which was a group which was based of the NWO but trying to be more edgier. WWF was putting up some of the best matches trying to gain new viewers. In the 2000's wrestling started to die. WCW and ECW were both going downhill and then Vince bought them out and starting from 2003 wrestling started to get stale until I found out about TNA.

ECW in the 90's gave us a new style of wrestling and format of wrestling. They put out edgier story lines and angles. It was a mix of Jerry Springer and Japan type wrestling with the hardcore matches. ECW blended a mix style of mexican and japanese hardcore wrestling. They also built a Cruiserweight division including the likes of Little Guido, Super Crazy, Tajiri and etc. WCW and WWF even tried to take talent in which the majority of the time they succeeded. Raven, Sandman, Eddie, Dean and etc. and a few other people left ECW for WCW. Without ECW, there would be no Eddie Guerrero, there would be no Dean Malenko, there would be no WWE who later on took all that talent into there promotion. In the 90's young talent like Triple H, The Rock, Stone Cold, Jeff Jarett and etc. were being made unlike in the 2000's and even in the 80's when Hogan was always pushed as the main eventer.

 

[kennyg9]

and in 1997 that wasnt the first tm taker won the title

yes i know he beat Hogan in the early 90's like 91 possibly . But he only held the thing for what a week until Hogan took it back.

 

[X]

Without a doubt in my mind the 90s. Whether it was WCW showing off the best division of cruiserweights ever assembled, ECW introducing hardcore wrestling and half an hour technical masterpieces, or the WWF revolutionizing wrestling with the attitude era, it was simply the best time to be a fan of wrestling. Wrestling was cool in the 90s, it wasn't something you were afraid to admit that you liked.

The 2000s started off damn good for me, 2000-2002 looked promising but since then the only classics we've seen have been from HBK. However that's just WWE now that I think about it, and since the introduction of feds like ROH and TNA, wrestling has been going up and up in my book in terms of independent promotions. Damn now that I think about it the 2000s have been pretty fuckin good if you look past the last four years of WWE.

The 80s, in terms of quality of wrestling, were total shit. There were about a dozen classics in the span of that decade, almost all involving Flair, Steamboat, Savage, or Funk.

 

[EP Punk]

I'm gonna have to go with the 80's. Not only did the 80's gove birth to the juggernaut known as Wrestlemania, Hulkamania, the Rock n Wrestling Connection, but that is when you had the quintessential matches to be viewed by anyone thinking about getting into the buisiness. You had all those classic Flair/Steamboat NWA bouts, Savage/Steamboat at Wrestlemania III, not to mention this is back when non WWE Supercards meant something, like Starcade, The Great American Bash, AWA Superclash,, etc. And, without all the stars created in the 80's, you wouldn't see some of the guys today doing what they do. Sure, the 90's gave us the Monday Night War, but honestly, would that war have meant shit if it hadn't been for the Hogans, Savages and Flairs of the 80's? Not to mention, there was one big thing in particualr that came about in the 80s, and without it, there wouldn't be an nWo, a DX, hell not even Evolution or Second City Saints...and that my friends, is the FOUR HORSEMEN!!!! Bottom line, as far as wrestling goes, the 80s are...the best there is, the best there was, and the best that there ever will be.

 

[FlairFan2003]

The 80's hands down. I watched a lot of wrestling in the 90's and spent most of the decade bored to death, largely because of the 1980's.

First, it was in the 80's that wrestling expanded from local, regional based TV and arena shows into a major international promotion. Watching that change take place was literally for a wrestling fan like watching major sports history.

The biggest names in wrestling history came from the 80's. Brett Hart had a nice run in the 90's but he never reached the heights Flair, Hogan, Savage, or Piper did. Dusty Rhodes is in there too although he was big in the 70's (much like Hogan was still big in the 90's).

The "Monday Night Wars" that everyone talks about was nothing like the Jim Crockett/Vince McMahon war in the 80's. As McMahon expanded nationally (stealing top talent from local promotions along the way) Crockett matched him almost step for step for much of the decade. The television and events produced were some of the best in any era of wrestling (and better than almost anything from 1990-97).

You also had two distinctly different products in competition. The NWA produced edgier, more adult oriented content with better matches while WWF
produced "entertainment spectacles" complete with rock concert pyrotechnics and high tech visuals with true larger than life characters.

Hulkamania was bigger as a national phenomenon than anything in the 90's, bigger than "Attitude" , the NWO, the "Monday Night Wars", Hogan, as the public face of the WWF helped move the company (and the wrestling industry as a whole) into an entirely different business model, the model of international promotion that continues today. Ric Flair set the absolut standard for top level wrestlers, combining character, in ring ability, and mic skills better than anyone before him. He not only thrived in the more "entertainment oriented" scheme of the 80's but his influence is still felt today. Certainly anyone who has watched Chris Jericho, Shawn Michaels, or HHH from 97-2007 knows Ric Flair was one of (if not the biggest influence).

For most of the 90's until the end wrestling in general was in a creative rut, WWF was boring and repetitious with only a handfull of memorable stars or feuds and very few "Superstars" being created. From 1990-1996 how many "Superstars" came from either WWF or WCW ? Most of the biggest names in the industry were either stars who first became top level in the 80's (Flair, Hogan, Savage, Sting, Luger, Henning, Hall, Rick Rude, Hart, Michaels) or they were short term mid card talent elevated briefly due to a lack of star power.

Furthermore, so much of the "Attitude" era looked like 80's NWA re-do, updated for a new decade. While McMahon promoted "family entertainment" in the 80's, the NWA gave us parking lot beat downs with baseball bats, attempted lynchings (Dusty Rhodes & Magnum TA tying rope around Jim Cornette's neck and attempting to drag him behind Dusty's pick up), manequins dressed like female valets being stripped and molested during interviews, and significant (for the time) violence perpetrated by men against women, not to mentio brutal steel cage matches, the forerunner to the late 90's Hell In A Cell that were far more viscious than anyhing seen for most of the 90's.

The 1980's saw the creation of PPV events as well, another cornerstone of the business model that exists today.

As for matches, most of 1990-1996 is a boring blur for me except the occassional Hart/Michaels or Sting/Flair match. For most of the 80's other promotions were still around so if you were bored with Hulkamania or not interested in the exploits of The Four Horsemen you could still watch the AWA and see Shawn Micheals winning tag team championships or the phenomenal Curt Henning/Nick Bockwinkle matches. The UWF, with it's accent towards more blood, brawling style was an insurgent force against the superpowers of McMahon and Crockett, much like ECW was against McMahon and Bischoff. In the 90's you basically had only two options, one of which was boring and repetive and the other woefully mismanaged and hard to watch.

From start to finish the 80's was "The Decade" in pro wrestling. Not only laying the groundwork for many of the stories in the 90's but creating almost all of the 90's top stars and defining the basic framework of the business as a whole that exists today. The 90's had probaby three really good years from 96-early 99 when it was really fun to watch. Prior to that it was just a ho hum product surviving mostly on the strength of the prior decade's biggest names.

 

[NWO_Hogan]

I wish you could pick Late 80's - Early 90's. The WWF died after Wrestlemania 12. 1996 is when WWF went down hill and the NWO took over in WCW. The late 80's and early 90's were awesome because they had gimmicks for the wrestlers, managers, etc. The Million Dollar Man would try to buy people, Honky Tonk Man had his Elvis look, Jake the Snake had his snake, Rick "The Model" Martel was a model, etc. The list goes on. Now a days they're just so boring. "John Cena" is the world champion. No gimmicks. Just all regular names and boring people. They went into a bad direction.

I'd have to say the late 80's and early 90's especially the pay per views with Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse "The Body" Ventura commenting.

Sincerely,

Hogan

 

[SSJPhenom]

Everyone knows the answer to this question, the 90's! Why you ask? For one reason. COMPETITION! The competetion between the different organizations brought out the best creativity from each organization. This era produced superstars like: Austin, The Rock, Foley, HHH, The Undertaker, Rey Mysterio Jr., Eddie Gurerro, Kevin Nash, Sott Hall, Bret Hart, HBK, and many more. And the factions like: The NwO and DX. It was the best era to be a fan!

 

[Shocky]

The 80's started off very slow and was highly territorial at that time. There were good matches, but like X said, a bunch of them featured Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat. I think it was the biggest boom the industry had ever seen, but a very mediocre product at best.

The 90's were horrible up until 96 when the Monday Night Wars really started. You had ECW in the background the whole time, pushing the envelope and forcing the big two to up their game. The Decade ended with you wanting so much more, and they delivered.

The new millenium has started off okay, but it has been a one horse race for the better part of 6 years now, no TNA is not competition, just an alternative, sorry to burst the bubble. From 2000-2004, WWE started to break kayfabe, and let people see the man behind the curtain, but ever since Cena and Batista botched the ending of the Rumble, the quality of matches and storylines has taken a huge hit.

I'm leaning with the 90's. I like the cartoonish stuff of the 80's, because I was a kid. It'll have a special place for me, but looking back, a lot of the stuff was just garbage. The early 90's was soo bad taht I stopped watching all together for 2 years. It's at that point again where I haven't watch a Raw live in 2 years this July. The first five years of the new Millenium, 2000-2004, are the best in terms of quality and content for the WWE, but overall for the business it's been bad. Nothing will compete with how the business was during the Monday Night War, especially 96-99. The 90's gets the nod.

 

[Emmet]

Have to say the 1990s. Although Im only saying that because I havent seen that much 80s stuff. The 90s you had many stars like people have said. But for alot of the 90s there was nothing but pure crap. From 92-96 it was shit except a few memorables fueds (Bret/Owen for example).

The 00s, only really 2000 and 2001 was good, from 02-07 its been piss poor mixed in with some good matches.

 

[HyphyMan01]

Deffinitly the 90's no doubt comon The attitude era was the best it doesnt get better than the rock, stone Cold, Undertaker,DX and all the plus so far the 2000s are jus terrible...

 

[mtg712]

the 80's was by far the best. if your a real wrestling fan you would enjoy the 80's. they had Ric Flair, Harley Race, Dusty Rhodes, Rick Rude, Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Randy Savage, The Road Warriors, Demolition, The Freebirds, the Four Horsemen, Stan "The Man" Hanson, The Wild Samoans, Roddy Piper, Paul Orndorff, Bob Orton Jr., King Kong Bundy, Vader, The Hart Foundation, and i can go on and on. in the 80's you didnt have to be a muscle bound freak but had too know how to wrestle.

 

[tarp]

It is the 80's. I know some have said Flair/Steamboat were the only good matches. Howabout Freebirds vs Vonerichs! Nick Bolwinkle and Jerry Lawler. Wahoo McDaniel vs Adullah the Butcher. Back then it was wrestling! A thirty minute match was a norm not an oddity reserved for Wrestlemania! I stick with 80's with the Horsemen making it the greatest.

 

[thraxiusrex]

I would have to go with the 90's on this one. While I was a huge childhood fan of the Hulkster, the Barber, Jake the Snake, etc., my memories of 96-98 are probably the fondest. A lot of it has to do with the fact that I had a great group of friends that were way into it and we got together for each PPV. We even each claimed "patron" members of the nWo and made t-shirts to wear on said days (yours truly was even slicked back his hair for the Scott Hall look more than once). My point is, this was in freakin' high school, we should probably have been beyond the level of cutting our own promos before games of ping-pong and Magic the Gathering, but wrestling was just soooo involving at the time.

I remember distinctly the buildup before Wrestlemania 14. The guys in my clique were probably the /only/ ones rooting for HBK to win, with the huge amounts of 3:16 t-shirts walking around the hallways. It was so intense one Austin fan put a banana in my friend's exhaust. Ah, memories. Anyway, from what I hear, Austin, the nWo, DX, etc. illicited the same kind of response from middle-high schoolers all over the country, and in no other era was there that kind of reaction. Sure, Hulkamania was HUGE. But it was for one wrestler, one company. But during the Attitude/nWo era, you had Austin fans, DX fans, Sting fans, ECW cultists, nWo'ers 4 LIFE (or for a couple of years . . .)

The cause was the competition, no doubt.

 

[Slyfox696]

This is a little unfair, both with regards to the 80s and the 2000s. I would venture a guess and say that most of us here, myself included, did not watch wrestling through most of the 80s. I know, myself, started around 1988, when I was four years old. But, that still is not really old enough to grasp what all is going on.

And, the 2000s are not over yet. There is still two and a half years left before the decade is over. Imagine the 90s without the years 1998 and 1999....I'm not sure it would get the same number of votes that it currently is.

I know I still enjoy late 80s wrestling, and I am a fan of today's product (which seems to put me in the minority). I felt that the NWO storyline was played out by Starrcade '97, and that the Attitude era is overrated these days. In addition, ECW's contribution is, I believe, incredibly overrated.

I liked the 90s, and two of my favorite wrestlers made a name for themselves there, but I think I probably have to go with the 2000s.