Your Favourite WWE Year of the Past 5?

[scottyshowman82]

Out of the past 5 years of WWE TV which year do you think was did you most enjoy watching? I know thinking back to what we had for breakfast is kind of tough for most of us so let's see if I can refresh our memories a little.

2013:

Important Player/Roster: Cena, The Rock, Punk, Orton, Sheamus, Ryback, Curtis Axel, HHH, Brock Lesnar, Team Hell No, The Shield, Jericho, Fandango

Important Angles and moments: John Cena evens up the score at Wrestlemania 29 with The Rock...Cena wins the Royal Rumble...CM Punk continues his impressive reign at WWE Champ...feuds with Rock.. Rock wins World Title...Brock Lesnar Feuds with HHH....Punk has great showing against Taker at Wrestlemania 29...The Shield has a big win at Mania debut...Chris Jericho returns to impressive showing at Royal Rumble...Fandango makes the world dance...Curtis Axel debuts.


2012:

Important Players/Roster: CM Punk, John Cena, Sheamus, The Rock HHH, Brock Lesnar, Ryback, Team Hell No, The Sheild

Important Angles and moments: CM Punk holds title for entire calender year, facing competition from the likes of Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan, Cena, Alberto Del Rio and others..The Rock beats John Cena at Wrestlemania 28 sending Cena into a tale spin...The Undertaker faced HHH in Hell in a Cell match at Wrestlemania 28 with special guest referee Shawn Michaels, critics and fans loved it....Sheamus beat Daniel Bryan for the World Title at Wrestlemania 28 in 8 seconds... Brock Lesnar left UFC joins WWE after several years the night after Wrestlemania. He faced Cena a very physical match at Extreme Rules.....HHH and Lesnar engaged in bitter fued at Summerslam. Lesnar beat HHH dimoralizing The Game making him consider retirement.. Ryback burst on the scene amassing a winning streak which eventually gave him a title shot at CM Punk who defeated Ryback with the help of the debuting Shield.

2011:

Important Players/Roster:John Cena, CM Punk, The Miz, Edge, Randy Orton, Sheamus, Christian, Mark Henry, Alberto Del Rio, Wade Barrett, Zack Ryder

Important Angles and moments: The Miz defeats John Cena in the main event of Wrestlemania 28 with a little help from the show's "Host" The Rock...The Undertaker and HHH engaged in one of the most physical contests in Taker's Wrestlemania career, Taker wins but must leave the ring with much assisted help...Edge defeated Alberto Del Rio at Wrestlemania 27 which turned out to be final match as shortly there after he revealed he must retire from wrestling in a very shocking moment...Alberto Del Rio wins the first 40 man Royal Rumble...Nexus dominates WWE competitors evening winning the services of John Cena as their lackey...At Extreme Rules Christian with longtime friend near by, defeates Alberto Del Rio for his first WWE World Heavyweight Championship...On the following Smackdown Orton beat Christian in a thrilling match to become World Champion...Orton and Christian engage in many thrilling matches over the course of the summer of TV and Pay Per View...Christian ends up up getting another world title before Orton wins it back... Orton drops the title to Mark Henry at Night of Champions. Henry experienced a new rebirth that year with his more agressive style and his "Hall of Pain".... CM Punk outsmarts Wade Barrett and gains control of the Nexus... On the June 27th edition on Monday Night Raw after a match with John Cena and R Truth CM Punk delivered what we now know as "The Pipebomb promo" he shared his frustrations with the WWE product, how he thought he was "the best in the world", how he thought the company may be better off when Vince Mcmahon is dead, how the company will go on to run by Macho's idiotic daughter and dufus son in law, and many thoughts that made fans mark out of their pants...the WWE would never be the same again... CM Punk beats John Cena at Money at the Bank and takes the title with him leaving Vince Mahon is serious disarray and fans in Chicago going ecstatic... Cena and Punk have a rematch at Summerslam refereed by Triple H... the Match would end with Kevin Nash laying out CM Punk with a powerbomb and Alberto Del Rio cashing in his Money in the Bank breifcase and becoming world champ. CM Punk would beat Del Rio at Survivor Series beginning what would become a historic 434 day reign at WWE Champion....John Cena and The Rock team up for the first and only time to defeat the Miz and R Truth.

2010:

Important Players/Roster:John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Edge, Batista, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, Wade Barrett


Important Angles and moments The Undertaker defeats Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 26 sending Michaels in retirement as the stipulation of the match entails....Edge returns from injury at the Royal Rumble to win it, he faces Chris Jericho for the title at Wrestlemania but Jericho retains his title using a Code Breaker with the title....Bret Hart defeats Vince Mcmahon at Wrestlemania 26 after an amazing return to the WWE which say him earlier that year bury the hatchet with Shawn Michaels in one of the most memorable moments in the history of RAW...On the July 5th edition of Raw after during a match between John Cena and Straight Edge Society leader CM Punk NXT Season 1 one winner Wade Barrett and along with other NXT contestants Michael Tarver, David Otunga, Skip Sheffield, Heath Slater, Darren Young, Daniel Bryan and Justin Gabriel proceeded to everyone in site specifically John Cena. They tore up the ring, destroyed announce tables and assaulted ring commentators and announcers. It was truly one of the most shocking moments in the past decade of Raw....The Nexus lead by Barrett went on to wrestle Team WWE of John Cena, Edge, Chris Jericho, John Morrison, R-Truth, Bret Hart and Daniel Bryan in a 7 on 7 elimination match. Team WWE would defeat the Nexus at Summerslam... At the Hell in Cell Pay Per View Wade Barrett defeats Cena.... As a result Cena must join the Nexus and be subservient to Barrett.... At the TLC pay per view John Cena defeats Wade Barrett to get his freedom from the Nexus. Cena also barries Barrett in a mountain of steel chairs as Barrett is not seen for many weeks.

2009:

Important Players/Roster:John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Randy Orton, Edge, CM Punk, Jeff Hardy, Batista, Cody Rhodes, Ted Dibiase

Important Angles and moments: The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels engage in a what many believe to be the greatest match in Wrestlemania 25 history. After a spectacular outing Michaels falls to the Tombstone and the Undertaker Wrestlemania winning streak continues....Randy Orton wins the the Royal Rumble with the help of Legacy members Ted Dibiase and Cody Rhodes last eliminating HHH.... In one of the most memorable nights involving the Elimination Chamber Edge loses the WWE Title at No Way Out only to insert himself in the World Heavyweight Title match and win it...Orton and HHH engage in a bitter personal fued over the WWE title that main events Wrestlemania 25 where HHH comes out the victor....CM Punk cashes in the Money in The Bank breifcase he won at Wrestlemania 25 at Extreme Rules on Jeff Hardy after Hardy just won the World Heavyweight title from Edge...DX's HHH and HBK defeat Legacy's Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase in tag match at Summerslam..... John Cena defeats Orton in have a very physical 1 Quit match at Breaking Point to win the WWE Championship...Orton wins it back from Cena at Hell in a Cell but Cena regains the title at Bragging Rights in after a 60 minute Anything Goes Iron Match... DX and Legacy feud contines as HHH and HBK beat Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase in a physical Hell in Cell war at the pay per view named after the hellacious match.


For me if I had to rate year I liked the most I would rate them:

1.2011
2.2010
3.2012
4.2013
5.2009

How would you rate the years from #1-5 as far as direction the were or are headed and which one you like the most? Also feel free to comment how they compare to one to another and perhaps WWE can learn from their past.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

2010.

The Nexus debuting and destroying Raw and John Cena was one of the most unexpected things I've seen in any promotion since Hall made his debut on Nitro. It was THAT big. The way it came off was so well done and it felt like it was chaotic for a change. It was against the grain and it led me to believe that a major change would be coming to the entire dynamic of the WWE.

Instead, the angle petered out and ended up not much about anything other than putting Punk back in the spotlight, which was good as well.

2010 simply makes the rest of those other years pale in comparison.

 

[InstantAttitude]

1. 2011: Easily the best year for me in recent memory, from Punk's Summer storyline to The Rock's return, to Christian winning his first World Title, it was a great year.
2. 2009
3. 2010
4. 2012
5. 2013

 

[tonykegger]

I have watched these five years more than any other five year span so I feel I need to contribute to this thread (by the way, it's too bad it's 5 and not 6 because 2008 would be #1).

1. 2011 - I got to with 2011. It may not be the best year from month 1 to month 12, but Punk's summer storyline and the Rock-Cena-Miz storyline were two of my favorite storylines in the last 5 years. And I attended my favorite PPV and RAW that year.
2. 2009- I loved the Randy Orton and Triple H storyline that year. I loved that Orton-Cena feud too. And I can't forget Punk-Hardy. And the Jericho-Mysterio trilogy. Good stuff that year.
3. 2010 - The Nexus angle was fun to watch, and it was the beginning of Daniel Bryan's WWE career.
4. 2012 - Not a great year, but not terrible either. My favorite stuff: Brock Lesnar return, CM Punk title reign and Johnny Ace was entertaining.
5. 2013 - It's unfair to rank 2013 with six months left. So far I'm not impressed but 2013 could have a strong finish.

 

[mrfantastic111]

2011:

- Summer of Punk
- Return of the Rock
- Retirement of Edge
- Orton moves to SD!
- Christian wins World Title (One more match!)
- Return of masked Kane
- Alberto winning the Rumble (Del Rio was WAY over back then)

It didn't seem like RAW and SD! were shows that were only about the big angles, the mid-card angles made me want to order PPVs as well:

- Mark Henry's dominance
- R-Truth going crazy (Funny as hell)
- The Awesome Truth
- Corre Vs. Nexus
- Ryder winning the US Title
- Vickie's Stable

I regard 2011 as the most recent year in WWE of which I had no problem with almost everything. I'm still entertained by WWE, but man 2011 was a good year.

Second place for me would be 2009. Not so much for RAW, but SD! was a HOT show back then. That's back when SD! was still my favourite show, and all of my favourite rivalries and matches occurred on Friday nights:

- Punk & SES
- Y2J teams with Edge
- Edge's epic post Mania' Cutting Edge with Cena
- Jeff Hardy Vs. CM Punk
- Y2J and Rey putting on a solid IC Title feud
- Main-event, mid-card, tag-team and women's division were all pretty sharp on SD!

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

2011 ... despite one of the Worst WM of the last 5 years was a great year. Yes Summer of Punk was the main and sole reason why this was the case. When CM Punk did the pipe bomb and had that match at Money in the Bank. At that moment the WWE captured that special moment that I had not seen in a very very long time. I felt like a young teen that cheered when Austin won the title at WM14 and not the cynical smark I turned out to be (LOL!).

And of course there were other key moments. Christian winning the World Title, Del Rio's semi-surprise Rumble Win (semi because he was my #3 pick to win the Rumble that year), the Triple H COO walking out angle, and Mark Henry destroying Orton for the World Title. Were these angles all home runs?

Haha no! I could point out what went wrong for each of these angles but I'll take it as a whole and say 2011 was a very good year.

2009/2008 were great years. Both brands had a very good balanced roster. You could argue which Brand was better and still make valid points. From RAW being Triple H in years in 2008, to Smackdown's push of Jeff Hardy and CM Punk. There was plenty to get excited about. Also CHRIS JERICHO finally wins the World Title for the first time in 6 years!!!


2010 - Was the worst year of the last five IMO. Besides a great WM, Bret Hart's return, and Kane being Champion. There was nothing to get excited about. The Nexus angle was terribly botched and Smackdown was cannibalized and became a 2 hour ECW. The last half of 2010 was pretty embarrassing to watch.

2011:

- Summer of Punk
- Return of the Rock
- Retirement of Edge
- Orton moves to SD!
- Christian wins World Title (One more match!)
- Return of masked Kane
- Alberto winning the Rumble (Del Rio was WAY over back then)

Interestingly because Edge was going to retire it was Edge that was put over at WM27. I actually think this what killed Del Rio's heat. Del Rio needed to win the World Title as part of his road to WM after winning the Rumble. When Del Rio lost to Edge and then lost again to Christian the heat he build up leading to WM pretty much evaporated. He would win the title by cashing in MITB at Summerslam but he did so between the red hot Cena/Punk angle and just ended up getting lost in the shuffle.

Del Rio as talented as he never recovered even with his top face push. In 2011 he was one space from being a top main event heel, then after WM and Extreme Rules, like a board game, he went back 10 to 15 steps.

 

[Owen 3:16 says I just stole your Slammy!!]

2011. That was a great in the WWE. I loved the Summer of Punk, that made wrestling interesting for me. I liked how he feud with HHH, Nash, Cena, and Del Rio. Miz and R-Truth were great, I thought they were good heels. I was also excited to see Zack Ryder getting a push. I loved 2011 WWE.

 

[HBsam31]

Good thread. I am a little cloudy on all of the details of the years, but I will give it a try.
2011 - Really made me happy to be a fan again. Just the stuff with Punk made that year stand out to me. The misstepped a bit here and there, but it was definitely a standout year.

2010 - Nexus made a huge impact. It was something I hadn't seen in a long time when they came out of the crowd to attack Cena. I had that jaw dropping moment for the first time in forever. On top of that we had HBK's last match in a great one vs The Undertaker.

2009 - Picking this one here just because of HBK/Taker 1. One of my favorite Mania build ups of all time. Even though the Orton/HHH match didn't live up to the build, the build up was still stellar.

2012 - This year is right up there with 2009 for me. Punk's year long reign made me like a kid in the candy store. I missed the days of long reigns, and it was a throwback to the 80's when I became a fan. I actually ordered more ppvs than just Rumble and Mania for the first time in a long time just too see Punk. I actually wish his reign would have lasted longer. The rise of Daniel Bryan helped make the year a good one too along with new interest in the tag division.

2013 - Still to early to make a call on this year, but so far it has been lackluster imo. WWE's lack of star power is starting to show, and Punk being out since Mania hasn't helped. I am hoping the summer will bring us something great, and this year can be ranked higher.

 

[HBKistheHOF]

Agreed, great thread! This is tough for me personally since I'd possibly consider 2005-2008 the worst years ever in WWF/WWE history & 2009-present is when I'd say WWE has finally started to progressivley get much better. I'm simply going to rank based on the moments I remember & all the big things that stood out to me as a fan.

#1 - 2012: CM Punk as WWE Champion for the entire calender year, The Debut & Rise of The Shield, TLC 2012 PPV(most notably the PPV/Offical in-ring debut of The Shield, in what I believe is the best debut match EVER), The Return of Brock Lesnar & Paul Heyman, RAW1000, Brock/Cena at Extreme Rules 2012, Summerslam 2012(most notably the Triple Threat & Lesnar/HHH I), The "End Of An Era" Match, Punk/Jericho Feud, The pairing of Punk & Heyman, Ziggler/Jericho Feud, The Rise & Departure of Eve Torres, The Rise of AJ Lee(most notably her relationship & wedding with Daniel Bryan), The Rise of the Tag Team Divison(most notably Team Hell No & their antics w/Dr. Shelby), all the new talent like Damien Sandow, Antonio Cearo, etc. & Royal Rumble 2012.
#2 - 2009: My Favorite Match Of ALL TIME: HBK/Taker I at Mania 25, The in-ring Return of D-Generation X for the very last time at Summerslam, DX capturing Tag Team gold for the first time ever, Summerslam 2009 (most notably the TLC match with Punk/Hardy & featuring Undertaker), The 25th Anniversary of Wrestlemania, Edge competeing in both Elimination Chamber matches, HBK's final WWE Championship match at Survivor Seires 2009, Hardy vs. Hardy, & The Legacy vs. Triple H & The McMahon Family.
#3 - 2011: The Summer Of Punk & his "Pipe Bomb(s)", Edge's retirment & final Mania match as World Champion, Summerslam 2011(most notably the two main Championship matches), Both Mark Henry & Christian winning their first World Titles, & most matches at Mania 27 except the bs like The Corre's match, moving Sheamus/Bryan to pre-show & Cole/Lawler + Cena/Miz (which still featured Stone Cold & The Rock respectively) shocked me & completely exceeded my somewhat low expectations.
#4 - 2010: The in-ring retirement of Shawn Michaels, HBK/Taker II at Mania 26, Wrestlemania 26, The Return of Bret Hart, Jericho/Edge feud, The Summer of the Nexus, HBK costing Taker the title inside the Elimination Chamber & Royal Rumble 2010.
#5 - 2013: Still too early to tell really since so much happens in WWE's calender year. I thought with the exception of Cena winning, the 2013 Royal Rumble was great. Mania 29 was a kind of a let down to me but the Undertaker/Punk feud was amazing & The Shield remain undefeated so far on PPV & at Mania with what was a fantastic 6-man tag team match. Seeing The Shield further progress & gain some gold has been awesome & their are some other new talents I'm looking forward to seeing debut and/or make an impact, as well as some returns like RVD. Summerslam 2013 looks like it could be absolutely epic if done right with the likes of Lesnar vs. Punk, The Undertaker & The Shield. So while it hasn't blown my mind yet, I think 2013 has some ridiculous potential to be great year in WWE.

 

[Dagger Dias]

1. 2010
This was one of the best years WWE has ever had. Michaels and Bret reconciling. The entirety of Wrestlemania season that year, leading up to a spectacular show at Wrestlemania 26. I loved the Nexus angle from their debut all the way up until Cena's Chair match with Barrett. Another high point was Summerslam 2010. Team WWE VS Nexus had a team of legends against future stars. There's a few booking decisions here and there that had me scratching my head, as is the case every year, but the only REALLY bad thing that entire year was Miz became WWE Champion.

2. 2009
An underrated year. I loved the build for Wrestlemania 25. The show itself could have been a lot better, although it still gave us Shawn Micheals VS Undertaker! The summer saw some great feuds between Hardy, Punk, and Edge over the World Heavyweight Championship. The undisputed top guys Cena, Orton, Trips, and Batista dominated Raw fighting over the WWE Championship. The year took a BAD turn for the worse when the guest host concept got introduced though. Some of them were funny or cool but overall the angle was an abomination.

3. 2011
Started off horrendous with Miz as WWE Champion and Wrestlemania 27 being in the bottom 3 worst Wrestlemania events ever and CM Punk's awful version of the Nexus. The second half was great though and more than made up for the first half. The Pipebomb promo, Orton VS Christian, and Raw entering the Supershow format.

4. 2012
Started off pretty good with all three of the Road to Wrestlemania PPV events being strong and then of course we had the record setting Wrestlemania 28 show. I would have changed a few things about it, but it was a huge success. The summer wasn't as strong in quality as the previous couple of years were though, and Ryback going from seeming invincible to having constant losses in big matches toward the end of the year got frustrating. The Sheild debuted though, that was awesome. Overall the year just wasn't as strong as 2009, 2010, or 2011. It's too early to tell if 2013 will be better.

5. 2013
At the moment it is too early to tell if this will be a better year than 2012. It has not been off to all that great of a start though. The spring was arguably the second to worst of the 5. As much as I liked Wrestlemania 29, the start of the year felt lackluster in comparison to any of the previous years other than 2011. You really cannot possibly get worse than spring 2011. This summer is halfway through and so far nothing all too special has happened. I'm patiently waiting, WWE. Don't let 2013 be remembered as a lackluster year. Give us something great to remember it by. I liked Wrestlemania 29 although one show cannot save a whole year.