1996-97 WWE MVP

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Before I get into this I have noticed some confusion as to what time period each thread is discussing. I stated in the original thread the breakdown but should have added it to each follow up thread. So each year given starts at the day after that years WrestleMania and concludes at the other years Mania. So for this particular thread I am looking for the MVP for the time period of the day after WrestleMania XII-WrestleMania XIII.

For me this is a real easy one, I would go with Shawn Michaels. This year was all about him and there are only a few examples out there where you can pin point a time period like this to just one guy. Shawn began the year as the champ having beat Bret at Mania XII. He would go on to feud with the likes of Diesel, Mankind, Bulldog and Vader and be successful against them all. He was the draw and the center of the WWE at this time with Bret gone until Survivor Series. Shawn would drop the title to Sid at Survivor Series to set up his big return match and win against Sid at The Rumble in his hometown. Then of course we get the infamous Smile speech in Feburary and Shawn would go on to miss the last month and a half of this time period. A real shame because it would have been interesting to see what direction WWE would have taken with Shawn for Mania XIII. Before his departure he was scheduled to defend his recently won title against Sid and there was a #1 contenders match at the February ppv. I have to believe Shawn would have retained his title and Bret would have still won the match to set up Bret/Shawn II.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

So this basically covers the period including the formation of the NWO... Shawn was NOT the MVP of this period for several reasons.

1) His reign was not good - They gave him great opponents and feuds in Davey Boy, Vader and Foley and Shawn couldn't make them work in a way that made them seem as important as other title feuds. Arguably this was the first run we had seen "crafted" as Bret and Diesel had both been "shock" World title winners... Shawn was clearly the "annointed one" and much of the year was geared around proving that was the right call rather than his work doing the talking. There was a big argument that he should have lost the title to Davey early, then regained it or certainly to Vader. But by now we knew what the Kliq was all about,

2) He didn't appear at Mania... a consequence of "losing his smile"... even Taker is said to have stated "...the little fucker doesn't want to drop the belt." So all that work done early in the year to build him was tossed away as there was no rematch with Bret at 13, no Shawn title defense.

3) It was his worst period in the ring and out of it. Shawn was now "the man" but his work in the ring was not as good in this time, he was clearly missing his running buddies and found solace in Sunny by all accounts, two known "hellraisers" together offscreen co-depending doesn't sound good to anyone... Shawn didn't look goot a lot of this time, he was out of his depth as champion, becoming paranoid and increasingly depended on substances. He openly admits all this. The Shawn who relinquished the belt in January looked like he was on "death watch" rather than suffering a knee injury.

So who WAS MVP.

To me it comes down to 2 people.

Goldust: The Bizarre One had just come off his Mania "Backlot Brawl" with Roddy Piper and held the Intercontinental title for the early part of this period. But this was, until the last 12 months, Dustin's most productive and best year in the WWF ever. Why? He was instrumental in bringing on a large number of talents in that period. Look at his opponents and feuds and he enhanced every single one of them.

Starting with his IC title loss to Ahmed Johnson, who was considered the "next big thing" at the time. The feud got Johnson over strong and Dustin was able to work with Tony Norris' limitations to make him seem invincible. Goldust then moved onto a feud with... The Undertaker.

This was the year Taker began to change gears, from Monster of the Month as an opponent to actually being set up as a main event player. His matches with Dustin, including their Final Curtain match were a massive part (along with ManKind/Foley) in kickstarting Taker's rapid improvement in the ring. He wasn't this "awesome worker" in early 1996, he was limited, as he'd been only working with those bigger than him. Much like Rude bringing Warrior on in 1989, Goldust was a massive part in bringing on Taker in 1996, to the level he could actually then main event. Others played as big a part, like Foley, Bret and Shawn but Goldust started that ball rolling, giving Taker a strong but smaller opponent and making him work a feud not based on two giants colliding.

Goldust also had feuds with Marc Mero and HHH. Mero didn't last and neither did Johnson, but Goldust had done his part perfectly...and Marlena deserves some credit too as this was the feud that really set Sable up to be someone...even if Mero bombed... The feud with HHH was instrumental in again, bringing HHH on and helping him get back lost momentum after the Curtain Call and his period of jobbing. Goldust helped HHH be in a position to win KOTR the following year.

However the winner is, without question...

Stone Cold - Making his Mania debut at 12, with the Stone Cold gimmick, Austin was immediately standing out and his KOTR win and speech opened the door for a new style of WWF. But look at what else he did in that period, he had an epic rivalry with Bret Hart that included the legendary "Put an S in front of Hitman..." promo and two classics, at Survivor Series and Mania 13, winning the Rumble/screwing Bret and beginning his heel turn and the Brian Pillman segments including the infamous gun segment. Austin was the guy who was providing something to watch on WWF TV that could compete with the NWO. Shawn wasn't... This was also the last year of Austin being the top level worker he was prior to the injury at Summerslam... for all the impact he had later, if he'd been able to still "go" as he could in this year... how much bigger could it have all been?

You could make cases for Mick Foley, Ron Simmons and Brian Pillman making up the top 5, which is ironic... the guys making the moves and really helping WWE in that time were not the WWE guys, but WCW acquisitions... a trend that continued later on and was ultimately the key to winning the Monday Night War.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

I have to agree that this year belongs to Stone Cold as the MVP.

• Winner of King of the Ring
• Austin 3:16 is born
• The entire feud with Bret Hart and Brian Pillman
• Austin/Bret upstages Shawn/Sid at Survivor Series
• Austin breaks Pillman's ankle
• Pillman's Got a Gun segment
• Winner of The Royal Rumble (one of my favourite Rumble matches, Austin absolutely steals the show)
• Austin/Bret at WrestleMania, no brainer

I'd give Shawn the runner up for the first 8-9 months of this period. He was given the ball and not much help in terms of other supporting babyfaces on the card. The other top babyfaces at KOTR were Undertaker, Ahmed Johnson and Ultimate Warrior. Plus he had to go up against the birth of the n.W.o. and the Hogan heel turn. But I don't think he's the MVP of this year... his title run wasn't very memorable and then he lost his smile and missed 'Mania.

I'd give Bret the runner up for the last 3-4 months of this period. Once he came back, I think he came back even better than ever. The feud with Austin, the Royal Rumble "screwjob", the loss to Sid in the cage followed by the profanity laced tirade one week before 'Mania, the 'Mania 13 match itself. He even got a good match out of Sid at IYH in December. He was putting in his best work in a while during this period and was really overshadowing Shawn on the roster, who had become a 5th wheel at this point.

However, for a year as a whole... the MVP in my opinion absolutely has to be Austin. This was his breakout year and was easily the most interesting thing on RAW throughout the year.

 

[Goldie]

I'd say Shawn for the year as a whole.
Steve Austin was my pick for MVP 1997-98.... here is why he is NOT my pick for the previous year:

3 months had already passed (25% of the MVP time allocation) before anyone even noticed him at the King of the Ring and his speech.
Though his promo popped big time... the WWE did nothing meaningful with him till late 1996, when they put him in a scorching fued with Bret and a hands on vignette with Pillman.
However... Steve didn't even appear on the next handful of PPVs directly after KOTR... at Summerslam he wrestled Yoko in a dark match. The bookers built on Steves popularity slowly at first. Too much dead time.
So all in all, from say Survivor Series '96 to WM13, Steve was a major player for all of 4 months of the year.

Granted what he did in that timeframe was momentous, and I'd pick him #2 MVP, but it was a myth that Steve was suddenly a major star the moment after KOTR. Bret Hart helped elevate Steve to the next level.... but in the period between KOTR and Survivor Series the WWE didn't do much with him.

Shawns babyface title reign was hit and miss... but from 1996-97 you have Shawn at his peak. He was the glue that held the WWE together in a mass rebuilding period, and he was the most vital cog in the WWE machine given this timeframe

 

[Just Do It]

Bret Hart.

Classics in 1996 / 1997 with Austin, Undertaker, Michaels and others. He reinvented himself and was doing the best mic work of his career. Was the talking point of the industry (thanks for blowing that WCW).

 

[Mac]

In this time period the mvp was Shawn Michaels and IMO it's not even close. Shawn had a great title run and anybody saying otherwise is just being contrarian. He held down the fort during a time when Diesel and Razor jumped ship and Bret was on a sabbatical. This was a time of transition and Shawn provided a much needed star presence. Putting on great matches with Diesel, Bulldog, Vader, Mankind, and Sid. He was a draw during a period when most of the big names of wrestling were in WCW. How many wrestlers could've handled the position Shawn was placed in? Not many I promise you that.