2011: A classic year?

mrfantastic111

Riley Justin
We all think back to those great years in WWE, and we all have our favourites. The classic years are those years where you ACTUALLY looked forward to WWE television, and there were characters and storylines that you enjoyed so much that you talked to your friends about them all the time. The best years are those years that you couldn't wait to see what would happen next week, and you were so amazed and satisfied watching these shows that you felt like a kid again.

For me at least, 2011 was one of those years. Firstly people will be sceptical because it was a 'PG era year', but I've been a fan since I was a little kid and I honestly don't remember the last time I was genuinely excited for RAW, or a PPV, or a particular match like I was for the majority of 2011. It had the entire formula for a great year, and it had all of us speculating. What was so great about it was that a lot us on here stopped being so 'marky' and really got into it like true fans: getting the product without question and loving it. Let's break it down:

The year started slow, but we had the rise of some younger and exciting stars such as Alberto Del Rio winning the rumble, Cody Rhodes defeating Rey at Mania', the New Nexus had a brief run-in with the Corre. The rumble was huge too; in-fact being the largest rumble ever, and included the electric returns of Booker T and Diesel! But then, the most electrifying man in the business showed up... The Rock made his return! This was a dream mark-out moment for any long time fan of the WWE/F, and his return promo will definitely go down as a classic. Rock and Cena would go on the schedule their Mania' match a year ahead which was huge.

After that things began to mellow down abit for awhile, until someone stepped up to break the silence. PIPEBOMB! Out comes CM Punk; the REAL CM Punk. He did his infamous shoot which was so important because wrestling feuds had become so routine - fans were waiting for something fresh to happen. Punk went on the take the title off of Cena at Money in the Bank, leaving the company with the title to create another iconic moment. During this feud Punk cemented himself as a face of the WWE. The summer of Punk was so exciting and had me on my toes waiting to watch RAW everyweek - I felt like I was a kid again, back when I followed the concepts of storylines and heels/faces without reading up on forums and threads.

You had guys like Christian and Randy beating each other up every week on Smackdown, Rhodes creating his own title streak, Zack Ryder became an internet sensation, Henry finally became the animal he should have been 10 years ago, we saw some of the best promos in years along with some of the best feuds in years.

2011 had everything it needed to be one of those classic years of WWE/F. We talk about wanting a better show all the time and our expectations are rarely ever met, but I think it's safe to say that for IWC fans and 'casual' fans alike there were alot of smiles, dropped jaws and excitement during 2011.

Your thoughts?
 
2011 was ok the first half was good the 2nd half sucked.

2011 : First Half

Royal Rumble was good. Booker-T and Diesel's returns were great.

The Rock returned.

Even the one time return of JBL was great.

2011 : Second Half

Christian became World Champion but got one 5 day reign and the second one was forgettable.

A copy of Brock Lesnar/Big Show -2003 ring break with Mark Henry/Big Show and commentators pretended like it had never happened before.

CM Punk doesn't interest me a bit.

WWE Championship wasn't intresting again like Punk claimed. The title design stayed the same etc.

Kane/John Cena fued was just boring. Just another attempt by WWE to make fans like Cena.
 
I have to agree that 2011 was a great year.

Ive been watching since 99, (stopped watching between 06-09, only watched the manias). So thats what I have to compare it to.

2011 will go down as my 4th fav year after the 1st 3 and i would take into account the 1st 3 are probably up there for nostalgic reasons.

Im a big christian fan so i was pleased to see him get a good fued for a world title. Ok he didnt hold the title for long on either occasion but i was very interested in his whole program. 1st i thought he was gonna be in a triple threat at mania with edge and adr all the way to him goin into a major event like summerslam as champ.

Im also a big fan of punk. His promo was so good i had to show it to my brother and some of my friends, all of whom have no interest in wrestling.

Was taken by surprise when rock returned. I dont know how i didnt call it. i never expected the rock to be in a wwe ring again until his acting career was well over.

I was happ for ryder when they started to use him as i did watch all of his youtube videos and began to support the cause. Why arent they using him anymore?

I enjoyed Henry too. I never thought i would again with the way they were using him. I did actually like his heel work in 06 i think against batista.

There is a load more of 2011 i liked, just cant write on here all day.

There are, like every year, things you dont like. I didnt like nash or hhh getting involved with punk. I didnt like mania 27 that much either.

It is looking like 2012 might be just as good too. Just look at the return of lesnar, a fantastic mania 28 and the rise of bryan.
 
I don't it was and here's why.

I mostly judge years based off their big cards, so for a scorecard for 2011 I would say that the Royal Rumble was solid, Wrestlemania was mediocre, Summerlsam was overshadowed by Money in the Bank, Survivor Series had potential but failed to live up to it

In fact I think the whole year had potential but didn't live up to it. Punk's push amounted to same ol', same ol'. The Rock/Cena build didn't get going til 2012 really. Miz floundered, Ziggler was used to get everyone over except himself, Christian's moment was booked poorly, Triple H as on screen COO ended too quickly, Taker left again and only a few people really came into their own.

The three main guys for me were Daniel Bryan, Mark Henry and Randy Orton, which tells you a lot about the state of Raw in 2011. Johnny Ace and Snooki were surprisingly good though
 
Not really. I hope this year and next will be more fondly remembered - because of Daniel Bryan, lesnar and the Rock. I'd love to see Cena turn heel on Undertaker and end his streak at WM. Would be amazing.

CM Punk face turn was great for the first 2 weeks, Then it became boring- because he became boring.

Loved 1998 best, but the best year since then has probably got to be 2005 - HBK turning heel - wow - that rolled back the years.
 
Del Rio winning the Rumble, MITB and the WWE championship were not highlights for me. Actually it was part of the problem with 2011. I'd say 2011 was a let down of a year. Miz headlining WM only to be overshadowed by a guy who wasn't even in the match. Del Rio's shakey and time consuming build only to bomb as champion, the squandering of CM Punk's face turn. A classic summer, absolutely. But the year it'self was nothing to brag about.
 
2011 was a great year. But it could have been one of the best.

One of the most painstaking procedures that ruined what could have been one of the best years ever was the on-the-fly booking.

The conspiracy should have been a HUGE angle, and they were building it correctly. Even after the mishap with Kevin Nash's medical issues causing a HHH/Punk match, the seeds were planted for the angle to take off, and it would have brought the Punk story full circle.

Then they decided to make last second changes (keep in mind, there was one RAW circa September or October that was reportedly re-written FIVE times). Eventually, instead of who was behind it, it turned into punishing Miz and Truth, which ended with an anti-climatic finish at Survivor Series.

Up until late-August though, I would definitely consider 2011 to have been one of WWE's best of late, no doubt. I just wish they had been able to finish.

Not to mention, putting the title on ADR, only to pull it off soon after, just to put it back on.
 
It depends on how you look at it. If you look at the first half of the year it was mediocre/decent. We had some good matches with edge and dolph ziggler, A great heel title run by The Miz, The Rock returning was great(although it overshadowed the WWE Champion) and we had a pretty good feud between Orton and Punk. Other than that it was pretty bad. The summer however, was awesome. Christian and Orton matches were great, CM Punk vs John Cena was Incredible, Dolph Ziggler had nice matches and mark henry had a great character change. However by the end of the year a lot of things were ruined. Alberto Del Rios title run, Air Boom and of course The Miz got the blame for the buyrates of Survior Series which kind of ruined his chances of getting back in the main event scene for a while
 
Diesel returning at Royal Rumble, R-Truth's heel turn and title hunt, The Summer Of Punk, The emergence of Alberto Del Rio as a Royal Rumble winner and WWE Champion, Egde's last match, Rock's in ring return at a historic Survivor Series....Yep! All the elements of a classic Year
 
For me personally, 2011 will always be remembered as a classic, fantastic year for the WWE. Here are the reasons why:

-The year got off to such a hot start. The first RAW of the year was one of its best, and the first SmackDown of the year was THE best. We saw John Morrison looking like a legit contender on the verge of a main event push, Alex Riley looking like a kick ass sidekick and Alberto Del Rio making an impressive rise to the top. The Rock, Booker T and Kevin Nash all made their returns to the company which was exciting stuff.

-Edge had his last run in the WWE, and it was a good one. He got to go out as a face which was good to see. People wanted to cheer him, as was evident by his 2010 heel turn failing.l

-R-Truth and his conspiracy storyline. People seem to forget how good it really was. It was edgy, had racial undertones and was a sign of good things to come in the WWE. Truth never got the credit he deserved for this storyline.

-The two "Stone Cold" RAWs in the spring. Call me crazy, but I enjoyed these way more than anything The Rock has done since his return.

-Everything about the summer. The summer of 2011 is my favorite summer in WWE history. The CM Punk storyline was amazing, and the fact that Money in the Bank was in his hometown made it the perfect storm. I'm usually against 20+ minute segments, but the ones Punk pulled off with Cena, McMahon and HHH during the summer of '11 are worth watching again and again. Money in the Bank remains one of the best shows of all-time in my eyes.

-Mark Henry's push is another reason 2011 kicked ass. After years of being a bum, he became an unstoppable monster that disobeyed authority and destroyed everything in his path.

-HHH as COO. I know many members of the IWC hated this, but I really enjoyed his work as the man in charge.

So that's an overview of why I loved 2011. Sure, there were a few blunders in 2011 (screwing up Del Rio's push, ruining the conspiracy storyline, etc), but overall it was great.
 
The summer of 2011 was certainly one to remember. I stopped watching wrestling in 2006 (occasional RAWs and WM each year being the exception) but CM Punk and the COO angle interested me. I ordered MITB. First non WM ppv I ordered since 2002. Punk still has me interested in the current product. 2011 definitly left its mark, IMO.
 

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