A New Era

[Lee]

Notice I missed the word attitude out? Yup, I meant to. There will never be a 'new attitude era' so get over it. Alas I digress.

Professional wrestling generally goes through stages of peaks and troughs, the last main peak, I guess, was the attitude era and obviously Hulkamania, and I was very impressed with a WWE PPV for the first time in quite a while, it made me think why? Then I realised that the stars of the show who got the headlines was not HHH, Taker or HBK but Cena, Orton, Jeff and Edge.

Then this lead me to think some more, and I think we may be on the brink of the passing of the torch to the new era.

Think of it...

Raw;

Mr McMahon is 'no longer in the picture' which leads us to Steph and Shane running the show.

John Cena is once again champion on Raw. Now he has been a few times, but I have noticed a new found level of respect for the guy, where with his last reign people (as in us for sure) were just pissed off!

Then there is Randy Orton who is doing a brilliant job as a tweener, and I can see him going far.

Even the IC belt seems to be shaping up with this tourny in pace (granted it may be a bit premature to say it, but I hope it's true)

Then on ECW we have the young guys coming up, the potential futures of the company starting at the bottom. I find it quite exciting. Plus of course Miz/Morrison even a much improved Mark Henry/Matt Hardy.

Then Smackdown! where HHH has just been pinned, with Edge the new champion. Again Edge has been champion before but this really kicked opened the door to a four way feud for the belt.

We have the undefeated monster in Koslov (technically beaten in the triple threat but not pinned, I can see them going with that)

We have Jeff 'Joker' Hardy and WWE taking a huge risk with his recent storyline, cutting edge.

And then a midcard of Benjamin, R-Truth, MVP (when he stops jobbing), THE Brian Kendrick...and the biggest surprise of all the great Khali.

This added with such legends as Taker and HBK who are still pulling out the stops is making for interesting viewing. Taker's taken a back seat from the title and I can honestly seeing Trips doing that in a few months. With the impending HBK/Morrison feud and I think he'll put a young guy over as he has done many a time.

Can anyone else see this going in a good direction? Before Survivor series I was worried, after that and the subsequent Raw I am pretty sure the future's looking good.

 

[The Undercover Man]

Of Course there will never be another Attiude Era, there will be things that come close but we will never experience that kind of thing again. i think its fair to say it was once in a life time and we as fans should be grateful we got to see such great entertainment. People who wish or want it to comback are living in la la land, it will never, ever occur again.

FLUK is right, the last two main peaks were the Attitude Era and Hulkamania, as i said earlier about the Attitude Era thats something we will never experience again but as for the Hulkmania peak i think we are, in John Cena. Think about it, Cena isjust like Hogan in the way he has so many fans, his main fans base is kids and he is a huge babyface. Cena sells merchandise as if its going out of fashion and the income he generates is mind blowing compared to any other wrestler in the WWE

I think we're past that "brink" of passing on the torch to the younger generation, i hink that happened along time ago. Wrestlers like HBK, Triple H and Taker have only held the title for mainly short periods apart from Triple H's last reign. The younger stars are now starting to take over and have an effect on the company and the fans. Take Kofi Kingston for example, new guy who came in a few months back. He has recieved huge cheers and now has a relationship with the fans, he knows how to wow the fans and get them involed wehter its by doing the "bom boom" move or by doing a little bit of showmanship in the ring. Same with Miz and Morrison, exact same style. they have plenty of fans even though their heel and they know how and when to get the corwd going and when to recive boos. so i personaly think that change has happend already.

Mr McMahon is 'no longer in the picture' which leads us to Steph and Shane running the show.

Yeah, the McMahon angle with the two "kids" running the show is certainly and indication that Vince is going to keep behind his nice, comfy desk at WWE offices. i think these two will run things from now and let Vince take a backseat.

John Cena is once again champion on Raw. Now he has been a few times, but I have noticed a new found level of respect for the guy, where with his last reign people (as in us for sure) were just pissed off!

People were like that towards Hulk Hogan when he first came on the scene, fans were unsure of him and critizised him for not being able to wrestle when infact wrestling ability does'nt really matter. Many people are starting to come round to Cena being champ and a fan favourite.

Then there is Randy Orton who is doing a brilliant job as a tweener, and I can see him going far.

Randy is another guy who has taen over form the old starts of yesterday, he is another reason as to why WWE is starting to go in a new direction.

Even the IC belt seems to be shaping up with this tourny in pace (granted it may be a bit premature to say it, but I hope it's true)

The IC belt is certainly getting better competitors for it and better matches. even though many people say Santino has made it a joke, i like the way they have built the belt aroundhim these last few months. Santino is a guy that will help WWE move on from the old stars and bring it into its one

Then on ECW we have the young guys coming up, the potential futures of the company starting at the bottom. I find it quite exciting. Plus of course Miz/Morrison even a much improved Mark Henry/Matt Hardy.

As FLUK suggested ECW is basically a breeding ground as is making all of these new wrestlers for the future, i can see how WWE is using ECW now. Possibly the build a new company around these stars and tomake the overall wrestling better.

Then Smackdown! where HHH has just been pinned, with Edge the new champion. Again Edge has been champion before but this really kicked opened the door to a four way feud for the belt.

The Survivor Series match with mostly young wrestlers involved has certainly spread a few new feuds about and i have noticed most will be between young stars liek Kozlov vs Hardy or Edge vs Hardy. Very intresting stuff

We have the undefeated monster in Koslov (technically beaten in the triple threat but not pinned, I can see them going with that)

many new wrestlers have done the exact same with Kozlov, i can see this gimmickgoing far and gelling in well with the new WWE and the transitional period if one ever comes along again.

We have Jeff 'Joker' Hardy and WWE taking a huge risk with his recent storyline, cutting edge.

The WWE has had to be innovative with storylines more as appose to the in rign work thanks to the new PG rating. I also like tis Hardy "joker" gimmick. Its certainly a good way fo portraying a young wrestlers woes and conveying his personal life through storylines.

And then a midcard of Benjamin, R-Truth, MVP (when he stops jobbing), THE Brian Kendrick...and the biggest surprise of all the great Khali.

The mid card on Smackdown is also filled with young wrestlers like R-Truth and dare i say it MVP, stars of the future who are helping WWE to evolve

i think we are right in saying WWE is going or has gone through a transitional preiod, we had the RAW showing on Monday which further gave us proof of Vince maybe not returning and the two kids running the business. We've sen new, young talent win the belt as appose to The Undertaker or Triple H. I think this is a step in the right direction, no more old, washed up stars clogging the brands and with all due respect to Taker and HBK i hope they play a minimal part in title reigns, i just want to see the yong guys experience their first title reign, their first title defence and their first big moment.

 

[Final Form Snyper.]

That was just unessessarily long ^^ lol.

I still think the IC title has been tarnished by Santino I mean he is no wrestler more of a comedian, not to mention one of the only times he defends it.... he loses it.

I hope Regal can help shape it back to where it is meant to be rather then the laughing point of WWE.

 

[Checkmate]

Well, I agree with all of the above. The WWE is going to go in a different direction, but only in the past month or few weeks even have I gotten the feeling that they have the necessary talent to achieve something again.

1. McMahons. The segment on RAW was good stuff, and while I do believe Vince will be back in the future, I'm liking the rest of the family as well.

2. Championships. They have been changing hands, and not just on PPV. These little shakeups used to occur all the time, but then became incredibly easy to predict. Good to see them shaking things up a bit.

3. ECW. A great place to let people into the main event. The borders of ECW should be open all the time to allow people in and out. ECW could openly feud with themselves and RAW and Smackdown guys. It makes things interesting.

4. Edge and Cena. They both returned and won gold, but this is just the beginning. Guys like DH Smith, guys from TNA, and others like Umaga and Kennedy are all going to be in the spotlight soon. With talent cuts looming, I'm hoping that these returns/additions will help beef up the rosters.

This and other stuff, like the Koslov situation, should keep things going for months to come, but hopefully creative knows how to not make things stale.

I'm a little worried about the HBK/JBL thing going on right now. Hopefully this doesn't lead to a Wrestlemania showdown of the two Texans. Hopefully...

 

[Showtime]

I agree right with you FLUK, the WWE is going through massive changes right now. You disagree that this is very much not another attitude era, I disagree. Obviously were not gonna see DX and people disrespected one and other, that was so late 1990's, our era seems to be on good solid sportsmanship and working hard (Yahh for us I guess). Much like the attitude era, WWE shifted gears, pushed newer talent, and just laid stuff out there and let things happen, and things did happen; things like Austin, DX, The Rock. The WWE is letting that happen by pushing the newer talent and letting the older ones sit back and rest for a bit. HHH, HBK, JBL, Kane, Big Show, Jericho, Mysterio, The Undertaker have been in the main event scene in the WWE since 2003, for many they've been in it longer than 5 years. All getting up there in age, add in Batista who won the title in 2005, but is already pretty old in age as it is and you got a very aging upper card. With two world titles and 3 shows, there is going to still be lots of room for these stars to be apart of the scene, many will probably still get a few more reigns, but it's time that WWE begin building another solid foundation of talent beneath the already solid one of Orton, Cena, Edge, and Jeff Hardy.

Your going to probably see those 4 battling it for the world titles for the next 4 years easily. Throw in some younger talent, like Punk, Kozlov, MVP, Morrison, Benjamin, Kennedy, and the veterans will still get a few reigns and that's what it'll be like for the next few years. Were going to see a passing of the torch, many of those older wrestlers mentioned will be gone or appear sporadically in the next 4 years and it's up to them now to help put over the future of the WWE such as Morrison/Miz, Benjamin, Rhodes/DiBiase, Kendrick, MVP, Punk and the new big four of Edge, Orton, Cena, Hardy.

The new era has already begun FLUK, we just haven't picked a name for it yet.

 

[The Redcrosse Knight]

I would call this the Modern Era for WWE
Clearly Cena is the face of this era and how the fans respond to him is revealing. THere's the Attitude Era that is represented by the generation who boo Cena, the new PG generation that cheers Cena, and the 80's/Early 90's generation that is indifferent and longs for the 'glory days'. It's a strange time to be a wrestling fan with so many vocalized differing opinions. That being said, it's a great amalgamation of cartoony characterization, unecessary stunts, and classic pro wreslting (though I'd like to see more of the last one).
All of these era's have come with their gifts. THe 80's/Early 90's of the WWE gave us the hype, best charachterized in Wrestlemania. The Attitude Era gave us Heavyweight title chnages... on TV! I'm looking forward to seeing waht this Era will be remembered for, as they have both of these tools in their box.

 

[klunderbunker]

This is the first time that WWE has been at full strength to be able to lead themselves in a new direction. Cena, love him or hate him, is the biggest wrestling star in the world right now and will be for several years to come. He is the crown jewel of WWE, and mixing him in with no Vince but a true authority figure on Raw could echo, albeit never live up to, Austin vs. Vince. It's clear that the last few weeks ahve really picked up with Cena back and the product is a lot better. The question that matters though, is can this continue? If it does, then I'm fully on board with the new way. If it gets to a peak and then falls back, I'll shake my head and it'll be another classic case of WWE being lazy.

 

[Gutter Phenomenon]

This new era is going to bring a lot more fast pace, and action main events. Look at some of the names listed and you'll see this. Hardy, Edge, Orton, Benjamin, MVP, Kendrick, Kingston, Punk, Morrison, Miz, etc. They're all a lot smaller than the average main-eventers of HHH, Austin, Rock, Hogan. It looks like WWE is trying to cater to more relatable characters, size wise. Although, the only way WWE is truly going to trascend into the new era, is with the young gen promo work. Although I would say the creative team is doing a great job of making good promos for the younger guys. Take Kendrick for example. When he was with London he had no voice and nothing to give to the fans besides his talent. Now he has his voice, muscle, and even his gimmick is working for him. If WWE can do that for the rest of the young guns than things will defintely be fine. Lastly, on an outside note, Morrison is actually making Tough Enough seem successful to an extent.