Benoit/Jericho/Angle- The Three Saviours!?

[gully side adidja]

During the attitude era, wrestling was at it's most populaur, crash tv, surprises, shocks, violence, you had everything............ well almost.


Despite the popularity of that era, the one thing not up to quality, was the actual wrestling matches itself, the majority of the mtches were just brawls, and showmanship, no real technical/grappling to be seen, ENTER BENOIT/JERICHO/ANGLE!


By the time benoit came at the start of 2000, the actual quality of the wrestling matches, not the brawls or fights, improved HUGELY, go back to 00-05, these three had great matches with anyone, EVEN BETTER when facing one another, they had the legit mat/suplex skills, and made other stars they fought look good, an example for each are, angle vs undertaker 03, benoit vs triple h 04, and jericho vs the rock no mercy 2001, they IMO brought the wrestling purists, who did not like the crash, crude, in your face brawl style of the attitude era, they also made you care for them and made you intrigued to watch their matches something technical guys lack these days(shelton,swagger, take notes), if it wasn't for these guys i think the attitude era style of matches could still be around today.


So basically what i am asking is, do you agree or disagree that these three stars brought back technical wrestling to wwf/e?, or not, and did they have a influence on the type of wrestling displayed today , yes or no i want to hear your views.

 

[King Patrick Star]

I agree with your statement that these three men brought Pro Wrestling back to Sports Entertainment. The following is, of course, just my opinion. We are talking about the BEST Wrestler in the WWE today. We are talking about the BEST Wrestler in the TNA today. We are talking about the BEST Wrestler in the HWF (Heaven (or Hell, I don't know for sure) Wrestling Federation) today. WrestleMania 2000 was headlined by The Rock, Mick Foley, The Big Show, and Triple H, but Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, and Kurt Angle stole the show. They each had the ability to make just about anyone look good. To prove to their testament, just take a look at what Jericho and Angle are doing today.

 

[Genius_Deadman]

for sure they helped save it. they balanced the shows and PPV's with their technical in ring work and made guys like the Rock and Austin, who could work their style, into looking decently all around in the ring. Angle & Benoit could work with anyone. Jericho too, but Jericho also had the mic element to his personality. he could spark up a feud and steal the show with just one promo. they had a big part in the 2000-2005 era of WWE

 

[wrestler36]

I agree with this assessment to an extent. These are 3 of my favorite wrestlers of all time and their wrestling abilities are all superb; however, I feel it's more character driven than wrestling driven that these men were able to showcase their talents. For example, Angle's character is driven by his 96 gold medal, so he's always going to come off as a wrestling machine. Benoit, while decent on the mic but not very interesting, HAD to rely on his tenacity and wrestling ability and Hart connection to get over. Steve Austin was the hell raisin' redneck and took WWE into the stratusphere, but if given the chance, he can 'wrestle' with the best of them. Just look at his WCW days. Edge and Christian are another group of guys with amazing wrestling ability. But during this era, the TLC type matches and being smart asses were what they were known for. Even Guerrero was caught up with Latino Heat and Lying, Cheating, Stealing, but can wrestle circles around people if need be.

I agree with you that Benoit/Angle/Jericho are some of the best technical wrestlers and showed some great stuff during that era, but truth be told, several other wrestlers could have been showcasing their talents in the same way had not been for their character portrayals or storylines.

 

[Husker]

Yeah the WWE was fantastic when these gents were wrestling, plus add the drawing power of Rock, HHH, Foley, & SCSA. It's hard not to see why the WWE crushed WCW back in the day.

I really do think that with the right push someone like Shelton Benjamin could be the next Benoit.

 

[CrunKSinatrA]

Yes they definitely brought back pure wrestling and changed the product, but not exactly for the better. Angle, Benoit, and Jericho made the style more realistic but they also took the crowd out of the equation. By making the style more realistic, we no longer have 10 count punches in the corner and 10 count face slams into the ring post. Even though they aren't realistic, they get the crowd involved. Now, the crowds don't go insane like when the Rock or Stone Cold would come out and they don't pop for any five knuckle shuffles or finishing moves. It's old school but they should bring them back into use in the undercard matches so the main events can be more realistic with a juiced crowd ready to put the wrestlers over. Not every one can work a Kurt
Angle style match because not every one is on par with Kurt Angle but Jack Swagger can punch a dude in a corner 10 times to get the crowd hyped up so John Cena and Randy Orton can get some decent heat during their fights.

 

[gully side adidja]

These three are definatly the saviors if it wern't for these three, the art of grappling would have never resurrected, bret was the last before these three in 97, the amount of moty matches they had was unbelievable, legit performers are a dying breed nowadays.