Hottest year for any ONE wrestler

[PsychoBlack]

Every year there is always one wrestler who stands out from everyone else. It can be said that some people have this type of impact year in and year out which in some cases is true. But i want to know who Wrestlezone thinks had the best year for any wrestler at any point in time. My pick has to be RVD in 2002. In this year Rob's popularity began to soar as night in and night out he was always getting one of the best pop's of anyone on the roster. He was a top 5 pick in thee WWE draft and won every title in the WWE (he was screwed out of the undisputed title) including the intercontinental title 3 times while unifying it with the European and Hardcore title's. In that year he also went on to beat 8 world champions and compete in the first ever elimination chamber. There is only one Wrestler who i can think of that had a year like this and that was sting in 1997 but that still does not top Rob's year.

 

[WCWMondayNitroOnYT]

How could you not possibly pick Goldberg's 1998? He comes in as a virtual unknown at the end of 1997. He demolishes everybody he comes in contact with and even beats Scott Hall and Hollywood Hogan in the same night to become the WCW World Heavyweight Champion. The only blemish on his year was losing to Nash at Starrcade thanks to Hall's stungun. No other year even comes close imo. Goldberg was, in every sense of the phrase, da man. RVD from any year has nothing on Goldberg when it comes to his meteoric rise in 1998 when he was both the US and World Heavyweight Champion. Case closed.

 

[Aeon Mathix]

Idk how either of you can't say Brock Lesnar. Its a non argument for me. Think about it, Brock debuted on television a little bit after wrestlemania, won the king of the ring, took out hulk hogan, was supposed to go over stone cold, defeated the rock at summerslam, defeated Taker in hell in a cell, Then went on to win his first ever royal rumble, but also beating the big show earlier in the night, then in his FIRST wrestlemania he main evented with kurt angle and won the wwe title. Thats what I call dominence and I don't see that kind of year ever being repeated

 

[#hamler]

Brock Lesnar 2002
How could anyone argue that 2002 was the year of Broke Lesnar, not just in the WWE, but the wrestling world. The nickname "The Next Big Thing" doesn't come easily. He truely was the next big thing. After making his debut the night after Wrestlemania 18, he began feuding with Jeff Hardy and faced him at Backlash, winning by Knockout. The next night, he beat Matt the same way. By Judgement day he beat the Hardyz single handed. He beat RVD in the finals for the King of the Ring tournament. At Summerslam he defeated The Rock of all people to win the WWE Championship after only a few months of being in the WWE. He was only 25 years old at the time and was (and still is) the youngest WWE Champion ever (Randy Orton was not WWE Champion). He then went on to feud with the Undertaker in many matches which included matches like Biker chain matches and also their famous Hell in a Cell match. Name one time the WWE has put so much into one "rookie". Having him main event Summerslam and carrying the company by holdings its top belt (besides Sheamus). 2002 was the year of Brock Lesnar and its kinda a shame he only lasted 2-3 years with the WWE.

EDIT- Brock won both the 2002 PWI Wrestler of the Year and 2002 PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year.

CASE CLOSED.

SECOND EDIT- A few posters are saying Brock main evented Wrestlemania. He did not do that in 2002. The OP is saying any one year. You can't mention him winning his first Championship, Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania because they were not in the same year.

 

[Attitude]

Top three guys are going to be Kurt Angle, Goldberg, and Brock Lesner.

Kurt Angle-Won both the European Championship and Intercontintal Championship and held both at the same time. Remember he was the Eurocontintal Champion. He won the King of the Ring. He also won the WWE Championship.

Brock Lesner-King of the Ring, Royal Rumble, WWE Champion, and Main Event at WM. Held victories over Kurt Angle, The Undertaker, Hollywood Hulk Hogan, and The Rock. Awesome year.

Goldberg-One of the greatest Undeafeted streaks in the Wrestling Business. Went from being unknown to defeating Hogan at the Georgia Dome in One year.

Honourable Mentions:

The Rock 2002-2003:Beat Hogan WM 18. Goes on to have one more title reign. No Way Out beat Hogan again. WM19 Finally beat Austin at the Grandest Stage of them all.

Batista 2005:Went from being a midcarder and the enforcer of Evolution to Main Event Pushes. Probably one of the best jobs WWE did of pushing a guy. Royal Rumble win. Wins World Championship at WM from Triple H. Beat Triple H a total of three times. Triple H still hasn't beaten Batista. Has to be one of the best fueds ever. Batista goes to Smackdown and has great fueds with Eddie Guerrero and JBL. Plus the Raw vs. SD rivalry.

 

[PsychoBlack]

How could you not possibly pick Goldberg's 1998? He comes in as a virtual unknown at the end of 1997. He demolishes everybody he comes in contact with and even beats Scott Hall and Hollywood Hogan in the same night to become the WCW World Heavyweight Champion. The only blemish on his year was losing to Nash at Starrcade thanks to Hall's stungun. No other year even comes close imo. Goldberg was, in every sense of the phrase, da man. RVD from any year has nothing on Goldberg when it comes to his meteoric rise in 1998 when he was both the US and World Heavyweight Champion. Case closed.

My thing about Goldberg was who the hell did he beat and how did he wrestle so many matches in his streak? I t was career jobbers night in and night out. Sure he beat Raven, Hall, and Hogan but after that you have guys like Meng and Brand Armstrong while their were guys in WCW that could have made the streak look so much more credible (Luger, Hennig, Benoit, Savage). Also there is no way he was wrestling that kind of schedule to where he would win 12 matches in seven days It just is not possible.

 

[MisterMondayNight]

John Cena from Unforgiven 2006 to his injury.

He held the title during that whole period.First he beat Edge in his specialty match in his hometown. He ended Umaga's vaunted winning streak. He cleanly beat HBK at Wrestlemania 23. He was a tag-team champion at one point during that year. He also had PPV victories over Edge, Randy Orton, The Great Khali, a hot Bobby Lashley,and 4 others in a 5-pack challenge. His team also on at Survivor Series. Not only on of the most dominant title reigns since Hulk Hogan's 4 year reign from 1984-1988.

Also,three of his matches during this time are considered his best he's ever had (The TLC Match vs.Edge, the Last Man Standing Match vs.Umaga, and the hour match vs.HBK.)

His impressive run would've continued if not for his injury;he came back and won the RR, a testament to how over he was during this time.

 

[Aeon Mathix]

A few posters are saying Brock main evented Wrestlemania. He did not do that in 2002. The OP is saying any one year. You can't mention him winning his first Championship, Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania because they were not in the same year.

This doesn't make sense. While I do like that you also think Lesnar easily had the most dominant year of anyone, he won his first title, won his first rumble, and main evented wrestlemania in the first year he was in the wwe. Yes 2002 and 03 are different years obviously but Lesnar debuted around wrestlemania time in 2002 and I named everything from that time to his wrestlemania 19 title win which was 1 year later

 

[BigLuther]

The obvious choice to me is Brock Lesnar. I'm not gonna go by JUST 2002, but I'm gonna go by his first 365 days in the WWE, which spilled into 2003.

He debuts the night after WM X8, and destroys about 5 guys. Wins King of the Ring three months later. Wins the WWE Championship two months after that. Took Hulk Hogan out of action. Won the Royal Rumble. Main evented WM XIX and won the WWE Championship for a second time. No one has hit the WWE harder in their first year than Brock Lesnar.

 

[Tattooed Jesus]

I gotta throw in Big Daddy Cool Diesel aka Kevin Nash for his run in 1994, at the Royal Rumble that year he impressively eliminated 7 other guys in under 18 minutes. He also won the WWF World Title, Tag Team Titles, and IC Title twice in 1994, thats pretty impressive.

Also CM Punk had a pretty good run from mid 2007 to mid 2008 where he won the ECW Title, the World Title, the WWE Tag Team Titles, and the IC title in about a years time.

 

[Honkey_Kong]

None of those guys had a year that rivaled Hulk Hogan in 1984. He turns face by saving Bob Backlund. Three weeks later defeats the Iron Sheik which sparks the birth of Hulkamania.

On top of that, he was featured in People Magazine, TV Guide, Sports Illustrated, etc. Appeared on the Tonight Show, etc etc. Was the centrepiece in the Rock 'n Wrestling Connection.

I mean he's had other big years like when he slammed Andre, but this was the year that Hogan made wrestling mainstream.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Hottest and Dominant are two different things... Dominant is winning title after title but hot is building momentum over the year or being hot out of the box and staying hot...

Brock had easily the most impact in a year but I wouldn't ever say he was "hot" in terms of overness till his face run. In fact he was simply "being built" in the eyes of most fans... he had Heyman doing the bulk of his work on the stick too..

The man who I think has had the hottest year was Ausin in 1998. Austin started the year hot with the fans, coming back from injury to start a ruckus with Mike Tyson! that was massive in its time and winning the Rumble that night and the title at WM took not only the WWE but Austin into the stratusphere. Austin could do no wrong for the rest of that year and became arguably a bigger phenomenon than Hogan in 84... and being the single biggest reason the momentum in the Monday Nights changed...

 

[thesacredcow]

Austin from WM XIV to WMXV. This year alone is why WWE are still in business. A week after Austin won the title WWF beat WCW in the ratings for the first time in 84 weeks. Austin's run from one Wrestlemania to another was the thing that turned WWF's fortunes around in the Monday Night Wars. Who cares how many titles RVD won in 2002, or how dominant Lesnar was that same year, no one put more asses in seats in one single year than Austin did in that period. The only reason he dropped the belt at all in that year was so The Rock could drop it to him at Wrestlemania. And I'm pretty sure he didn't lose clean once in that time.

 

[The Chosen One of WZ]

Just some quick mentions:

John Cena from around Unforgiven 2006 until he got hurt. He was beast annd main evented like every single PPV

Block Lesner 2002-2003 he destoryed everyone won KOTR, Royal Rumble and WWE title

 

[HailTheGillberg]

Hello! I'm actually new to this thread, so forgive me if I disobey the posting regulations.

I'm going to go with The Undertaker in 1999, during his Ministry of Darkness angle. I say this because he played such an important part in many of the angles that took place that year. Plus, he actually made Viscera...erm, Mabel look important (Royal Rumble - 1999, abduction).

 

[WCWMondayNitroOnYT]

My thing about Goldberg was who the hell did he beat and how did he wrestle so many matches in his streak? I t was career jobbers night in and night out. Sure he beat Raven, Hall, and Hogan but after that you have guys like Meng and Brand Armstrong while their were guys in WCW that could have made the streak look so much more credible (Luger, Hennig, Benoit, Savage). Also there is no way he was wrestling that kind of schedule to where he would win 12 matches in seven days It just is not possible.

Goldberg did beat Hennig at the ppv right after he won the title from Hogan six days later. He beat virtually everybody in the company not to mention he also entered the NWO battle royal and won that as well. I have all the Nitros, Thunders, and ppvs. His winning streak was legit.

He never won 12 matches in seven days. Before he reached the main event, he was wrestling on Nitro, Thunder, and WCW Saturday Night almost every week.

Nobody had a better year than Goldberg.

Also, at the time, Savage and Luger were a part of NWO Wolfpac and since they were a face faction, thats probably the only reason Goldberg didnt go up against Savage or Luger in 98.

 

[makaveli]

All this talk about winning titles and winning matches....it's a WORK guys!!! The only thing that matters is $$$$!! It dosn't matter how many matches you win or how many titles you hold if you can't draw a DIME!! I think nobody rival's Hogan run in the early 80's...I'm talking mainstream exposure!! Rocky III, MTV, Sports Illustrated, talk shows, Make a Wish oh yeah and drawing over 90, 000 to the the SilverDome!! Austin might have brought the WWE back....but Hogan brought professional wrestling to the mainstream!! Without Hulkamania there wold be no RAW's no Wrestlemania, no Royal Rumbles!! I'm not saying he is solely responsible but you can't deny he is the reason why it went from regional local cable TV to NBC!!!

 

[ALEXXXX 12]

Bret hart 2010! Hes held the U.s title at age 107 it doesnt really get much better than that! also Finlay 2010 has had a pretty good year hes made like 1 appearance on smackdown good going Fin!

 

[PsychoBlack]

Goldberg did beat Hennig at the ppv right after he won the title from Hogan six days later. He beat virtually everybody in the company not to mention he also entered the NWO battle royal and won that as well. I have all the Nitros, Thunders, and ppvs. His winning streak was legit.

He never won 12 matches in seven days. Before he reached the main event, he was wrestling on Nitro, Thunder, and WCW Saturday Night almost every week.

Nobody had a better year than Goldberg.

Also, at the time, Savage and Luger were a part of NWO Wolfpac and since they were a face faction, thats probably the only reason Goldberg didnt go up against Savage or Luger in 98.

Yes he did beat Hennig but it was at a time when Hennig meant nothing to the company. If he would have gotten Hennig right after his Feud with DDP or Flair then it would have been great, but he got a guy who was doing nothing at the time and it took him three times as long to beat than it did his other opponents. I dont want to hear the Wolfpack argument either because he lost the title to Kevin Nash, a member of the Wolfpack.

 

[ajnitro13]

i think u could make a case for rvd, but i personally agree with the people who say lesnar. i was at the raw he debuted at, kotring, summerslam where he won, and the royal rumble he won. he was as dominant as u could get over that stretch. goldberg no way please stop bringing him up unless it is most overrated wrestler or worst main event guy

 

[LSN80]

john cena from the time he won the wwe title from edge in their tlc match at unforgiven 2006, til he tore his pectoral right before no mercy 2007. he beat the best in wwe, including up and comers, future hall of famers, and established stars.

unforgiven 2006- John Cena wins the wwe title from edge in a TLC match, Edge's first loss in a TLC match ever. Heck, Cena beat Edge in a TLC match, something even Undertaker couldnt do.

October 2 Raw- Cena retained the WWE championship by defeating Edge in a Steel Cage match.

Survivor Series 2006- Was one of two Survivors on his team, with bobby Lashley being the other. Cena got the deciding pinfall after an FU to the 500 lb Big Show.

Armageddon 2006- Competed alongside Batista as his handpicked partner to defeat Finlay and Booker T in the main event on a SMACKDOWN exclusive brand PPV.

New Years Revolution 2007- Ended Umagas 8 month undefeated streak, defeating him clean by pinfall.

Royal Rumble 2007- Defeated Umaga in a brutal last man standing match when he choked Umaga out with the ring ropes.

No Way Out 2007- Teamed with upcoming Wrestlemania opponent Shawn Michaels to defeat Batista and The Undertaker in the main event of yet another Smackdown exclusive PPV.

Wrestlemania 23- Defeated Shawn Michaels by making him submit to the STFU in the main event of WWEs biggest PPV of the year.

Backlash 2007- Pinned Randy Orton in a Fatal four way match to retain the WWE championship that also involved Edge and HBK.

Judgement Day 2007- Retained the WWE championship when he made the Great Khali tap out to the STFU, Khali's first submission loss in WWE.

Extreme Rules 2007- Retained the WWE cha,mpionship against the Great Khali once again in a Falls Count anywhere match, handing Khali his first pinfall loss in WWE. The following night, he once again retained the championship in a triple threat match against Umaga and Khali.

Great american bash 2007- Defeated Bobby Lashley in the main event with a top rope FU.

Summerslam 2007- Defeated Randy Orton in the main event by pinfall after kicking out of the RKO and delivering an FU.

Unforgiven 2007- Once again retained the WWe championship against Randy Orton, this tiome by disqualification.

Cena was forced to vacate the title the week before No Mercy 2007 due to tearing his pectoral muscle. He had held the WWE championship for over a year, unheard of in an era where the titles are passed around like a hot potato.

Not only did Cena hold the title for over a year, he did so in every type of match imaginable. He fought in a TLC match, a Steel Cage Match, a Last Man Standing Match, triple threat macthes, and a fatal four way match. He ended Umagas undefeated streak, pinned the Great Khali for the first time ever, and also made him submit for the first time ever. He competed in two Smackdown PPV main events, despite being a Raw superstar. This is when PPVs were still brand exclusive. Cena's dominance and (over a) year of dominance was the hottest year for any wrestler in recent memory due to his consitency and lack of stumbling at all. No one has matched his year since, or come close.

 

[Dyno Kid]

None of those guys had a year that rivaled Hulk Hogan in 1984. He turns face by saving Bob Backlund. Three weeks later defeats the Iron Sheik which sparks the birth of Hulkamania.

On top of that, he was featured in People Magazine, TV Guide, Sports Illustrated, etc. Appeared on the Tonight Show, etc etc. Was the centrepiece in the Rock 'n Wrestling Connection.

I mean he's had other big years like when he slammed Andre, but this was the year that Hogan made wrestling mainstream.

I'd say 1985 was a bigger year for Hogan. He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated(not 84), was in the main event of the first Mania, had his match with Piper on MTV in the Brawl to Settle the Score, appeared on Saturday Night Live, was the main guy on the first Saturday Nights Main Event, was the main character on the WWF Saturday morning cartoon, and 85 was the year the WWF took off.

 

[Wolf Pac]

I would say Kurt Angle or Brock Lesnar but they wasnt as impactful as Stone Cold back in 98, so I go with Stone Cold. Austin not only put himself on the map by winning the Rumble, winning the WWF Title but he put the WWF back on the map with his feud with McMahon. It was an impact on the whole wrestling world in fact cause his feud was what truly made the Attitude Era.

 

[goodlay]

Kurt Angle (2000) - He came in as the Olympic Hero and he had an undefeated streak going into 2000. He held the Euro and IC titles simultaneously, he won KOTR, he was WWE champ by the end of the year and a legitimate main eventer.

Goldberg (1998) - Built up as an unstoppable monster who was undefeated in 174 matches. I'd say that's pretty damn impressive. Nothing in pro wrestling matches it.

Brock Lesnar (2002) - Billed as "The Next Big Thing" with Paul Heyman as his mouthpiece. Absolutely took apart members of the WWE roster, including the Hardys, RVD, The Rock, and Undertaker. He won KOTR that year and was WWE champion by Summerslam.

 

[klunderbunker]

Yeah most of you have no clue what you're talking about.

If you say ANYTHING other than Austin in 1998 you're flat out wrong and that's all there is to it. The WWF didn't beat WCW in 1998. Steve Austin did. The fans were there to see him and no one else. He carried WWF to the lead over WCW and never looked back once. His merchandise sales were astronomical, his matches kicked ass, he won two world titles, he beat Shawn at Mania, he was involved with Mike Tyson, he headlined almost every show, the numbers he drew were remarkable and the man could do no wrong.

Goldberg in 98? No. He didn't mean anything serious until about April when he won the US Title. Then in July he won the world title and wasn't even the main focus of the show for the majority of the year. For the next two months it was about Hogan vs. celebrities and then it was about Hogan vs. Warrior. Goldberg's title reign in 98 was far from memorable or special.

Other names I've seen in here are RVD. Are you kidding me? Until ECW came back, RVD is little more than a celebrated midcard guy. He never got close to the main event until 2006 and while he was having good matches, he certainly wasn't a mega star. Comparing something like that even to Goldberg is a joke, period.

Hogan in 84.....maybe. The thing is about that year is while he was getting hot, his potential was still growing. It wasn't until a few years later when things got HUGE that Hogan was at his peak, around 87-88. He was big then but nowhere near as big as Austin in 98.

The thing about Austin in 98 is that more or less single handedly he was carrying the company. Yes there were other stars there and other great stuff was going on, but if you believe for one second that people weren't tuning in to see Austin above all else, you're kidding yourselves. Consider this: Austin wasn't on top in 97 and the other guys were. You shift the top spot to Austin with the same roster underneath him other than Hart and Shawn and the WWF surges ahead. Austin was the man people wanted to see and his year then was absolutely untouchable. It's Austin in 98 and anyone else you name is dead wrong.