Was 2002-2003 A Good Era For Wrestling?

[Con T.]

Let's see how this pans out for ProWrestlingFan and The History

 

[Tastycles]

I stopped watching wrestling for nearly 6 years because of 2002. Lesnar? Fuck off.

 

[a0161613]

Outside of the Smackdown Six, it was shit.

 

[BaconBits]

Beats me. I wasn't watching so much then. So I guess no.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

Fuck no times 1000

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

Yes.

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

So really lets see and let me by all means break it down for you what exactly happened in 2002 and 2003:

- 2002 -
This year had a re-run of the NWO, this time in the WWE. It started of with a Royal Rumble that marked out the return of HHH, in fact his favorite moment of his career. Chris Jericho started out as the WWF Undisputed Champion after beating Stone Cold and The Rock on the same night, he followed by beating both of them in singles competition in the road to Wrestlemania.

It debuted guys like Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Batista and others that would ultimately main event Wrestlemania years prior and dominate the wrestling business. It had grueling feuds like Chris Jericho and Triple H, and there was also and obviously the iconic match between The Rock and Hulk Hogan. Oh and Eric Bischoff became the Raw's GM, one of the best ever one can argue.

However the year brought something special with it too, it created the World Heavyweight Championship, and a return and we are talking about the return of Shawn Michaels, when he won the WWE Championship inside the FIRST EVER Elimination Chamber and had that amazing 3 Stages of Hell Match with HHH.

It marked the year that TNA and ROH were created also.

- 2003 -
The main event scene started with a forgotten feud between Triple H and Scott Steiner, but more importantly Brock Lesnar won the Rumble to challenge the WWE Champion Kurt Angle (which had a great feud with Benoit).

Some time after WrestleMania XIX brought one of the best Mania's that can go heat to head with WrestleMania 17. It had Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho, Steve Austin vs. The Rock in Austin's last Mania and it ended with Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle, a great match that ended with the botched Shooting Star Press that we all know. Even HHH and Booker T was cool, with the "dark past" that generated controversy in a promo, but better than that was HHH taking on his old-besties in the Kliq.

It was the year that John Cena, Batista and Randy Orton got noticed. The last two by being apart of one of the best stables ever in Evolution, also created in the same year, specially Orton that had become the Intercontinental Championship with great rivalries against the likes of Shawn Michaels and Rob Van Dam.

2003 marked also the year that defined Brock Lesnar's career to this day and where we had Goldberg dominating as well against the likes of HHH. In another note, it was the year that Kane unsmasked itself.

Now after that, tell me how can this two years be possibly considered bad.

 

[Con T.]

I missed Katie Vick portion of your soliloquies

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

I missed Katie Vick portion of your soliloquies

Oh okay, you give me the storyline that was actually dropped and that last something like two weeks. You are an idiot if you evaluate an year for one thing that wasn't even above midcard. It's like saying 1999 was a piece of crap because Mae Young had a hand as a son.

 

[a0161613]

You conveniently forget quite how bad HHH was at this time.

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

You conveniently forget quite how bad HHH was at this time.

Yes, so bad that his Hall of Fame career stands those years as some of the most important things he's done. I can't see how bad he was going, but by all means point it out and I talked about him and Scott Steiner already, and that I grant it was stupid crap and trying to get a good match out of him(Steiner) is as harder as doing it with Otunga nowadays. Other than that, he was the perfect heel and a good face after he returned from that quad injury.

Oh and tell me how awful he was against Shawn Michaels please, by all means.

 

[Con T.]

And how awful the Raw main event scene was.

Nash got two pay per view main events. Two

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

And how awful the Raw main event scene was.

Nash got two pay per view main events. Two

Kevin Nash was a draw, and it had meaning, it wasn't throw away matches. If you, like most of the IWC hate Nash because he sucked in the ring, do it by all means, but if you defend Hogan's legacy, Nash has a quite good legacy too so if he CANT main event PPV's, then no one can.

 

[cult_of_icecream_bar]

Seriously,except the SD 6,what else was there to watch?

 

[Vincent Michaels]

I consider the release of SmackDown: Here Comes The Pain one of the higher points in this era.

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

Seriously,except the SD 6,what else was there to watch?

RVD and Kane, the mid-card (Christian ,Jericho, Rob Van Dam, Lance Storm, etc) Steve Austin and Eric Bischoff as co- RAW GMs, Goldberg, The Rock (Hollywood)

Best PPVs of 2003 : No Way Out 2003, Wrestlemania 19, Backlash 2003, Bad Blood 2003, Survivor Series 2003

[YOUTUBE]XJQ82MeE45Q[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

Seriously,except the SD 6,what else was there to watch?

Seriously? You asked that after I panned out everything worth watching and everything that happened that was relevant? This has turned out to be a popularity contest, since all crap people gave to this year is:

a) One does not like Lesnar, fine with me;
b) One mentions how bad the main event scene was because in 24 months, two had Nash in the main event;
c) Other obviously does not like HHH, so I can't do anything.
d) Ow, and one talks something that happened for no more than 3 weeks in 24 months

However I can't see nobody going against the things that were good about the year. No one really sees how this years changed wrestling as whole, which is pathetic if you ask me. I will maintain my thoughts and opinion on those years, until I SEE reasons not worth watching and just skip it and figure out by myself on how in the blue hell Cena got the crowd in his favor, on how would Randy Orton just break up from a stable that I haven't even saw being created.

 

[Master JM]

If I could vote, I'd say fuck no, just because the bar is pink.

But yeah, 2002-2003 did suck for reasons already stated by others.

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

If I could vote, I'd say fuck no, just because the bar is pink.

But yeah, 2002-2003 did suck for reasons already stated by others.

Actually no, nobody actually gave reasons for 24 months being total crap. So be the first one please.

So really lets see and let me by all means break it down for you what exactly happened in 2002 and 2003:

- 2002 -
This year had a re-run of the NWO, this time in the WWE. It started of with a Royal Rumble that marked out the return of HHH, in fact his favorite moment of his career. Chris Jericho started out as the WWF Undisputed Champion after beating Stone Cold and The Rock on the same night, he followed by beating both of them in singles competition in the road to Wrestlemania.

It debuted guys like Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Batista and others that would ultimately main event Wrestlemania years prior and dominate the wrestling business. It had grueling feuds like Chris Jericho and Triple H, and there was also and obviously the iconic match between The Rock and Hulk Hogan. Oh and Eric Bischoff became the Raw's GM, one of the best ever one can argue.

However the year brought something special with it too, it created the World Heavyweight Championship, and a return and we are talking about the return of Shawn Michaels, when he won the WWE Championship inside the FIRST EVER Elimination Chamber and had that amazing 3 Stages of Hell Match with HHH.

It marked the year that TNA and ROH were created also.

- 2003 -
The main event scene started with a forgotten feud between Triple H and Scott Steiner, but more importantly Brock Lesnar won the Rumble to challenge the WWE Champion Kurt Angle (which had a great feud with Benoit).

Some time after WrestleMania XIX brought one of the best Mania's that can go heat to head with WrestleMania 17. It had Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho, Steve Austin vs. The Rock in Austin's last Mania and it ended with Brock Lesnar vs. Kurt Angle, a great match that ended with the botched Shooting Star Press that we all know. Even HHH and Booker T was cool, with the "dark past" that generated controversy in a promo, but better than that was HHH taking on his old-besties in the Kliq.

It was the year that John Cena, Batista and Randy Orton got noticed. The last two by being apart of one of the best stables ever in Evolution, also created in the same year, specially Orton that had become the Intercontinental Championship with great rivalries against the likes of Shawn Michaels and Rob Van Dam.

2003 marked also the year that defined Brock Lesnar's career to this day and where we had Goldberg dominating as well against the likes of HHH. In another note, it was the year that Kane unsmasked itself.

Now after that, tell me how can this two years be possibly considered bad.

Here start from the beginning please... State that everything I said was crap please.

 

[Tastycles]

I quite enjoyed the first 3 months of 2002. So, I'm really only saying that 21 months were crap.

Given that the average Raw rating for January- March 2002 was 4.7 and for April 2002 - December 2003 it was 3.8, it looks like I'm not the only one to share that opinion.

 

[Con T.]

History you're completely mixing up "changing" with good. We get it, a lot of stars debuted during this era. Most of those stars, save Brock Lesnar, were largely shit, and contributed little to the grand scheme of 02-03.

Your biggest claim is that it shaped the form for later years. Fine, but the talent still wasn't there. And the talent on top, save for Brock and Kurt, largely under delivered.

It's nice to make a hindsight argument that the era introduced stars, but in the now moment, the product was largely unentertaining to the masses, it drove off many fans, and led to a lull in business that would only get saved around 2005

 

[Master JM]

Here start from the beginning please... State that everything I said was crap please.

OK. Everything you said was crap.

 

[Coco]

The fact that Rob Van Dam wasn't elevated to a top face spot on a permanent basis during this period is a sin against professional wrestling.

Triple H refusing to build a new top face while he got to fulfil his fantasy of being a Flair-esque top heel and feud with his buddies is nauseating. All of his self-indulgent bullshit aided in the decline of the business after Rock and Austin left.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I had no idea two years could make an era.

I enjoyed these years but they lead to Eddie and Benoit climbing up the card.

So yes, it was bad era for WWE.

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

The fact that Rob Van Dam wasn't elevated to a top face spot on a permanent basis during this period is a sin against professional wrestling.

Triple H refusing to build a new top face while he got to fulfil his fantasy of being a Flair-esque top heel and feud with his buddies is nauseating. All of his self-indulgent bullshit aided in the decline of the business after Rock and Austin left.

I'm not a fan of Rob Van Dam, but it's your personal taste and I respect that so okay. The last paragraph was just something you read in the "dirtsheets" and absolutely nothing to do with what he produced. I don't care if Cena and CM Punk loved each other or was lovers at Money In The Bank 2011, they ended up having a great storyline and a great match so why are you using backstage things to evaluate the content of two years of wrestling?

Give me examples on what sucked in the content and reasons why I should just skip those two years If I ever re-watch it again. I guess that missing John Cena's debut isn't doing me any harm, or Jericho's first World Title Reign (yeah because that it's never used). I also want reasons for why I should not watch Austin's last match at WrestleMania against The Rock. Well I'm just tired, this is ridiculous, if anything 2002-2003 built the wrestling you saw nowadays.