What was the best year for the WWF/E Title

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Pretty simple question but I'm sure there will be many different responses for many different reasons. So I would like this thread to accomplish a few things:

State what kind of criteria you look at when answering the question.

Description of how the year meets your criteria.

Open up debate on the years presented.

So for me what makes a year the best year for the WWF/E Title are as follows:

Simple story that follows the title
Number of wrestlers challenging for the title
Central storyline for the title
Quality of matches that involved the title

With that criteria, the year I feel was strongest for the title was 1998. The biggest reason I feel this way is because of how simple the story was surrounding the title and how many memorable moments it created. Simply put the title in 1998 was about Stone Cold. The year began with him chasing the title, then it transitioned to him defending the title against stacked odds. When overcoming those odds, they were then hightened which made Kane champ for a day until Austin regained the title. Following that it became tougher for Austin to hold the title until he finally lost it. Then the stroy transformed to Austin holding those back who cost him the title. From there the title was vacated and the stroy expanded the scope of Austin being held back and the year concluded with Austin chasing the title once more to set up the next year.

In addition to the summary above another aspect of the year I enjoyed was the number and quality of competitors going for the title. Outside of Michaels in the beginning of the year and Rock at the end of the year, you have Austin, Mankind, Undertaker and Kane as your central characters around the title and they are intertwined throughout the year. This created some great matches throughout the year including:

Michaels/Taker Casket Match for the Title at the Rumble
Taker/Kane Mania XIV
Michaels/Austin Title match Mania XIV
Austin/Mankind Title matches at the following 2 ppv's
Taker/Mankind HIAC KOTR
Austin/Kane First Blood Match for the Title at KOTR
Austin/Taker Title match at SummerSlam
Austin/Taker/Kane Title matches at the following 2 ppv's
Rock/Mankind/Shamrock #1 contenders cage match
The whole Deadly Game Tournament at Survivor Series
Rock/Mankind Title match on Raw (pretty sure it was before the end of the year)

For me this year was the best because it had many memorable matches, a simple story centered around one wrestler as well as established conntenders going for the title, while creating a new star by years end.

 

[NotoriousMEAT]

I felt 2002 was a pretty good year for the strap, even if it was the Undisputed Championship for the first 8 months. It felt pretty darn important and EVERYBODY challenged for it. On Pay-Per-View alone we had..

Roayl Rumble - Chris Jericho (C) def. The Rock
No Way Out - Chris Jericho (C) def. Stone Cold Steve Austin
WrestleMania X8 - Triple H def. Chris Jericho (C)
Backlash - Hulk Hogan def. Triple H (C)
Judgment Day - The Undertaker def. Hulk Hogan (C)
King of the Ring - The Undertaker (C) def. Triple H
Vengeance - The Rock def. The Undertaker (C) & Kurt Angle
SummerSlam - Brock Lesnar def. The Rock (C)
Unforgiven - Brock Lesnar (C) vs The Undertaker
No Mercy - Brock Lesnar (C) def. The Undertaker (Hell in a Cell)
Survivor Series - Big Show def. Brock Lesnar (C)
Armageddon - Kurt Angle def. Big Show (C)

Some CLASSIC matches! The greatest of all time doing everything they could to become champion. And that's not to mention some of the great TV title matches that took place like The Undertaker & Jeff Hardy's ladder match, or RVD beating The Undertaker for the title, but it being reversed. Undertaker & Kurt Angle also had a great title match on Smackdown. I'm sure there are a few I'm forgetting, but 2002 was fantastic.

 

[theBusiness]

As much hate as it likes to get, I feel it's 2001. The only thing that really hurt this year IMO was having Triple H sidelined. People like to bash on the Invasion angle and although it COULD have been better, you can't deny that you were still heavily entertained by it. 2002 is very arguable as well but I feel there was no true creative direction that year. It was somewhat a transitional year with Austin leaving and Rock becoming a part timer. There was no true face of the company. They tried to do it with HHH as a face, but HHH in his prime is no babyface. Then they tried to do it with Lesnar but we all know how that turned out. The failure of the nWo was more proof of no creative direction that year. All in all, 2001-2002 were the two best years for quality matches/storylines combined. Now if we're talking strictly based on how memorable the year was, I think it's 1998.

 

[ChrisHelms]

Straight Edge Swagger...

That was a pretty good year now that I remember it correctly. That Vengence match was all kinds of fun.

Lesner/Rock was strong and I really liked the Angle/Taker match!

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I felt 2002 was a pretty good year for the strap, even if it was the Undisputed Championship for the first 8 months. It felt pretty darn important and EVERYBODY challenged for it. On Pay-Per-View alone we had..

Roayl Rumble - Chris Jericho (C) def. The Rock
No Way Out - Chris Jericho (C) def. Stone Cold Steve Austin
WrestleMania X8 - Triple H def. Chris Jericho (C)
Backlash - Hulk Hogan def. Triple H (C)
Judgment Day - The Undertaker def. Hulk Hogan (C)
King of the Ring - The Undertaker (C) def. Triple H
Vengeance - The Rock def. The Undertaker (C) & Kurt Angle
SummerSlam - Brock Lesnar def. The Rock (C)
Unforgiven - Brock Lesnar (C) vs The Undertaker
No Mercy - Brock Lesnar (C) def. The Undertaker (Hell in a Cell)
Survivor Series - Big Show def. Brock Lesnar (C)
Armageddon - Kurt Angle def. Big Show (C)

Some CLASSIC matches! The greatest of all time doing everything they could to become champion. And that's not to mention some of the great TV title matches that took place like The Undertaker & Jeff Hardy's ladder match, or RVD beating The Undertaker for the title, but it being reversed. Undertaker & Kurt Angle also had a great title match on Smackdown. I'm sure there are a few I'm forgetting, but 2002 was fantastic.

Just no.

2002 was a terrible year for the WWE and the title in general. Jericho was keeping the belt warm for HHH. They put the belt on Hogan and saw he wasn't doing any good and they put it on Taker who was at his worst in-ring rise. They gave it to Rock just so that he can put over Lesnar. Big Slow had to injure Lesnar before Survivor Series so they put the title on him and Angle basically had to work twice as hard during their Armageddon match. Never was a fan of Angle but I was that night just becasue he had to do the job of two guys.

Basically, the only good matches that year where Jericho/Rock, Taker/Rock/Angle, and to a lesser extent, Brock/Taker.

I would have to go with 2003 if we're talking strictly about the WWE Title when it was on Smackdown. Brock and Angle were the only two champions that year but they were good ones. You had one of the greatest title matches of all time in Benoit/Angle at the Rumble. A great main event at Wrestlemania and Vengeance. Plus, Brock/Angle at Summerslam and their Iron Man match.

 

[mlp420]

I'm going with wacky 1999. The biggest year in WWE history, by far. The year of the classic Rock/Foley title feud and the classic Rock/Austin title feud. As well as Triple H finally getting to the top.

 

[ChrisHelms]

Little Lawler,

Benoit/Angle is not one of the greatest title matches ever.

Not even close. I would understand more if you put the Benoit/HBK/HHH triple from 20, maybe.....that angle/benoit match was at best 4 1/4 stars.

 

[HBKperfect23]

1992:
The roster was at its strongest and they just added in Flair.
Started off with Royal Rumble being the only rumble ever for the title and in my opinion the greatest rumble ever. Flair/Piper and Flair/Hogan were headlining house shows. Macho/Flair was one of the best storylines ever and the match is a timeless classic. The summer of 92 with the Warrior/Savage storyline with Flair/Perfect as great. Something of which we have never really saw. The Summerslam 1992 match was very good and in my opinion very underrated.

Flair got a 2nd run with the title. Didn't last too long and the golden era ended and the new generation started when Bret won the title. Bret/Michaels headlined a great match at Survivor Series 1992. This changed pro wrestling forever, when these two took over the main event.

A lot of range in that year. Paved the way for the future. Many classic matches. Coincidently, I find this to also be the best year of the ic title.

 

[Pedigree1]

I am also going for 2003 as the best year for the Title! Some great amazing matches we had especially that classic between Benoit and Angle at the Royal Rumble! Angle and Lesnar pretty much carried the entire year between just them. The wrestlemania match was just really good a classic if you will IMO. And no,im not saying that because of the botched shooting star press either.

The summerslam match,another great great match. And to top it off we had ourselves a good old iron man match. Yah not the sixty minute variety but nonetheless a very good match. Your Welcome

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

From what I've read from others on this post 2002 and 2003 were the years that came up the most. While I wouldn't put either year ahead of 98, I would say 2003 was better than 2002. 02 had great star power, but there seemed to be an overload of wrestlers who had reigns. Because of that there never seemed to be a flow or central story for the title. 03 was great because it was all about Angle and Brock. Big fan of both and the year gave us three classic Angle/Brock matches.

Also saw a poster bring up 92 which I have to admit was a great year for the title. Just like I'm a sucker for Angle/Brock, I'm a sucker for transition years and 92 was a huge one. We start from the beginning of the year featuring the old gaurd of wrestling competing for the title with Flair, Hogan, Macho and Warrior, and then by years end its all about Bret.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

It's a misnomer to use calendar years as WWE has always worked in "seasons". Since 93 the season goes from January/Rumble to April/Wrestlemania with the "Road To Wrestlemania" concept. Before that it was just straight WM to WM. using calendar years means you are chopping "seasons" off and that makes it hard to evaluate one particular year.

I would go from Wrestlemania 7 to Wrestlemania 8 - 1991-92. It was the first period that the title changed hands more than once indeed 4 different men held the title during the year between 7's main event and 8's.

Yes a lot of title changes in one cycle but they were all exciting and most importantly added value to the title. It was no longer part of Hogan's personal wardrobe but a hotly contested championship.

It started with Hogan beating Slaughter at WM7 - a predictable result but popular at the time but even then contenders were far more dangerous in the storylines than prior, Slaughter and Hogan carried on till Summerslam but in the background Jake Roberts, Sid Justice and the Undertaker and Ultimate Warrior were all talked of as potential opponents during 1991. The game changed specifically once Flair brought the NWA belt into the equation. Now there was not only a threat to Hogan's dominance from the roster but now Flair was challenging the legitimacy of the title itself.

The only lull in the period was the non defence of the World title at Summerslam, and most would agree now that Hogan vs Jake or Undertaker would have been a far better match but Taker didn't wait too long. At Survivor Series it was quite surprising and exciting to see him get the title shot. Forget the "gimmick" this was a new talent being so dominant that they had forced their way into the title picture within a year, this was really the first time it was seen where the trigger was actually pulled on a title win. There was real shock when Taker "killed" Hulkamania that night, even though Flair's interference played a factor. When the rematch was put on the Tuesday and ended with Hogan regaining the belt in another all out brawl the point had been made - the title was well and truly up for grabs and there were 2 new guys who had very strong claims on it - Taker who was now a former champ and Flair who had lived up to his billing by beating Piper and making Hogan's life hell.

There was only one way this could go and when the title was vacated it was far more significant than when Andre had "sold it" and the announcement it would be the winner of the Rumble who became the new champ was enough to make it the most important match of all time, as the weeks went on everyone boasted of their credentials and Hogan, Flair, Taker, Savage, Justice and and Jake Roberts and Slaughter all could have conceivably walked out with the gold and the story of the match was to date still the best Rumble -

When Davey Boy Smith eliminated Ted DiBiase within a minute and a half and Flair came out next, it was perfect. Heenan's reaction on commentary, Flair's disgusted but determined face and Davey Boy emerging as a major threat really got that match off to a flier. When it got to the finish with 2 former champions and 2 new comers in the final four it seemed destined that Hogan would win - but Hogan showed fallibility, jealousy and perhaps forshadowing the scandals about to come he acted less than honorably - enough for Flair to win.

It's important to remember how important Flair's win actually was at the time, especially in that way. He was "unknown" to casual/SNME regular fans just 4 months earlier, despite being known to "real fans" for years. He came in and was pushed even faster than Taker had been to the title, beating the whole roster to do it and most importantly proving his reputation as an hour man. Not one fan could dispute that Flair had arrived and the stage was set for the battle of all time. Although sadly something prevented it from happening. Some say Hogan didn't want to job out to a smaller guy like Flair, some say their house show matches were horrible with Hogan sabotaging them but Plan B in some ways led to much better for the World title... forget Hogan v Justice - it was an awful main event, badly executed... but the World title feud between Savage and Flair was far hotter than Hogan v Slaughter had been a year earlier or the match that eventually closed the show. The masterstroke was using reality to blur the lines... even by then while Randy and Liz were "on the rocks" backstage we didn't know that - when Flair came in and said he'd "been" with Liz first it was horrifying to the fans. Randy's real life jealous guarding of Liz that had been used so well with Hogan again fueled this feud... It was the most "adult" feud the title had had, there was no "Giant" to slay, just a man defending his title and his wife's honor against a man who was using innuendo, rumor and mind games and I think we all would have given anything to see the fictional "polaroids" of Liz... The year ended early for Mania standards with the 4th match of the show, but what a match... it befit the risque and more mature direction with blood and real peril. Savage sold his leg injury to perfection and Flair's gross but effective "bloody kiss" on Liz showed that Ric was truly despicable. When Randy emerged victorious it was a truly uplifiting moment, and I would say the one that people remember more than his first win for the first time the title had been regained by someone other than Hogan, for reasons other than one guy being bigger or stronger but cos they had fought the battle of their life for all they held dear and won.

I don't recall another season or calendar year that had all that jammed into it...sadly it went downhill in the following season between 8 and 9 but this one proved a) they didn't need Hogan, b) the fans could buy into the smaller guys and c) the "big money" match isn't always the right option.

 

[HBsam31]

I have always been a sucker for 1992. You had the WWF title on the line for the first time in a Royal Rumble. Flair only helped matters by winning the title in an amazing showing in that Rumble. He and Savage then had a great feud for the title. They exchanged the title, and then Bret Hart took it off of Flair for good in a changing of the guard going from The Golden Era to the Next Generation. 2003 is up there too, but the title seemed really important in 92, and some great matches were had over it along with the changing of the guard.