WWE's Best & Worst Year Of The 90s?

[The Brain]

This is a pretty simple idea. Take the entire decade of the 90s and tell us what the best and what the worst year for WWE was.

The best is a little tough to decide for me but I’ll go with 1996. Things just felt fresh that year with the arrival of a lot of new stars. Several wrestlers debuted in the WWF in 1996. We got Vader, Mankind, Steve Austin, Marc Mero, Faarooq, Brian Pillman, and The Rock. There were a few guys that debuted in 1995 that started to make an impact in 1996 such as Goldust, Triple H, and Ahmed Johnson. Even though the WWF lost Diesel and Razor Ramon they still had veterans like Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, Davey Boy Smith, Owen Hart, Sid, and Bret Hart. Even The Ultimate Warrior came back briefly.

We got to see interesting and different characters in Goldust, Mankind, and Pillman. Of course we got the famous Austin 3:16 speech in 96 and the role of the babyface was being redefined. There were several great matches including the Iron Man Match at WM12 between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, Michaels vs. Diesel in a No Holds Barred match, Michaels vs. Mankind, and an underappreciated classic at Survivor Series between Bret Hart and Steve Austin. 1996 also featured two of my all time favorite feuds in Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin and Undertaker vs. Mankind. WCW may have been pulling away in the ratings war but the WWF had a lot going on in 1996.

As for the worst year, I’m going with 1999. I know that is not going to be well received as that was smack in the middle of the beloved Attitude era but I felt a lot of the components that made up the Attitude era had run their course by 1999. I’ve stated my dislike for 1999 many times so I’ll be brief here. Complicated storylines, inconsistent booking, and bad matches gave me little enjoyment in 1999 compared to past years. It seemed as though the main goal was to always shock the fans instead of putting on a quality product. You can throw the tired argument about ratings and profits at me but I don’t work for WWE so I don’t care about that. I’ll take the far less profitable 1996 over the cash cow that was 1999 any day.

Let’s hear your opinion. What years were the best and worst for WWE in the 90s?

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

Best year - 1998. The WWE was on fire. Stone Cold v McMahon, Undertaker, Tyson, HBK - it was excellent.

Worst year - 1996. The WWF was simply terrible. Just awful and dated WWF stars & awful storylines. It only got better when Bret came back to face Stone Cold.

 

[KevinCarsner]

Best for me - '97 . So much freshness the product was like Spring all year IMO.
By far my favourite year to look back on as a wrestling fan. I hated the original DX with a passion. The closest I ever came to being a "just bleed" guy haha I can remember being at Raw in Ottawa and thinking "KILL HIM" when Michaels was in the ring. I realize now it's because they were so damned good at their job. Shamrock was on the scene and I was always a fan of his. Bulldog and Owen were still a team. The US vs Canada storyline was so fun to watch. The Orig. ECW invasion. The dawning of Austin 3:16, the Rock, less cartoony Taker.
I know there were stinker moments like anytime "The Sultan" was on screen, but overall I love going back to 1997.

Worst for me - gotta be a tie between 94/95 (and probably 93 but I can't remember much of that year)
94 because of the overall poor roster (Kwang, Spark Plug, Bastion Booger, Gigolo Jimmy Del Ray, if I keep listing these junkers I'll probably end up throwing the computer.) . Actually now that I think about it WWF in 1994 may be in the running for "worst product an entertainment company has put out in human history."

1995 because of very poor writing resulting in main events like Big Deez vs King f***ing Mabel when they had access to so much more talent. Anyone ANYONE else from the new Generation would've been a better choice than big ol mabey tits. Also Diesel holding the belt for so long. Extremely limited in ring ability + long title reign = me making a fantasy fed using GI Joe's and Lego's for sets.
Wish I would've had access to Puro or more WCW back then.

 

[enviousdominous]

I want to talk up a year that nobody else has, if only that I might appear to have a more keen level of insight.

I'm going with 1996 as the best year of that decade. If for no other reason, I pick 1996 because it had Shawn Michaels take on Bret Hart in one of the greatest matches of all time. It was a rare example of a promoter having enough faith in his performers to allow them an hour of ppv time, and they went above and beyond anyone's expectations with that match. It reaffirmed my love of the show, it made wrestling more fun to watch, it was the quintessential example of what was an amazing year for the WWF.

I have to agree with you again, 1999 was terrible. It was, to me, a clusterfuck of experimental bullshit that was only validated by the even more idiotic garbage that WCW was forcing down our throats at the time. They had Undie in his Anton Lavey gimmick, wasting tv time with those fucking stupid twenty minute promos of absolutely nothing. Did anybody give a fuck that Mideon was being sacrified while Undie murmurred off some random bullshit he'd heard on Highlander? He was gonna' forcibly marry Steph during that time too, that was fun. I think it was to promote a fued with Stone Cold, so yeah.

This was also the year that Nicole Bass debuted. I'm not trying to traumatize anyone by reminding them of that, but it happened and I'm sure that we'll all need a heatlhy supply of codeine to deal with the pain of that memory.

 

[HBsam31]

For me it was 98. My friends and I just had so much fun with the product that year. It was the end of HBK's Dx and the beginning of HHH's DX. Like them or not they did some cool stuff during that time. X-Pac jumping back to WWE, and the rise of The New Age Outlaws. Then of course you had Austin vs McMahon. Kane vs the Undertaker was another highlight. I can't honestly say with certainty that it was the best year, but for me it was by far the most fun. It's funny how the next year turned out as I agree with you Brain that 99 was probably the worst. I watch a lot of old stuff on DVD and the matches at times were pretty hard to watch. It was shock for the sake of shock, and especially looking back now it wasn't all that good at all.

 

[jameyt2003]

98 is the best because of STSA, The Rock, Mankind, DX, and McMahon.
93 is the worst because of Bret Hart, Yokozuna, Hoax Hogan, and McMahon.

 

[Christian Faith]

I missed a lot in the 90's as had no way of watching WWE(F) but I can say 95 was a terrible year. I didn't mind Diesel but Mabel was an awful challenger. I began to feel as though I had outgrown WWE by this time with it's dated comedy characters. As for Taylor/Bam Bam.... Well thanks again for ruining Wrestlemania for me by having that as the main event!

 

[Matty~!]

My favourite year of the 90's would have to be 1997 there were so many great matches from the undercard to the the main events that included a huge range of guys, not just 3 or 4 guys being great. Bret Hart, Steve Austin, Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley all had great years with numerous really good matches. Then guys like Vader, Davey Boy Smith, Owen Hart, Sid, HHH were involved in some really good matches but they were a bit more hit and miss. The focus was still heavy on ring action as opposed to overtly storyline driven as was in 1998 and 1999.

The worst year is a tough one despite not being a huge fan of the boom of the attitude era because of the lack of quality in the ring, I don't think either 1998 or 1999 could qualify as the worse years because the product was so hot, they obviously were doing a lot of things right.

Unlike say 1993 to 1995 where the business was in the toilet and the quality of ring work outside of a few guys was poor to say the least. If I had to pick one year I would probably say 1993 just because there was a distinct lack of epic matches and it was the start of the rebuilding process once Hogan left the company. To that point also Wrestlemania IX was probably the worst Wrestlemania in terms of match quality.

 

[Emmet]

The best year in my book was 1997 - You had Austin's star getting even bigger, Bret turning heel and being an awesome one at that, the Hart Foundation reunited and added more members, DX was established. Bret/Austin classic at WM13 and a excellent Bret/Taker bout at SS '97. Canada/America angle. How could you not love 1997?

1992 also worth a shout too.

Worst - Has to be 1993. The decision to take the belt off Bret and to give it to Hogan was disastrous. Luger bombed also with the big push. Terrible gimmicks and not many good matches (bar some Bret classics at KOTR '93)

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Best year 1997

While 98 is close (but more profitable), for me 97 was the best product WWE has ever put out. It begins and ends with Hart and Michaels. By this point there feud was so over that most it was tough to tell what was real and what was part of the show. Obviously, you have Hart and Michaels who were the two best wrestlers on the planet in 97, but along with that you had Taker who starting in 96 became much better in the ring, you have Austin pre neck injury who was also great in the ring. Owen and Bulldog were always solid, Sid and Vader were good monster type big men, HHH and Mankind were getting better and better.... and so on.

Worst year 1995

It was between 95 and 93 and I give it to 95 because they put on the worse Mania. Diesel as champ didn't go anywhere, Bret Hart was buried without direction, Taker was stuck with the Million Dollar Corporation and Shawn was still a midcarder rising in the ranks. Diesel v Mabel happened and it was the main event of WWE's 2nd biggest ppv. That should tell you everything you need to know.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

Best Year: 1998
This is pretty simple. 1997 is a close second and personal favourite of mine as well. But it all came together in 1998. The entire Stone Cold/McMahon feud was can't miss television. Give credit to The Rock, Mick Foley, Triple H, Undertaker, Kane and Ken Shamrock as well as stand performers in this year. I didn't mind that the quality of wrestling dropped significantly in this era. And the crash tv style of vulgarity, smut and violence took over. This was what was going on in society anyways. And the WWF product reflected it perfectly. The hype around the main events was enough.

Worst Year: 1995
Dull, dull, dull. Nothing happened. Shawn Michaels and Razer Ramon were firmly entrenched in the midcard, wrestling Jeff Jarrett and Shane "Dean" Douglas. Bret Hart and Undertaker were completely wasted in a secondary role feuding with the likes of Jerry Lawler, Isaac Yankem, Bob Backlund, Hakushi, Jean-Pierre Lafitte, the Million Dollar Corporation, etc. And then Diesel put on snorefests in the main event all year long. This isn't a big knock on Kevin Nash, I actually really like him. But the entire product was in full on cheese mode. And he was main eventing with guys like Mabel and Sid. It was the least eventful year of the 90s. It seemed like everyone had stalled, and it was boring.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

Worst year: For me that's a no-brainer; 1991! Sgt Slaughter turns traitor on his country and sides with Iraqi "General Adnan" and the Iranian (at a time when Iraq and Iran were enemies) "Col. Mustafa" as an Iraqi sympathizer DURING the original Gulf War with US troops putting their lives on the line!

Best year: 1997. Bret Hart turns heel and enters the most rounded performance period he ever had. Stone Cold goes full face and red hot. Rocky Maivia becomes the Rock. Hunter Hearst Helmsley becomes Triple H and DX is born. Mick Foley turns face. The heel / face dynamic becomes a very grey area as faces and heels are booed and cheered depending on the location.
It might have taken to April '98 for RAW to pass NITRO but the majority of the prework for the main players of the Attitude Era was done patiently through 1997 even as far as a certain owner sowing the seeds (albeit possibly not deliberately) of who he was to become onscreen.

 

[HBKperfect23]

Best year: Im torn between two of my three favorite years in wrestling history, 1992 and 1997. I began watching in late 91 so im very biased to my first days as a wrestling fan. IMO 1992 had the best years of ppvs and had its roster at the strongest ever.

Its hard not to put 1997 as the best year because of how hot the product was. I will argue for this being start and the most enjoyable time in the attitude era.

Worst year was by far 1999. This is when storylines became so rushed and nothing was built correctly. The jobber was no more. Titles switched hands regularly and lost their value.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

Best Year: 1992

Highlights: Flair wins the Royal Rumble, Hart Vs. Piper for the IC title, Flair and Savage for the World Title, Hart Vs. British Bulldog at Summerslam, Hart wins the World Title and has a great series of matches with Flair, the seeds of Hart and Michaels feud, Perfect and Flair feud.

Worst Year: 1995

Lowlights: A 30 minute Royal Rumble, Bigelow/LT in the Main Event of Wrestlemania, Bret Hart Vs. Bob Backlund in a snorefest, Diesel's weak title reign, In Your House (the beginning of half-assed PPVs), Mabel wins King of the Ring, Diesel Vs. King Mabel in the main event of Summer Slam, Isaac Yankem, The Body Donnas...what a pathetic time for the WWF.

 

[Matty~!]

I see the Bigelow / LT match at Wrestlemania XI getting quite a lot of hate. I was always of the opinion that the match was beyond the quality that anyone could have imagined. For a guy that had, had onlt 6 weeks training and was carried to a match of that was by no means awful I thought was pretty impressive. It's not like HBK and Diesel tore the house down that night to prove a point McMahon was wrong for putting Bigelow and LT on last.

Also the Royal Rumble match is was only 38 minutes in 95 but in terms of historical significance it's one that everyone remembers because of the HBK / Bulldog stuff at the end. It's not like WWF had the roster in 1995 to pull a classic off like 1992

 

[THTRobtaylor]

There was a similar thread to this before and the same thing I said then still applies really... You can't use calendar years in the same way, as the calendar and nature changed during the decade. At the start you had it going Mania to Mania. Then the stip for the "Road To Wrestlemania" made the Rumble the start of the year. Add to that the increases in PPV's and it's hard to say one year was better or worse as more would have taken place in 1995 than in 1990 and again more in 97 than 95. If more is happening then there is more that can be good or bad.

With that in mind I'd say the best year was 91-92 but Summerslam to Summerslam. Look back at that period and so much good happened. Bret's IC title win, Jake's heel turn, Taker's title win and later face turn, Ric Flair's debut, the Rocker's split, Piper's IC title win and loss, Flair's match with Savage and the emergence of new talent like Owen Hart, Tatanka and IRS. Once you got near the end of that 12 months we were headlong into 80,000 at Wembley, the excellent Money Inc and Natural Disasters feud and the epic Bret v Davey... Sure there was some bad like Warrior v Savage 2, Shawn v Martel and the ridiculous Hogan v Sid feud but how much of what shaped the WWF and WWE of today took place in that 12 months is really quite scary when you look at it.

The worst period began ironically straight after it. They lost a massive amount of talent in that period from Flair, Davey, The Nasty Boys, Perfect and Warrior to Typhoon and Big Bossman yet the new signings didn't work. The Steiners pretty much flopped due to their attitude, The Headshrinkers never quite took off and Lex Luger was mishandled from day one.

You knew something was seriously wrong even if you weren't "smart" when Davey Boy lost the title so quick and was gone, when Bret was suddenly champ with no TV of it or rematch with Flair at Survivor Series. Sure Perfect's return was a strong moment for the fans but it didn't mean anything as the show was poorly booked. All they had to do was make it a Survivor match with Flair, Razor, Shawn and Lawler against Bret, Perfect, Savage and either Tatanka or Owen.

It got worse as you headed to the Rumble. Bret defending against Razor was just plain wrong when Savage or Perfect were available while the idea of booking the Winner of the Rumble debuted there and is the only thing they did do right... Yoko was a poor choice. Why not debut Luger and have him win it the same night or build Yoko by having him lose the rumble but take out the winner, forcing his way into the match by default? By the time Mania 9 came around the damage was done. Poor booking, Hogan's ego and the loss of Flair and the poor performances of Perfect and Luger were really damaging the product. Taker looked to be struggling and Savage was reduced to commentating. The bright spot was King Of The Ring which was a welcome addition and concept but seemed more a way to keep Bret busy and away from the title/Hogan. Bam Bam emerging was good but other than that very little came out of that mid period of 93. The Lex Express didn't really work well enough, Crush got seriously hurt against Yoko and Ludvig Borga didn't catch on. By the time Survivor Series 93 rolled around things were grim.

Many say 95 was bad and it was, but on balance the period I mention did more harm, 95 was just the culmination of all the bad decisions made from fall 92-fall 93 coming home to roost. Vince almost pissed away talent to levels not seen since. We now know that it was down to the roid trial and Vince was acquitted but the damage was done...not because of the trial but cos Vince clearly wasn't focused on the business and made a plethora of bad calls. If you have just lost 2 top talents for roids you don't piss off Flair...you keep him the focus, you don't bench Savage or try and build a new champ like Bret only to feed him to a Sumo wrestler... all of these started the chain that nearly put him out of business.

 

[Goldie]

Best year 1992... just take a look at members of the rsoter that year:
The Ying & tang of pro wrestling in Hulk Hogan & Ric Flair.... then you haveformer/future world champs in Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, Randy Savage, Warrior, Sid .... classic wrestlers in Ted Dibiase, Curt Hening, Davey Boy Smith, Owen Hart, Jake Roberts, Scot Hall, Tito Santanna, Jimmy Snuka, Rick Martel .... the greatest tagteam ever in LOD...and that rowdy brawler Roddy Piper!
Thats a who's who list of wrestlers!
Also there was Gorilla and Heenan hitting the peak on the commentary... which could make all the difference between enjoing an otherwise bad match.

The 1992 Rumble is often remembered as the best ever... with Flairs amazing one man show... Wrestlemania 8 may not have had that one outstanding match but as a whole packahe was a very entertaining show... Summerslam at Wembley was a legendaty show with the match that Bret Hart considers (him vs Davey)as the greatest match ever.
What a year!

However within 12 months it all soured.... several of the big names had gone... and 1993-94 were generally awful save the Bret/Owen, Shawn/Razor fueds.
Wrestlemania 9 was awful.... and Hogan never treated his 5th title run (after thats how) seriously... disappearing back to the world of low budget film & TV, he only came back to drop the belt to Yoko.
Doink the clown gimmick got silly when they spawned all those clown midgets?? and the terrible gimmicks kept on coming with the likes of Kwang and Bastian Booger!
Its no wonder that the mid 90s is considrered a dark period in WWE history

 

[Wald]

1997 would be WWF's best year of the decade in my eyes. The Bret Hart turn storyline was so fantastically built up until him exploding in my all time favourite Wrestlemania match was just sensational. Ended sourly of course but as a Bret Hart mark I don't think I could go for any other year. I really don't think he gets enough credit for the job he did for the WWF that year. Really held it together for the company as the number one star when Taker's gimmick had stagnated somewhat, Michaels had his personal issues and Austin was just being built.

I'd go with 1999 as the worst year creatively for the company too. Because WCW had descended into a parody of a wrestling company at that time it often gets overlooked how woeful this year was. The Rock and Mankind's feud at the start of the year was probably the only highlight for me