WWE's Greatest Year

[The Brain]

A few days ago someone posted a thread asking what your favorite era in WWE history was. My question is a little more specific. I want to know what was your favorite year in WWE history. I’m talking about calendar year not just a twelve month period. For example don’t say August 2007 – August 2008.

I think my favorite year was 2000. Everything seemed so fresh that year. Take a look at all the new guys that came in toward the end of 99 and beginning of 2000. We had Jericho, Angle, Benoit, Guerrero, Malenko, Saturn, Tazz, The Dudleys, Rikishi, etc. Triple H and The Rock took their game to a new level. Undertaker reinvented himself as the American Badass. Edge and Christian and The Hardys became big time players. And all this without Austin for most of the year. One event that stands out is Fully Loaded. Here we had three main eventers, Rock, Triple H, and Taker, against Benoit, Jericho, and Angle respectively. Like I said it was just so fresh.

Also 2000 was hilarious. Angle was priceless. Edge and Christian were brilliant with their new characters. Rock was as funny as ever. Foley shined in his new role as commissioner. Every week the comedy was just as good, if not better than the action. Also Stephanie McMahon was ridiculously hot that year. Sorry I had to throw that in there.

I should also mention that 1999 was my least favorite year. I realize I’m probably the minority in that opinion. Everything about the over the top attitude storylines had grown old to me. All these fresh characters came in at the perfect time. It was a great turn around for the company from a creative standpoint. I’m noticing that things started to turn for the better as soon as Russo left. Coincidence?

My honorable mention would be 1989. Seems strange that my two favorite years are eleven years apart. 1989 had a stacked roster with some good feuds, matches, and storylines.

So that’s my opinion. 2000 was the best year followed by 1989. What do you think?

 

[Doctor Awesome]

i'm gonna have to go with 2001. in terms of success it has to be. beyond the standpoint of how they ended the monday night wars by eliminating the competition, but the ppv's for the year were all pretty good as well. in addition, some great fueds came about other than the invasion angle. here are some 2001 highlights:
royal rumble- kane eliminated 11 men, jericho benoit have one of the best ladder matches ever.
wm17- one of the most succesful ppv's of all time. angle/benoit chain wrestle, tlc 2, taker/hhh, rock/austin with the swerve.
invasion- could have been done better overall but the first ppv was good.
k.o.t.r.- shane vs. angle, hhh gets injured just prior to the ppv, edge wins tourney
summerslam- angle/austin was a great buildup (in kurt's home of pittsburgh too), edge and christian split up
survivor series- the end of the invasion angle
armageddon- first undisputed champion is crowned in mini tourney, jericho gets the nod.

 

[jma198325]

1998 was the best for me:

-Tyson / Austin / HBK
-Undertaker vs. Kane, 1st time
-The last REALLY good King of the Ring event
-Undertaker vs. Mankind, Hell in a Cell
-Austin vs. McMahon
-Austin & Undertaker as Tag Team Champs
-Tag Team Titles main event a PPV (thanks to THE top 4 superstars as participants)
-Nation vs. DX
-IC Title almost as big as WWE Title (thanks to HHH & Rock)
-Even the European Title was big at the time (thanks to HHH, D'Lo Brown, & X-Pac)
-SummerSlam: Highway to Hell, one of my favorite events of all time
-Survivor Series, Rock's first WWE Title
-Austin vs. Undertaker, buried alive match

 

[INDYjon22]

I have to agree that 2001 was the best year for wrestling (in my opinion). Mainly because thats the year I fully began watching. I loved it and that year got me hooked. As said before the ppvs were brilliant and i own most all of them.
Royal Rumble had Kane dominate, a great ladder match, and the Angle/HHH match wasnt to shabby either.
No Way Out was solid with the Rock winning the belt back
WM17 is my favorite ever. I couldnt believe Austin turning and tlc 2 is my fav match ever
Backlash and Judgment Day were ok being carried by the 2 man power trip/ Undertaker/Kane feud
King of the RIng had Angle and Shane plus Edge winning the tournament
Invasion was a good start for that angle
SS had the awesome Angle/Austin match plus the rest of the card was stacked
No Mercy and Unforgiven were both solid
Survivor Series was a good ending. I never saw Jericho trying to screw the rock over in that environment and that cage match was legit.

(on a side note Summerslam was not in Pittsburgh that year and Angle did not win the belt at Summerslam. You are thinking of Unforgiven a month later.)

 

[JETER123]

1997. Nothing comes close to 1997.

1. Two of the greatest matches I've ever seen took place in this year:

- Austin vs. Bret Hart in a Submission match at WrestleMania 13

and

- HBK vs. Undertaker in the first ever Hell In A Cell at Bad Blood


2. The beginning of Austin as a face.

3. The beginning of Rock as a heel.

4. Undertaker's second WWE title reign since 1991

5. The beginning of DX in September. HBK, HHH, Chyna, and Rick Rude.

6. Austin wins the Rumble in the most controversial way.

7. The debut of Kane at Bad Blood.

8. The first Bret Hart heel turn and the infamous Montreal Screwjob.

9. The birth of evil Mr. McMahon.

10. Shawn Michaels final year as the cocky arrogant asshole.

11. The start of the wrestling boom.

12. Triple H wins the King Of The Ring

13. The debut of the European Championship

14. The debut of the New Age Outlaws

15. Many factions - DX, Nation of Domination, Hart Foundation, DOA, Truth Commission, Los Boricuas

16. Roster included HBK, Bret Hart, Stone Cold, The Rock, Undertaker, Vader, Owen Hart, HHH, Mankind, British Bulldog, Psycho Sid, Ken Shamrock, Goldust, Faarooq, Ahmed Johnson, Brian Pillman, etc..

17. Tag Teams - New Age Outlaws, LOD, Headbangers, Godwinns, DOA, New Blackjacks, Bulldog and Owen

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

The best year the WWE had in my opinion was 1992. This was the year both Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair were in the same promotion. It was also the year Savage won the World Title, Undertaker hit his stride, and Sid Justice made life a little harder for Hogan. The Royal Rumble was epic with Flair winning the WWE Title, Roddy Piper won his first title of ANY kind in the WWF, and the Bushwhackers finally had a team they could beat in the Beverly Brothers.

Wrestlemania was epic, but could have been a LOT better if Flair/Hogan for the Title would have taken place. But Flair/Savage was still good and Hogan/Sid was...well...no one got hurt.

And at the Survivor Series, Undertaker makes his presence felt.

 

[mlola]

First off, Lariat: love the sig.

Now on to the matter at hand. I'm gonna have to agree with the posters saying 2001. Mostly with INDYjon22 because i also started watching wrestling in 2001.

Austin winning the Rumble.

The Rock getting the title back at No Way Out.

The Monday Night Wars were finally over and the WWF won.

Wrestlemania 17. Enough said.

The Two-Man Power Trip vs. The Brothers of Destruction.

King of the Ring with Kurt and Shane missing that suplex.

Invasion's Inauguaral Brawl with Austin defecting.

The return of The Rock after being "suspended" and siding with the WWF.

Jericho and The Rock making fun of Stephanie McMahon all throughout the Invasion lol.

Summerslam with The Rock winning the WCW Championship from Booker T.

9/11 Tribute Show on Smackdown.

Unforgiven with Kurt Angle winning the WWF Championship in his hometown and the celebration at the end.

No Mercy with Jericho finally winning the WCW Championship from The Rock.

Survivor Series 5 on 5 Winner Take All match with Angle turning.

The beginning of the Kiss My Ass Club the next night and Ric Flair debuting as co-owner of the WWF.

Vengeance with The Rock vs. Jericho and Austin vs. Kurt Angle and Jericho becoming the Undisputed WWF champion by being the only man to beat Austin and The Rock on the same night.

Now THAT was a hell of a year.

 

[rayisawesomeness]

believe it or not, i have to got with 2008, as much as i love the years of the attitude era, i just downright loved this year for many reasons

- amazing royal rumble which featured the epic cena return

- another amazing ppv in no way out which featured two **** elimination chamber matches and the beginning the mayweather/big show feud

- wm 24 ... thats all i gotta say

- punk winning the world title by cashing in against edge, i remember that i was going through some pretty rough times in my life during this time and seeing my favorite wrestler win the world title, just put a smile on my face which was really hard to do at the time

- jeff hardy wins the wwe championship in an absolute incredible triple threat match against edge and triple h, this was in my opinion, the best triple threat match since wm 20

- the jericho/michaels feud. this feud definitely ranks up there with some of my favorite feuds. every promo they made was incredible, whether this be jericho throwing michaels through the jeritron or jericho punching michaels' wife, they just all delivered. but that's not to say they didn't have any good matches because ALL of their matches were as good as the promos, from their epic ladder match to their epic unsanctioned match

- ric flair's retirement, wm 24 match, and induction into the hall of fame. do i really need to explain this? i'm pretty sure everyone got the chills when they saw his raw farewell.

- the undertaker/edge feud. another amazing feud, though it wasn't as good as the michaels/jericho feud, it was still amazing which featured incredible matches ranging from their wm 24 match to their tlc match and to their hell in a cell match.

- mike adamle .... lol jk

 

[Jonno]

For me, the best year of WWE has to be 1997.

-Austin vs Hart at Mania

-The enitrie In Your House: Canadian Stampede PPV
-The birth of D-X

-First ever Hell in a Cell between Taker & Michaels

-The 3 Faces of Foley

-ECW appearing on WWE T.V

-The start of the Attitude era

-Good Light Heavyweight matches on T.V & PPV

I started watching wrestling around 92, but it wasn't until end of 96 - start of 97 that I really became a HUGE fan, and everything above contributed to that.

 

[OWEN-ing It All]

I'm gonna have to say 1994:

Royal Rumble 94 - One of my favorite PPV's, The turning point in The Hart vs. Hart Feud when Owen kicks Bret in his injured leg, Bam Bam/Tatanka (great match), Razor/IRS, Yoko/Taker, Bret and Luger tie.

Wrestlemania X - Owen/Bret, HBK/Razor (Ladder Match), Piper and Perfect as refs, Bret regains title with Owen looking on (Greatest WM finish, IMO)

King Of The Ring 94 - Bret/Diesel, Owen winning (In The Best Tournament), Anvil's Return

Summerslam 94 - Owen/Bret (Cage Match), Taker vs. Taker, Razor vs. Diesel, Return of the British Bulldog

Survivor Series 94 - Backlund/Bret (Throw In The Towel Match), Undertaker/Yoko (2nd Casket Match), The Bad Guys vs. The Teamsters.

Razor, 1-2-3 Kid, The British Bulldog and The Headshrinkers vs. Diesel, HBK, The New Foundation and Jeff Jarrett - I loved this match, very cool finish, IMO.

This year also saw the HBK/Diesel feud developing from the RR to the 2 superkicks, one at SummerSlam & one at Survivor Series. One costing Diesel the IC title back to Razor & the other breaking the team up and having them forfeit their tag team titles.

It also saw The Quebecers tie a WWE tag team title record, with 3 reigns. Tying them with the likes of Demolition, The Wild Samoans, Mr. Fuji and Professor Tanaka, and Money Inc.

It didn't have as many PPV's as the following years so feuds were longer and were more heated. Plus they didn't have IYH yet so not as many main event type matches were possible, but it still is a great year in the WWE.

It didn't have the great main events of 96 or the great vignettes of 98-current. But it really had some great feuds IMO and they were built up better than ever before and rarely have they been since.

 

[666_The_Game_666]

1999
The continuation of Austin McMahon: Most famous feud of all time continues for another year with Austin making McMahon s life hell and even become the CEO of Vince's compay good stuff

Mankind Rock: First half of 1999 had some good matches like Raw Mankind became champ then we had some good matches for the title. And we had the This Is Your Life and the birth of Rock And Sock Connection also

HHH Goes Heel: HHH went heel we alone with Chyna and Shane HHH became WWF Champ battled Austin Mankind Rock all the usuals. And lets not forget he became a McMahon when he crashed the Steph Test wedding.

The Ministery: Taker went one step closer to being the closest thing to Satan he was back with Paul Bearer he was with Kane and alot of other guys was one of the best storylines of 1999

 

[SAVE_YOURSELVES_111]

'99 was good, but the PPV's didn't hold up very well! "Raw" was definitely the cool place to be on Monday night's no doubt in my mind.

Here's some of mine:

'87: The year of Wrestlemania III, and the first Survivor Series. It was the PPV that changed the game forever, and set a prescedent of what a "supercard" should really be. Some will always say that, WWF was in a dead zone when Andre took a sabbatical afterwards, but it was interesting seeing Hogan against the likes of new opponents, at least in my eyes anyway. Also, the face turn of Randy Savage, we wanted it, and we got it! Steamboat/Savage. That Hart's win the tag belts. Honky shocks the world by becoming the I-C Champ. The first ever Survivor Series introdouces a new fun concept, plus a classic match featuring the Tag teams, and the show as a whole was brilliant, in storyline advancement leading up the unforgettable events of early 1988.

1992---
Yes, I know I'll get a vast majority of disagreements, but this was a big markout year for me as a fan. The brilliant storyline between Flair & Savage, the "She Was Mine Before She Was Yours" angle. Warrior's shocking return at 'Mania! Warrior/Savage get played like puppets by Flair & Perfect! Bret pins Pipe. Nailz attacks Bossman (terrified me as a kid). 'Taker turns face, obliderates Jake! Flair's performance at the '92 Rumblee! Bret/Davey at Summerslam. Bret becomes champion!!!. Bret & Shawn main event for the first time in there careers, against one another no less, and show the world, what the future of pro wrestling is gonna be.

2000:
So many great things this year! The arrival of the Radicalz! The Rock finally wins the big one! The Angle/HHH/Steph triangle! Head-Cheese (lol, personal fav). Crash Holly (I found him entertaining, IMO the 24/7 schtick only worked when he was involved). Foley goes out with a bang! Benoit main events against The Rock! Edge & Christian reeking of awesomeness! First TLC! E&C, Dudleys', Hardys! Lita becomes Women's Champ! Jericho/HHH: Last Man Standing!! Jericho's shots at Steph! Shane McMahon's Summerslam Fall! Right to Censor (great heels). The arrival of Trish Stratus. Benoit/Jericho feud! Eddie Guerrero: Latino Heat! Malenko...Dean Malenko (haha, I enjoyed it, what can I say). Tazz's heel turn (it suited him)! The arrival or Raven (sure not much came of it, but I was marking out like crazy!