[Notorious]

Basically, do you think 2010 was an improvement from 2009.

I'll break it down piece by piece.

Storylines: 2009's biggest storylines included Orton vs. Cena, Orton vs. Triple H, & Punk vs. Jeff Hardy which were all 3 great feuds with great buildup to them with classic moments like Randy Orton trying to blow up John Cena with the pyro, Randy Orton taking out the whole McMahon family and CM Punk's epic promos toward Jeff Hardy. In 2010 the main storylines were Cena vs. Wade Barrett, Cena vs. Batista, and Kane vs. Undertaker. Kane vs. Undertaker had great buildup with the whole Kane trying to figure out who did it stuff but it ended up being an epic fail. Cena vs. Wade Barrett was a great feud as well as Cena vs. Batista but I'm gonna give the edge to 2009.

Shows: On the RAW side 2010 wins this by a landslide. Especially, due to the increased talent being drafted over, the whole Nexus storyline and the decrease of guest host segments which really killed 2009's shows. On the SmackDown side it all went downhill due to pretty much all of their main talent from 2009 being drafted to RAW. The lack of starpower and the lack of interest really hurt Smackdown. 2010 SmackDown still produced great matches, however, so I'm gonna give the edge to 2010 mainly because of their great improvement from RAW this year.

PPV's: Comparing the 2009 PPV's to the 2010 PPV's, 2009's were vastly superior. The Royal Rumble, No Way Out, Backlash, Judgment Day, Extreme Rules, Survivor Series, & Bragging Rights were all better than their successors and seeing as the majority were better than their successors I'll give the edge to 2009.

Pushes: The 2010 Youth Movement definitely helped 2010 as far as creating new talent. In 2010 the WWE has created main events stars out of The Miz, Wade Barrett, Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus (Yeah he won the WWE title in 2009 but he wasn't a true main event star until this year), and Daniel Bryan have been giving great pushes. As well as guys like Dolph Ziggler and the member of the Nexus getting their time to shine.

All in all, when I break it down to these four categories, I think I'd put the years as equal.

 

[DX-HHH-XD]

It was definitely an improvement for Raw and a decline for Smackdown, I'll tell you that much.

 

[LeapingLannyPoffo]

What he said. Also being an improvement from 2009 doesn't take much.

 

[Azuran]

It was pretty much a reversal from last year. Raw has been fantastic in 2010, and Smackdown has really suffered in quality.

I might give 2010 the edge because it felt a lot fresher than in past years. People like Sheamus, Miz, Barrett, Dashing, Drew, and others have really come into their own.

 

[#BadNewsSanta]

I enjoyed 2010 a lot more, the whole Nexus angle was just awesome. Edge/Jericho was a very good feud in hindsight as well, but a letdown considering the two who were involved. Cena/Batista was a great fun feud between the two biggest stars of this era. The whole Cena/Nexus angle takes the cake though. While it did lose steam after Summerslam, it was still relatively strong up until Survivor Series. It was the main thing that made Raw interest. While Smackdown did take a notch down from 2009, I don't think it was bad like Raw from 2009. It's just been disappointing show after disappointing show, and the main event has been weak since Jericho lost the title.

But overall I enjoyed 2010 much more mainly because the show that is live and I always watch was a lot more interesting

 

[Derek]

I thought it was definitely an improvement over 2010.

2009 seemed like a year where they established many of the younger guys, while 2010 was the year the really became stars. The Nexus angle when it first happened felt fresh, and I thought the two months or so of the angle was handled quite well.

But the real reason why 2010 was better can be summed up in two words: Daniel Bryan

 

[Kratosx23]

It was pretty much a reversal from last year. Raw has been fantastic in 2010, and Smackdown has really suffered in quality.

This. It really is show specific. Raw had a horrible 2009 and SmackDown had a great 2009. Raw had a great 2010 and SmackDown had a horrible 2010.

However, I think I would say it's an improvement. The fact that the A show stopped bullshitting around and started to make stars is really the big difference for me. It's one thing to be a star on SmackDown, it's another one entirely to be one on Raw.

 

[Prospekt's March]

I enjoyed 2010 a lot more simply because the youth movement is in full swing, NXT was a breath of fresh air, the Nexus initial attack on Raw crew simply owned everything from 2009, i can watch that clip over and over again and i still won't get bored, and also new stars were made (Miz, Barrett, Del Rio, Sheamus, etc). Smackdown might be a pretty mediocre show for the most part but overall 2010 has been a great year, better than 2009, imo.

 

[Kenny]

Definitely an improvement. The nexus storyline when it first started had the IWC fapping to the extreme.

 

[Kratosx23]

Definitely an improvement. The nexus storyline when it first started had the IWC fapping to the extreme.

For the first 4 days, then Bryan got fired on Friday and people panicked and said the storyline was ruined, then he got brought back and everything was cool again, lol.

 

[DaGreatest]

This year was much better in my opinion. Although that may be stemming more from my short term memory. The recent Raws in the last month or two have been high quality

 

[HoMiCiDaL26]

TV: Yeah.

PPVs: Fuck no.

 

[RoadDoggJJ]

2010, definitely. 2010 felt a lot fresher due to new stars and new feuds, and better storylines such as the Nexus. Also, 2010 SD is bad, but still better than 2009 Raw, imo.

 

[Amsterdam]

2010 was a good year for Monday Night Raw, and a bad year for Friday Night SmackDown.
2009 was a bad year for Monday Night Raw, and a good year for Friday Night SmackDown.

It's just a reversal.

But in my opinion, 2010 has been a slightly better year as a whole.

 

[DesolationRow]

While I myself have been propagating the "show reversal" meme that is quite true overall (2009 was miserable for Raw and great for Smackdown, 2010 was great for Raw and miserable for Smackdown), here's just one reason why I think 2010 trumps 2009: the show that was great in 2009, Smackdown, was really only truly great (but it was, really, really great) for about five months, from April through the first week or two of September. The first stretch of 2009 for Smackdown more or less sucked (the main storyline was the Vickie Guerrero love triangle with Edge and Big Show, I believe) and October-December of Smackdown wasn't all that hot, particularly once Undertaker ripped off CM Punk's WHC at Hell in a Cell, which was right at the beginning of October. By contrast, from January 4 through this past week, Raw's been pretty damned good the whole year through. Raw's been consistent and solid in the storytelling department all year round and that's a tough task to pull off for a creative team.

Also, the Youth Movement, which was definitely starting to get hot and heavy by the fall of 2009, really took off to new heights in 2010. Sheamus was established; they experimented with Jack Swagger over on Smackdown; Drew McIntyre started to turn the corner in the spring, in the ring and with his character some in the Teddy Long feud; Nexus was born; Wade Barrett became a star in record time; Alberto Del Rio was called up; Daniel Bryan became WWE's #1 midcard workhorse with the potential to become big; John Morrison was given his best, most consistently solid push on Raw since Labor Day; Dolph Ziggler proved that he's for real during his Intercontinental Championship reign; The Miz reached the top; Kofi Kingston's feud is being revived.

2010 was a transitional year, but compared to most other transitional years (1993, 1995, 1997*, 2003, 2004), it was actually quite fun for the most part, at least on one brand. And while the other brand was anemic in many regards it did at least provide solid wrestling action for the most part.

Those who complain about the pay-per-views... I actually hold a contrarian view. Royal Rumble 2010 was much better than 'Rumble '09 to me, with one of the better 'Rumble matches in years (the '09 'Rumble match is a hard, long slog to rewatch to me) and while Swagger vs. Matt is a fine opener, Zeke vs. Christian is nearly as good, and Edge vs. Jeff Hardy in '09 is a strong match, Rey vs. Undertaker is even better and a commendable homage to Vader/Sting. The two Elimination Chambers are a wash to me; Wrestlemania XXVI is significantly above Wrestlemania XXV, at least; Backlash '09 is indeed superior to Extreme Rules 2010, though; though Over the Limit was something of a disaster, it had at least two good or stellar matches in McIntyre vs. Kofi and Punk vs. Rey... the Summerslams are kind of a wash, as they're both generally good shows with definite weaknesses (both have anemic undercards, both have hot main events and the '10 world title matches are both good, whereas in '09 Cena/Orton was one of their worst matches together). Breaking Point '09 is actually a terrific show, too bad about the buyrate; Night of Champions, outside of Bryan/Miz and most of the main event, doesn't really offer very much. Hell in a Cell 2010's better than the '09 version by a wide margin in my honest opinion. The first hour of Bragging Rights 2010 kind of trumps all of the previous year's Bragging Rights, though the Iron Man is all right. I think Survivor Series '09 is much more memorable than Survivor Series 2010 has already proven to be. TLC 2010 was better than TLC 2009. So at the very least, I don't see a dramatic drop in PPV quality from year-to-year.

*1997 was actually a blast, too, and laid the foundation for the Attitude Era's enormity.

 

[Vic Capri]

Hell no. 2009 was the better year. 2010 had a bunch of shitty PPVs, no HBK or HHH throughout the year, the biggest angle of the year with The Nexus being mishandled, a great feud between Edge and Orton being forgotten about,the releases of MVP and Kaval, shitty title reigns from Sheamus, Jack Swagger, Randy Orton, and we ended the year with a paper champion named The Miz.

Granted, we had a really good Wrestlemania, the impressive debut of the MITB PPV, the long awaited return of Bret Hart, a classic feud with John Cena and Dave Batista, the rematch between Rey Mysterio and The Undertaker, the rise of both Bryan Danielson and Zolph Ziggler (and his tremendous feud with Kofi Kingston), Drew McIntyre and Wade Barrett stepping up their game, Kane finally becoming world champion again and defeating The Undertaker THREE times in a row, Alberto Del Rio, and Ted Dibiase headlining the Hall of Fame instead of the Ultimate Warrior, but that wasn't enough to make for the crap we got.

- Vic

 

[Kratosx23]

no HBK or HHH throughout the year

Yeah, what a tragedy. HBK retired on the biggest high point possible when he gave everything he had to the WWE already and PinoccHHHio wasn't there to bury all the talent that doesn't stick their own nose up his ass.

 

[Kenny]

This is all part of the bigger picture, obviously.

 

[Kurt 'Olympic Gold]

2010 was a great year for WWE.

 

[green_machine]

2010 was definitely an improvement, mainly because of the fresh faces and the storylines have gotten more creative. Though Smackdown was boring this year, it was never unwatchable because at least every week, we are assured of two or three good matches. For the most part, 2010 has been really good considering that big names like HBK, Batista, Taker, Jericho, and HHH were never able to have a complete year of action because of retirement, injuries, other plans, etc. As a matter of fact, I hardly miss their presence because there are many other young superstars who stepped it up big time this year.

Of course, 2010 was not perfect. This year we saw the death of the tag-team division and the decline of quality in the women's division (although the past few months we have seen some improvements, one of which is Natalya being a strongly booked champion). Still, they were able to get a lot of things right and also lay the foundation for the future, which makes this year a really good one for me.