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Long ass post warning!
Recently i have been watching some of the WWE Vintage collection and it got me thinking about WWE as it is right now. Over the last 12 months or so in the RAW threads i have read quite a few people say that line "The best RAW ever!" or "One of the best PPV's ever!"
Some people seem to actually really prefer how it is right now in terms of its direction, its roster, its story lines, its champions and so on.
Now there is nothing wrong with that. Everyone is entitled to an opinion right.
But as mentioned looking back i myself can't help but think WWE right now is in a very bad place in comparison to the past.
I started wtaching WWF in the mid to late 80s. As it got more popular the stories became more varied. The boundries were broken and we got some really great entertainment. Of course mixed in with quite some bad! This carried on into the attitude era.
They constantly tried new things, tried anything and everything. Like for example the gimmicks. We had some fecking awful ones back in the day. But they were tried. Some work out and some don't. Today in my opinion there are very few wrestling personalities in the WWE now. You got either the monster/Big man look i.e Sheamus,Ezekiel,Reks,. You got the twisted can you trust him/nut job guy i.e Punk,Orton,Kidd,Barratt,DiBiase. Then you got the i love myself type guy Miz,Swagger,Del Rio,Rhodes,McIntyre,Ziggler. Then you got the no real gimmick guys who just want to win stuff i.e Morrison,Bryan,Kofi,Bourne and so on. I didn't include people who were around in the attitude era.
My point is the guys today when they come out don't tend to stray from these base gimmicks now. They are considered safe. But by being safe means we are just getting the same type guys come through. There are no stand out gimmicks or personalities to make you feel naturally interested. There is no real change.
Now as i said some people prefer today and that is fair enough. But what i don't get is why?
In nearly every aspect I THINK WWE is worse then it was.
Roster = A lot lot worse
Wrestling ability = The roster today in comparison to times from the past can't wrestle for shit. We used to have people like Benoit,Angle,Eddie,Hart,Malenko etc. I don't think anyone on the current roster is near those guys. Maybe Bryan.
Tag teams = What tage teams? The division is dead.
Star Power = Who really is a household name from wrestlers who came after the attitude era? Cena? I gurantee you most people would not have a clue who he is outside of people who watch wrestling now. Hogan, Rock,Austin,Macho man,Undertaker were all mainstream and thus people who didn't know wrestling would probably know them.
Stories = For a couple of RAW's over the past month we have seen an announcer stop a wrestler losing a title thus giving his co commentator championship matches. A computer acting as a GM. A new guy who is a champs side kick (Riley) being in the main events. Twins compeating with each other to see which girl can make a wrestler like her....Can you imagine if that story was used in the past...Now that is not saying that all the stories are bad because they are not. And it isn't saying all the stories from the past were good because jesus christ some were truely damn awful. But they were more risque. They would try anything.
Atmosphere = The atmosphere at the shows seems a miles times worse then they used to be. I watched the Invasion PPV for the first time since i saw it live the other day and when the intro was off and the fireworks were on the noise was insane and you could really feel the excitement in the crowd. Now days it seems the total opposite. One or two people might get a huge cheer but as the match goes on the noise will die until the finishers are applied. Very few times can i remember over the past few years not being able to hear the commentators because of the crowd.
Factions = This is obviously connected to the roster. But from having things like The Ministry,NWO,DX(real DX)all the way to Evolution absoloutly detsroys things like Nexus with Punk,McGillicutty,Husky Harris and Otunga..It is just no comparison.
GM = A computer, enough said.
Announcers = Cole and King, Josh matthews and Striker. Personally i think the days of King and JR on RAW and Cole and either JBL or Tazz were far better.
I honestly do not see one area where the current WWE beats the old WWE/F.
So the reason for this long ass post is to find out who really, truely, no joke prefers the shows today compared to back then? And back then means anytime in wrestlings past.
And if you do prefer todays shows then explain why! Remember this is just my opinion. A lot of you won't agree at all. So if you don't agree then say why!
Recently i have been watching some of the WWE Vintage collection and it got me thinking about WWE as it is right now. Over the last 12 months or so in the RAW threads i have read quite a few people say that line "The best RAW ever!" or "One of the best PPV's ever!"
Some people seem to actually really prefer how it is right now in terms of its direction, its roster, its story lines, its champions and so on.
Now there is nothing wrong with that. Everyone is entitled to an opinion right.
But as mentioned looking back i myself can't help but think WWE right now is in a very bad place in comparison to the past.
I started wtaching WWF in the mid to late 80s. As it got more popular the stories became more varied. The boundries were broken and we got some really great entertainment. Of course mixed in with quite some bad! This carried on into the attitude era.
They constantly tried new things, tried anything and everything. Like for example the gimmicks. We had some fecking awful ones back in the day. But they were tried. Some work out and some don't. Today in my opinion there are very few wrestling personalities in the WWE now. You got either the monster/Big man look i.e Sheamus,Ezekiel,Reks,. You got the twisted can you trust him/nut job guy i.e Punk,Orton,Kidd,Barratt,DiBiase. Then you got the i love myself type guy Miz,Swagger,Del Rio,Rhodes,McIntyre,Ziggler. Then you got the no real gimmick guys who just want to win stuff i.e Morrison,Bryan,Kofi,Bourne and so on. I didn't include people who were around in the attitude era.
My point is the guys today when they come out don't tend to stray from these base gimmicks now. They are considered safe. But by being safe means we are just getting the same type guys come through. There are no stand out gimmicks or personalities to make you feel naturally interested. There is no real change.
Now as i said some people prefer today and that is fair enough. But what i don't get is why?
In nearly every aspect I THINK WWE is worse then it was.
Roster = A lot lot worse
Wrestling ability = The roster today in comparison to times from the past can't wrestle for shit. We used to have people like Benoit,Angle,Eddie,Hart,Malenko etc. I don't think anyone on the current roster is near those guys. Maybe Bryan.
Tag teams = What tage teams? The division is dead.
Star Power = Who really is a household name from wrestlers who came after the attitude era? Cena? I gurantee you most people would not have a clue who he is outside of people who watch wrestling now. Hogan, Rock,Austin,Macho man,Undertaker were all mainstream and thus people who didn't know wrestling would probably know them.
Stories = For a couple of RAW's over the past month we have seen an announcer stop a wrestler losing a title thus giving his co commentator championship matches. A computer acting as a GM. A new guy who is a champs side kick (Riley) being in the main events. Twins compeating with each other to see which girl can make a wrestler like her....Can you imagine if that story was used in the past...Now that is not saying that all the stories are bad because they are not. And it isn't saying all the stories from the past were good because jesus christ some were truely damn awful. But they were more risque. They would try anything.
Atmosphere = The atmosphere at the shows seems a miles times worse then they used to be. I watched the Invasion PPV for the first time since i saw it live the other day and when the intro was off and the fireworks were on the noise was insane and you could really feel the excitement in the crowd. Now days it seems the total opposite. One or two people might get a huge cheer but as the match goes on the noise will die until the finishers are applied. Very few times can i remember over the past few years not being able to hear the commentators because of the crowd.
Factions = This is obviously connected to the roster. But from having things like The Ministry,NWO,DX(real DX)all the way to Evolution absoloutly detsroys things like Nexus with Punk,McGillicutty,Husky Harris and Otunga..It is just no comparison.
GM = A computer, enough said.
Announcers = Cole and King, Josh matthews and Striker. Personally i think the days of King and JR on RAW and Cole and either JBL or Tazz were far better.
I honestly do not see one area where the current WWE beats the old WWE/F.
So the reason for this long ass post is to find out who really, truely, no joke prefers the shows today compared to back then? And back then means anytime in wrestlings past.
And if you do prefer todays shows then explain why! Remember this is just my opinion. A lot of you won't agree at all. So if you don't agree then say why!