thesquaredcircle

A golden era - but didnt it begin 1997 and end early 2003?

I missed the bulk of '98 and '99 being, at best a casual fan, started watching religioulsy mid 2000 (almost exactly with Austin's return, coincidence? Perhaps - but the hype was HUGE)

The WWE was blessed with talent - but it was Vince's madness that really brought it all together - he HAD to beat WCW and was up for anything no matter how stupid (that Mark Henry angle...) or dangerous (Mick Foley all but killed in no fewer than three HIAC stunts). That crazed energy made everything, no matter how daft it seems now, so exciting - what were they going to do next? Seemed every week someone dropped an anvil on someone else and how many times did someone pay another to run yet another over??

Then WCW began to struggle (though check the ratings - it was doing better than current WWE even right towards the end....) WWE realised it didnt need to try so hard....and so it didnt.

Strange that WWE's direction has been so largely shaped by external factors - if Owen could do a piledriver yesterdays RAW would have featured a violent red neck stunning everything in sight and being dragged out by the Ministry. If the Rock had a little less ambition he'd be the champ and if Bischoff had bought WCW we'd be watching Nitro recordings now...

I miss the fun, I miss the way not even a single match ended cleanly and I miss the WWF logo....