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I still have around 30 VHS tapes. Hundreds got sold around 2006. The last time I put on a VHS was last year as I was looking for something specific from Mexico. YouTube is where I go to now for wrestling, truth be told.

That was when the era was in full swing - and look at the talent involved, it would be hard to swing and miss. Early attitude era involved Crackhead Bob in long skits. Most people repress moments like this. I try.

The 1997 UK event? I think it gets a fair bit of attention. The conclusion to the main event shocked me at the time as a teenager. The Bulldog simply couldn't lose in England!?!? It was mental. The idea was to set up the rematch in 1998 in the UK but obviously neither was wrestling in the WWF at that point. Elsewhere, Bret and Undertaker had a fantastic match with albeit a lame ending. Other than these two crackers, I can't remember anything else of note unless I'm mistaken.

Thanks mate! One of my favourite angles ever was SNME screw job

I'd say Sting over Flair myself. Flair had been in the WWF for two years a decade earlier, his presence wasn't so shocking compared to what Sting would have been back in 2001. And Goldberg really was a HUGE deal at the time. Remember the promo Vince did "the night he bought WCW"? The fans organically started chanting Goldberg - he really was to WCW what Austin was to WWF in the late 90's.

Class. Never thought of this before. You'd have to tread carefully not to make 1992 Undertaker look like an idiot though.

Very much agree. Pillman was also perfect for the attitude era, as stated. Vader in the WWF could / should have been a bigger deal. Even working through his health at the start, creatively this could / should have been covered.

Fin Martin did an excellent write up in the late 90's of hardcore wrestling, which in part covered the TWA in depth. The articles also included some excellent photography.

It actually had great legs. It's just that those legs were cut about one month into its run. The potential matches which could have come out of a prolonged run with those three is too vast to even begin going into here.

This. Although Vince perfected it, and had even dabbled with it years earlier in USWA, Bischoff was the first one to leave a real mark on the role to large American audiences.

Colleagues on the subway who couldn't believe Ed was actually telling the truth!

Sam Roberts is brilliant!

I remember Sting taking a massive beat down backstage. Just before (Hogan I believe) hit him with a baseball bat, he looked up and said... "Oh crap...." It was pretty bad. EDIT: Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MoXJdOkY54

Predictable answer for many, but I'll go with 2000. The last full year with head to head competition, the year brought some classic matches (Triangle Ladder at Mania 2000, Summerslam, Malenko / Scotty 2 Hotty Backlash, and Benoit / Jericho from the same event. Jericho vs HHH at Fully Loaded, the overbooked fun matches with Rock / HHH at Backlash and Judgement Day, Cactus vs HHH at Rumble and No Way Out, to name just a few from the top of my head on PPV alone, then you have the ten man tag leading up to No Way Out, fun matches like HHH vs TAKA on television etc) An injection of new talent coming into their own that year on WWE television: Kurt Angle, Hardy'z, Edge and Christian, Benoit, Jericho, Rikishi... HHH and Rock reached a whole new level, Undertaker was repackaged, Foley was entertaining as the commissioner. Things sagged towards the end of the year. When Austin came back, he wasn't a good fit with the new environment. Storyline got a little lazy all across the board post Summerslam. All in all, a fantastic year though.

There are many wild Nasty Boys matches on tape from the late 80's / 90's which are as sloppy as hell, yet great fun to watch regardless. Wrestling doesn't need to be uniform, IMO.

The first one I ever saw was Sabu / Douglas / Funk from TNTLWC, which I thought was a great match. I didn't think it was the flawless classic many at the time painted it out to be though. Even Douglas said he hated it. When they went to repeat it at Hardcore heaven 1997, it resulted in one of the worst matches of that year, IMO. The Richards / Funk / Sandman 3 way from Barely Legal was a fun, wild match for its time. I loved this years Mania triple threat, as I did at Mania 10 years earlier.

Brock Lesnar was in many way the WWE making their version of Goldberg in a lab. I was excited for the match thinking it would go along the lines of Steiner / Goldberg at Fall Brwal 2000 which is one of my top 10 matches; a super physical clash. But it was pants as we know.

To my own point... Just saw a promo where Andre The Giant was supposed to be in the 1991 Royal Rumble. It's conceivable the two could have met in that ring. Andre didn't make it to that match due to his health however.

Yeah, wrestling fans can be so blinded / anal in their bias. I refuse to believe there isn't the slightest bit of something for everyone in everything. If JC were to write the top things he loves about wrestling, he'll find them in the late 80's WWF. He speaks highly of Heenan, for one.

Strongly disagree. He was an attraction from the get go. The crowds of children were scared shitless. The chokeslam. The walk on the ropes. The flying clothesline. The salute to the urn. The tombstone. The zombi sit-up. The pale look. It was unique and unheard of as a package. Of course it helped that Mark Callaway was amazing and found himself in this gimmick. But despite the shitty matches for a good 5 to 6 years, Taker was special very quickly. Agree EL-P. Randomly stuck in the 1991 Royal Rumble yesterday, and despite only being there a couple of months at that point he had such a strong presence in the match surrounded by much more established talent.

Didn't RINGS start up again a year or so back? I assume with a different group of people behind it / in name only?

I sought out the Hardcore Heaven match today and it was one of my favorite hardcore matches I've seen in recent years and definitely my favorite of his in ECW. Nothing contrived or overly transparent. Believable violence (heck Corino separated his shoulder and broke his nose in the match) and one helluva blade job. Heel Corino 2000 was great and he was building momentum and recognition the right away. I've always felt him going face and winning the title (in an absurd match concept) was a bad move.

Poor 1996. Some cracking stuff that year lost forever in this debate...