Ridiculous quotes from WO.com columnists

[sek69]

I've been following the Monday Night Wars series on WWE On Demand, and they're in April of 1998 now. It really became obvious when Russo got control when they had an entire episode of Raw where every match either had no finish or didn't happen as advertised. It came off like Russo was a little kid testing his parent's boundaries to see what he could get away with. It also seemed that since Austin was printing money at that point no one seemed to care about the rest of the card as long as everyone got Stunners at the end of the show.

[Jingus]

I know it is kind of a silly point to bring but Ivory former GLOW star's first reaction seeing the guys backstage in 1999 for the first time was where was all the colour was virtually everyone was wearing black from Austin to the Ministry guys to Blackman to Severn and so on. There was a "dark" or dull kind of aesthetic to the product post say Summerslam 98 to early 2000.

And the exact same thing happened to the WCW roster's gear after Russo took over. Was the guy viciously attacked by a rogue box of Crayolas when he was a kid? He just seems to hate bright colors.

[Death From Above]

Maybe he's like Homer J. Simpson and has a crayon stuck up his nose disrupting his brain function.

 

It would explain a lot.

[cm funk]

The WWF had a massive influx of TV ready talent in late 99/early 00. Chris Jericho, Taz, The Dudleys, Kurt Angle, Benoit, Eddie, Saturn, Malenko. By mid 2000 Jericho, Angle and Benoit were being pushed toward main event level, the Dudleys were solidly at the upper midcard level, and the rest helped form the backbone of the midcard. 2000 is considered a great year for match quality and PPVs, and that group of newcomers were a huge part of it.

 

Somebody made the point about how they didn't make any new stars in 99, an interesting 'what if' is how different the company would have been without all those guys. Or even just without the guys from WCW. They would have been forced to follow through with the Test push, probably would have given Rikishi a big singles push, pushed Big Show harder, would have had to push E&C and The Hardys even harder than they did....it would have been a completely different product.

[Loss]

Edge and Christian were hovering at the main event level until around the time Austin returned. I always thought Edge and Christian would have been perfect in the shit-stirrer roles leading to the Austin/Rock main event, similar to how Bravo, Earthquake, Perfect and Genius were used to build Hogan/Warrior or Akeem and Bossman were used to build Hogan/Savage.

 

I still think Rock/Austin vs Edge and Christian for the tag titles at No Way Out as the main event would have been a risk worth taking.

 

Breaking up that team was such a terrible move in hindsight, as Christian never really got the same opportunity as a solo guy and Edge as serious main eventer with Victoria-like facial expressions was lame. Neither guy was ever as effective on his own as they were together.

 

Austin/Rock/Edge/Christian as the final four at the Royal Rumble would have been pretty fun too.

[KrisZ]

I think when Christian comes back from injury they will get put back together.

[rzombie1988]

I think when Christian comes back from injury they will get put back together.

They need to do something before Edge starts getting go away heat.

 

I never really saw Christian as a main eventer until the 2004/2005 almost-feud with Cena. I didn't start really buying Edge as one until briefly in the 02-03 time period and then until he started doing the Rated R Superstar gimmick.

[rovert]

I know it is kind of a silly point to bring up but Ivory former GLOW star's first reaction seeing the guys backstage in 1999 for the first time was where was all the colour was virtually everyone was wearing black from Austin to the Ministry guys to Blackman to Severn and so on. There was a "dark" or dull kind of aesthetic to the product post say Summerslam 98 to early 2000.

And the exact same thing happened to the WCW roster's gear after Russo took over. Was the guy viciously attacked by a rogue box of Crayolas when he was a kid? He just seems to hate bright colors.

 

I know this trippy hippy but seriously 2000 is SO much more vibrant in terms of everything from ring gear. presentation to characters (e.g. Kurt Angle, Rikishi & Too Cool) etc.

[Cox]

Breaking up that team was such a terrible move in hindsight, as Christian never really got the same opportunity as a solo guy and Edge as serious main eventer with Victoria-like facial expressions was lame. Neither guy was ever as effective on his own as they were together.

I dunno, Christian as ECW champion was a lot of fun and at least as good as anything Edge and Christian did together. He was definitely better than Matt Hardy had been in the same role the year before.

[Bob Morris]

I can remember back in 1999 when I thought (and wrote) that perhaps Russo's problem was needing a change of scenery. I was wrong about that... he pretty much took the material he used in WWF and recycled it into new forms.

 

The Goldberg heel turn in WCW, for example, bore some similarities to the Rock heel turn in terms of the build.

 

It's too bad things in WWF 2000 went the wrong direction as the year progressed. Characters were better developed and storylines were more effective to start the year, but by the end of the year, it was back to the same problems as in 1999, just with a different creative team.

[Loss]

In terms of being a headliner on a show that people watch, the tag run was the highlight of his career, even if the ECW run was technically better.

[Strummer]

Does anyone else remember an article Russo wrote for WWF magazine back in 98 or so where he essentially buried the Royal Rumble match concept?. His point was that the match was a pointless exercise to get down to the top guys and the WWF was insulting your intelligence by telling you people like Papi Chulo or Chainz had a shot at winning the match. I could not (and still can't ) believe the WWF would let him write an entire article burying their second biggest show of the year. The way he booked the 99 match should tell you what he thought of the match.

 

 

was it ever revealed what Russo's plans were for the Stephanie/HHH angle? IIRC his idea whas that the entire wedding would be shot from behind with everyone facing the alter and you would see Stephanie next to a tall muscular guy with long blonde hair. Of course the swerve would be that when they turned around it would be Hunter instead of Test

[Loss]

Stephanie was going to stay babyface and Test and HHH would join forces. I can't see how that benefits HHH, Test or Stephanie, nor can I see how any matches can be created out of that scenario.

[Boondocks Kernoodle]

I thought Edge and Christian were getting really stale by mid-2001, but that was WWF's fault. Where is there to go when you've won the tag titles seven times in a one-year span? The feud between the two of them could have been carried out to Wrestlemania with a hair-vs-hair match; instead it was over in seven weeks so Edge could move on to a real star in Test while Christian scored title wins so unimportant that they didn't even air on television.

 

I don't think E&C's squandered potential compares to that of the Hardys who were super-over and sold a lot of merchandise but were never used in a way where they could actually draw money on PPV. I don't know how exactly to make a tag team title match draw on PPV but I do think the Hardys as fighting babyface champs taking on all comers would have been more effective than having Edge and Christian lose and win back the titles every three weeks. Not that E&C as the focus of the tag division was a bad thing, but Matt and Jeff deserved a longer run. There was never a better time for them to win the titles than the TLC at Summerslam 2000, and when they won them in a cage match a month later, it was kind of an anticlimax.

 

I also think during 2000 a scaffold match with the Hardys vs E&C could have been a big draw on PPV if promoted properly. Sure, scaffold matches blow and once you've seen one you don't want to see another, but a large portion of the fans watching WWF during that time period probably hadn't seen one. Promote it as the most dangerous match ever with the promise of the biggest bumps possible (and I'm sure the Hardys would have come through in that regard) and you could have attracted a lot of fan interest.

[El-P]

The WWF had a massive influx of TV ready talent in late 99/early 00. Chris Jericho, Taz, The Dudleys, Kurt Angle, Benoit, Eddie, Saturn, Malenko. By mid 2000 Jericho, Angle and Benoit were being pushed toward main event level, the Dudleys were solidly at the upper midcard level, and the rest helped form the backbone of the midcard. 2000 is considered a great year for match quality and PPVs, and that group of newcomers were a huge part of it.

Yep. It turned the complexion of the company around. I love how there is this myth that WCW created no new stars at all. Well, they weren't main event stars there, but WCW sure did produced shitloads of upper mid card name that were over as hell. Granted, they weren't used at their full potential, but still, when they showed up in WWF, they just took the spot of most mid-carder from the Russo era (poor D-Lo and Val, who got effectively buried in the shuffle because of it). WWF used what WCW produced to enhance their own product, and its not like they used them all at their upmost potential either. Eddie Guerrero was first used very poorly. Saturn who was super over in WCW got wasted. They never knew what to do with Raven, who was close to a main event guy in WCW. Sure, Rey Mysterio got pushed to new hights (and pretty much only because Eddie died in the first place), but rey was a *star* in WCW already. Do we need to mention Jericho ? Really, the afflux of stars from the other companies is a big part of what made the WWF's product so much better in 2000. Sure, you got Angle, who was a pure WWF product, but he was pretty much alone. This is what is lacking today too, big time.

[El-P]

I know this trippy hippy but seriously 2000 is SO much more vibrant in terms of everything from ring gear. presentation to characters (e.g. Kurt Angle, Rikishi & Too Cool) etc.

No, I agree with you. I never thought about it before when I look back at Russo era, but you're right, and it is an issue. Austin going back to the traditionnal black trunks was cool as hell because it was the dyas of stupid gimmicks and people in full outfits. No one else was in a traditionnal wrestling gear anymore, especially not a simple black one. Then the Rock got the same look, more or less. Then Triple H got into black trunks (which really looked like him copying teh two biggest star of the era). Everyone looking the same doesn't work in american wrestling. I always thought part of the appeal wa also the presentation, the colorful gears and robes. This part has been forgotten today. The biggest star of this era is dressed like Justin Credible. Well...

[Guest Paul Kersey]

I thought Edge and Christian were getting really stale by mid-2001, but that was WWF's fault. Where is there to go when you've won the tag titles seven times in a one-year span? The feud between the two of them could have been carried out to Wrestlemania with a hair-vs-hair match; instead it was over in seven weeks so Edge could move on to a real star in Test while Christian scored title wins so unimportant that they didn't even air on television.

 

I don't think E&C's squandered potential compares to that of the Hardys who were super-over and sold a lot of merchandise but were never used in a way where they could actually draw money on PPV. I don't know how exactly to make a tag team title match draw on PPV but I do think the Hardys as fighting babyface champs taking on all comers would have been more effective than having Edge and Christian lose and win back the titles every three weeks. Not that E&C as the focus of the tag division was a bad thing, but Matt and Jeff deserved a longer run. There was never a better time for them to win the titles than the TLC at Summerslam 2000, and when they won them in a cage match a month later, it was kind of an anticlimax.

 

I also think during 2000 a scaffold match with the Hardys vs E&C could have been a big draw on PPV if promoted properly. Sure, scaffold matches blow and once you've seen one you don't want to see another, but a large portion of the fans watching WWF during that time period probably hadn't seen one. Promote it as the most dangerous match ever with the promise of the biggest bumps possible (and I'm sure the Hardys would have come through in that regard) and you could have attracted a lot of fan interest.

I've always thought Hardys v Dudleys v Edge & Christian in a Hell in a Cell could have main-evented an off month ppv during that period, being worked pretty much as another TLC with a Cell spot or two thrown in.

[Log]

Stephanie was going to stay babyface and Test and HHH would join forces. I can't see how that benefits HHH, Test or Stephanie, nor can I see how any matches can be created out of that scenario.

Was there ever a major HHH/Test match on PPV to blow that off?

[Loss]

No, they killed Test off the night after Stephanie and HHH got together.

 

Test showed remarkable resilience, going back to other stuff the next week like the whole thing never happened. Say what you want about whether or not Test was ready for the spot, but spending six months to get a guy over at that level to build to a moment, delivering the moment, then deciding you'd rather do something different doesn't make much sense. They invested enough time in Test that not following through after all that was silly.

 

But he was a big guy with long blond hair, and they already had a main eventer who was a big guy with long blond hair, which probably explains what happened.

[Log]

Yeah, I couldn't recall Test ever getting his revenge. I guess it is here that begins the legend of the evil HHH: burier of wrestlers.

[Jingus]

They did fuck Test over pretty hard. After the wedding, he had a tepid feud with DX that quickly fizzled out with him jobbing every night. Then he was thrown into the Hardcore division, which was basically an island of misfit toys where they quarentined talent whom they didn't know what else to do with. Then they turned him heel for no apparent reason and stuck him in the T&A team. In hindsight that was actually a good pairing, Albert and Trish were both very green but obviously talented. But at the time, fans fucking hated them and they had zero street cred. He was with the company for years afterward, but did little of note. For a guy who was around and semi-pushed as long as he was, Test got surprisingly few actual storylines thrown his way.

 

I don't agree with the "they didn't make any new stars" talking point. I'd argue that Jericho counted; he was pushed harder in his debut on WWF television than his former employer had ever done with him. Edge & Christian and the Hardys had already been around before the year started, but it was in '99 that they broke out and became names. Towards the end of the year, they actually had a really nice little tag division, with teams like Too Cool or the Hollys who generally had decent matches, plus the Dudleys and Acolytes and probably some others I'm forgetting. The reformed Outlaws mostly sucked, but they were the only glaring flaw in the division. Sure these new guys only got going in the last couple months of the year, but better late than never.

[El-P]

Don't ask me why I remember this, but before Test even debuted, he was talked about on Kevin Kelly's little radio show they had, Byte This, and they put him over as "having Sid's physical presence and Shawn Michaels's ability and charisma". Yep.

[kjh]

Yeah, I couldn't recall Test ever getting his revenge. I guess it is here that begins the legend of the evil HHH: burier of wrestlers.

Well, he did call the cops on Triple H several months later!

[Tawren]

If I recall correctly, the December 1999 PPV main event was Vince vs HHH with Vince defending Steph's honor and then Steph's turn that started the McMahon-Helmsley Regime. Or maybe Steph had already turned. Either way, Test should have been in that spot.

[artDDP]

I remember Triple-H power bombed Test through the announce table on Raw and that was the end of that feud.