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Post by Mike Giggs' Munchies on Jul 14, 2014 13:59:44 GMT -5
So WrestleMania is obviously massive nowadays. Way bigger than any other PPV. The main event has in the past been named from a year out and almost any long term storyline gets the response "it should culminate at WrestleMania".
But it wasn't always this way. Sure, WM was always the WWE's biggest PPV, but it didn't always dwarf the others like this. Look at the Attitude Era, WWE's most successful time period. So many great feuds, so many great matches. And yet WM XV and WM XVI are two of the worst ever. Instead, other PPVs in those years are remembered more fondly, such as Royal Rumble 2000, which to this day is one of the best PPVs ever.
I'm not saying that there can't be better PPVs than WM these days, 'cos there can, but my point is that there was never this huge focus on WM in the way there is now. Major storylines began and concluded consistently throughout the year, unlike the two basic blocks we have now of 'pre-WM season' where anything decent must end at WM and 'summer season' where there's one reasonably big but probably forgettable storyline going on and a few smaller ones. Back then stuff wasn't so WM-focused apart from the 2 or 3 months beforehand. The invasion, on paper (obviously not in practice but that discussion is for another thread) was arguably the biggest storyline in years, and yet it didn't come close to WrestleMania. By contrast, WrestleMania is bigger now than ever yet the rest of the year pales in importance to 15 years ago.
So basically my question is: when did WWE start overfocusing on WM and neglecting the rest of the year? And why?
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Jul 14, 2014 15:24:49 GMT -5
I would say it was probably in 2002 right after Wrestlemania X-8.
Once WCW was done and gone in 2001, the WWE slowed down a bit on the 'show to show' type of booking, and started to look at least a month a head, then maybe 3 months a head, and then 6 months a head, and so on.
But I am sure it didn't really show, until after Wrestlemania XX. I am guessing that Vince had a plan to have Cena win the WWE Title at WM 21. I still say to this day, that he had Benoit and Eddie be WWE and World Champions at WM XX to please the typical, hardcore wrestling fan, knowing that a year later, Cena and Batista (well Orton was the original go to guy) would be the main guys.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2014 15:28:14 GMT -5
WrestleManiaX7 Dwarfed the entire year that was 2001. And a lot of stupid things happened in that year.
Then again, SummerSlam 2000 dwarfed WrestleMania that year due to a single match imo. Then again WM16 was awful..
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Post by Mike Giggs' Munchies on Jul 14, 2014 15:36:08 GMT -5
WrestleManiaX7 Dwarfed the entire year that was 2001. And a lot of stupid things happened in that year. Then again, SummerSlam 2000 dwarfed WrestleMania that year due to a single match imo. Then again WM16 was awful.. I'd say dwarfed is an overstatement. A lot of memorable things happened in that year (not necessarily good or bad). Austin's heel turn, the whole invasion, Kane's record-breaking Rumble run and Jericho winning the Undisputed title all instantly come to mind. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2014 15:37:37 GMT -5
WrestleManiaX7 Dwarfed the entire year that was 2001. And a lot of stupid things happened in that year. Then again, SummerSlam 2000 dwarfed WrestleMania that year due to a single match imo. Then again WM16 was awful.. I'd say dwarfed is an overstatement. A lot of memorable things happened in that year (not necessarily good or bad). Austin's heel turn, the whole invasion, Kane's record-breaking Rumble run and Jericho winning the Undisputed title all instantly come to mind. Yeah, maybe a little strong. But one of those points happened that night. I definitely remember a number of PPV's due to awesome RVD matches. |
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Post by Mike Giggs' Munchies on Jul 14, 2014 15:47:38 GMT -5
I'd say dwarfed is an overstatement. A lot of memorable things happened in that year (not necessarily good or bad). Austin's heel turn, the whole invasion, Kane's record-breaking Rumble run and Jericho winning the Undisputed title all instantly come to mind. Yeah, maybe a little strong. But one of those points happened that night. I definitely remember a number of PPV's due to awesome RVD matches. True, but the whole thing lasted most of the year. It pisses me off to this day how they didn't capitalise on RVD then. Imagine if he won the title at No Mercy? Have Vince 'fire' him for taking his company's title to the wrong side the night after Survivor Series and then have the title vacant at Vengeance. RVD could then come back a bit later and the crowd would go mental for it. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2014 15:53:08 GMT -5
Yeah, maybe a little strong. But one of those points happened that night. I definitely remember a number of PPV's due to awesome RVD matches. True, but the whole thing lasted most of the year. It pisses me off to this day how they didn't capitalise on RVD then. Imagine if he won the title at No Mercy? Have Vince 'fire' him for taking his company's title to the wrong side the night after Survivor Series and then have the title vacant at Vengeance. RVD could then come back a bit later and the crowd would go mental for it. Guy took the Hardcore Title and made it into a main event worthy championship. How the hell does that happen? |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2014 22:57:22 GMT -5
I guess I never really looked at it that way but you're right.
Wrestlemania 15 and 2000 honestly don't feel that "big" to me. Especially given how hot wrestling was at the time.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2014 4:31:14 GMT -5
I guess I never really looked at it that way but you're right. Wrestlemania 15 and 2000 honestly don't feel that "big" to me. Especially given how hot wrestling was at the time. that's very true...... |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2014 2:09:16 GMT -5
I still don't understand how WrestleMania 25 was the 25th anniversary of WrestleMania...not really on topic but just my two cents...
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Post by Jonathan Karate on Jul 16, 2014 2:32:53 GMT -5
I still don't understand how WrestleMania 25 was the 25th anniversary of WrestleMania...not really on topic but just my two cents... What do you mean by that? |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2014 2:37:06 GMT -5
I still don't understand how WrestleMania 25 was the 25th anniversary of WrestleMania...not really on topic but just my two cents... What do you mean by that? I thought this thread was about WrestleMania's importance and figured I'd lend my two cents about something I never understood about a tag line for WM25. If the 25th edition of WrestleMania is 'WrestleMania 25' how can it be it's own 25th anniversary? |
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Post by Raine on Jul 16, 2014 3:18:23 GMT -5
Wrestlemania in the Hogan era was always the end of the "wrestling season" thus the most important PPV. They always booked from Wrestlemania backwards in those days, so feuds would always culminate at WM. Somewhere in the 90's they lost focus of this in terms of Wrestlemania. I mean look at WM13 just seems like just another PPV, compare it to WM5 for instance. Somewhere back in the 2000's they twigged that WM is like the Superbowl, so started advertising like one. And rightly so
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Post by LeighD on Jul 16, 2014 14:55:59 GMT -5
True, but the whole thing lasted most of the year. It pisses me off to this day how they didn't capitalise on RVD then. Imagine if he won the title at No Mercy? Have Vince 'fire' him for taking his company's title to the wrong side the night after Survivor Series and then have the title vacant at Vengeance. RVD could then come back a bit later and the crowd would go mental for it. Guy took the Hardcore Title and made it into a main event worthy championship. How the hell does that happen? I agree. RVD took the hardcore title to main-event level in 2001. Biggest reason I can think of is because 1998-2000 RVD WAS ECW, especially in 1999 and 2000. RVD's drawing power was HUGE. He was still riding that wave when ECW closed in 2001 so when he returned to WWF he was still very over and his matches delivered. Sadly, in later-2001 he seemed to lose that momentum he had built. |
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Post by The Kevstaaa on Jul 16, 2014 19:53:15 GMT -5
Guy took the Hardcore Title and made it into a main event worthy championship. How the hell does that happen? I agree. RVD took the hardcore title to main-event level in 2001. Biggest reason I can think of is because 1998-2000 RVD WAS ECW, especially in 1999 and 2000. RVD's drawing power was HUGE. He was still riding that wave when ECW closed in 2001 so when he returned to WWF he was still very over and his matches delivered. Sadly, in later-2001 he seemed to lose that momentum he had built. I've just watched and reviewed the late 2001 shows and now that I'm in 2002, you can clearly see a difference. He went from high profile matches with the likes of Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Steve Austin and the Undertaker, but once 2002 hit, his first two singles matches on PPV were with Goldust and William Regal. |
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