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Post by mikey1974 on Jan 2, 2012 14:29:21 GMT -5
set the way back machine to 1997...the Monday Night War was in full swing,and everyone was talking about the nWo,WCW,Sting,all the celebrities were jumping on the WCW bandwagon....but, lost in all that hoopla,was,creatively,one of the best in the WWF's history,in my opinion...with his back to the wall,Vince stopped playing it safe,started taking chances,started allowing talent to form their own characters and book their own matches, and really i feel it's one of the most overlooked years in the WWF,as most people remember,like i said,the height of the nWo in 1997, and usually skip to 1998 when the Attitude Era fully bloomed,and Austin was king....but consider some of what happened in 1997 :
started off with a kick-ass Royal Rumble,with some good undercard matches and a chaotic finish that saw Stone Cold "steal" the Rumble win...
the WWF Championship became a hot property this tear,with a lot of big names holding it,and most of the wrestlers after it...
the beginning of the ascension of Stone Cold,who started to get over so quickly,he became white hot!
Rocky Maivia "died",and The Rock was born this year...
The New Age Outlaws formed
Undertaker vs Bret Hart at SummerSlam
DeGeneration-X formed
the new Hart Foundation formed
The Undertaker had had a lengthy,and meaningful WWF Championship reign
Austin vs Owen Hart and The Rock elevated the IC Championship
The Montreal Screwjob
Ken Shamrock joined
the ECW invasion
Austin vs Hart at WrestleMania
Sable eclipsed Marc Mero,and began her rise to the WWF's "Premier Woman"
LOD returned
Mick Foley started the multiple wrestling personalities character
Kane debuted
guys like HHH,Billy Gunn,and Road Dogg stopped being cartoon characters and started becoming "real people"
The Godwinns became a viable threat
The Hart Foundation vs Austin/WWF Faces/the U.S.A.
edgier stuff like boobs,cursing, no holds barred matches (with liberal use of weapons/props),and ample bloodletting became a staple....
"Mr. McMahon" was born
....so while 1998 might have been financially more successful, i don't think anyone can deny the seeds for that success were firmly planted in 1997 ,which itself became a hell of a year that most people seem to overlook....
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nibs92
Main Eventer
Joined on: May 29, 2008 5:47:21 GMT -5
Posts: 2,344
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Post by nibs92 on Jan 2, 2012 14:38:30 GMT -5
been working my way through this year! Classic!
have been thinking along the same lines of how great a year it was! 1998 seemed to be the year that the WWF arrived but 1997 had such a raw gritty feel to it!
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Post by K5 on Jan 2, 2012 14:44:06 GMT -5
i've also been rewatching a lot of 97 recently. i think it gets forgotten as the truth is most people were watching wcw during this period...the wwe's ratings were in turmoil...but we saw the developments of ideas and concepts and characters that would go on to be a standard of today. i think 97 is really a pivotal year as it has the same chunky quality as the old wwf but this influx of 'attitude' that made for a state similar to chaos.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2012 15:32:06 GMT -5
I'll take this over whatever wcw was doing in 97
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Post by The Sexy Psychotic on Jan 2, 2012 15:54:50 GMT -5
I would honestly say 97 was the best year, apart from 99 maybe, for WWE. They were just chock-full of talent, and great matches and fueds.
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jakksking1
Main Eventer
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Post by jakksking1 on Jan 2, 2012 16:01:52 GMT -5
I loved 1997, great year for the WWF storyline wise, but I feel it gets the proper treatment.
I think the problem a lot of people have with 1997 is that it was filled with highs and lows and not much in between. For example, look at the PPVs. There were probably 4 or 5 true classic matches that happened during this period on PPV. There was Hart/Austin at WM13, Hart/Taker at SS, HBK/Taker Hell in a Cell at Bad Blood, The Canadian Stampede main event. Point is, those matches were outstanding, but the rest of the cards that they were on were completely bland. There were a few performers that exploded and put on great matches or storylines, but the rest was filler and it was pretty bad at times.
Anything involving Austin, Hart or HBK was pretty awesome for most of 1997. But there was a lot of filler that was bad, especially in early 1997. When you got the likes of The Latin Lover, Cibernetico, Pierroth, Fake Razor/Diesel and Flash Funk taking up space in the Royal Rumble, you know you are starting the year off wrong.
The good thing about 97 was that the seeds were heavily planted for a 1998 explosion. 97 was definitly a rebuilding year of sorts, rebuilding the crap that was 1995-6. It certainly served its purpose, allowed WWF to experiment, and planted storyling for a couple of years to come. I think its rated fairly accurately.
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sideeffect
Superstar
Joined on: Dec 22, 2011 20:08:39 GMT -5
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Post by sideeffect on Jan 2, 2012 16:07:27 GMT -5
I would honestly say 97 was the best year, apart from 99 maybe, for WWE. They were just chock-full of talent, and great matches and fueds. I thought 1999 was decent but not great, especially the first 6-7 months...Austin/McMahon started to get stale, most main event matches followed the same formula with brawling around ring, crowd, entrance, etc. It started to get boring and of the course the tragic death of Owen Hart. But it started to get good when HHH was on the rise to main event status and his feud with Vince was pretty damn good. |
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Post by mikey1974 on Jan 2, 2012 17:02:35 GMT -5
I would honestly say 97 was the best year, apart from 99 maybe, for WWE. They were just chock-full of talent, and great matches and fueds. I thought 1999 was decent but not great, especially the first 6-7 months...Austin/McMahon started to get stale, most main event matches followed the same formula with brawling around ring, crowd, entrance, etc. It started to get boring and of the course the tragic death of Owen Hart. But it started to get good when HHH was on the rise to main event status and his feud with Vince was pretty damn good. i can agree with this...after a stellar 97 and 98, 1999 felt like a bit of a letdown, and a bit,as you said, stale...i fell asleep watching WrestleMania XV - you read that right! but i LOVED the WWF in 2000! HHH as the big Heel around which everything revolved, The Rock finally grew into his Face role and took the "Austin Spot", Jericho was coming on strong, The Radicalz, the epic Tag Team wars,the ascension of Kurt Angle, Undertaker's reinvention.... |
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Post by The Sexy Psychotic on Jan 2, 2012 17:03:11 GMT -5
I would honestly say 97 was the best year, apart from 99 maybe, for WWE. They were just chock-full of talent, and great matches and fueds. I thought 1999 was decent but not great, especially the first 6-7 months...Austin/McMahon started to get stale, most main event matches followed the same formula with brawling around ring, crowd, entrance, etc. It started to get boring and of the course the tragic death of Owen Hart. But it started to get good when HHH was on the rise to main event status and his feud with Vince was pretty damn good. It might be nostalgia for me, but it was the first wrestling I had ever seen, I started at the very beggining of the year and ahve been watching since. I would say that the Corporation brought some variety to the Austin/McMahon fued, it helped it, plus the Ministry was just insane, so damned good. Sure the summer was maybe a little 'meh', but the later months were back on track like the first 6 months. |
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Post by mikey1974 on Jan 2, 2012 17:03:48 GMT -5
i've also been rewatching a lot of 97 recently. i think it gets forgotten as the truth is most people were watching wcw during this period...the wwe's ratings were in turmoil...but we saw the developments of ideas and concepts and characters that would go on to be a standard of today. i think 97 is really a pivotal year as it has the same chunky quality as the old wwf but this influx of 'attitude' that made for a state similar to chaos. this 100% ....it finally took on the aura of "must see TV" as it felt like an atmosphere of chaos where you didn't know what would happen next.... here's an example,for those who never saw it before,of how "Wild West" like the WWF got in 1997.... |
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Post by jammer311 on Jan 2, 2012 17:39:10 GMT -5
I'll take this over whatever wcw was doing in 97 I agree with this statement regarding 1997. Yet, I watched Raw and Nitro then. I was a teenager then, and for some reason, my friends and I chose to watch Nitro more so than Raw. I think it goes with the whole 'live' factor. In looking back at the Monday Night Wars on WCW Classics On Demand, the WCW Nitro shows are quite boring and one sided in matches. Where as WWE Raw had compelling action and story lines. It's kind of funny now, that looking back I see that Raw was so much better than Nitro. I think if Nitro wasn't live at that time, then Raw would have constantly won the ratings war in 1997. But I always loved when Raw would be in Canada in 1997. To see the fans react to the Hart Foundation in such a positive way and then boo the hell out of Austin, Goldust, LOD and such was pretty sweet. |
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Post by kazoosandstreamers on Jan 2, 2012 18:19:47 GMT -5
Being a kid watching this was awesome.
Good times.
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Post by K5 on Jan 2, 2012 18:34:24 GMT -5
the hugest change in the wwf occurred in a matter of a month. they went from the original raw setup in that small hall to the major arenas we see today along with the basis of the stage that is the norm. we saw the edgier side of characters as bret turned heel in the u.s., austin developed a face element to his character through bret's turn, shawn returning and forming dx, and wwf losing it's family oriented programming nearly completely.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2012 19:24:25 GMT -5
+1...great topic.
I have been watching tons of 97 lately.I also bought the 97 year in review with Jiom Cornette shoot.because Cornette was on the booking squad he knows this year inside and out and actually reads from the notebook/ledger Vince ordered them all to keep updated.
97 was a great year.....Vince was laying the groundwork for 98 here and man it showed all over.yes he hit speedbumps but recovered well(the Mr McMahon character for one)
its strange.......both WWF and WCW had blistering hot years in 98 but while Vince was laying the tile for 99 and still treaded carefully,WCW just kept blowing hot stories until 99 rolled around and they had nothing to throw at the wall and make stick.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2012 0:33:22 GMT -5
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Post by Emerald Enthusiast on Jan 3, 2012 1:43:21 GMT -5
I would honestly say 97 was the best year, apart from 99 maybe, for WWE. They were just chock-full of talent, and great matches and fueds. You may well be right. It's one of my favorite years to be sure. |
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Post by cordless2016 on Jan 3, 2012 11:35:41 GMT -5
1997 was one of the best years ever storyline wise. The main event scene was also red hot. Its amazing looking back and thinking that besides for the Sting vs nWo angle, stuff involving DDP and Raven, and the cruesierweight division, everything else WCW did sucked. They would start a storyline, only to drop it a week or two later and start something else. The nWo dominating got old fast, and Hogan's ego ruined what was the most hyped match in pro wrestling history(Hogan vs Sting).
The battles between Bret/Hart Foundation, Taker, HBK, Austin, Sid, Shamrock, and The Rock/NOD were great. For the most part, storylines made sense, and the fans got a big payoff in the end w/ great matches. I'd kill for the WWE today to be half as good as they were in 1997.
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MonsoonMan
Main Eventer
SE Wisconsin, NE Illinois figure hunter.
Joined on: Jan 1, 2012 22:47:05 GMT -5
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Post by MonsoonMan on Jan 3, 2012 18:19:24 GMT -5
i started watching wrestling around the tail end of '97.
there was SO MUCH charisma around that time. The rock, SCSA, ministy vs the corporation.DX running amok, ahhh man, good times, good times.
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Bullgod
Main Eventer
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Post by Bullgod on Jan 4, 2012 14:46:12 GMT -5
I recently watched the Kayfabe Commentary's they do a special where they choose a year and do a shoot interview style with a wrestler, they did 1997 with Jim Cornette, he was discussing in great detail all the happenings in 1997 and I realised that this year was very crucial to the attitude era, while WCW was winning the ratings WWF was positioning the attitude era to go full swing, so much happened in 1997, the Hart Foundation, the Rise of Stone Cold, the rise of The Rock the birth of D-Generation X and not to mention the Montreal screw job. To me 1997 is proberbly one if the biggest years in WWE history. If anyone gets a chance I would definately recomend the Kayfabe Commentary's timeline - 1997 with Jim Cornette, its a great watch
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2012 14:51:31 GMT -5
I recently watched the Kayfabe Commentary's they do a special where they choose a year and do a shoot interview style with a wrestler, they did 1997 with Jim Cornette, he was discussing in great detail all the happenings in 1997 and I realised that this year was very crucial to the attitude era, while WCW was winning the ratings WWF was positioning the attitude era to go full swing, so much happened in 1997, the Hart Foundation, the Rise of Stone Cold, the rise of The Rock the birth of D-Generation X and not to mention the Montreal screw job. To me 1997 is proberbly one if the biggest years in WWE history. If anyone gets a chance I would definately recomend the Kayfabe Commentary's timeline - 1997 with Jim Cornette, its a great watch Is there anywhere online I can watch the entire thing? I've only seen small clips on Youtube. |
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