title reign is finished, but WWE is notorious for giving up on guys out of the blue. Cesaro seems to be in line for a big push once his U.S. Slater, McIntyre and Mahal are stuck in the Three Man Band stable but might be able to cut out a comedic niche for themselves. ![]() Unfortunately, this has become somewhat of a lost art, and really, none of the 1997 guys (outside of marginal success for Mark Henry) ever became solid main-event talents.Ģ012 has a huge roster of young talent who seem ready for a push, but creative just can't figure out what to do with them. The lower mid-card is certainly not what draws money, but it is the place where future talent is supposed to pay their dues and learn how to draw a house. It wasn't until the Dudleys, Hardys, and Edge and Christian broke out that the tag division really became important again, so we'll call this one a draw.ġ997: Goldust, D'Lo Brown, Brian Christopher, Taka Michinoku, Kama Mustafa, Mark Henry, Savio Vega, Scott Taylor, Steve Blackman, Flash Funk, Leif CassidyĢ012: Antonio Cesaro, Brodus Clay, David Otunga, Drew McIntyre, Heath Slater, Jinder Mahal, JTG, R-Truth, Santino Marella, Zack Ryder, Tensai, Tyson Kidd With HHH slowly moving into power, he has made an effort to revitalize the tag division with teams like the Prime Time Players and the Rhodes Scholars.īack in 1997, tag teams were mostly made up of over-the-hill veterans (Hawk, Animal, Barry Windham) or guys no one cared about (Godwinns, Truth Commission, DOA). Until recently, WWE was fine sticking two upper mid-card guys together (The Miz and R-Truth being one example) for a few weeks and having them win the tag titles just for fun. Naturally, there were more tag teams in 1997 because there was an actual emphasis on the tag team division back then. However, you could argue that the upper mid-card of 2012 is more talented wrestling-wise and has bigger name value.ġ997: New Age Outlaws, Headbangers, The Godwinns, Legion of Doom, The New Blackjacks, The Truth Commission, Disciples of Apocalypse, Furnas and Lafon, Los BoricuasĢ012: Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara, Rhodes Scholars, Prime Time Players, The Usos, Primo and Epico Daniel Bryan is the hottest act in the company right now, Dolph Ziggler seems poised to break out any day now (although we've been saying that for two years), and Alberto Del Rio seems destined for push after push. Today, the same class of workers are in the same situation. The Rock was on his way to immortality, Mick Foley was a bump machine trying to find his niche, and HHH hadn't started with Stephanie McMahon yet. The 1997 upper mid-card was full of names who would go on to become big stars (The Rock, Mick Foley, HHH) but at the time, they were some young guys hoping that they didn't get stuck with a loser gimmick. Sure, Cena moves merchandise, and Punk is (or was) an internet darling, but I think it's very clear that 1997 had the combination of star power and wrestling ability.ġ997 - British Bulldog, Owen Hart, Mick Foley, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Faarooq, Kane, The Rock, Marc Mero, VaderĢ012 - Daniel Bryan, Kane, Dolph Ziggler, Randy Orton, Alberto Del Rio, Rey Mysterio, The Miz, Ryback, Kofi Kingston Both Punk and Cena can absolutely bring it when it comes to ring work, but I don't think anyone would argue that they are better than Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels. Today's talent is far overshadowed by the names of the past and is even made to look second-rate when late-'90s stars return to television. Obviously, the names of 1997 carry a little more star power than the ones of 2012, and certainly, that could be part of the problem. ![]() Another big difference is that in 1997, wrestling fans had an alternative in WCW while 2012 fans are stuck with a three-hour borefest which kills live crowds and causes people to tune out en masse.ġ997 - Bret Hart (left in November), Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Steve Austin (injured for part of the year)Ģ012 - CM Punk, John Cena, Sheamus, Big Show The only difference is that in 1997, WWE was on it's way up while WWE in 2012 is on the way down. So the ratings aren't that different if you average them out throughout the month of November. I just chose the guys who best represented the time period in order to compare the two eras. Note: Obviously, I can't include every single worker on the roster, and some of these guys were not present for all of 1997. So, since so many people seem to believe that WWE is headed for a boom period in 2012, let's set the way-back machine to 1997 and compare the ratings and rosters of the shows as of November. WWE needed to change with the times or die, and Vince McMahon ushered in the Attitude Era, a "soap opera for men" where foul language and gratuitous female nudity were not only present, but they were encouraged. ![]() For you newer fans who live under rocks, WWE was getting absolutely destroyed in the ratings by WCW due to its new New World Order storyline and high-flying cruiserweight division.
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