10 Images That Proved 2017 Was Wrestling’s Craziest Year Ever
Insane In The Frame
There's something about the sevens.
In 1987, Vince McMahon boldly booked the Pontiac Silverdome for WrestleMania III, and just about sold the ginormous structure out. The 93,173/78,000 attendance debate is dry discourse for sunnier days, but the visual of Vince Jr stood centre-ring to kick off the broadcast was, in every sense of the word, powerful.
His company was in very different shape a decade later, but renewed prosperity was just around the corner. 1997 saw humongous attitudinal shifts in the industry, with WWE finally launching a creative resurgence against a rampant WCW. Stone Cold Steve Austin set fire to old regimes and rules as Eric Bischoff had done on Nitro two years previous. Things had changed, because they had to.
As they did again in 2007 after an active roster member killed his family and himself on a tragic June weekend. The excesses of the past 20 years had caught up with McMahon in horrific circumstances, and his organisation had to react seismically to close the gaping wounds. It unfortunately created several years of bland mediocrity. The separate ascents of Daniel Bryan and NXT in 2014 had lasting effects though. Three years on, and the industry is alive again.
Hulk Hogan was infamously loose with the truth in discussion of his legendary clash with Andre the Giant, to the extent where memes of the pair's battle still filled social media when the iconic Detroit arena was demolished just last week. 2017's insanity hasn't required his fabrications.
10. Back With The Boyz Again
Ahead of the iconic WrestleMania X-Seven, another of WWE's beautifully overblown video packages referred to the 'Show of Shows' as a "Celebration Of Life'. It slotted in with the rest of the hyperbole at the time, but was proven astonishingly true when Matt and Jeff Hardy made their return to the fold at the 33rd edition.
Life. Jeff Hardy's was in tatters as recently as 2013 when he emerged 'in no condition to perform' for a TNA main event. It was a nadir for a company not unfamiliar with the barrel's bottom scrapings. That he had re-emerged from his own rock bottom to become a clean-living, big-loving father was the most joyous success of all, but a WWE return put a similar bow on his legendary career.
Life. Like his brother, Matt Hardy looked trapped in a proverbial pit of drugs and despair, but when all looked broken, he found his ultimate fix - creativity. Developing a brand spanking new life nearly twenty years into his career as a full-timer, Hardy crafted a universe for himself and his family that paved the way for an iconic return.
Life. The lives of many fully grown adults that had survived adolescence with the help of the Hardy Boyz, celebrating their glorious return to literally WWE's biggest ever stage. Children could share it, older fans could appreciate it.