10 WWE Careers That Were Transformed In One Year
The 24/7/365 Champions.
Television wrestling's primary function is to make fans forget that things are more about the journey than the destination.
Title wins, twists and turns are the moments companies need to sell viewers on fundamentally, but more time will be spent getting to the moments than luxuriating in them. What you're watching right now matters most, but don't forget to tune in next week when what you're watching then matters most! And buy the pay-per-view on Saturday or subscribe to the Network on Sunday, because what happens on those shows matters even more!
Becky Lynch and Kofi Kingston raised belts above their heads at WrestleMania 35, mindful of the history they were making, but much would have been lost had they been transplanted into the scene without the context WWE just about managed to provide.
Too much television time to fill saw both those roads to WrestleMania filled with potholes that were ultimately avoided, but it's trajectories like these that make it difficult for wrestlers in WWE to have the consistency over one year that once moulded and shaped careers for decades after the fact.
More's the pity too - when the company looks after somebody long enough, they make money, and they make actual stars...
10. Stone Cold Steve Austin - 1997
Any WWE documentary will tell you that Steve Austin strapped himself onto the rocket that the company then blasted into space following King Of The Ring 1996, but any episodic viewing on their very own Network service will rapidly do away with that mythology.
Not until Bret Hart identified him by name and helped elevate him in defeat at Survivor Series that year did 'The Rattlesnake' truly register as a possible main eventer. And not until 1997 did it become clear how going with absolutely anybody else would have been insane.
Austin made himself undeniable from the off in the year that transformed everything for WWE. His matches were of the highest standard, growing in quality with the babyface support he earned en route to turning 'The Hitman' heel.
When injury presented a hurdle, he turned his attention to authority figures and helped craft an idea of Vince McMahon as a character before the Montreal Screwjob solidified it as the natural heel foil for the fully-fleshed out version of the "next Hulk Hogan" the Chairman had spent years looking for.