10 Best Things To Come From The WWE's Worst Moments
1. The Best North American Wrestling Of The 1990s
Bret Hart's expert carry-job of Tom Magee getting the red carpet treatment from the WWE Network was thrilling for fans of the 'Excellence Of Execution', not least in the wake of time moving so far past his peak years that younger fans simply weren't fully grasping the scale of his contributions to the industry.
The accompanying documentary brought into focus just how much he could do for his colleagues as well as himself between the ropes, yet that match was in 1986. He was about a decade shy of his peak, as was (at that point) WWE's in-ring zenith.
Never the promotion that put the emphasis on superlative action during its boom, WWE suddenly had to rely on it in the face of not being able to offer much else. Many of the gimmicks of the New Generation era were shonky and the industry's fallen status in the eyes of the mainstream brought about rock bottom levels of external investment and internal morale, but in the meantime, the "wrestling company" because a wrestling company.
Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels were entrusted with main event spots despite their relatively smaller size, and could both carry the likes of Diesel, Sid and Yokozuna to satiate Vince McMahon's unquenchable thirst for size. Underneath them, The 1-2-3 Kid was a bell-to-bell litmus test decades ahead of his time while The Undertaker, Razor Ramon, Jeff Jarrett, Bam Bam Bigelow and others oversaw an incredibly talented and diverse midcard.
The financial times were tough, but the barely-bought pay-per-views were, quality-wise, M O N E Y.