10 Iconic Wrestling Images That Show History Repeating

4. Baddest Men On The Planet

Eric Bischoff Chris Jericho
AEW

AEW went looking for "TYSON AND AUSTIN! TYSON AND AUSTIN! TYSON AND AUSTIN!" vibes when they brought 'The Baddest Man On The Planet' in to rehash some old hostilities with Chris Jericho and give the launch of the TNT Title about of real sports pizzazz. Instead, they only mined some very well-founded criticisms.

Two decades and change is a long time, but the magic of that 1998 moment felt a million years old when the actuality of the booking came to pass.

Tyson's entourage looked pretty daft, but not as silly as their leader as he flexed in Jericho's face (when he could finally rip his shirt off) to set up...something the company will presumably eventually get back to. People in 1998, for their open shame and naivety, were able to look past the glorification and promotion of a convicted rapist. Present day is not that less-informed past and fans of the theoretically-progressive wrestling company in 2020 understandably wanted All Elite Wrestling to do much much better.

 
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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett