10 Reasons Wrestling Will Never Ever Top The 90s

4. The Broken Ground Is Unrecoverable

Brian Pillman
WWE.com

Vince McMahon formally killed kayfabe in 1989 by announcing to the New Jersey Athletic State Commission that wrestling was "an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators rather than conducting a bona fide athletic contest." He did so to dodge tax and burdensome regulation.

Even before then, the jig was effectively up - but mainstream fans luxuriated in the pretence of illusion. The WWF, at least onscreen, maintained it. The show was presented as real and operated within something resembling a sporting framework. Cards were largely announced in advance. Run-ins weren't telegraphed by entrance themes.

Brian Pillman with his "Loose Cannon" persona changed all that, blurring the line between work and shoot and obliterating it altogether at SuperBrawl 1996. The WWF also experimented outside of its parameters before and especially during the Attitude Era Pillman, in part, ushered in. Mankind told The Rock in 1998 that he wasn't going to sell his "abortion" of a finish. Talents pleaded with the Undertaker to stop living his gimmick.

CM Punk did successfully blur the lines yet again, in 2011, but as momentous as his Pipebomb promo was, it was nowhere near as shocking as Pillman outright stopping a wrestling match and revealing that Kevin Sullivan booked everything else you saw on WCW TV.

The returns had long diminished, and Pillman's revolution meant that this unrecoverable broken ground crumbled beneath all of his successors. Unless an angle is killer, it's near enough impossible to truly invest in.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!