10 Times WWE Didn't Deserve To Be Unpopular

9. 1994

Punk Bryan OTL
WWE.com

'Deserve' is probably a misnomer.

The very premise of a wrestling promotion is to effectively promote its stars to the public. WWF wasn't lacking for exposure, nor had its creative ideas been lifted by a more prominent company. This was no hard-luck tale: the WWF simply did not boast the star power nor product to reclaim its commercial glory. The stark tale told by this Wednesday Night War - NXT and AEW together can't reach RAW's numbers, poor as they are in themselves - is that critically-acclaimed art has little bearing on popularity.

And the WWF of 1994 was critically-acclaimed art.

The sprawling Bret Vs. Owen Hart feud was as authentic and as good as pro wrestling gets, delivering all-time classic matches, tremendous, heart-wrenching selling, and of course, a legendary meme. Owen and the 1-2-3 Kid contested at least two electric bangers that hold up, genuinely, to 2019's standards of athleticism. The storytelling was experimental and attuned to the wavelength of fans: Bret and Lex Luger's famed double-elimination Rumble spot created a new strain of drama and restored the Hitman as a headliner. Diesel was a bust in 1995, but in '94, his ice-cool, badass presence was marketed and pushed perfectly. RAW remained a very good and vital-feeling driver of storylines.

The How-much-does-dis-guy-weigh memes paint an inaccurate picture: 1994 was as tumultuous offscreen as it was perfectly controlled on it.

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 surefire Undisputed WWE Universal 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!