How WWE Has Changed Since Jeff Jarrett Last Wrestled On Raw
As with anything from the time, WWE Network's rendering of the Raw is loaded with chapter breaks to account for the 400 matches spread out across the 100 minutes (!) of action, each grey dot hiding one quickfire atrocity after another in a way today's younger viewers couldn't possibly fathom.
Though authority figures were becoming increasingly prevalent thanks to the huge success of the Mr McMahon gimmick over the prior two years, they weren't the looming and domineering presence they are today. The wrestlers wrestled because they wanted a fight, even if that fight was a lumbering mess serving only to get to the next segment. Whether that purpose is better than what's often no purpose today remains subjective.
Quality-wise, there is simply no comparison.
There's nothing Billy Gunn and Crash Holly can even attempt in the 48 seconds they've got that could compare to what Seth Rollins could do with the same number of minutes. Tag Team Wrestling on the red brand is as on it's a*se as "#FTR" is Scott Dawson's, but The Revival could craft a mini-masterpiece in 3:48 in contrast to whatever the f*ck The Headbangers were working on with Curtis Hughes and Chris Jericho. 1999 had Sean 'X-Pac' Waltman on the books - a wrestler and Superstar beyond superlatives with skills so missing from today's product that fans that jumped on post-2010 literally can't even see what they're missing. He was lumbered with Faarooq to build up to a tag match alongside Kane versus The Acolytes because they were all massive and he was still considered small.
Such was life for a mere six-footer back then. 1999 wasn't all impotent rage manifested as Crash TV and Sportz Entertainment - there was innovation as always, even if much of it had to be searched for amongst the literal and figurative sh*t. Like "THE DOG POOP! THE DOG POOP!" itself, it's presented on a platter in 2019, but tragically, it's not half as palatable as it once was. Wrestling is 50% of what makes an iconic WWE Superstar, but the system has changed so drastically since these halcyon days that much of today's roster are either unable or unwilling to take enough risks to produce the other half of the package.
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