I think if fully loaded 2000 happened today it would destroy the iwc

[R=G]

Not exactly sure about Austin (Remember, he was gone until what, October of 2000), but I distinctly remember people really getting sick of Rocky before he turned Hollywood in 2003. Maybe not around this time period (I wasn't around then), but the longer things went on, the more people got right sick of Rocky's schtick.

Not sure it ever approached Cena levels of hate though. Cena was DETESTED at one point, and I'm not sure Rocky hate ever got to those levels.

Oh yeah..they hated the Rock with a PASSION in 2001 and 2002. But the reasons were some of the worst in the history of the IWC and made fans look like complete trailer trash. They get punked out quick with any kind of logic being brought up. They loved Cripple H in 2001 as well..mostly for him being heel and giving him WAY too much credit for how well things were instead of them having the field intelligence to examine WHY and who was responsible for him appearing how he did. Well...no matter how much they hated the Rock online, it never translated on television and it led to some of the most ignorant quotes and hilarity ever on the net. In the end, it was Cripple H who was exposed as a phony by the end of 2002 who needed politics for everything they ever cheered about him and the Rock who was proven to be the backbone of the Attitude Era and when he was gone, they begged for his return like no one else. You see they REALLY THOUGHT Rock SUCKED but when he turned heel in 2003 and proved he was superior to every single talent in the wrestling history..from Flair to a returning Austin to Evolution to Jericho to Michaels to Taker to Vince to Hogan....elevated talent while displaying such superiority....they marked out like bytches and learned there could ONLY be one Rock in the end. It translated during his whole heel run too as they marked out for him on damn near every single show. At the end of Backlash 2003, he left to a standing ovation and by the end of 2003, when he came out to save Foley, he was getting ALL TIME level pops that no one could match in the industry anymore.

 

[Riley Escobar]

Fans were REALLY sick of rock during periods...I DIDNT FORGET him gettin shytted on at wwe new york...im sick of him to this day

As soon as I saw this I expected paragraphs defending him

Wasn't disappointed

 

[Alexander The Great]

Rock pre hollywood was almost cena levels but not quite....he, like hogan, turned heel because motherfukkers were sick of him

your hate of the Rock turns you into a bumbling ball of lies and hyperbole anytime you discuss the past. Rock was no where near Cena levels, he wasn't even Hogan in WCW circa 95-96 levels. He was still the most popular guy on the roster. Rock got booed 3 times during that period and ALL from smark go against the grain crowds. 1-against Hogan at Mania X8 in Toronto, 2- against Brock in new york when the crowd knew he was leaving them again to go back to hollywood and the awards show a few months later also in new york where they showed him via satelitte on a movie set.

Rock was on tv from July 2001-August 2002 every week. if the crowd hated him like you claim, please provide some proof.

 

[Alexander The Great]

As soon as I saw this I expected paragraphs defending him

Wasn't disappointed

 

[CM_Burns]

Everybody in those matches came out of them looking good, w/ the exception of Angle- granted, he got his ass kicked in a match that coulda been on Smackdown. But all in all, it wasn't a bad look for any one of them... Jericho, Benoit, and Angle hadn't been there a full year yet, and they were being billed in "main events" with their top stars. In those situations, wins and losses mean less than just being there in the first place. It was likely meant to be their first chances to see how they'd perform in those types of matches. Only Benoit had experience being in main events, and it was still fresh because he wasn't an established main eventer yet.

But that said, yes the IWC would've had a fit about Benoit and Jericho losing... and they probably did.

Cosign this. Rock sold for Benoit and made him look like a KILLER and Jericho looked good too. The show as a whole was great.

I'm not one of those "I'm not IWC" IWC members, but it's stupid to me when smarks "above marks" get mad about their favorites losing or not being world champion. If you like Daniel Bryan or Benoit for his workrate and ability to have great maches, you should just care that he's being given an opportunity to do so, whether he's winning or putting over a real draw/star shouldn't matter.

 

[Hoss]

I'm not one of those "I'm not IWC" IWC members, but it's stupid to me when smarks "above marks" get mad about their favorites losing or not being world champion. If you like Daniel Bryan or Benoit for his workrate and ability to have great maches, you should just care that he's being given an opportunity to do so, whether he's winning or putting over a real draw/star shouldn't matter.

This. Great post Mr. Burns. Couldn't agree more.

 

[No_bammer_weed]

anybody who would have gotten mad over angle, benoit, and jericho "jobbing" would have been a complete moron and had zero understanding about how the wrestling business works. You dont win your first match in a main event slot (unless you are Hogan/Goldberg type phenom who must be pushed IMMEDIATELY), the idea is to wrestle a competitive match and lose, but in the process get "the rub", so that you are considered in that class. Over time you can finally ascend to the point where you are a main eventer; that slot isnt handed to you. These were the type of matches that were denied young up and coming talent in WCW. They never received matches against main eventers so they could establish themselves as future stars. There was a glass ceiling.