Recognized as all-time insanely great periods in wrestling history, there's never been a better time to compare these stretches of creative zeniths from 2 drastically different eras, 2 drastically different companies.
Packed with best match ever candidates, best storyline ever candidates, and numerous game-changing moments for their respective companies, this can be quite the difficult decision to make. Perhaps the best way to find out would be to revisit both eras through the WWE Network and those lucky enough to still have all those ROH events handy.
But for now, which one do you go with? Do you go with the Austin vs. Hart Foundation program, or ROH vs. CZW? Do you go with the first-ever Hell in a Cell, or the viscerally electric Cage of Death? Do you go with the Three Faces of Foley, or Jimmy Jacobs romantically chasing Lacey?
When it comes to WrestleMania weekend all-time classics, do you go with Bret vs. Austin or Do Fixer vs. Blood Generation? When it comes to Manhattan history, do you go with Survivor Series 1996 + Raw 9/22/1997, or Joe vs. Kobashi + Glory By Honor V Night 2? When it comes to UK history, do you go with One Night Only or Unified?
If this poll proves anything that we can all agree on, it's this Lapsed Fan quote:
It used to be better.
Which is the creatively superior 1-year span in wrestling history?
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Re: Which is the creatively superior 1-year span in wrestling history?
Interesting question.... I think everyone is going to have a different perspective on these two era. It's a hard comparison, as it's kind of apples and oranges in a sense. At the same time, i feel ROH's legacy in the wrestling business is ultimately one of the most important and best wrestling companies in history. People may not agree, but i guess it depends how you measure success. But i'm going to look at this from a product standpoint.
(I'm going to do most of this off memory, so some information may be off)
WWE Raw... and the NOV 96-97 era. I'll start by saying Austin and Bret was probably my favorite feud in WWE history, and favorite monday night raw when they really got into it. As great as Austin/Bret was.... the WWE was planting seeds for the future. It was setting up Austin as the top babyface... it was setting up an evil Mr. Mcmahon Character, and Rocky was just getting his feet wet. Mankind was an interesting piece during this era. HIAC was a big deal back then, and the Kane origin storyline was very good. HBK lost his smile. Certainly some of best storyline/creative stuff.
On the other hand, some of the other stuff wasn't working like Pyscho Sid as world champ, WM 13 wasn't a great show. The under and middle of the card were quite weak at that time. Wasn't a lot of legends on the show... as most were in WCW at the time.
ROH's 2006 was consistently good... in almost every show. They build up Bryan Danielson as a great champ, They built up Homicide as a top star. The ROH/CZW cage of death had a wonderful build up and climax. Homicide/Colt Cabana had a great feud. Better than our Best was one of the best ROH's shows ever in my opinion. Bryan Danielson had some of his best matches of his career vs. Nigel and Kenta. It's hard to point out a flaw in this era.
So to answer the question... from a creative superior perspective, I'd go with Raw. Simply as it's a more entertaining /storyline driven product. From a wrestling product side, i'd go with ROH as it was much more consistent in terms of shows/character building/matches.
(I'm going to do most of this off memory, so some information may be off)
WWE Raw... and the NOV 96-97 era. I'll start by saying Austin and Bret was probably my favorite feud in WWE history, and favorite monday night raw when they really got into it. As great as Austin/Bret was.... the WWE was planting seeds for the future. It was setting up Austin as the top babyface... it was setting up an evil Mr. Mcmahon Character, and Rocky was just getting his feet wet. Mankind was an interesting piece during this era. HIAC was a big deal back then, and the Kane origin storyline was very good. HBK lost his smile. Certainly some of best storyline/creative stuff.
On the other hand, some of the other stuff wasn't working like Pyscho Sid as world champ, WM 13 wasn't a great show. The under and middle of the card were quite weak at that time. Wasn't a lot of legends on the show... as most were in WCW at the time.
ROH's 2006 was consistently good... in almost every show. They build up Bryan Danielson as a great champ, They built up Homicide as a top star. The ROH/CZW cage of death had a wonderful build up and climax. Homicide/Colt Cabana had a great feud. Better than our Best was one of the best ROH's shows ever in my opinion. Bryan Danielson had some of his best matches of his career vs. Nigel and Kenta. It's hard to point out a flaw in this era.
So to answer the question... from a creative superior perspective, I'd go with Raw. Simply as it's a more entertaining /storyline driven product. From a wrestling product side, i'd go with ROH as it was much more consistent in terms of shows/character building/matches.