Quote:
Originally Posted by Boris The Great
Its not an argument, these are business facts. WWE business was doing well from the Austin era, but began an upswing in early 2000 when the HHH-Stephanie marriage angle got hot. Austin was gone and Rock was already hot all through 1999, its not like something happened to make him even bigger.
Obviously HHH isnt in the league of Austin or Rock as a star, but to say he was never a draw just isnt true. And the real declining started when the WCW invasion failed, thats when business trends started to noticeably go south. Then the brand split weakened things because shows were only featuring half the talent. Rock and Austin were still regulars at that point, but obviously when they left it didnt help.
Yeah, and they kept at it and he ended up becoming a big star. The same thing happened to Rock when they first pushed him. Everyone hated him. Then they stuck him in the Nation and pushed him into a feud with Austin that nobody thought he deserved at the time. But by the next year, he was the future of the company.
A lot of guys have that story.
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That's just ridiculous
Rock's first push was awful and the fans crapped on him as a result.
After that, the Rock got over all by his goddamned self. He got himself over when he was in the Nation with maybe the greatest mic work in the history of the business.
Go look up his promo from the Monday before Summer Slam of '98 when he rips on Chyna, or when he gave gifts to the Nation.
However, Rocky's time as a full time wrestler ended the Monday after WM 17, after that, he never really worked a full schedule again, even though he came back later that summer.
And as far as being a draw, everyone in the ****ing world was watching in 1999 and 2000, and the belt was flying back and forth. By the time Rock and Austin were on their way out, and HHH was the undisputed top guy, it was after WM 18, and shortly after that, and the horribly botched Invasion Angle (thanks Vince's Ego), business went in the shitter.
If HHH really was a draw, he would have gotten Raw 5's and 6's and not 3's once the business cooled off.