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**Luigi** · 03-24-2018, 11:43 PM

1. What were your thoughts at the time on HHH's return as a babyface?

I was initially excited but became disappointed after a few weeks. As is the case with many newly-turned faces in the WWE, the WWE altered Triple H's 'face' personality too drastically. Since his face personality became quite different from his heel personna (the personna that the fans grew to love), his facedom started to fade quite fast. Triple H's lackluster facedom, combined with Chris Jericho's EXTREMELY poor build up as champion (I'll elaborate on this later) lead to a horrible main-event that year.....and had zero chance of being an adequate follow-up to Rock/Hogan.

2. What were you thoughts on the nWo coming in - what were your expectations, positive or negative?

I was excited and had positive expectations. The nWo was a big name stable obviously, and we hadn't seen Hall, Nash, and Hogan in the WWE in quite some time. In retrospect, I think it would have been better for the following to happen:

-Kevin Nash/Scott Hall develop a program with Triple H
-Hogan vs. Rock as scheduled
-Chris Jericho vs. heel Austin at Mania....with Austin staying heel even after Survivor Series 2001. A well built up FACE Jericho going over Austin would have achieved the following:

A) A true 'passing of the torch' and a good 3 year stop gap between the Attitude era and the John Cena era with Jericho being the 'top face' of the company.
B) A worthy following act after Rock/Hogan
C) Austin doing a meaningful job before taking a much needed sabbatical to heal his injuries (instead of feeling self-obligated to 'walk out' on the company).

Hall and Nash feuding with Hunter would have allowed Hunter to be built up a little more as a face instead of being shoved down our throats. Given "The Kliq's" past, I think this feud would have been more interesting than the actual Hall/Austin........especially with HBK's return not too far off.

3. How did you feel about WrestleMania 18? (I hear Shisen may have seen this live, but have never been able to get him to confirm)

Great PPV, but it also marked the end of the Attitude Era. If the Attitude era was akin to a city, then I believe that Austin/HBK/WM14 to Rock/Austin/WM17 was the "downtown city," while Austin/Bret/WM13 to Rock/Hogan/WM18 was the 'downtown city + metropolitan area. Although the Attitude Era winded down after Wrestlemania 17, I feel like the Attitude Era was truly over after Rock/Hogan. The horrible Jericho-Triple H match and poorly built up feud then "kickstarted" the forgettable Post-War era. The WWE really screwed the pooch with Jericho in my opinion. Jericho should have been the guy to 'take the torch' after Austin and Rock, and then pass the torch to Cena back in 2006 (instead of Hunter). 2002-2006 should have been Jericho's time, and I believe that the WWE would have stayed a lot closer to their Attitude Era level of popularity had they done this.

Jericho was pretty much the only guy in the WWE that was worthy of being the top guy at the time.
A) He was way over as a face (unlike most other wrestlers that attempted face turns after successful heel runs and had their personalities drastically altered after turning face.....and then flopping as faces).
B) He had the necessary in-ring ability.
C) The guy was a lockerroom leader and team player (which is why guys like Orton and Lesnar should never have been made long term champions......the WWE made the right call with Orton here).
D) The guy didn't have a history of injuries and didn't have a drug problem (drugs are why Angle wasn't given the ball, and drugs/in-ring ability/character issues outside the ring was why RVD wasn't given the ball. The WWE made the right call with both Angle and RVD).

Jericho truly was the guy that should have been given the ball and the WWE fudged it up. Triple H was given the ball due to his marriage to Stephanie, and he couldn't bring it as a face. The WWE then turned him heel and had him dominate everyone without an adequate opposing face (recipe for bad business). The WWE also tried to hot-shot Lesnar by pushing him to the moon and handing the business to him on a silver platter, but the problem with that strategy is that the wrestler develops an "entitlement" attitude (which is what happened with Lesnar). Lesnar also flopped as a face due to his personality being altered after Summerslam 2002. Jericho was the guy. Period.

A) Jericho should have never been made to look inferior to guys like Benoit and Angle during their feuds in 2000. Given Jericho's potential to draw, Jericho should have gone over both men strong here.
B) His 'phantom' title win over Hunter back in 2000 should never have been phantom.
C) Jericho should have never turned heel during the Invasion angle. Him and Rock both should have stayed face. Actually, if I recall correctly, Jericho and The Rock had a match well before the Invasion angle and both men were faces. The fans were actually siding a little with Jericho. Jericho was getting the better of The Rock before the match was stopped due to interference. Jericho clearly had fanfare comparable to The Rock at this time.
D) Face Jericho should have gone cleanly over a Face Rock at that one PPV (the one where Jericho became Undisputed Champion). THIS would have been what Hogan/Warrior should have been back in 1990 (or whenever it was). In the final, you can have Austin do something to 'default' the match against Jericho so that he wouldn't have to defend the title, yadda yadda.

Bottom line? Jericho should have been the guy to transition between Austin/Rock and the John Cena era. The WWE would have kept a lot of their Attitude Era steam had this happened in my opinion.

4. What did you make of the brand extension when it was announced, and of the original Draft show in execution?

Like Communism, great in theory. In theory, you'd get wrestlers having more days off and more wrestlers having the opportunity to get over. In actuality, you'd have more titles in the WWE which would result in titles having less meaning and significance. You would also get more poorly built up characters getting more TV time and boring the WWE audience (leading to a decline in fan interest and ratings). I believe that this was the problem then, and is the problem now.

03-24-2018, 11:43 PM	#14
Luigi "Let's-a go!" Posts: 206	1. What were your thoughts at the time on HHH's return as a babyface? I was initially excited but became disappointed after a few weeks. As is the case with many newly-turned faces in the WWE, the WWE altered Triple H's 'face' personality too drastically. Since his face personality became quite different from his heel personna (the personna that the fans grew to love), his facedom started to fade quite fast. Triple H's lackluster facedom, combined with Chris Jericho's EXTREMELY poor build up as champion (I'll elaborate on this later) lead to a horrible main-event that year.....and had zero chance of being an adequate follow-up to Rock/Hogan. 2. What were you thoughts on the nWo coming in - what were your expectations, positive or negative? I was excited and had positive expectations. The nWo was a big name stable obviously, and we hadn't seen Hall, Nash, and Hogan in the WWE in quite some time. In retrospect, I think it would have been better for the following to happen: -Kevin Nash/Scott Hall develop a program with Triple H -Hogan vs. Rock as scheduled -Chris Jericho vs. heel Austin at Mania....with Austin staying heel even after Survivor Series 2001. A well built up FACE Jericho going over Austin would have achieved the following: A) A true 'passing of the torch' and a good 3 year stop gap between the Attitude era and the John Cena era with Jericho being the 'top face' of the company. B) A worthy following act after Rock/Hogan C) Austin doing a meaningful job before taking a much needed sabbatical to heal his injuries (instead of feeling self-obligated to 'walk out' on the company). Hall and Nash feuding with Hunter would have allowed Hunter to be built up a little more as a face instead of being shoved down our throats. Given "The Kliq's" past, I think this feud would have been more interesting than the actual Hall/Austin........especially with HBK's return not too far off. 3. How did you feel about WrestleMania 18? (I hear Shisen may have seen this live, but have never been able to get him to confirm) Great PPV, but it also marked the end of the Attitude Era. If the Attitude era was akin to a city, then I believe that Austin/HBK/WM14 to Rock/Austin/WM17 was the "downtown city," while Austin/Bret/WM13 to Rock/Hogan/WM18 was the 'downtown city + metropolitan area. Although the Attitude Era winded down after Wrestlemania 17, I feel like the Attitude Era was truly over after Rock/Hogan. The horrible Jericho-Triple H match and poorly built up feud then "kickstarted" the forgettable Post-War era. The WWE really screwed the pooch with Jericho in my opinion. Jericho should have been the guy to 'take the torch' after Austin and Rock, and then pass the torch to Cena back in 2006 (instead of Hunter). 2002-2006 should have been Jericho's time, and I believe that the WWE would have stayed a lot closer to their Attitude Era level of popularity had they done this. Jericho was pretty much the only guy in the WWE that was worthy of being the top guy at the time. A) He was way over as a face (unlike most other wrestlers that attempted face turns after successful heel runs and had their personalities drastically altered after turning face.....and then flopping as faces). B) He had the necessary in-ring ability. C) The guy was a lockerroom leader and team player (which is why guys like Orton and Lesnar should never have been made long term champions......the WWE made the right call with Orton here). D) The guy didn't have a history of injuries and didn't have a drug problem (drugs are why Angle wasn't given the ball, and drugs/in-ring ability/character issues outside the ring was why RVD wasn't given the ball. The WWE made the right call with both Angle and RVD). Jericho truly was the guy that should have been given the ball and the WWE fudged it up. Triple H was given the ball due to his marriage to Stephanie, and he couldn't bring it as a face. The WWE then turned him heel and had him dominate everyone without an adequate opposing face (recipe for bad business). The WWE also tried to hot-shot Lesnar by pushing him to the moon and handing the business to him on a silver platter, but the problem with that strategy is that the wrestler develops an "entitlement" attitude (which is what happened with Lesnar). Lesnar also flopped as a face due to his personality being altered after Summerslam 2002. Jericho was the guy. Period. A) Jericho should have never been made to look inferior to guys like Benoit and Angle during their feuds in 2000. Given Jericho's potential to draw, Jericho should have gone over both men strong here. B) His 'phantom' title win over Hunter back in 2000 should never have been phantom. C) Jericho should have never turned heel during the Invasion angle. Him and Rock both should have stayed face. Actually, if I recall correctly, Jericho and The Rock had a match well before the Invasion angle and both men were faces. The fans were actually siding a little with Jericho. Jericho was getting the better of The Rock before the match was stopped due to interference. Jericho clearly had fanfare comparable to The Rock at this time. D) Face Jericho should have gone cleanly over a Face Rock at that one PPV (the one where Jericho became Undisputed Champion). THIS would have been what Hogan/Warrior should have been back in 1990 (or whenever it was). In the final, you can have Austin do something to 'default' the match against Jericho so that he wouldn't have to defend the title, yadda yadda. Bottom line? Jericho should have been the guy to transition between Austin/Rock and the John Cena era. The WWE would have kept a lot of their Attitude Era steam had this happened in my opinion. 4. What did you make of the brand extension when it was announced, and of the original Draft show in execution? Like Communism, great in theory. In theory, you'd get wrestlers having more days off and more wrestlers having the opportunity to get over. In actuality, you'd have more titles in the WWE which would result in titles having less meaning and significance. You would also get more poorly built up characters getting more TV time and boring the WWE audience (leading to a decline in fan interest and ratings). I believe that this was the problem then, and is the problem now.