Looking back, I think they made the most of a bad situation by adding that into the Cinderella story we all wanted for Bryan. And Batista did a hell of a job adjusting, I have to say.

The Mayweather/Big Show match is actually really good. The build-up was pretty hot, too. I think a draw would have been lame, but I understand why you'd say that. I think there was talk of having a match with Big Show and Shaquille O'Neal, and they've teased it a few times too. Would be interesting if that ever…

I think that was from 92. 93 was Sting and Davey Boy Smith vs. "the masters of the power bomb", Vader and Sid. And those awful promo clips.

I know what you mean, but lately the WWE's stuff feels like it earns that word more.

It was Beefcake/Valentine vs. the Bulldogs at 2. The Hart Foundation were in the battle royal with the NFL guys. Originally Bret Hart was supposed to work one on one with Ricky Steamboat, but that was planned because they wanted Steamboat to do a squash match with Hercules.

Sorry, still waking up lol.

My little brother was a fan, and his fandom wore off on me. This would have been early 1992. It was WWF until I discovered WCW later that year. I vaguely remember watching some GWF (out of Texas, the last gasp of the Von Erich territory) on ESPN from around that time too. By some coincidence, I discovered a few years…

I'd heard that Shane was in the crowd and he was the one that started the "you sold out" stuff.

IX is kind of terrible (as is XI, oddly enough). Hogan clinging to the spotlight at the end is tough to watch now, black eye and all. The only really good match I would recommend from that is the Steiner Brothers/Headshrinkers.

PT pretty much says it all above me, but I found a lot of the Attitude Era stuff boorish and offensive even at the time when I was the prime target for a lot of it. If that was on TV today, everybody here would pretty much hate it. Even the people who say they miss it now.

WCW was much better in '98. It all started falling away once the fingerpoke of doom happened.

I loved that he was as hated here as he was even more loved in Canada, because he really turned up his own patriotism to 11. It was almost subversive, which is a quality that is probably the most rare in wrestling.

That could have been SO fucking epic if it were not for Vince's ego.

Of the three, Flair had a better in-ring performance. He was non-stop throughout the whole match, while Backlund spent time selling an injury on the floor (presumably to be out of the way for the Giant Gonzalez debut).

Awesome list. I saw WrestleMania's 13 and 17 live, and the others over and over again on videotape. I have a soft spot for WrestleMania VIII which was the first one I'd seen, as it was in the capital city of my home state, and was kind of a changing of the guard. Honestly the matches don't hold up but I'll watch it…

It is.

I think my favorite line was "that's why they call him The Barbarian. He's not a hairdresser on his day off, you know".

He was the last one in in 1989, and the following year he was in for almost all of it until the Ultimate Warrior threw him out.

I often wonder that about my brother sometime. I owe (or maybe blame) him my wrestling fandom, and I messaged him last Sunday "don't you ever think sometimes 'I am so sick of this fake shit'?".

I did. 8 years old, the first Saturday Night's Main Event on Fox. WrestleMania VIII shortly thereafter, and I was hooked.