What happened to the WWE/F's New Generation?

[TMC]

http://officialfan.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=wrestling&action=display&thread=466404

When Bret won the WWF title from Flair in late 92 it seemed like they
had a fine roster and they were still bringing in some talented
people. What happened when it officially became the New Generation
that made it such a failure?

« Reply #1 Yesterday at 9:17am »
They were obviously throwing crap against a wall and seeing what
sticks. I'm not saying wrestling history was nothing but technical
masterpieces, but a lot of these shows during the New Generation era
was loaded with guys who seemed like they were only wrestling to
supplement their main income as whatever character their wrestler was.

Bret Hart and maybe a handful of other guys were the only ones you
could take seriously as real threats to any sort of title. The
rest...forget about it.

« Reply #4 Yesterday at 11:41am »
Having just watched a bunch of TV from the New Generation, it's not
that bad of a product really. It's very silly at times, but it is an
enjoyable product for the most part. I've really grown to appreciate
it.

I think the problem with it was how out of place it was in the mid
1990s. By about 1994, EVERYTHING in American culture was edgy. TV,
movies, mainstream music (before 94, your grunge and alternative was
still getting crushed in the charts by 80s-90s soft rock holdover
sounds), even advertising. The freakin NFL had to up its cool factor,
with gritty ads and the FEEL THE POWER ad campaigns. On TV, edgy
dramas and snarky comedies were the new norm, but Vince presented a
product that looked like it was right out if a 70s variety show. It
had no place in 1994-96 (and it probably didn't help that the WWF had
a strong association with the 80s, which were very unpopular in the
90s) It didn't have a chance.

« Reply #7 Yesterday at 3:22pm »
also outside of Yokozuna in 94, there really wasn't a credible top
heel. Guys like Sid and Vader towards the end of the New Generation
could've been but weren't. You also had good workers who either didn't
get over due to cartoony gimmicks or were on the wrong side of a feud
with the Kliq

« Reply #8 Yesterday at 4:15pm »
The New Generation gets a bad rap, and while it was silly at times and
dated compared to the rest of pop culture, there was a lot of great in-
ring action during this era. Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Shawn Michaels,
Razor Ramon, The "1-2-3" Kid, Mr. Bob Backlund, Bam Bam Bigelow, and
Hakushi all delivered on a consistent basis. Yokozuna, Marty Jannetty,
IRS, The Head Shrinkers, Jerry Lawler, Jeff Jarrett, The Quebecers,
Tatanka, and Diesel were all reliable hands as well. So while I admit
there was certainly a lot of crap, if you're looking for solid
wrestling, there was plenty of it during the New Generation era.

« Reply #9 Yesterday at 8:03pm »
Five words (well, not really, of course, but my point still stands):

Lex Luger wins by countout!

Basically, Vince was torn between wanting that quick fix "next Hulk
Hogan" and trying to start over out of necessity (a lot of his draws
either left or were slowing down). The 2 long reigns that IMO define
the New Generation are Yoko in 93/94 and Diesel in 95. Building up
Luger only for him to fail just made Yoko's reign seem even longer and
boring. Diesel was pretty over, but didn't catch on quite like Vince
had hoped he would. Vince always trusted Bret Hart to go back to, but
he was always searching for a superhero, which Bret just wasn't. By
the time HBK got his run in 96, WCW was gaining momentum and there
needed to be change, which came dramatically over the following 18
months. The WWF finally found its focus that had been on the decline
since 1991 or so. I mean, they're making fun of WCW for having an old
roster but featuring Roddy Piper in a semi-main at Wrestlemania. Come
on.

Oh, and they did have a fine roster in '92, but it went pretty haywire
over the next year or two. Just look at the differences between the
Rumble match participants in vs. 93 and 94.

« Reply #10 Yesterday at 8:12pm »
They switched up the roster, but they weren't changing with the times.
It was basically the same aesthetic and style as the '80s boom, but
with a new batch of stars. The product didn't so much get worse as it
stayed exactly the same, and most of the fans brought in by Hogan and
the whole superhero style just gradually lost interest and drifted
away.

On top of that, it didn't help that they didn't have anyone
charismatic enough to really take Hogan's spot as the iconic
headlining face of the company.

[Jim]

Vince knew he would lose to WCW when Shockmaster debuted and gave up.