Best Single Year In The WCW/ECW/WWF Era

Oh yeah, been digging through some info, and WCW was red hot in 96. The amazing tag team division(arguably the greatest of all time). The introduction of, and early days of the NWO were absolutely the best. They kind of got goofy with it in 97, and downright stupid with it in 98, by 99 it was just rape.

Flair, Savage, Mysterio, Benoit, Malenko, Eddie, The Giant, Hogan(as a face, and later as Hollywood in the all time greatest swerve), the Road Warriors, Sting(As the surfer, and the amazing storyline that led to him becoming the crow), Roddy Piper, Jericho, and that all time great tag team division make 96 one of WCW's best years in my opinion. 1997 was indeed epic too. 1998 started off better than ever for the WCW, but they really hit a downward spiral starting with their Jay Lenno stuff. The last 6 months of 98 for the WCW was pretty lackluster compared to the 2, and a half years that preceded them.

Another thing to consider is WCW Saturday Night. I think 96 was the final good year for the show if I remember correctly, before it went completely to the crapper. WCW had a lot of comedic value in 96 too, both intentionally, and unintentionally.

Over in the ECW they were just as hot all the way through 96. The Taz mma gimmick really started to take off, and slowly built through the year, much like the way Goldberg did in the WCW in 97-98. Raven vs Tommy Dreamer was the all time greatest rivalry in the ECW, and it was absolutely in its prime in 1996. Then you have a tag team division that was almost as stacked as the WCW's was, with one of my all time favorite teams, the Eliminators on the rise through the year, and arguably in their prime.

Juvy Guerrerro, Rey Mysterio Jr, Chris Jericho, and Shane Douglas were doing some great matches too. Then you had Sabu, and the Sandman as well as the rise of RVD. 1996 was a hot year for the ECW, arguably their best. 1997 was almost as good, maybe just as good, but those PPV's just didn't deliver like their super cards did. Most of their best stuff was not on PPV believe it or not.

1998 was very similar to the WCW/WWF for ECW, they started off stronger than ever. ECW's syndicated tv show was absolutely in its prime in early 98 with the Taz vs Bam Bam build up for their match, as well as Al Snow as over as a wrestler could possibly ever get with a crowd. The ECW petered out after Heatwave, and some of the storylines were growing stale, not to mention most of their most entertaining performers jumped ship to the WCW, or WWF, where they were not nearly as entertaining.

As for the WWF in 96, it may not be as good of a year as 97, but I think it was better than 98, especially the last 6 months of 98. 96 had the actual rise of Steve Austin, as well as some great stuff at the end of the year. It was interesting to see the WWF actually have the inferior product compared to the WCW's shows of the time, even though the WWf's shows were still actually pretty good in 1996.

From 1993-2000 rankings for each year in my opinion:

WWF

1. 1997
2. 1994
3. 1996
4. 1998
5. 2000
6. 1999
7. 1993
8. 1995

WCW

1. 1996
2. 1997
3. 1998
4. 1995
5. 1994
6. 1993
7. 1999
8. 2000

ECW

1. 1996
2. 1997
3. 1998
4. 1999
5. 1995
6. 1994
7. 2000
8. 1993

I think it is a tie, and that we can all agree that from January of 1996 to Summer Slam 98 was the absolute best period in pro wrestling history. All 3 companies were kicking ass.

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