[quote name='Iron Clad Burrito']IDK how he was as a wrestler (not sure I've seen more than maybe 2-3 of his matches ever), but everything I've ever heard or read about Ole pointed to near universal dislike of his booking. So I'm not surprised.
[/QUOTE]
As a kid, I watched all things WCW. I loved Saturday Night. I thought it had some hidden gem matches. When did Ole take over?
Regarding watching older footage with present eyes. I watched full shows from WWE and WCW during the mid-to-late 1990s. I have watched pro wrestling since the late 1980s and always said WCW had better wrestling than WWE.
I watched WWE product that featured Bret Hart, Farooq, Savio Vega, The Rock, and Steve Austin. I watched WCW product that featured Chris Jericho, Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit, Konnan, Rey Misterio, Jr., and the Steiner Brothers. After watching full shows from both companies from 1996 to 1999, I still think WCW had much better wrestling than WWE. As a kid, I didn't realize how highly-produced the product had been from WWE. WCW, while also produced, had a more organic, natural feel.
I've also spent some time catching up with PRIDE. In a perfect world, PRIDE and WCW would have survived. It's a damn shame both companies don't exist in today's world.
[quote name='cdubb1605']List of categories and nominees for Slammys:
http://www.lordsofpain.net/news/wwe...nees_For_Monday_s_Slammy_Awards_RAW_Show.html[/QUOTE]
I'd love to see Batista win "Meltdown of the Year", return, and cut a great promo. But that's not going to happen.
[quote name='mykevermin']Are you saying that in the sense of that's how it will be written, or that's what you want it to be?[/QUOTE]
My tastes in what I want from WWE have changed. I want what Michael Cole provides to the shows: Favoritism to some talent, hilarious banter with Matt Striker and Josh Matthews, and decent storytelling.
Sure, Cole is overproduced and spouts the stupid, fed lines he receives concerning things like the Bellas and Danielson, but he is the heart of WWE's commentary. Remove him from the picture, and disqualify CM Punk because he's a temporary commentator, and WWE's commentary is in a bad situation. Matthews, Jerry Lawler, Todd Grisham, and Striker work best with Cole. Michael Cole is the sports entertainment version of Joey Styles.