So I've been binging the Monday Night Wars series on WWE Network during my week off. I'm about a quarter of the way through, and here are some initial thoughts:
1. Damn, does Keith David narrate EVERYTHING?
2. Damn, Bret really DID screw Bret. I didn't realize he had become such a diva by that point. Vince gave him every option in the world to hand over the strap on his way out and look as good as possible while doing it, and Bret said no to everything. He was really willing to sacrifice the whole title legitimacy just to not put Shawn over. Vince did what he had to do for the biz, and I can't blame him.
3. HBK gets a bum rap for being a full-blown asshole during that stretch in the mid 90's, but DAMN was this dude under a lotta pressure. He was the only guy left for a stretch who could sell tickets, and so he had to carry the entire business on his back. That's got to be stressful as shit, especially since he was the captain of a losing team at that point. All the top guys had gone to WCW, and the top talent at WWE had just been bumped up from midcard, so they still had developing to do, and so WWE was getting slaughtered in the ratings by WCW. If Shawn didn't carry the weight of the business at that time and sell as many tickets and PPV buys as he did, then WWE may very well have folded. No wonder his body broke down the way it did. He gave it all to keep WWE competitive. I got a whole new respect for HBK. I'm not sure how many guys could've done that in that situation.
4. Stone Cold has his partnership with Brian Pillman to thank for him developing his edgier persona the way he did. He was pretty damn forgettable before then.
5. Bischoff could not develop talent for SHIT!!!
6. Did Macho Man really take Stephanie McMahon's virginity? (This wasn't in any of the videos. It just popped back in my head today for some reason).