How Was WWE in 2002?

[@wrestlingspremier]

No wonder I was paranoid the entire day. Apologies for the whole Austin thing. It was a graphic error during rendering which I didn't seem to notice. To compensate, I'll let you guys choose the next 3 videos. Just comment down what you want. Eddie's US Title run? Vengeance 03?

[@randmgames4254]

ECW 1998-Miz and Morison-Summerslam 1999

[@guillermosierracuellar9812]

like i said before it was a great year if we forgot that Hogan was champion his match with undertaker ohh and that they decided to retire the european hardcore and ic title in order to Make Raw the HHH show

[@guillermosierracuellar9812]

gotta give credit to wwe when wwf became wwe when wwe went pg and when nxt debuted as a live show the first match involved the womens

[@Ykwhat75]

Great video my G , Vengeance 03 sounds good 👌🏻

[@NoName-xt3ps]

Do you remember Shannon Moore he was my favorite wrestler it would be awesome if you made a video about his time in wcw ecw his partnership with Matt hardy

[@mbeas9612]

2002 was an amazing year for WWE. We witness the debuts of John Cena, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, Batista and Rey Mysterio while Rock vs Hogan lived up to the hype. HBK vs HHH rivalry begins, Smackdown 6, the first brand extension and Elimination Chamber, the likes of Edge, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, RVD, and Booker T took the midcard scene. Trish Stratus improved herself and became the face of the women's division while HBK's comeback was iconic and Lesnar had the greatest rookie year ever by becoming the face of WWE at age 25. 2002 was the beginning of an new era: the Ruthless Aggression Era

[@LastSamurai98]

Only bad part was Austin ‘taking his ball and going home’

[@Ykwhat75]

@@LastSamurai98 Fr bruh and Rock & hogan too lwky

[@supermariomarvelwrestling9214]

True.

[@Christoochi]

Only thing I disagree with is Brock having the best rookie year. I would give the nod to Angle. That said, it was a great year

[@markwrenn5965]

@@Christoochi it wasn't Angle's rookie year, so yeah.

[@luissaldana6247]

The streets been waiting on this one

[@MrStaley]

The streets? 🤣 🤣 🤣

[@luissaldana6247]

@@MrStaley yes the streets had indeed been waiting

[@eternal5140]

If anything someone being able to criticize their own work is a good sign it means you want to put out the best work you can keep grinding sir

[@sethfreakinrollins9889]

I personally think 2000 and 2001 were more fun and enjoyable when it comes to wrestling entertainment. However, 2002 was fun nonetheless. The early 2000's were such good times to be a wrestling fan.

[@clintgrimsley]

90s were better

[@rkovsstunner9906]

@@clintgrimsley hell no 1991 to 1997 wwe was unwatchable

[@nisargkasturiwale3877]

@@rkovsstunner9906 2nd half of 1997 was great though..

[@rkovsstunner9906]

@@nisargkasturiwale3877 kinda right

[@onesaucynougat7471]

Yeah I stopped watching like early February of 2002, it was so mindbogglingly boring, I could barely sit through the first 30 minutes of each show and no interesting stories were happening. From 2000-2001 though it was just insane how good it was constantly, mostly 2000 but pre wrestlemania 2001 was pretty good.

[@PUNKEYE1]

2002 was probably the most important year with the debuts of 5 future world champions in Brock Lesnar, John Cena, Dave Batista, Randy Orton, and Rey Mysterio. So much talent in those 4 names.

[@thechampionbadassboy6993]

Bastia was the best

[@TimeCenaPSW]

There was a point in 2002 where they had the greatest roster of all time, if they did the invasion in this year, it would’ve been so fire.

[@KristianNikolla8]

I agree, doing the invasion in 2001 was a mistake. They should have done it all either in 02 or 03.

[@mattcaporuscio6956]

@@KristianNikolla8 the problem is all the wrestlers that didn’t have guaranteed contracts wanted to be paid and I believe the fans wanted this invasion to happen in 01 without knowing how the contracts with WCW worked. It would’ve been hard to waited 2 years after WCW closed to wait for Goldberg.

[@KristianNikolla8]

@@mattcaporuscio6956 true. but at this point what happened had happened

[@Itayarav]

Best roster is 2003 bc you had also Goldberg and some more

[@rkovsstunner9906]

@@Itayarav 2002 you had hogan a bigger star than Goldberg

[@heelgill]

It was an amazing year. That year brought in so many new stars that would later spark the business with future legends such as John Cena, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, Batista, Rey Mysterio, and more. That year fused so many legends together with the newer stars.

[@WarhawkBeyond2040]

I absolutely loved 2002, it was fantastic from start to finish with lots of great matches and moments, one of my favourite years ever as a wrestling fan.

[@markreed1623]

2002 was one of my favorite years for wrestling. Hands down!

[@RockyandAustin337]

Austin said in Numerous of interviews that he wouldn’t mind losing to Brock but in the right build up tho you just don’t give that kind of Caliber of a Match like Austin vs Brock on free tv without no build up to it and to be honest I dont blame Stone Cold for walking out even it wasn’t the best decision at the time but what creative team did at the time with Austin wasn’t right.

[@trockdagamer1623]

Imo edge vs Roman was such a RA era 2002 like match it’s crazy, they played to the crowd and everything, loved every bit of it.

[@supermariomarvelwrestling9214]

That year had wrestling debuts from the likes of Randy Orton, Batista, John Cena, Rey Mysterio and Brock Lesnar, SmackDown Six, Eric Bischoff becoming RAW GM, the HBK/HHH feud, Rock/Hogan from Wrestlemania 18, and 2 Hell in A Cell PPV worthy matches. 2002 was great.

[@deandredukes95]

Smackdown of 2002 was amazing!

[@joseortega7815]

My family didn't have cable, so I couldn't watch RAW at home. However, me and my boys would tune in to UPN on Thursday nights and talk about SmackDown on the school bus the next morning.

[@JoshKidsNY]

The final months of the World Wrestling Federation is covered on this video from January to May 2002. I miss the WWF Attitude era!

[@seanagulan9481]

Although the Attitude era are coming to a close, it will be the beginning of the Ruthless Aggression era.

[@Oldschool1943]

@@seanagulan9481 still no match compared to wwf attitude era

[@rkovsstunner9906]

@@Oldschool1943t was both equally legendary

[@jamesbounds]

I enjoyed the year 2002. A lot of good rivalries that year.

[@gh0rochi363]

Ruthless aggression is my generation's attitude era. That era to us is just goated and had a stacked roster. A roster with more legends of the future, past, and present than any other era I think

[@Crashj7f67h]

When I think of WWE in 2002, I think of how different it looked by the end of the year. The beginning of 2002 still had that Attitude Era feel, and by the end of 2002 it looked different with the Ruthless Aggression Era. I don't know if I did a good job of explaining that, but that's how I view it. Also with me only being 6 and not remembering anything from that year, I can still see the difference. My memory of wrestling didn't really kick in until a year later but I did watch the years prior.

[@JokerG16]

Nope you’re exactly right. From Jan-April ‘02 it was definitely still a little bit of AE era left. But after they changed their name, the Raw arena, and theme music, AE era was officially over.

[@Oldschool1943]

*WWF/WWE

[@theylovedaboy9617]

I notice the change when they took the F out

[@TheTWISTEDCREECH96]

It’s just like 1997, first half of the year was still New Generation Era and the second half was Attitude Era and scratch logo debut. Crazy how they changed so fast in a year.

[@glenpemberton4824]

Awesome content as always!! Thank you so much Wrestling Premier for letting me relieve my childhood! I was 9-10 years old in 2002. Loved watching all this!

[@InkedupT-raw]

2002 was a good year IMO I remember tuning into every week to see what was going to happen as a kid! Definitely a great part of my childhood!! 💯💯💯💯

[@DannyBoy426]

Haven’t watched you in a while and the growth since then has been incredible. You’re always consistent and grinding out these videos. Salutations 💯💯

[@wrestlingspremier]

I appreciate that! I'm always trying to make the best video possible.

[@DannyBoy426]

@@wrestlingspremier You’re doing great. Got a lot to catch up on so I’m about to go on a marathon!!

[@InspireCreate43]

Your hard work is appreciated man, you and wrestling bios are my two favorite wrestling tubers. That'd be awesome if you could get him to guest on one of these vids!

[@jerrym1218]

At the start of 2002 in January, we had Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Chris Jericho, Triple H, Undertaker, Kane, Ric Flair, William Regal, Kurt Angle, RVD, Booker T, DDP, Hardcore Holly, Test, Lance Storm, Albert, X-Pac, Billy Kidman, Tajiri, Raven, Tazz, Edge, Christian, The Hardy Boyz, The Dudley Boyz, and once Wrestlemania came around we had Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. Then after Wrestlemania and going into Summerslam in August, we had Shawn Michaels return, Brock Lesnar rise to become Undisputed Champion, Rey Mysterio make his WWE debut, and I do believe that before Summerslam, John Cena, Randy Orton and Batista all made their WWE debuts, and I think Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero made their returns from injuries too, oh and not to mention Scott Steiner making his return/debut at Survivor Series 2002. It’s so crazy how many top stars and legends were all on the same roster or were on Raw and Smackdown separated apart. That was a megastar powered year, and we were very lucky to be alive and witness it all live not knowing what was going to happen.

[@XpandYourImagi-Nation]

2002 was a dope year for WWE, especially since it was at the very start of the Ruthless Aggression Era that we all know and love.

[@PatrickLewOfficial]

2002 was a very interesting year for WWF/E. The first half of 2002 was like the last days of the Attitude Era. Then, the second half of 2002 was a huge shift and was very different from the first half. The first half of 2002 still had Rock and Austin active as the top guys. By the second half, both Rock and Austin were gone temporarily...And we saw the debut and rise of 4 future legends: Brock, Orton, Cena and Batista. The changes that whole year were far more noticeable than any other year before that! It was a huge transition, but it felt like 2 different worlds and eras in one whole year. To some, the Attitude Era ended after WM17 wrapped up. I point to 2002 as the official end of that era. I didn't truly see it for what it is at the time, but looking back...It was a very interesting and cool year. They had one of their best rosters that whole year almost!

[@afro_souledits2382]

Nostalgia is running wild looking at this upload, bro u never miss

[@MR.__G]

Shut your mouth was such a huge leap from just bring it. I remember going to my friends house & seeing the game for the first time. I was mind blown. So many great memories with that game. I played shut your mouth more than the last 3 smackdowns combined.

[@Outlaw__18]

I was the same bro i bindged all those games they just kept getting beter after smackdown shut your mouth, here comes the pain was insane. Smackdown vs raw ones were good to. The first wrestling game i played was on the nintendo 64 me and my kuz used to bet money on the line who could win the royal rumble haha. My kuz was 4 years older hed always win the bastard haha

[@LTKK]

I remember the HLA & Billy n Chuck stories, but I didn't realize it was happening at the same time that year. They were wild 🤣

[@wrestlingspremier]

2002 WWE, especially post SummerSlam was very odd.

[@IAWIA5]

This was personally favorite year in WWE history. The roster was stacked, WCW wrestlers who were not apart of the 01 Invasion were finally making their debuts, and there was so many new and exciting innovations like the introduction of the draft, general managers, future legends like Cena, Lesnar, Batista, Orton, etc.

[@Mazalara]

Best era 1998-2004

[@rkovsstunner9906]

Nope 2004 was bad especially smack down

[@Mazalara]

@@rkovsstunner9906 I dont think so bud

[@rkovsstunner9906]

@@Mazalara what rating was low guys like Austin rock Brock Scott Steiner Goldberg left Wwe didn’t have superb story’s But it had some good stuff like Eddie winning the Wwe championship and Benitot moments Hbk vs hhh the rising of randy and rock return but overall it wasn’t better than 2005 2008 2016 etc

[@markwrenn5965]

This is up there as one of my all time fav WrestlingPremier videos. Go figure.

[@demonicdlc]

Great video! I was not expecting to see my Smackdown Shut Your Mouth clip here.

[@CHman712]

2002 was such an iconic year that some of the talents who debuted that year still have an impact on some of us to this day. I was a die hard fan from 1997 up until I stopped watching in 2015. But between 2015 to now I'll look up clips and matches from KZbin if they include Orton or Lesnar. Two pivotal players who made their debut in 2002.

[@rrd3k3]

I actually lost the ability to watch wrestling when I was turning 8 in 2000. I was talking to my mom and I said I wanted some Poontang Pie, not knowing it was a vagina joke lol. That, on top of suplexing my brother from time to time, meant I didn't get to see wrestling until around 2006 when I was about to start high school. Your videos have filled in that time I missed a great deal, thank you man

[@shinchidori8922]

My favorite wwe year it was great we had bangers after bangers of matches specialy at SmackDown

[@SJ_RANKS]

I mean we kinda got rock and Austin as the face of raw and smackdown in the form of John cena on raw and Batista on smackdown

[@xenaires]

Steve Regal was so underrated. He was a born heel for sure. His in ring skills were absolutely amazing. I loved watching him wrestle. Gave Bret Hart a definite run for his money.

[@SSJ4BLINK182FAN]

I’ve been watching your videos for 2 years I think and I haven’t ever watched a vid from you that i didn’t like, Take your time if need be.

[@KEWLV1C]

2002 imo was the best year for WWE PPV’s. Not a single bad ppv that year.

[@Pampwentlive]

Aye wrestling like a year ago I used to reccomend for u to do the rivalry of john cena vs randy never got it would appreciate if u work on it thx.

[@everychoicewemakeechoesete6017]

Agreed. The Undertaker did have the best comeback to the fans chanting What

[@michaelbandada9887]

The Smackdown Six ruled Smackdown while Triple H started burying his competition left and right on Raw-uhhh

[@melvynwindmon1927]

it was but it was mostly a good year for smackdown because it help created more new upcoming big time stars like lesnar, cena, rey mysterio, edge, benoit, eddie and big show was taken as a main eventer again and well Triple h on RAW was going through his reign of burials. So mostly a good year for smackdown

[@younggod3906]

Peak Kurt Angle 2002-2007 Unreal 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@rkovsstunner9906]

Not 2004 or 2007 2002 to 2003 was the best for Kurt

[@thepatriotsfan7127]

2002 was THE year to be a wrestling fan

[@mshotzz2924]

After 2002, 2009 Must be covered 🙌🏾

[@radentstwo9793]

Could argue for the greatest year in the company's history. The year the Ruthless Aggression era and the Brand Extension began due to the inception of the first draft. Also being that it had the best roster there ever was, of the most skilled talents and stars. Nothing but personalities and those that could work an incredible ring performance. Also upcoming talents, that in later years became huge stars. The year started a new direction that got certain things for the greater of it.

[@JungleBunkRootsMusic2022]

2000 is the best year imo. Rock and hhh were in their prime, angle had the greatest rookie year of all time, midcard was great with y2j, Eddie and benoit and the tag division was on fire with E+C, dudleys and the hardys. It was the best year financially as well. 2002 was still a good year tho.

[@rkovsstunner9906]

@@JungleBunkRootsMusic2022 Kurt didn’t have a the greatest rookie year he was a mid carder blots of his year until unforgin 2000 when he become Wwe champion Brock aj had better than kurt

[@Thecolemineexpress.]

2002 was a fantastic year for wwe and for fans the roster on both raw and smackdown was jam packed.

[@jugodicaprio8724]

You hinting at Kurt angle content gets me hyped hopefully sooner than later

[@justinsharpe1912]

Best year of ruthless aggression era had a attitude era vibe

[@MrAce-lm8es]

Split between April 3, 2001 - March 17, 2002 and March 18, 2002 - March 30, 2003, the World Wrestling Federation was still in full swing until May 5, 2002 when the Name Change happened.

[@Beefsneeze9]

From 2000 to '03 was the peak of Its starpower , every mid carder had some segment or Story , nobody was low carder And the megastars were just huge

[@InYourHouse316]

Fantastic video! While I now view 2000 and 2001 as better years, 2002 was my absolute peak (in the moment) as a fan. I didn’t miss a single moment from this year and my fandom was never as big. One nitpick, I’d argue the 2002 rookie class was more like the 1996 NBA draft class… 2003 NBA draft is wildly overrated

[@JOHNN01.82]

The roster wss so stacked the absence of Rock leaveing for Hollywood and Austin retiring yes we fans noticed but it WWF never collapses during their absence, the product marched on like nothing happened.. we all expected Austin and Rock to return later down the line.

[@TheMuscleMan2244]

The second half of 2002 was a GREAT rebound from the failed Invasion Era. They failed to capitalize on the huge shift of momentum created from the downfall of WCW, so they had to switch the product up and start to build towards the next era of wrestling. There were some odd storylines here and there, but they succeed with creating new stars like Lesnar, Thug Cena, and a young start to the evolution group. My favorite time for the Ruthless Agression Era is the 2002-2003 time period.

[@jugodicaprio8724]

I need a wrestling machine/perc Kurt video or a tna run

[@jayeazy5911]

2002 is my favorite year mainly because I started watching wrestling in that year

[@solopolo5400]

I Miss Wrestling Can We Get A Remastered Smackdown vs Raw 😭

[@WowSuchGaming2009]

Exactly we need a remastered version for all of the smackdown vs raw games

[@WowSuchGaming2009]

Especially We need a remastered version of here comes the pain

[@jackhughes7637]

2002 was a great year

[@jimmybuckets5863]

2002 had the greatest overall roster of any year. Things didn’t always work, and the booking wasn’t all great, but damn.

[@diontenelson1116]

Jazz was awesome that year into 03 as well.

[@humbledragger6411]

2002 was my last full year of wrestling fandom and it was lit but it was missing something… the attitude so i let it behind and I regret it now because I see I missed 6 years of great wrestling

[@Infinitefire-w3]

I know the feeling. I missed the roman reigns era. Crazy. My last full year was 2016

[@SonBlackHeart22]

2002 was a good year but I got some things I didn't like such as that Jackie match the wasted opportunity to push RVD after he unified all of the belts on Raw before he lost the title to Jericho and then to Trips on Unforgiven, Katie Vick and the IC title being on Hiatus for 6 months meaning the mid card had nothing to fight for, HLA, WWENWO being a waste after Mania X8, and lastly Triple H's reign of terror started. But at least Smackdown was amazing and blew away Raw in terms of great stuff.

[@joseph.taylor305]

I give the year of 2002 for WWE 8 out of 10

[@danielrierson6683]

2002 would have been the perfect war games year. Problem is stone cold walked out , Kevin nash and ddp get injured. Smack down should have been the place for new wwe talent

[@guillermosierracuellar9812]

like i said before it was a great year if we forgot that Hogan was champion his match with undertaker ohh and that they decided to retire the european hardcore and ic title in order to Make Raw the HHH show

[@supermariomarvelwrestling9214]

2002 was arguably the greatest year in WWE history.

[@TIM94217]

I honestly think so

[@Oldschool1943]

*WWF/WWE

[@darnellmajor9016]

hahahaha it was the death of WWE!!!

[@supermariomarvelwrestling9214]

@@darnellmajor9016 Nope. You honestly haven't watched wrestling at that time. So get out.

[@darnellmajor9016]

@@supermariomarvelwrestling9214 how can I not have watched if I'm commenting on 2002? Lol

[@KingKarrot]

Triple H is my favorite wrestler, so I always remember 2002 as the year he came back from injury and won the rumble

[@eltonmiriyoga2792]

2002 was also the year of the implosion of DX one of the greatest rivalries of that day

[@luisa.barrueta1822]

Imagine a SmackDown roster that year with Cena, Rock, Hogan, Taker, Lesnar, Edge, Rey, Kurt, Guerrero, Big Show, Orton and even Batista…stacked!!!

[@jacobtrimble4329]

Great video

[@SuperCjm007]

Slight error Randy Orton is a 3rd generation wrestler his father “cowboy” bob orton jr. and his grandfather bob orton sr.

[@wrestlingspremier]

My bad. I occasionally mess up with that fact.

[@XZAVIER-DAA-GOD]

The last great entertainmenting year for wwf before it died

[@Mike33422]

In my opinion wwe died in 2008

[@XZAVIER-DAA-GOD]

@@Mike33422 I don't give shit about your opinion and I said WWF not WWE, WWE died in 2018

[@Mike33422]

@@XZAVIER-DAA-GOD lmao looks like someone is cranky, and wwe from 2008 through present are unwatchable

[@XZAVIER-DAA-GOD]

@@Mike33422 2008-2017 is watchable get your head out of your ass because pg isn't the worst

[@crangesmcbasketball367]

Will you do this sort of video for the years 2003 and 2005

[@wrestlingspremier]

Yeah, definitely.

[@tyler55563]

2002 Clean Shaved HHH 🐐

[@eltonmiriyoga2792]

first elimination chamber i watched remember Jericho smashed through glass pod by Kane

[@toddbrooke1604]

16:02 I'll say 2 words and you'll know what I'm talkin about. Scott Freakin Steiner.... Me: Scott,1... Freakin,2.... Steiner?...3? It's 3 words, buddy. Not 2. Other than that, Love the content, bro

[@scottsparks9199]

RAW was my show back then.

[@reallysiggedup]

@00:50 hit wrestlinggif up! that would be a cool collab

[@mkrysztof8718]

Great video, Xpac was the one who cut Michael Hayes hair tho

[@Redshirt434]

2002 was a year where the WWF/WWE held itself together with tape, bubble gum, and shoe polish. It is only retroactively considered a good year because the debuts and how they would pan out, years later.

[@WowSuchGaming2009]

Tbh 2002 was a lowkey good year better than 2003 but yeah bro 2002 we saw guys like lesnar,cena,Orton,mysterio and Batista debut but also huge stars like rock and Austin was disappearing but also guys like Eddie,Benoit and edge was rising

[@UnsilencedOutspokenTikTok]

God my highschool years are coming back to me lol

[@Krypton853]

It was better than It was now.

[@guillermosierracuellar9812]

gotta give credit to wwe when wwf became wwe when wwe went pg and when nxt debuted as a live show the first match involved the womens

[@justinames9249]

What a damn year 2002 was there were so many ladder matches on raw😂😂 02 kinda needs more attention

[@electricmahadev_2138]

Bro all these WWE youtubers all pretend they didn't like all the hot stuff in WWE back in the day. Lita, Trish, Stacy, Torrie, all that. Especially show like they didn't care about Torrie and Stacy because "They weren't good in the ring". Oh shut up man. Literally we all know that you're just saying all that for the sake of the video. And literally everyone wants atleast a bit of that element to return to WWE. ☠️

[@Alex-vf9ur]

Where does he find all these episodes to watch?

[@LTKK]

02 & 03 was hella good

[@lesterbryangacusana4211]

But when I was a kid back then...I was entertained by the storylines in this era...even the billy and chuck I was really entertained..

[@aleksarango1104]

So @WrestlingPremier, what did you think of the VICE documentary last night?

[@diontenelson1116]

Most underrated feature lol only thing was missing was Expedition championship mode

[@ced2k23]

Could you do a future video on the tribute show to eddies death

[@dkj4593]

I think the reason WWE unified the IC title with the World Heavyweight Championship was because the IC title design still had "WWF" on it, even after the company had changed its name.

[@quinnhuff5054]

I see you wit the gta san andreas text my boy

[@poserdisposer654]

wasn't X-Pac the one who cut hayes hair?

[@minutemaidsceo234]

W vid

[@scottyboyrulez]

Why is there a weird blue filter on some of this?

[@xenaires]

You left Michelle McCool out of the women's segment. So highly underrated! She was and still is the GOAT of women's wrestling!