On a recent edition of Something To Wrestling, Bruce Prichard discussed the closing months of 2002 in WWE. Here are some of the highlights:
Potentially setting Shawn Michaels up for failure:
“I think audience wanted to see triumph Shawn. Here he came back when we didn’t expect him to come back. As a fan, as a promotion or anything else and he tells us ‘oh, I’m not what I use to be.’ Nobody wants to hear that. They wanna hear what you’re going to do. I want that guy that I use to love. I already know you’re not the guy that was there in 1995, 1997 whatever it was. I know you’re not that same guy, but at least give me hope tell me ‘I’m gonna dust the boots off’ instead of ‘aw, I’m the shits..’ Which is not what the audience wants to hear from them.”
Rob Van Dam getting a World Title run in ’02:
“I think we were ready to try. I think we were ready to try with Rob. Rob was the guy from ECW that still had some steam and that the audience knew was new. Rob was unique and stood out from the pack. Yeah, why not try something new with Rob. I’m not sure if Rob had fully adapted to his new surroundings yet.”
Quotes via 411 Mania