My friends, let us pop back to 2002. It's actually a super interesting year for the WWE, as it was the

first entire 12-month period where they had no proper competition. WCW had obviously been bought in 2001,

and the invasion angle was over already. The Agenera is basically dead, so what the flub do we do next?

Of course, this is also the time where the WWF had to become the WWE, and Steve Austin one day didn't turn up for work. It was just a totally wild time, although there are some proper classic moments in there as well, although you do kind of have to search for them. To catch you up or introduce you two this year for the first time, my name is Simon Miller, I have no hair. Let's binge watch 2002, number 10, Triple H's return. And the fact it could be

one of the best WWE comebacks ever. Triple H had torn his quad off the bone in 2001, which is just a

mad injury. And even when he told the medics this, they actually laughed at him because

ha ha, there was no way that was right. Turned out he was and yep, he was going to be out for months.

On the 7th of January raw, however, WW was in Madison Square Garden, so yep, if we were going to mark his comeback as something huge, we should aim for then, I tell you, it was pretty flippant awesome. The whole creative team deserves praise to build-up videos too, and actually it's what we should be doing with all talent all the time, including today. Seeing the game prepare for his return was a story within itself, and when we actually got to the moment, oh my gosh, fans were desperate to see him. Don't forget that when Hunter got taken out, he was the company's biggest heel too, but again, this was so well put together, nobody was going to boo him. The struggler had been very real, and now boom, he was back. In terms of Pops, nothing comes close to this in 2002. And yes, that includes the NWO. That was at no way out, and you can see this for yourself. Triple H wins hands down. Number nine, Hulk Hogan in the red and yellow. So we just brought up Hulk Hogan, let's get to the topic people still have today. The WWE have just brought Hulkomania back with all the red and yellow. So we just brought up Hulk Hogan and let's get to the topic people still have today. Should WWE have just brought Hulkomania back with all the red and yellow? I say hindsight is doing its thing here, because I still remember Vince Raman spinning his chair around with the NWO logo on the other side. People were so excited, and then yes, it all went the roll way. No Way Out debut was so weird as Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall pretended they were going to be nice guys. And no, nobody wanted to see that. We basically wanted a rerun of the peak of the New World Order to see it take place in WWE. And for whatever reason, Vintramen decided, nope, you're not going to get it. I do understand the logic here, though, because even with the success of the black and white, Federation fans and WCW fans at their heart were simple creatures. They wanted that nostalgia pang or the wrestling they deemed synonymous with their brand. It's actually why Hogan was rejected as the All-American Babyface in World Championship wrestling at first. Do not bring that WWF nonsense here. Now, this NWO went nowhere, so sure,

getting to the good stuff quicker would have been an improvement, but once again, I actually

understand why we did it this way. Seeing Nash, Hall and Hulk on WWETB was genuinely exciting,

until it wasn't, and yes, the pop to WrestleMania 18, half the fun was Hollywood Hogan,

slowly morphing into his old self, and besides, it just meant you got another massive pop when all of this was done. Ultimately, W.W. just messed up a lot of this, especially the former Diesel and Razor Ramon. They sort of languished in nothingness. Doesn't make any sense. Ridiculous. Number 8. The rest of the NWO. So let's talk about all of this as well, because I do think it is important. From that initial announcement to that No Way Out paperview. Everybody was excited because finally, maybe, just maybe, we were going to do the invasion angle right. Just a shame that it actually happened after all that had gone down in 2001, but it got so whacked out and confused, even Sean Michaels joined the group.

It was essentially just one big surprise after another to try and garner interest.

HBK wasn't wrestling yet either after leaving WrestleMania 14 to sort his back,

and rid of the constant story here was, well, why don't we just put another dude in there?

X-Pack, the big show of all people, even Booker T, he wasn't even part of the first

version. The true summary of all of this is the Scott Hall-Steve-Austin feud. On paper, that should have been huge, but due to many things, including yes, Hall's personal issues, it meant it was just there in the mid-card. It didn't work, and that is such a shame. The NWO responsible for WCWCW climbing to the top of the industry in 1996,

and the payoff was this absolutely bizarre interpretation. such a shame. The NWO responsible for WCW climbing to the top of the industry in 1996,

and the payoff was this absolutely bizarre interpretation. It basically comes down to what I've

always heard. If Vince McMahon didn't create it, he will at least try to recreate it in his image.

This is a mistake. Number seven, raw roulette was pretty good. It was actually January 2013

when WWB last used this gimmick, but if we are talking about

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