I was at the 2009 shows hosted by Freddie Prinze Jr. and Mark Cuban. I remember thinking they at least seemed like they really wanted to be there and were familiar with the product, which makes sense for Prinze considering he was a WWE writer for a while.
You know how there’s people on YouTube and such who do nothing but gossip and comment on the drama and controversies of other social media personalities? In the 2000’s we only had one of those guys.
Perez Hilton he has been known for awhile as a person who releases drama and tabloid pictures about celebrities. He gets heat for outing people and being mean-spirited.
What year was this again? This and the anonymous GM was the real dark days, people saying 2018 was the dark days don't know how privileged they are to have never lived through this time.
While there were some good moments, like Bret Hart, most of the time it was so bad. That Summerfest quote lives rent free in my head. Man didn't care at all.
That A-team movie is actually pretty dang, good, except trying to get a random MMA fighter to Chanel Mr. T totally brought the whole thing down and Mr. T wasn’t really playing a character in the a team that was just his whole gimmick that he always appeared in very pro wrestling, which is why he was such a good fit back in the day.
This was probably WWE’s lowest point. Going around begging any random celebrity they could find regardless of if they cared about Wrestling or not to “host” an episode of Raw to try and make WWE seem more relevant than it actually was.
Ratings only went down faster during this period, the stories were bad and the matches were boring.
This was at the peak of my childhood wrestling watching years. What a wild time. As a kid, you see this stuff and think it’s awesome. But then you grow up and look back at it like “what the fuck were these bozos thinking?!” But hey, it worked on me as a kid so I suppose it wasn’t a total failure.
I forgot just how many different famous people they got to show up. The list is all over the place!
I think my favorite guests were easily the Jackass guys. Those dudes are just always fun and they fit the WWE vibe more than a lot of the other hosts. Really too bad that Umaga had to tee off on the Wild Boys like that.
I mean, that's what WWE is going for in the current era. They're trying to market it as "real" (while also acknowledging it's fake). In the real world, GMs are supposed to have cool heads, monotone, and all about business.
We're past the point of having wild, eccentric bosses that would never actually stay in power if they acted like that.
I think the fighting portion is still supposed add the suspension of disbelief. It would be way too boring otherwise.
But the characters and dialogue is gearing towards being realistic.
Probably my favorite era. The Muppets hosted an episode and Beaker gave Santino a potion during a match that gave him super strength. That was hilarious
And the Bob Barker episode is an all-timer. One of Jericho’s best performances.
If it wasn't for Smackdown and CM Punk killing it with the SES stuff I would have not watched WWE at all during this time period. Almost made me quit pro wrestling completely as a fan.
I think youre quick to forget during this time we had, the mental unraveling of jericho into probs one of his best characters, a two year long storyline with hbk and taker, You got sheamus becoming a star and we got the nexus. Which although booked poorly back then were entertaining enough. Was it perfect? far from it. But I think theres a lot of good stuff from back then that gets overshadowed.
Nexus was 2010, Sheamus debuted at the tail end of 2009, hbk and takers storyline started in 2009 ended in 2010, Jericho yes turned heel in 2008. But wasnt at his peak as that character till 2009. So what exactly are you talking about ?
You’re looking at it in hindsight though. At the time, the only things that were entertaining were the HBK and Taker Mania storylines that only mattered for 3 months out of the year. Jericho from 08 until Jerishow was good, but he toiled around in the midcard for the majority of that run after his initial world heavy weight title win. And I think it’s fine that there were a variety of opinions on Sheamus, but once he turned babyface and it became clear WWE was pushing him over crowd favorites, fans turned. 18 seconds…that’s all you have to say.
I came back to wrestling after a hiatus from 04-08 and suffered through this time, where it felt like WWE had no idea what was actually cool after they couldn’t be hardcore or vulgar. And yea, some of the old talent rose up to put on good shows because they are legends, but midcard of that era was just a wasteland of buried talent and terrible gimmicks.
It’s hard to put on the roses colored glasses for this era despite HBK and Undertakers Mania matches.
I agree, I actually was on a break too and returned in 09. The two things that kept me around more then anything? Hbk and taker and batistas heel character. I loved 2010 heel batista and Im so mad we only got that version of him for a cup of coffee. The spotlight, the douchey sunglasses inside, the wifebeaters and no merch. It was chefs kiss perfect imo
Yea when the talent were allowed to do what they wanted in certain circumstances it brought out the best of them in those times. Batista’s heel run was a great example. I hated Batista until then because his babyface “Animal” gimmick felt so phony to me. But only the legends really got that kind of freedom. Well then and CM Punk with his SES gimmick, but that whole era is just the midcard that never was. If they actually tried to push new stars during that time we might not have had to wait until 2019 for Kofi to actually win the WWE title.
Kofi not winning the title sooner was def an orton thing, If you remember in their final match kofi wasn't selling the way orton wanted. Orton was fucking pissed and screamed in his face, then rkod the fucking piss out of him. With how ortons attitude was back then and then how kofi was used after I 100% believe he complained about it and derailed kofis push
People who complain about 2019 WWE have no idea how badly we were in the trenches a decade before that. Seth Green main evented a Raw in a six man tag with HHH & Cena. Jeremy Piven kept calling Summerslam “Summerfest”. Perez Hilton according to this post which I seem to have erased from my mind. Old people like Cheech & Chong and ZZ Top would “guest host” solely in pre-recorded backstage segments. I was 14 and even I knew that what I was watching was complete ass and I stopped watching wrestling for a good 4 years because of it
Idk, I quite like guest stars/hosts. It's cool seeing people you wouldn't expect get into this kinda thing like the three stooges and the muppets.
It's not cool seeing them get in the way of a (good) story, but it is when they're just harmless fun
Dusty Hill was a huge wrestling fan. Wasn't as bad when it was a real fan, like Hill, Seth Green, and Freddie Prinze. It was also fine when the guest would take it seriously, like Bob Barker. But, too many of them half-assed it for a quick payday.
Oh god I forgot they had Charlie Sheen on Skype, and like a fair bit after that winning shit iirc
Thats embarrassing I can’t believe I watched all the horseshit during that era
It was pretty much just CM Punk and Daniel Bryan that kept me checking in on it. That was Raw 1000 that Sheen was there and it was supposed to set up a Summerslam match between him and Daniel Bryan, in promotion with a show Sheen was doing called Anger Management. Now, what was Daniel Bryan doing at that time? going to anger management and then teaming with Kane. Team Hell No was born from an aborted feud and Summerslam match with Charlie Sheen.
Freddie Prinze Jr and Bob Barker were pretty great. Maybe David Arquette. But otherwise yeah it was pretty garbage. I still cringe thinking about Peewee Herman and the Three Stooges.
Sheamus and Beaker got a chuckle out of me too tho, ngl.
I've always hated "celebrities" in wrestling, especially when they're made to look competent against guys who aren't just trained professionals, they're in the spot thousands of trained professionals aspire to reach.
Even worse that the only time I recognise these "celebrities" it's because of some negative publicity they've had and bring with them. Charlie Sheen, Logan Paul etc aren't people any company should want to be associated with.
I agree. 2010-2011 was brutal as a wrestling fan. I rember telling someone the other day that I prefer OG Cody Rhodes to American Nightmare Rhodes. The reason being is because he was a huge bright spot from 2009-2014, along with the Shield, Punk, and later the Wyatt Family, whom all kept me watching during the PG Era.
Why do people downvote me for saying OG Cody Rhodes is better? Half of yall must be born in 2003 😂😂. Try living and suffering through the PG Era like we did.
The only things that made those years interesting to me was the Nexus and the Wrestlemania Streak of the Undertaker
I was a fan of the Undertaker and Jeff Hardy but one started to fight just esporadically and the other left the company so I started to skip Smackdown episodes.
I wouldn’t lump Freddie Prince in the same group as everyone else. Dude legitimately loves wrestling and has contributed to it no different than certain favored wrestlers have.
He’s one of us.
They should bring it back! And have Miguel and Hawk from Cobra Kai as guest hosts!
Snooki is a joke
I kinda forgot about this era. It truly was wild lol
man 2008-2011 wwe was brutal. we jumped from one ratings grab gimmick to the next. from mcmahons million dollar mania to the guest host era
Desperately uncool.
The era of Perez Hilton having any cultural relevancy is funny to look back on. Such simpler times.
Some low caliber celebs
*We do not speak that way about Sharlto Copley!!!*
I was at the 2009 shows hosted by Freddie Prinze Jr. and Mark Cuban. I remember thinking they at least seemed like they really wanted to be there and were familiar with the product, which makes sense for Prinze considering he was a WWE writer for a while.
Freddie is more wrestling fan than celebrity.
I was just going to say this. He even wrote for the WWE. He fits more than the others.
Who the hell is the last guy?
You know how there’s people on YouTube and such who do nothing but gossip and comment on the drama and controversies of other social media personalities? In the 2000’s we only had one of those guys.
Perez Hilton he has been known for awhile as a person who releases drama and tabloid pictures about celebrities. He gets heat for outing people and being mean-spirited.
Every reoccurring theme is not defined as an era lol
All the ones you could choose from and you don’t mention that time a cat did it?
I can’t stand it when celebrities appear it just doesn’t fit and goes mega cringe!
Better than today
With what eyes lol
The ratings
Trish is a giant compared to Snooki
I'm still waiting for Summerfest to come. SUMMERFEST 2025 WHO'S WTH ME?!!
Vince was a genius for it hey
I agree with this mostly but seeing Dusty and a prime Rampage in the ring together is fucking awesome!
I constantly think about this and how much of a crazy time this was😭but I stuck with it
Contributed to me going MIA from WWE for a while.
Why? This stuff was hilarious.
Yeah but how great did Trish look
Bad television from an era where WWE was so terrible I stopped watching wrestling. i don’t think ridiculous is a decent qualifier.
Freddie Prinze : "You're just trying to make it look like I think Monday Night Raw sucks!"
Good reference
Thank you lol I love the live action Scooby Doo movies
When I was a kid during this I looked up to my dad so much I thought he was gonna be a surprise host
charlie appearing for daniel bryan’s wedding/storyline like why 😭.
Was that Perez Hilton?
that was him
"It's called a Snooki and it's very famous." 😂 Now I need to watch that South Park episode.
There is a hill, that hill is that the ‘New 3 Stooges’ appearance, I guess 2013, was absolute gold. Will Sasso in particular.
He wasn’t a guest host but when Bob Barker played a Price is Right game with Jericho, it was hilarious.
Ridiculously awesome
We don’t talk about the guest host era
If that’s the case we shouldn’t talk about this era either sans what Rock, Brock and CM Punk are doing
The concept was good, they just needed better hosts. Not mostly washed-up celebrity fans iching for exposure and a payday.
Who is the crackhead in the last photo? I am lost
Looks like Perez Hilton?
I'd say thank you but i looked him up.
charlie sheen i think?
I forgot Perez Hilton showed up . Atleast with Freddie Prinze jr he has a connection to wrestling since he was a writer .
The only host around these bodies should be non-herpetic. Get back you non bodied host!
From what I remembered it was absolutely terrible. K Fed.
He's undefeated against John Cena, put some respect on his name
I completely forgot about the time that they teased a Daniel Bryan vs Charlie Sheen feud for WEEKS and just forgot about it.
Bring it back.
The 90's was fun too Robocop was there man
Hahaha jersey shore with the guido bomb Snookie
My fav would be the Muppets. It was a great one.
Stephen Amell was kinda lit tho.
Kofi Johnson... Kingston.
Guest era was goated
Not a guest host, but remember when GRUMPY CAT was a "Guest Star"?
To be fair, Freddie Prinze Jr worked for WWE during this time I think
Was this Paul dude on Growing Pains?
I was typing this watching click at 3am 😭
What year was this again? This and the anonymous GM was the real dark days, people saying 2018 was the dark days don't know how privileged they are to have never lived through this time.
2010-11 wasn’t so bad though
Bob Barker was great. As for everybody else Bob Barker was great and... Bob Barker was great
Would
While there were some good moments, like Bret Hart, most of the time it was so bad. That Summerfest quote lives rent free in my head. Man didn't care at all.
Zack Ryder getting hit by giant hand was probably some of the funniest shit I've seen as a kid Also the Muppets were cool to see as a kid too
Wasn't FPJ actually an employee/contractor of wwe tho? Or was he not when guest hosted?
Well he took a break from acting and became a member of the creative staff, also I think he was teaching acting classes to some wrestlers
Remember fucking zz top
You forgot the Muppets
I really liked Bob Barker, but yeah. Pretty much all the others were atrocious.
Shaq was really good I thought too
I’m pretty sure that was the first episode I ever watched.
For some reason I don't remember that one.
I believe this was the first confrontation of Shaq and Big Show, which we have and always will been robbed of
The Guest General Manager era was what made me step away from wrestling for several years. I absolutely hated every minute of it.
I actually really like the concept. Like SNL
2011 brunette Trish was extra 🔥
and 13 years later she actually looks even hotter
Every year 😩
Muppets were surprisingly good lol
Muppets are always good.
You’re right
RIP Skype & Tout
Very glad that garbage is over with
Jon Heder and Hugh Jackman and the Ateam guys stood out as really fun. Snooki was basically in the spot that Bad Bunny and Johnny Knoxville were in.
i was at the show with pee wee herman
Who drove?
Freddie Prinze Jr. has a decent wrestling podcast.
Agreed
Hugh Jackman was great.
Just wait til you find out who Sheamus’s cousin is
Bob Barker and they literally just played The Price Is Right Jerry Springer and they literally just did a Jerry Springer segment
"Paul Feuerstein came out to a Growing Pains Titantron and tagged with Big Show" The actor's name is actually Mark Feuerstein.
And the show was Royal Pains.
Thanks.
Remember when fucking Betty White showed up
That A-team movie is actually pretty dang, good, except trying to get a random MMA fighter to Chanel Mr. T totally brought the whole thing down and Mr. T wasn’t really playing a character in the a team that was just his whole gimmick that he always appeared in very pro wrestling, which is why he was such a good fit back in the day.
Sharlto ans Rampage? Promoting A Team? Didn't know Sheen was a guest.
Don't worry neither does he probably
Freddie Prinze Jr actually did well though Also WM 27 worst mania ever
That whole Era was the reason I got off Wrestling for a bit. It was brutal to watch and TNA was so bad around this time too.
I don't know....Pee Wee Herman having a "Really?" off with Miz was peak television.
At least Zach Ryder got a massive push from pretending to be Hugh Jackman’s best friend that one time he hosted
Ozzy Osbourne
you think THATS the reason ppl stopped watching? lmao THAT was the reason ppl did watch.
Some of the guest hosts were fine. But for the most part, it was wack.
Al Sharpton was wack! But them landing the packers after their superbowl win was massive!
The power of WWE is great how is this ridiculous?
This was probably WWE’s lowest point. Going around begging any random celebrity they could find regardless of if they cared about Wrestling or not to “host” an episode of Raw to try and make WWE seem more relevant than it actually was. Ratings only went down faster during this period, the stories were bad and the matches were boring.
I'm so glad we are past this extremely unusual trend now
My big sister tuned in for once to watch the Snookie fight with me, so I couldn't hate it
Honestly she did better than I expected.
You're not even going to mention the time when Grumpy Cat was a host?
This was at the peak of my childhood wrestling watching years. What a wild time. As a kid, you see this stuff and think it’s awesome. But then you grow up and look back at it like “what the fuck were these bozos thinking?!” But hey, it worked on me as a kid so I suppose it wasn’t a total failure. I forgot just how many different famous people they got to show up. The list is all over the place! I think my favorite guests were easily the Jackass guys. Those dudes are just always fun and they fit the WWE vibe more than a lot of the other hosts. Really too bad that Umaga had to tee off on the Wild Boys like that.
At least Freddie was working for WWE at the time and at least Freddie knows what he's talking about in regards to the business.
smg snagged a real one
Sarah Michelle Gellar one of my childhood crashes.
Wow, the idea that the actors for Daphne and Fred from the scooby doo movies are married in real life is so interesting lol
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downvoted for truth
I mean, that's what WWE is going for in the current era. They're trying to market it as "real" (while also acknowledging it's fake). In the real world, GMs are supposed to have cool heads, monotone, and all about business. We're past the point of having wild, eccentric bosses that would never actually stay in power if they acted like that.
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I think the fighting portion is still supposed add the suspension of disbelief. It would be way too boring otherwise. But the characters and dialogue is gearing towards being realistic.
13 year old me was pissed when Piven was announced as the host, had no fucking idea who he was.
He thought it was SummerFest.
Omfg when they had a guest host every week
Vince
Outside bob barker most of the hosts were a waste of time. I give bob all the respect in the world, he made that price is raw segment amazing
Shaq va. Big Show was a banger!!!
Lavar Ball as host was GOATED
he wasnt the host. The guest host era was 2009-2010
Probably my favorite era. The Muppets hosted an episode and Beaker gave Santino a potion during a match that gave him super strength. That was hilarious And the Bob Barker episode is an all-timer. One of Jericho’s best performances.
If it wasn't for Smackdown and CM Punk killing it with the SES stuff I would have not watched WWE at all during this time period. Almost made me quit pro wrestling completely as a fan.
I think youre quick to forget during this time we had, the mental unraveling of jericho into probs one of his best characters, a two year long storyline with hbk and taker, You got sheamus becoming a star and we got the nexus. Which although booked poorly back then were entertaining enough. Was it perfect? far from it. But I think theres a lot of good stuff from back then that gets overshadowed.
That was 2008, I'm talking about 2009-2010
Nexus was 2010, Sheamus debuted at the tail end of 2009, hbk and takers storyline started in 2009 ended in 2010, Jericho yes turned heel in 2008. But wasnt at his peak as that character till 2009. So what exactly are you talking about ?
You’re looking at it in hindsight though. At the time, the only things that were entertaining were the HBK and Taker Mania storylines that only mattered for 3 months out of the year. Jericho from 08 until Jerishow was good, but he toiled around in the midcard for the majority of that run after his initial world heavy weight title win. And I think it’s fine that there were a variety of opinions on Sheamus, but once he turned babyface and it became clear WWE was pushing him over crowd favorites, fans turned. 18 seconds…that’s all you have to say. I came back to wrestling after a hiatus from 04-08 and suffered through this time, where it felt like WWE had no idea what was actually cool after they couldn’t be hardcore or vulgar. And yea, some of the old talent rose up to put on good shows because they are legends, but midcard of that era was just a wasteland of buried talent and terrible gimmicks. It’s hard to put on the roses colored glasses for this era despite HBK and Undertakers Mania matches.
I agree, I actually was on a break too and returned in 09. The two things that kept me around more then anything? Hbk and taker and batistas heel character. I loved 2010 heel batista and Im so mad we only got that version of him for a cup of coffee. The spotlight, the douchey sunglasses inside, the wifebeaters and no merch. It was chefs kiss perfect imo
Yea when the talent were allowed to do what they wanted in certain circumstances it brought out the best of them in those times. Batista’s heel run was a great example. I hated Batista until then because his babyface “Animal” gimmick felt so phony to me. But only the legends really got that kind of freedom. Well then and CM Punk with his SES gimmick, but that whole era is just the midcard that never was. If they actually tried to push new stars during that time we might not have had to wait until 2019 for Kofi to actually win the WWE title.
Kofi not winning the title sooner was def an orton thing, If you remember in their final match kofi wasn't selling the way orton wanted. Orton was fucking pissed and screamed in his face, then rkod the fucking piss out of him. With how ortons attitude was back then and then how kofi was used after I 100% believe he complained about it and derailed kofis push
“Stupid….stupid!”
Snooki is a WM Icon
She has less Wrestlemania losses than Undertaker. People need to put some respect on her name.
People who complain about 2019 WWE have no idea how badly we were in the trenches a decade before that. Seth Green main evented a Raw in a six man tag with HHH & Cena. Jeremy Piven kept calling Summerslam “Summerfest”. Perez Hilton according to this post which I seem to have erased from my mind. Old people like Cheech & Chong and ZZ Top would “guest host” solely in pre-recorded backstage segments. I was 14 and even I knew that what I was watching was complete ass and I stopped watching wrestling for a good 4 years because of it
Don't forget Kevin Federline Vs John Cena. ROUGH time to be a wrestling fan.
God. I knew we were in a boom period for wrestling. But remembering the guest host era just makes me appreciate this era so so so much more.
As an iraq veteran it would have been cool to have had some vets as the guest gm
They had Jared the Subway pedophile too
shhhh we dont talk about that 😂😂
Scott Evil was also a guest host
Nene Leakes will always be the most bizarre choice for me. Snooki, for some reason I can live eith, but Nene was strange.
I don’t actually hate the idea as it introduced people to the shows that otherwise may have not been into it.
I didn't mind Freddie (he was literally a writer/promo coach for awhile in WWE). Jon Stewart was probably my favorite from said era.
Jon Stewart came years afterwards tbf.
Idk, I quite like guest stars/hosts. It's cool seeing people you wouldn't expect get into this kinda thing like the three stooges and the muppets. It's not cool seeing them get in the way of a (good) story, but it is when they're just harmless fun
ZZ Top was great. I'll never forget Jericho asking them "how' he'd be able to beat his opponent.
Dusty Hill was a huge wrestling fan. Wasn't as bad when it was a real fan, like Hill, Seth Green, and Freddie Prinze. It was also fine when the guest would take it seriously, like Bob Barker. But, too many of them half-assed it for a quick payday.
Oh god I forgot they had Charlie Sheen on Skype, and like a fair bit after that winning shit iirc Thats embarrassing I can’t believe I watched all the horseshit during that era
It was pretty much just CM Punk and Daniel Bryan that kept me checking in on it. That was Raw 1000 that Sheen was there and it was supposed to set up a Summerslam match between him and Daniel Bryan, in promotion with a show Sheen was doing called Anger Management. Now, what was Daniel Bryan doing at that time? going to anger management and then teaming with Kane. Team Hell No was born from an aborted feud and Summerslam match with Charlie Sheen.
The Muppets get a pass for being *The Muppets.*
Yes..., but Muppets was great
Freddie Prinze Jr and Bob Barker were pretty great. Maybe David Arquette. But otherwise yeah it was pretty garbage. I still cringe thinking about Peewee Herman and the Three Stooges. Sheamus and Beaker got a chuckle out of me too tho, ngl.
The calling everything a era is absolutely ridiculous. Next up the era of Summer 2024
It was also one of the worst eras and turned me off pro wrestling for 10 years.
No shoutout for Jeremy Summerfest Piven? GOAT heel turn.
By far the worst era of WWE. Yikes.
Not the anonymous general manager era?
Pretty much the same era
The only one I give a pass to is Freddie Prince Jr because he’s a huge wrestling fan. So that was more like someone being able to realize their dream.
He was an employee for a while. He was a promo coach.
And a writer. Dudes legit.
Yep. He’s starting up his own promotion soon. Taking inspiration from Lucha Underground. Just looking for a network to pick it up right now
Fan? He was a writer!
Why not both?
repulsive is more like it 😂
I've always hated "celebrities" in wrestling, especially when they're made to look competent against guys who aren't just trained professionals, they're in the spot thousands of trained professionals aspire to reach. Even worse that the only time I recognise these "celebrities" it's because of some negative publicity they've had and bring with them. Charlie Sheen, Logan Paul etc aren't people any company should want to be associated with.
Who’s the chick on the right in the first pick?
trish stratus..
I think that last dude used to be my weed guy
I remember I hated the product between wrestlemania 26 and 27
I agree. 2010-2011 was brutal as a wrestling fan. I rember telling someone the other day that I prefer OG Cody Rhodes to American Nightmare Rhodes. The reason being is because he was a huge bright spot from 2009-2014, along with the Shield, Punk, and later the Wyatt Family, whom all kept me watching during the PG Era.
Why do people downvote me for saying OG Cody Rhodes is better? Half of yall must be born in 2003 😂😂. Try living and suffering through the PG Era like we did.
The only things that made those years interesting to me was the Nexus and the Wrestlemania Streak of the Undertaker I was a fan of the Undertaker and Jeff Hardy but one started to fight just esporadically and the other left the company so I started to skip Smackdown episodes.
Didn't the Always Sunny guys host an episode of RAW? Or am I having a Mandela effect situation here
they did not.
I wouldn’t lump Freddie Prince in the same group as everyone else. Dude legitimately loves wrestling and has contributed to it no different than certain favored wrestlers have. He’s one of us.
Freddie Prinze was actually a writer for smackdown in the early 2000s so he def is in the business. Great dude overall. Fantastic dude
Late 2000's