I remember having front row seats to multiple Raw is War events, due to my mother being really amazing and always supporting my interests. In the Attitude era, I mean every stadium was completely sold out and the crowds were absolutely wild! I mean, ever single grown adult and child screaming at the top of their lungs and would have no voice the next day. Damn, was that the most amazing times of my life!


Rock was always my favorite growing up even though he was a bad guy I always rooted for him. He was just to good in the ring and on the mic. Turning heel was best decision if his career. Then when he left came back as a Hollywood hill it was brilliant.


i remember leaving art class every tiesday to call a tollfree number from the payphone to find out who won in the ratings to report it back to classmates. Wrestling was huge!


As a kid around 2000 on Monday nights we would all be playing outside and then the dads would yell "Its wrestling time!" and all of the kids would go to their homes and literally watch wcw until wwf came on. It was like clock work. I miss being a kid around then and living on base. It was an incredible time to be alive.


Honestly, pro wrestling is probably the best anime of this decade.

@RosettaStoned attitude era & dbz will always reign supreme😤<br> super & the pg era is trash 👎

@RosettaStoned attitude era & dbz will always reign supreme😤
 super & the pg era is trash 👎

@emiliano zamora  what are five years old

Never thought about it that way. Wrestling as an Anime... but not the best. Dragonball

Jesus this reply section is toxic. OP made a joke and he gets shit for having a JoJo pfp

@Jake Foley sounds like the weeb is projecting

@MJL 11 haha! So funny! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

@emiliano zamora you should write promos for modern day wrestlers

Sike

Ngl: I compare Wrestling to Anime/Shows all the time. Hey, if you find enjoyment out of TOWIE and Made in Chelsea. I can watch near naked apes fight over a gold belt!

@emiliano zamora I am a JoJo fan and I like wrestling I consume media and I can appreciate the works of tradition...

@GreatUserGames It's not the 90's anymore, some dubs are better than subs. It kinda depends on the anime.

@Jake Foley yeah but why would you watch dubs they aren't that great

@Jake Foley its a whole Lotta "I hate anime cause I can't read subtitles"

lotta angry little boys in these replies

No it's one of the best 90s anime, the WWF vs WCW arc was epic.

I’ve always thought wrestling and anime were two sides of the same coin. Think about it, even in Anime they cut promos before/during the battles 😂


If my kids ever ask me to explain wrestling to them in the future, I’ll show them this


It's crazy how it is actually necessary for you to explain a simple concept like theater.


"He started with nothing"<br>"By 1984 hos father had died and Vince was left with a booming wrestling league"

"He started with nothing"
"By 1984 hos father had died and Vince was left with a booming wrestling league"

Trump was also given millions by his father at a young age and inherited everything, so it still works.


Stone Cold returning was wrestling's equivalent of the "On your left" moment in Endgame.


Yeah, but what about that time when John Cena saved the Scooby Doo gang by stopping a 2 ton boulder with his bare hands?

What about the time Scooby and The Undertaker joined Wacky Races: Fury Road?

What do you mean the boulder stopped there was no John cena

@Alan Kusparmakov It did, there was a movie crossover between Scooby Doo and John Cena. B-mask did a video on it I think.

That's the only time he'll ever win against the rock.

Dolph Ziggler: THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!!!!!!!!!!!!

@Shoot Right Here No, the Rock is the people person...some even call him their champion...

@Salt Service <b>funny how you think i go off the internet</b>

@Salt Service *funny how you think i go off the internet*

@Salt Service <b>i litterally just said that. You unfortunately didnt understand</b>

@Salt Service *i litterally just said that. You unfortunately didnt understand*

@JoJo Reztorc03 <b>he WAS the boulder</b>

Chris Redfield vs John Cena in a boulder on a pole match

I thought that boulder stopped on its own.

It's awesome how with WWE you can't even be sure if that actually happened or not.

What about when The Undertaker hit a Last Ride followed by a Tombstone Piledriver on Scooby Doo

@JoJo Reztorc03 John Cena stopping the Rock from tumbling down a hill and crushing the Scooby Doo gang.

It would’ve been better if it was The Rock who did it.


I think it’s really cool how he released this video exactly 20 years after the Monday Night Raw episode he is analyzing hit TV. Pretty clever EmpLemon


so, essentially: in 400~ years, Vince McMahon and Hideo Kojima will be history's next Shakespeares.


As a kid I loved WWE. Friday night smackdown was my show though. Couldn't convince the parents to let me stay up that late on a school night lmao 🤣 Still though, even though me and my friends knew it was fake, we loved it so much. The stories had us hooked, we had our favourites and our enemies. And I still remember watching Jeff Hardy lose to CM punk and have to "retire" in back in '09 and the emotions of losing my favourite character. Great video reminding me why I loved wrestling so much 👌


I got to go see WCW Monday Nitro back in 94 or 95. Back when it was the most popular wrestling organization. Me and my friends got front row seats and got to slap hands with Hulk Hogan and Macho Man Randy Savage! It was pretty memorable, and I've never really been a fan of wrestling. I never watched it on TV, but being there live at the matches is pretty damn fun.


Did EmpLemon low-key compare William Shakespeare to Vince McMahon?

That's real talent

Did Vince ever go to the Queen of England and tell her that her country was fucked??

Well...he did talk shit to our current president and went toe to toe with him, which is kinda close.

Silverdarlin <br>The Virgin Shakespeare vs the Chad McMahon

Silverdarlin
The Virgin Shakespeare vs the Chad McMahon

Shakespeare never booked himself going over on god.

what a disgusting thing to think and say.

Shakespeare didn't make Wally Yamaguchi castrate Val Venis

Shakespeare never booked a kennel from hell match, and yes, I am referring to another Vince

William Shakespeare never took a Stone Cold stunner...

not really Shakespeare wrote blockbuster plays and Vince writes very similar things


What makes a great vid is I can’t notice how long it is. These 34 minutes were amazing and I wish there was more.


26:49
"When a man has lost his hair, he has nothing left to lose"

This has aboslutely no business being so god damn funny.


i was 14-18 during that time watching with my friends, Diesel was my favourite until he left WWF, then Mankind and Stone Cold were my heroes, and i'm from south america, so the party was not only enjoyed in the US


For those that don’t know, there is now competition for WWE once again. It’s called AEW, and it’s on TNT, soon switching to TBS. It’s much more geared toward an older audience, and has some incredibly engaging characters like MJF and CM Punk. I definitely recommend it if you want to try watching pro wrestling, but think WWE is too bland or too polished.


As a massive wrestling fan, I can safely say that there are many shows and events other wrestling promotions that emulate (or at least try to) the late 90s/early 2000s car-crash TV style of RAW during the Attitude Era. WCW tried to during the same time... and failed. TNA/IMPACT Wrestling tried to during the early 2010s which sunk the company into its darkest timeline and currently, MLW has almost replicated the style successfully albeit on a much lower scale.

I grew up during this time period and it was what made me a fan in the first place. It was the wrestling boom that we will never see again. Wrestling will never be as popular as it was during the mid-late 90s/early 2000s. Kids "wrestling" each other in school, doing DX crotch chops, employees flipping their bosses off ala Stone Cold and everybody spitting water like they were Triple H..... good times, good times....

Great video by the way. Keep up the awesome work.

Monday Nitro dominated Raw for 2 years and got higher ratings than Raw has EVER seen. But ok....

100% got in trouble for doing crotch chops as a third grader in elementary school

AEW is doing more crash tv and it’s great

I can’t hear crash tv without thinking of the horrendous Vince Russo

MLW fucking rules, but nothing will ever recapture WWF and the original ECW

I have a theory that it’s ecw’s death that caused the creative stagnation that has plagued pro wrestling ever since. They were the perfect in between an indy company and the huge juggernauts that were wwf and wcw, allowing them to push the envelope and develop real feeling characters that fans could get behind. Mick Foley, Jericho, and Stone Cold all cultivated their characters and ability to get over in ecw. The Game character is a discount watered down Franchise Shane Douglas from ECW. There hasn’t been a true successor to ecw since they went under. I think MLW is getting close and i really respect them, but they aren’t as contemporary to the current culture as ecw was in the 90’s.


The slideshows here are actually even better than watching the original footage in some strange way - at least, if you've already watched the original footage to death like so many of us fans have.


This man could make anyone interested in anything


33:19 This is the only part that you got wrong, b/c even the majority of wrestling fans old & young will tell you that the quality of WWE programming has greatly declined over the years. Just like how WCW declined during the era when wrestling was at its most popular.

@RobD8870 Officially, the PG era supposedly ended in 2014. Though the product is still family-friendly during the Reality & New eras, but then so was the very popular 80s Golden Era.


What an amazing video. Made me remember why I loved this so much


There will never be another channel like EmpLemon’s

Bro these videos are almost exactly like  Jon Bois vids

There's actually someone similar to him, in these sort of videos tho, it's called SLB productions, he kinda focuses more about other YouTube channels like Emp does on some videos

there are so many channels like this one, are you fuckin kidding?

Just an unpopular opinion here and maybe I'm crazy, but... For me EmpLemon and Graenolf (channel that make videos about Skyrim and Fallout series) both have the same voice, despite having nothing to do with other.

There will never be more ytps which is the reason i subbed in the first place :(

Calaz we probably just came up with it at the same time tbh

@JODonYT eh, alright ill give you the benefit of the doubt as that first point's true. i only edited though because there was a spelling error, but tbh it's a pretty easy thing to come up with considering the video.

Calaz when a video drops it doesn’t show all the comments. Plus your said it was edited after

@JODonYT that's kind of odd. i have a notification system that tells me exactly when someone uploads and i posted the comment like 30 seconds after this was uploaded? and i frequently checked my comment (being the sad person i am) and i was the third most liked comment so idk maybe the site did some weird goof or you're just a liar.

Calaz and I got 600 likes and I posted the comment 8 minutes before yours

@Neptune-Blue Trochymchuk Game Theory and EmpLemon both make fantastic use of critical thinking and researching topics, but one thing I find that separates the two is that YouTube is not Emp's job, so he can post whenever he wants and post somewhat whatever he wants to any audience he chooses. Game Theory, as I perceive it, wants to function as a genuine channel and a business, but if GT wants to make an income, they'll need to appeal to a large and accessible audience. I don't necessarily see GT as patronizing, they pull off a decent and fitting character of "we know we can be seen as just another corporate money man haha but we make sensible use of funds and here's our patreon." The joking manner of GT's patreon slips, from my point of view, leaves a gray feeling about their genuineness, as they could just take full advantage of their influetial 4th wall poking and make bank off of the the trust they established. Emp plays with other means but he can reach the same end, but less influentially and less profitably. I'd like to hear other opinions on this.

@JODonYT this was the second time this was uploaded, the first time was put down by copyright but Emp brought it back. I made the same exact comment on the first version and it got 200 likes untill it went down.

@JODonYT sure, only in this version of the video tough

You thief, imagine being the poor guy who made the original comment


Rest in peace snooty. You will always be loved.


It’s interesting seeing what other people grew up with. Hope ya keep makin these.


its so weird to hear the 90's described like a distant memory

@logo809 my first wwe game was SvR06 & i used to play all night w my cousins... good times forsure

@Majin Vegeta hell yeah i miss staying up all night playing smackdown here comes the pain and watching wwe on tv

@H G lucky you man! I grew up in the ruthless agression era 👍 which was still pretty cool compared to the trash of today.

@Majin Vegeta yeah, although I played smackdown. Simpler times 😀

@H G im guessing you grew up during the attitude era?

@Majin Vegeta yeah I still think of the 90s as the decade just passed

I keep thinking its only been a couple years when its actually been 20 😳


WWE is still pretty good, and thisnis coming from someone who loved WCW and WWF/WWE back in the late 90s/00s. Unlike Simpsons, WWE is different but still pretty dope right now.


EmpLemon has some kind of mystical storytelling ability that can take something which I have absolutely no interest in, and turn it into something amazing that can completely captivate me for half an hour.

I think emplemon would be good on the mic if he was in wwe because of his voice and storytelling ability

As a pro-wrestling fan, thanks for admitting that. Foley winning the title is one of the greatest stories ever. The thing about wrestling, is that when its good its fucking amazing. but when it's bad, you question why you've been a fan all along.

to anyone reading this, i encourage looking up any video with The Rock and Mick Foley in it. all those segments are pure gold. they can be allies, enemies, love/hate relationship. doesnt matter. Foley using the rocks catch phrase against him was one of my personal favorites

If you liked this video, check out Super Eyepatch Wolf's video "Why You Should Watch Professional Wresting". SEW has a mystical storytelling ability as well and takes wrestling and transforms it into something wonderful


This and the NASCAR videos are some of the best content on YouTube. Please give us more!


i never got into wrestling, but vince is an actual genius


Love the video!!! I do have to argue with Mick Foley statement. He is regarded as one of if not the (outside of Bret Hart) most technical wrestlers to date. My Top 2 on my list... Undertaker clear #1  for me


I was extremely impressed with the organization, editing, and quality of this video. Watched the whole video basically on the edge of my seat. You have a new subscriber.


That that boss was willing to do anything for his company really does tell you about his love for the sport. I don’t see that often


Goddammit! You're a storyteller. I love these videos. Your SpongeBob video is a national treasure. It should be in the library of congress.


When mick foley won the belt on RAW against the Rock in 99 it proves something, no matter how much the others get to you don't let it stick in your mind, defy odds and and let the ones who witness it take it in and grab it whole heartedly, it symbolises the classic set up of powerhouse smartass vs underdog and twists it on its head when Stone Cold comes in and the crowd becomes unglued as  he's sticking it to the rock like how we would all want to stick it to the corporate smart asses of the world.

That's the reason I love wrestling, it takes people you don't expect can survive and it shows how they can hang with the greatest of all time, i inspire  to be buff like the rock, but i inspire mentally to be like Mick Foley.
Love him or hate him Vince McMahon has inspired Generations


I. Will. NEVER. Forget this episode of Raw. The following Tuesday at school was wild🔥


*_In Monday Night Raw, you can see the Trash Man defeating every wrestler on the ring and he wins._*

Would be weird if the Trash Man defeated every wrestler and didn't win.


I think Brendaniel said it best: "I could watch guys beat each other up in the UFC....but there are wizards in wrestling"


One of the best documentaries ive watched in years 👌


The problem is that up until about 20 years ago pro wrestling pretended to be real and as kids we couldn't tell the difference. Even in to my early 20s I still had doubts 😂


My dad and I didn't bond over too much when I was growing up. But growing up in the attitude era WWF might have made up for ALL OF IT in one fell swoop, into one gargantuan thing that we both absolutely adored. We never missed an episode, even the pay per views.  My dad took me when RAW came to town in 1998 when I was 11 years old. My favorite was SCSA, as he was for most people back then. I'll never EVER forget being in attendance when that glass broke, and an arena worth of people absolutely EXPLODED. It gives me chills, to this day. People can talk shit about wrestling all they want. It doesn't diminish it one bit, imo. EDIT: Emp, thank you so fucking much for this. It means alot


“When you become the WWF Champion, you become the face of the company.”

CM Punk: Rolls Eyes.

“When you become the WWF Champion, you become the face of the company.”

CM Punk: *Rolls Eyes.*

Every time somebody brings up cm punk all that comes to mind is that ufc spiral kick hilarious as all hell

Rey Mysterio rolls his eyes would have been painfully more accurate

Chris Michael everyone is different. I’m pretty sure for some people back in 1999-2003, the rock was such a annoying cocky dude who was nothing special. But most of the people were rooting for him. There’s hadn’t been no face of the company since John cena. The only faces in history are Hogan , Austin the rock and cena. There’s no punk or Romana reings

What is the huge hype train behind cm punk for? I've been a wrestling fan since 1990 and I have never understood what the big deal was about him? He was a skinny fat guy who dropped "pipe bombs" and was nothing spectacular as far as wrestling ability. I'm not trying to be a smart ass, I'm genuinely curious as to his appeal.

@TheBlackPhantomHD Yeah, that Cena vs Johnny "PeOpLEs PoWeR" Laurrinitis was a real slap in the face. Along with 196th time Big Snore has turned from face to heel.

Will CM Punk had the title, he only main evented like 4 PPV's, yes 4/14 PPV's out of entire year and a half worth. He wasn't the face the company, John Cena still was during that time.
TLC 2011 Main Event: Punk vs Del Rio
Royal Rumble 2012 Main Event: Royal Rumble Match
Elimination Chamber 2012 Main Event: John Cena vs Kane
Wrestlemania 28 Main Event: John Cena vs The Rock
Extreme Rules 2012 Main Event: John Cena vs Brock Lesnar
Over the Limit 2012 Main Event: John Cena vs John Laurinitis
Now Way out 2012 Main Event: John Cena vs The Big Show
Money in the Bank 2012 Main Event: Money in the Bank Ladder match
Summerslam 2012 Main Event: Brock Lesnar vs Triple H
Night of Champions 2012 Main Event: John Cena vs CM Punk
Hell in a Cell 2012 Main Event: CM Punk vs Ryback
Survivor Series 2012 Main Event John Cena vs CM Punk vs Ryback
TLC 2012 Main Event: John Cena vs Dolph Ziggler
Royal Rumble 2013 Main Event: CM Punk vs The Rock

CM Punk lost to the Rock, a part timer at Royal Rumble which was stupid cause we should have got a John Cena vs CM Punk MITB 2.0 at Wrestlemania 29, not John Cena and the Rock again.

To everyone who said cm punk was the face of the company back when he was champion look at how many times he main events a PPV compared to John Cena

AJ Styles <b>rolls eyes (his second wwe title run)</b>

AJ Styles *rolls eyes (his second wwe title run)*

Bret the hitman hart similarly got screwed over like Punk, as well as many others.

Even when he wasn't the champion, he was still over and proved he was the face even when he wasn't.

He really was, at the time my wrestling-loving pal kept bragging about him and when I did my research he was one of the most recognised WWE wrestlers at the time.


Common misconception about Mr. Socko: People think that it's suffocation, but it is actually pinching the muscle under the tongue, and above the chin, which is incredibly painful, and is a very effective way to knock somebody out.


Also the decline of the 90s was from Vince owning most of the teritories.  You had no choice other then WWF or WCW.  Both shows were NOT what wrestling had been for the 80 years prior in the teritory days.  It was cartoonish, and slow, and silly, and NOT what people were used to.  Sure the steroid scandal hurt the image, but the popularity if wrestling decling was ALL on Vinces shoulders as he owned just about all of wrestling at that point, and his vision was entertainment, NOT wrestling.


I watched Raw when I was a kid up until the merger with WCW. I feel so dumb for spending all that money on ppv but I feel dumb about a lot of my childhood.


"When a man has lost his hair, He got nothing to lose". Well said there.


One step on the steel Cage
One giant leap for mankind

One step on the steel Cage
One giant leap for _mankind_

Ah yes but this time it was in a fake sport


Bro I fucking love this video. I’ve been trying to convince my lady to watch wwe with me and we will watch a lot of it together but it’s hard trying to break down the whole shibang to her while watching. You’ve put this video together so good bro i know it’ll be easier for her to understand when I show her later! Thank you 🙏🏽

well..older is better. I csnt watch this new shit either. even my kids can't really get into it


Nice Children's Story mention at 5:06. It truly is one of the best, if not the best examples of great storytelling out there. Amazing video by the way.


PLS WE NEED SUBTITLES
IM FRENCH AND I CANT SHOW THIS TO MY NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING FRIENDS AND THATS TOO DRAMATIC FOR ME
seriously, this masterclass should be shown to everyone to understand how storytelling can affect a story


Damn this took me down memory lane. holy shit, I forgot how much I loved WWE


This really exemplifies how WWE used to take guys and make them true stars through compelling stories. There will never be a time in wrestling like the late 90s/early 2000s ever again and I'm so glad to have lived through it. Great piece.

Why does he call it WWF IM HIGH AND ITS SCARING ME

I was born 89 and some of my finest memories are when I spoke about it at school the day after and staying up late in the UK for pay per view events, taking school off the next day to watch it with my brother and cousin


You’re right and it breaks my heart that there will never be anything like it again 😞😖😭


2013 and back was the best times for WWE. (In my opinion.)


While it’s not as popular for sure, it’s still very live and energetic and crowds are still insanely passionate. If you ever get a chance to go see a show, tickets are cheaper than one would thing and even “bad seats” are good at these events and it’s an experience like no other


I was there that night when Foley first won the belt. Worcester, MA. Considered the loudest pop in WWF/E history when the glass broke and Austin came out. Place went nuts


Jerry Lawler legitimately thought Mick Foley was dead during the hell in a cell match at King of the Ring.

I saw it on tv when it happened and i thought he was dead too.   I still flinch watching it.  That and if you look at the broken cage roof after the 2nd fall,  that while panel is about 3 fert over Foleys head.

I know, I watched it when I was 3 on DVD<br>BY GAWD it is so nostalgic

I know, I watched it when I was 3 on DVD
BY GAWD it is so nostalgic


Ahhh man, brings back soo many memories.
Just that glass shatter and Vince's face is enough.
Good fucking times.

I hope every cast get's what's due to them though in the end.


If you like Monday Night Raw, you should have been around when ECW Hardcore TV was a thing.  The mid-1990s were amazing.


Hahaha omg. I use to watch monday night raw, and the show they aired on Friday (i forget the name) when it became the WWE, and i absolutely loved it. I'd beg my parents to let me watch raw, as it always aired on a school night. Or I'd be bouncing back and forth trying to watch raw and nitro. God, i loved wrestling during that time


I'll never make fun of pro wrestling again. Thank you.


Vince sounds like the best boss in the world, lmao, up there in the frontlines with his platoon, mad respect for the man.


Remember when your Monday Night Raw shows had main event quality matches week in week out.


We're one step closer toward that lightsaber and now this video is one step closer to not aging well. It's a <b>tiny</b> step, but a step nonetheless.

We're one step closer toward that lightsaber and now this video is one step closer to not aging well. It's a *tiny* step, but a step nonetheless.


I have never, and likely never will, watch professional wrestling but this is video made me feel genuinely excited.


Really great video. I faded out of pro wrestling a couple of years ago but watching this reminded me of how much I always enjoyed it. I went to a couple of live shows, including Wrestlemania one year, and you describing the crowd reactions and the raw emotions really brought back those fond memories of being a wrestling fan. Thanks for making this, my guy.

I wouldn't really reccomend returning Now. The company isn't at its greatest right Now. RAW had the lowest rating in November or December. Not sure now.


Also, this is basically a bio of my childhood hahahha. Was glued to WWF back then..it truly was rock and roll Elvis status then.


I think JR and Lawler's commentary should also get a special mention as well, time and time again they gave me goosebumps and made me think it was so real and raw as a kid


I was 16 in 1996. Watching this unfold live was even better than you think. Raw vs. Nitro every Monday. Constant stream of new ECW VHS tapes. Watching Cactus Jack and Terry Funk beat each other with barbed wire baseball bats. UFC with no rules or weight classes. What a time to be alive!


That era between 97-00, which was my High School years, was the best Era in Wrestling History. So many Iconic characters and moments. I stopped watching Wresting alltogether in 2001, when I joined the Work Force. And honestly im surprised that Wrestling is even relevant nowadays. But watching those old clips from the late 90s ill admit put a Smile on my face. And yea I remember my favorite Wrestler of all time in Mick Foley beating The Rock for the Workd Title. And how happy I was for him


I've never really bothered to pay attention to anything related to the WWE, like most outsiders I saw it as just some sweaty guys hugging on to each other in the ring. Though as you described this unfolding narrative between all these fighters, I found myself gripped. I may not watch wrestling, or even like it that much, but thank you for allowing me to come to appreciate it.

Quality content as always!

Y2 Jericho nah NXT has consistently been pretty great for the last 5 years or so

Shame its a shadow of its former self, not suspect why he barely showed any clips from the last 10 years? Because its fucking garbage, if you want to appreciate wrestling, make sure to watch anything during or before 2001, its fucken awful now

New Japan Pro Wrestling is something you might like. The matches are so well done. Its some ballet shit.

There's the already mentioned "Wrestling Isn't About Wrestling" by Max Landis and "Why Professional Wrestling is Fascinating" by Super Eyepatch Wolf if you're interested in this kind of breakdown.

Nora <br>This sentiment, as I and many others had/have, is the epitome of why outsiders to a product should never have control or influence over said product.

Nora
This sentiment, as I and many others had/have, is the epitome of why outsiders to a product should never have control or influence over said product.


Every time someone says to me "wrestling is fake" I say "so is ballet, what is your point?"


The part where that guy cocked a gun as a threat to Stone Cold @ 14:05 had me crying in laughter.


I think the reason the WWE has fallen off is because they have been unable to attach themselves to a changing America. The world is so different today than it was 20 years ago that of course they need to change up the characters and add new ones with far more modern themes. After all it is a play, and the most valuable piece of one is its ability to tell a story we can relate to.


Goddamn goosebumps when Mick Foley was introduced and Frankenstein started playing.


there will never be another corporation like WWE

WWE's twitter getting hacked was hilarious, though.

@Jaime That's only because they got purchased by Sinclair, one of the largest mass media companies in America.

Is no one going to say anything about TNA or ROH?

yoshimaniac and nexpo in the comments of an emplemon vid<br>truly the greatest crossover of all time

yoshimaniac and nexpo in the comments of an emplemon vid
truly the greatest crossover of all time

the legend killers shitty duffle bag person

@JakefromStatefarm 1 They had a rally that was more entertaining than Raw has been and actually had pyro and don't forget Chris Jericho

And they're already doing much better than WWE.

@The_Goon AEW hasnt had one episode yet tf

AEW and NJPW are better content than WWE.

There will never be another downward spiral

Yoshimaniac was it UMG that called the strike or WWE?


No wrestler has ever had as much heart as Mick Foley. To put this much dedication and pain into simply giving fans a memorable experience. He’s a legend for a reason.


This stunning documentary that no one else unfortunately saw. Such beautiful photography, it's worth it for the opening scene


Another thing about The Undertaker throwing Mankind off the cell was that it wasn't scripted. Mankind and The Undertaker agreed to do that without telling anyone else. That's why J.R says "They killed him" instead of "He killed him" J.R thought Vince allowed that to happened but it was actually Mankind that wanted it to.


I'm so grateful to have lived through this


Watched the full thirty plus minutes stop free, several times. One of the best, most interesting, thorough and well done YouTube videos I've ever watched in my life. I've always known Emp was a genius, but he won over every synapse in my brain with this one. Top notch, and then some.

@StefanSreto <br>The nature of the world.

@Actic Hard to find YouTubers that actually put effort in anymore. Only couple I can think of are Emp, Mustard and maybe Bright Sun.

I honestly agree, he makes these videos seem really interesting and new.


4:47  I'm glad he cited his source, otherwise I would have doubted the claim that Luke Skywalker isn't real. I'd have loved to see something about the lightsaber though


Bravo. Great video. The attitude era was the peak of wrestling. So good it used up all the potential greatness wrestling had stored obviously because everything after just sucks. Today it's a joke. And it might be fake but the punishment they take is very real.


I’m a little late to comment but I just wanted to leave a comment here. I went to a private school and in English when we learned about Shakespeare, the teachers made us act it out as we read along. It involved the class and was engaging and fun. I still remember in freshman English my best friend and I were assigned to be Romeo and Mercutio. So your thoughts about theatre  are ringing true. Great video Emp, still can’t believe I watched you in 2012 and you’re still improving. Keep it up!


I am incapable of heading the name Ric Flair without giving a hearty "WOOOOOO!"


"In order to be loved,
      Beat the shit out of your boss."

*"In order to be loved,*
      *Beat the shit out of your boss."*

I especially loved how Dell was playing his guitar in the background, since Stone Cold's basically a more chaotic version of the same texan energy Dell has.

...And that's the bottom line, 'cause STONE COLD SAID SO.

@The wish he did that, then the war would end a few years earlier than it did

So, Erich Von Manstein kicking a room door down and chokeslamming Hitler?

I'd watch that.


Man once that donkey Kong theme started I was “this is where I need to be right now” perfection


Austin was the cultural zeitgeist man!!!! One of the best television characters of all time.


RIP Snooty!! He didn't "accidentally" swim into the off-limits area! Someone left it open when it was supposed to closed, it was a set up! I'll miss him


''I did it for da rock''<br>My favorite The Rock moment probably.

''I did it for da rock''
My favorite The Rock moment probably.


I'm glad this video is back, it's a really fucking good video and more people need to see it. I hope that too much didn't get modified to beat the copyright claim.

I think it's just the weird cut stopmotion parts


Looking back I did used watch a lot of wrestling as a kid and I can say it did make me feel how when I watched dbz ended on a cliff hanger. However I used to watch the poor man's wrestling, wwf smack down then became WWE smack down


I'm curious how you would compare this, vs the impact Antonio Inoki vs Big Van Vader had? Just given what an icon Antonio was in Japan, that the fight ended up in riots.


I was a Nitro fan during the NWO days. WCW was the best back then.


This statement is so true that not even Monday Night Raw, is like Monday Night Raw anymore. And chances are, it never will be again.


As a massive wrestling fan from Ireland, I highly approve and adore this commentary video. This video hits hard when you look at professional wrestling now. I stopped watching wrestling over a year ago. I still look this video now and again. High praise cannot be understated. Well done EmperorLemon.

@Prajwal Acharya To me, WWE has been dull for like two decades now. I did get into TNA for a while... then lost interest... but got back into it just around the time the Matt Hardy "DELETE" thing was starting. I'm so glad I got back into it then. I even got into WCPW, and went to my only ever live wrestling show, a WCPW event featuring Matt Hardy vs Bully Ray, and the main event cage match in which Drew Galloway won the title. Since then, I've lost interest in wrestling again. I don't like it when wrestling takes itself too seriously. I like outlandish characters and costumes, and a good sense of humour. Which is probably why back in the day, my favourite wrestlers in WWF were Too Cool. I did intend to check AEW out when it launched, but have still never gotten round to it... just bored of wrestling I guess.

I got back into it 4 years ago, it really is growing now. I think finally they are utilizing all the means they have like they did back in the day with celebrities to legitimate fighters  to bring the prestige back to wrestling. Their storytelling has vastly improved since AEW started.


It's so embarrassing seeing people praise the attitude era like it was absolutely perfect. There were plenty of bad things as well.


I knew exactly who you were talking about when you mentioned Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, etc.. I feel like most people would.


This video single handedly got me into wrestling and now I'm seeing Dynamite live in 2 months. Thanks asshole hahaha


All these surprise wrestlers introductions were badass, awesome vid


If WWE is still around in 5 years i will genuinely be surprised.


I never really got into WWE. For the longest time I had no interest in pro wrestling at all. As someone  who spent most of my childhood in youth technical wrestling (I will never be caught dead calling it amateur), I saw it as a sad mockery of traditional wrestling. It wasn't until a few years ago around 2016/2017, I actually gave it a chance. I was not at all a fan it. It wasn't that it was pre-scripted, I never cared about that matter, it wasn't that it was poorly performed from an action/stunt standpoint, there was obviously a lot of good skill. What stood in my way of enjoyment was not being able to find charwcters that I could get invested in. Sure, I liked Rusev Day, I was amused by the Miz, and grimaced when Nakamura low-blowed Styles, but none of the characters stuck for me. Eventually we had a chance to go to a live event (War Games 2019), and I went, if only to enjoy a weekend out of town. Even with the massive crowd (though maybe because I couldn't see the ring from our seats), I fsiled to be immersed. For the next year, I stopped trying to get into Pro Wrestling. Now, of course, a few month's prior, a certain Khan family decided to finamce a new company to rival WWE. I did not pay attention to it for most of its run so far. If this established organization can't get my interest why should I bother with this new untested company? I continued to ignore them until late November of this padt year. I had caught a scene hear or there, but I was about to see my first full segment from them. Here I am on my phone, flippimg through a certain meme app, when I pook.up to see a change of scenery from your rypical sweaty and bloody wrestling ring to a nicer setting. The camera pans down to two individuals. Two individuals who would go on to be my absolute favorites. I see a young man in shorter hair and a tiny beard, my mom is already getting ready to open her lexicon of Yiddish cusses. Across from him us sat an obviously comparatively older fellow with long hair. They each order a 20 oz porterhouse steak, each constantly trying one up the other in rareness. Once the waitress leaves, they talk business for a bit before the closest thing I have ever obseved to magic happens. These two men break out into song and dance and I am hooked. This rendition of My Shadow and Me is forever etched into my mind and MJF and Jericho stand as my favorites (Yes, I love both the Pinnacle and Inner Circle, and I am anxiously awaiting the moment when MJF and Jerich are given a chamce to promo off of one another one on one).


Hey EmpLemon, consider doing AEW or CM Punk's return.


I’m worried that you’re next on YouTube’s list... stay safe my dude.

@puffinpal I will begin archiving them now

I hope someone archives his videos. Does he post to something like minds?


You guys forgot to mention that a huge part of what got 'Taker over was his absolutely legendary manager, Paul Bearer. Seriously Paul's performances were what made 'Taker into fucking gold in promos.


Undertaker's "Iconic Dong" ... "Justin Whang"

Well played with you casually kicking ass with those two fantastic, while unintentional double entendres coming with such blindsided precision right in all our collective faces, or recently inattentive earholes!


I loved Monday night raw late 90s and early 2000s I go back and watch old raws  am 32 now I remember me and my dad loved raw we watched every Monday I still watch new raw sometimes but 90s to early 2000s was ba I remember watching ecw too I still love wrestling I know it’s staged and stuff but still love it


you sir... have picked the loudest pop of all time. congratulations! multiple chillbumps watching this tonight that take me back to the multiple chillbumps through the late 90s early 2000s.d


Monday Night Raw sounds like a bad hentai

I agree. Raw Is WAR is <b>much</b> better!

Nooo kermit this isnt what you were taught..

kermit the frog: Waaaiit now I'm seeing you everywhere too. 😆


I think the best metric to use for the importance of wrestling in pop culture is to look at an episode of Raw from  98-01 where there was a SEA of signs all of them praising/insulting their favorite/most hated wrestler. Then compare that to today where WWE pays fans to hold up signs made at the stadium, and AEW fans hold up signs about video games<br>Also: lol that Rugrats has 4 places in that top 15

I think the best metric to use for the importance of wrestling in pop culture is to look at an episode of Raw from  98-01 where there was a SEA of signs all of them praising/insulting their favorite/most hated wrestler. Then compare that to today where WWE pays fans to hold up signs made at the stadium, and AEW fans hold up signs about video games
Also: lol that Rugrats has 4 places in that top 15


Thank you so much for getting me into wrestling lol

Wwe is not  not really good rn but yeah try to find wrestling you like


Awesome video! But watch what you say about Hamilton! That play is an absolute masterpiece that brought popularity to classic theater! I’ve seen it 5 times and enjoyed it equally each time!😂


Against all odds, EmpLemon wins against the corporations


You know I was shocked that Mick Foley actually interfered in the next match after his hell in a cell match.


I love professional wrestling and I can't stand when someone tells me it's fake. I fucking know it's fake and I still love it


Only emplemon can make me interested in something I didn’t even know existed


Was never a huge wrestling fan, but I did watch it. Granted I watched more WCW than WWF, since that was what my dad watched in the mid to late 80s. That being said, this was pretty interesting, and what Vince did was pretty amazing, letting his own employees do all that for him for his company shows passion for what he puts out. An explains why the WCW ended up folding.

Yep. WCW's writing has been very questionable, that it helped kill interest for WCW.

There is so much that contributed to it's downfall, that I cannot leave it in a single comment.


As someone who lived through each moment of that in real time, from starting in 1987 through today in 2019, you did an excellent job recounting and explaining why these moments were so important to both wrestling as an industry and society as a whole.


Loved wrestling and Shakespeare but WWF/E came first.  Really good presentation.  Thanks!


The editing on this is great. Nice work dude


"Hey dad I can't see too well is that Bill Shakespeare over there?!" -Matt Foley, circa 1993 😂


EmpLemon: "When I say names like Ric Flair-"<br>Me: "WOOOO!!"

EmpLemon: "When I say names like Ric Flair-"
Me: "WOOOO!!"


Vince didn't quite start from nothing... his father's relationship wasn't great, but he had a foundation to get started on


Thanks for the video! Interesting watch.... you forgot to mention that WWE RAW is ONE LONG STORY ARC from the first episode (and before) until today .... is that the longest continuing weekly story on TV?


started from nothing
literally seconds later
so, his father was the owner of the World Wide Wrestling Foundation

had  me in tears

started from nothing
*literally seconds later*
so, his father was the owner of the World Wide Wrestling Foundation

had  me in tears

@fid matic because emp didn't explain the full history between the two. Vince had no choice but to move in with his father and work for him because of his situation. He didn't do it because he wanted to take over the family business when his father is gone. But rather the opposite. He bought out the company from his father, and against his wishes; Vince competed with the territories, who all held an agreement that they wouldn't crossover nor compete with each other out of respect.

@vDeadbolt I don't see how that lessens the humor behind those two antithetical statements being so close to eachother in the video at all lmao

He was never raised by his biological father. He had to work for his father by the time he grew up. The two wearn't close at all


I remember that Hell in a Cell match. Mick Foley may not like it, but I saw the underdog get back up. Falling off then through the cell and coming back was a superhero moment.


There will never ever be another copyright claimer like Viacom

@Soup - Ah. That makes sense. I don't do a whole lot of twittering any more. Everything became <b>so</b> politically extreme around the 2016 presidential race, I finally just stopped going for the most part. Anyway, thanks. That's the first I've heard of it.

@Soup - Ah. That makes sense. I don't do a whole lot of twittering any more. Everything became *so* politically extreme around the 2016 presidential race, I finally just stopped going for the most part. Anyway, thanks. That's the first I've heard of it.

@Asics Johnson emplemon posted a pic on his Twitter about how this video got claimed by WWE.

@Brian Berryhill - Been trying to figure that out, myself. You ever find an answer?

why is it that the vast majority of this comment section have some kind of reference to copyright claims , I say this because the video isn't copyright claimed at all. (the point is that this whole thing just came out of nowhere).

why is it that the vast majority of this comment section have some kind of reference to *copyright claims* , I say this because the video isn't *copyright claimed* at all. (the point is that this whole thing just came out of nowhere).

WMG, UMG, MGM, WWE, Lionsgate, Turner Entertainment...

And Viacom B, they claimed one of my videos :(.


When I did Shakespearean high school my teacher literally said back when Shakespeare was actually presenting originally it was like going to a modern-day football event


There won’t be , that’s why I’m so damn sad I was born in 98 and had to miss all of it ):    Thank god I got RA era cause that was miles better than anything they have done since and I still got to experience a lot of the greats from the Attitude era


Wwe didnt die because the world changed...the wwe died because it changed and became something no one wanted. They started treating their talent like chumps, they push Roman reigns down the fans throats for 10 years when they didnt want it. They repeated headline matches year after year. They lost what they used to be.


My fav thing in the world is seeing non wrestling fans get invested into wrestling. Good job emp.


after seeing this for the 3rd time. I can't shake that AEW is todays WCW in its prime and history seems to repeat itself. I wonder how it will work out this time.


You were making YTPs and now I'm watching normal video about wrestling... From you. Feels kinda surreal


Emp keeps making magnum opus after magnum opus! No plateau in sight!! Loving your videos man.


How was Vince considered poor if he inherited a whole business from his father?


A strange time when wrestling dominated. You'd see wrestlers on non-wrestling magazine covers -- TVGuide comes to mind; you'd see them on non-wrestling shows; you'd see them in non-wrestling commercials. Every week, record-breaking numbers of people would tune in to see what was going to happen -- AND the interest wasn't merely what the headliners like Stone Cold or The Undertaker would do, but even the midcarders had something interesting happening. It was a perfect storm coming together for those few years in the late-90s to 2001, or so, that will never be recreated -- especially not without a company giving proper competition ala WCW.

@MikeyXSuicide damn that was pretty informative. Thanks for the reply!

alfa01spotivo i know you weren’t asking me, but i’ll take a crack at answering. Cable subscriptions are way down, so people don’t watch wrestling shows live and thus don’t tend to see the whole program. Which makes it hard to get them to watch anything they aren’t actively looking for. Meaning they won’t be seeing anything new and exciting unless they hear about it elsewhere first, making it hard to get a brand new talent over like in  that time period. Additionally, that era had two SUPER competitive major league wrestling companies and a national alternative in what would be considered AAA if it was baseball (the highest of the minor leagues, only a small step below the majors)  add to that the fact that the company with the most exposure and in the best position to showcase new and rising talent CONSTANTLY fucks up with god awful scripts and intentional sabotage and burials if someone dares get themself over. Without the wrestlers having any artistic freedom nor ability to cut organic promos that enable them to connect with the audience in a real way,  until that happens wwe wrestlers will never be able to become true superstars, because Vince doesn’t want Stars, he wants the brand to be more important than the sum of it’s parts. The problem is that this is impossible and he knows it. We all know he hasn’t forgotten the monday night wars, considering he harps on it on our screens. He almost lost due to lack of stars. He built new big time stars and they won. Now he won’t allow anyone to become a breakout star because he doesn’t want to build a star and then have then go elsewhere to potentially compete against him. The only other national name in pro wrestling is aew, and their writing and storylines are mostly sophomoric and relies far too much on bad (as in not even remotely funny) humor. MLW is great but not enough exposure and too small time. Impact decided a publicity stunt was more important than their heavyweight titles credibility (and thus their entire roster’s credibility which means their entire company’s credibility ) and NWA is on the internet. So while there could be a star that breaks through and saves wrestling, they’ll have to do it in an entirely new way. All it takes is one big star to raise the profile of the industry again and then all the best talents will raise their own game accordingly. It would be beautiful to see. I could see Galloway making a run at doing it, but he needs to leave wwe or be given more freedom before he could accomplish the monumental task.

iLLBiLLsRoastBeats it is POSSIBLE it’s just tremendously unlikely. It would take a very specific set of circumstances including but not limited to several generational talents all being given artistic freedom in order to make organic connections with the fans.

@alfa01spotivo it’s just not possible. Not saying you were or weren’t, but if you weren’t there for it you will never understand the phenomenon that was late 90s pro wrestling. It took over the entire pop culture scene. They beat Monday night football in ratings. It was new and edgy and intense. That lightning will never be caught in a bottle again. The business is changed forever, it’s too exposed and it will never reach those heights ever again

how do you know it will never happen again?

Raw would beat Monday night football in the ratings back then. Good times

Proper competition from wcw and a proper alternative and veritable breeding ground for groundbreaking new characters and talent in the form of ecw. Those two companies pushed wwf to deliver the very best content they could, and with two of their biggest stars utilizing personas and ideas developed in ecw (Mick and Austin)


Pillman “We’ll be right back” is my favorite in the genre.


Vince McMahon is such a villian I swear 😂 like holy fuck his entire life is just an origin story


I’m not nearly as convinced on this one as I was with nascar. It’s just too much for me. But a good try for sure.


I know exactly what Ric Flair, Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant look like but I couldn't name a single character in Spongebob. Not saying Spongebob is a bad show, I've just never seen a single episode.


I think this is one of the best videos I've ever seen on youtube.

ey my boy-o how you do?
make another vido plis? kthxbye

ey my boy-o how you do?
*make another vido plis? kthxbye*

Super Eyepatch Wolf has a damn good video on professional wrestling if you liked this.

Too bad you'll never make a video as good as this, huh?

Samuel Fewer <br>Agreed, Jon Bois is also a great content creator, on par with Emperor Lemon.

Samuel Fewer
Agreed, Jon Bois is also a great content creator, on par with Emperor Lemon.


Amp: None of the super smash bros characters are real<br>R.O.B.: Am I a joke to you?

Amp: None of the super smash bros characters are real
R.O.B.: Am I a joke to you?


There will probably never be another time like wrestling in the 90s and early 2000s.


It was The Rock's Charisma this dude had so much Charisma people had no choice but to love him. <br>He could such good promos he would come out and sing these funny ass songs that had people rolling and he was supposed to be the bad guy but people were just laughing because it was so funny he was so good on the mic she got to be who he really was and that's why people loved him

It was The Rock's Charisma this dude had so much Charisma people had no choice but to love him.
He could such good promos he would come out and sing these funny ass songs that had people rolling and he was supposed to be the bad guy but people were just laughing because it was so funny he was so good on the mic she got to be who he really was and that's why people loved him


I met Mick Foley when I was barista at a Starbucks, it was a couple years after thr hell in a cell.. nicest dude in the world, I didn't charge him for his coffee or ask for an autograph, I just said "Hi Mick, love you work!" And he seems happy and relieved I didn't pest him for an autograph

Gave me a $10 tip, really cool dude.


Actually, the battle damage in pro-wrestling (at least WWF/WWE) is real. So, technically, pro-wrestling is real. There will also never be another show like: Malcolm In The Middle, Seinfeld, Misfits, Mongrels, or Broadchurch. Max Landis? Oof, now there's a name that hasn't aged well.


When he took off his mask and revealed the mask underneath the mask

I felt that


Wow my man Emp really just quoted the Bible to explain wrestling. Bravo.


WWE is the only major promotion right now
AEW: am I a joke to you?

*WWE is the only major promotion right now*
AEW: am I a joke to you?


At 36 I can now look back at these times and really say...these were crazy times. So much fun man


Good to see someone who appreciates the classic WWE! My Dad loves this stuff, watched it all the time as a kid. I think it's really cool too, and kinda weird. But the storytelling aspect is great! Today's stuff just isn't the same, you feel?


I have been a Pro Wrestling fan since my childhood in a south Aerican country where Wrestling has neve, ever been popular. I get the feeling. When you think about wrestling in very in a very objective way, man it is the most absurd thing ever, It is like those thing that you say: "THis has no right to be this good"!.


"He would stand in the middle of the ring and smile like a goober"


The back of his first biography (Have A Nice Day) is a picture of him with arrows pointing to his various injuries

@Grayson Byass-Rascoe the dude is broken. Watch his wifeswap on YouTube, he can't even tie his own shoes and that was 10+ years ago

Mick will never die ever he will live forever


Man kind vs the undertaker was legendary. I remember watching, and rewatching it on my dads bootleg VHS copy of it a ton when i was a kid... And i hated wrestling.


This exposé is overwhelmingly satisfying. Bravo!


Great video, but I wouldn't say Mick Foley isn't talented enough, he's one of best promos of all time, and had some of the best phycology just wasn't AJ  Styles or Daniel Bryan in the ring. If every wrestler was technically gifted like that wreslting would be boring.


To think that professional wrestling as Theater explains why a lot of the wrestlers can act themselves in movies and, yes, on stage too.


I just realized that this video was uploaded 20 years after Mankind won the WWF Championship

@Ratel.H Badger In the words of Mick Foley himself. "Foley is not God, but he's pretty damn good"

@gee dee Yeah Foley was ok but Dude Love or Cactus Jack would kick his ass in a heartbeat, wonder why that never happened.............

Didnt Mankind win the championship on January 4th?

This whole video, is just a roundabout way of explaining why Mick Foley is GOD


I'm stone cold brought I'm the new era. He was a very technical wrestler unfortunately Owen heart's mistake almost ended his career. He had to change his whole wrestling set to become more of a brawler.  Rock took advantage of Steve's neck injury and blew up.  Both stars were at the top of the wrestling world and both deserve respect. But if you were around during to attitude era would know Steve cemented his character in his feud and loss to bret hard as he was traped in the sharp shooter blood streaming down his face he refused to tap and passed out from the pain. This happened way before his fights with Vince


Fun Fact: Foley wasn’t supposed to go through the cell roof from the choke slam, given how the ring wasn’t matted for such a fall (and how he got a chunk of the injuries he did). Also didn’t help that the chair he was slammed on fell with him, meaning he also landed on a steel chair from the fall.<br>How he wasn’t supposed to go through the cell from being slammed on it as a giant dude, I’ll never know. Cause even early before the toss off, part of the roof already gave way.

Fun Fact: Foley wasn’t supposed to go through the cell roof from the choke slam, given how the ring wasn’t matted for such a fall (and how he got a chunk of the injuries he did). Also didn’t help that the chair he was slammed on fell with him, meaning he also landed on a steel chair from the fall.
How he wasn’t supposed to go through the cell from being slammed on it as a giant dude, I’ll never know. Cause even early before the toss off, part of the roof already gave way.


DX will never be forgotten... especially the dance😂🤌


modern pro wrestling has gotten alot better for the casual viewer than it was back in the 80s/90s. It's definitely gotten away from the absolute absurdity of the attitude era, but <del>especially outside of WWE</del> the storyline have been amazing in alot of promotions. Every company from WWE, to the random ass company in the highschool gym on Tuesdays has good wrestling.

modern pro wrestling has gotten alot better for the casual viewer than it was back in the 80s/90s. It's definitely gotten away from the absolute absurdity of the attitude era, but -especially outside of WWE- the storyline have been amazing in alot of promotions. Every company from WWE, to the random ass company in the highschool gym on Tuesdays has good wrestling.


I never thought I'd see the day that some dude born in 1999ish would let me about 90s wrestling. You're lucky you make great content, otherwise I'd have to lay the smackdown your candy ass! <3


Best playwrights of all time:
1. William Shakespeare
2. George Bernard Shaw
3. Vincent McMahon
4. T. S. Elliot

Best playwrights of all time:
1. William Shakespeare
2. George Bernard Shaw
3. *Vincent McMahon*
4. T. S. Elliot


the one time ive been to wwe was actually amazing, not the most fun ive ever had at the rec center where i live, but its up there


When I reference how old I am to people.<br>I say I'm old enough to remember when The Rock was a professional wrestler.

When I reference how old I am to people.
I say I'm old enough to remember when The Rock was a professional wrestler.


I will never not bust my gut laughing when Pillman pulls that gun


“…hated authority… oh wait!” is too good of a quote


I looked at pro wrestling like a theatre/gladiator experience. And as I studied ancient Rome gladiator games were more theatre than people think.


there never be another tv show like it he says at the end, skip to 2020 and cm punk debuts on aew and i gotta say that is probably the closest to have a massive pop, so much emotion that night and we saw a fan cry


Okay that segue from Shakespeare to Homer to Homer Simpson to The Simpsons wrestling game is such a genius way to return to the topic of your video while going off on a very still relevant to the subject but completely different tangent is a stroke of Genius dude major props to that that was my favorite part of the video


Steve Austin is the walking embodiment of Texas

He's relatively progressive when it comes to social issues too. It's interesting

He is a man that has a God Given Mandate to be worthy of The Engineer's meet the Team song

And corporate Rock was equally as good as the corporate champion. The versace shirts, the designer sunglasses and shiny loafers lmfao, the attitude era was great. Only time in my life I followed pro wrestling.


The rocks bass line always makes me feel tight 20 years later


The greatest never achievable era in wrestling history is the attitude era of Stone Cold. The era I watched growing up.


24:00 the drop is epic af. Amazing transition.


I don't believe it. It's obvious Vince McMahon travelled back in time and is in fact his own father.

So basically, the movie 'Predestination' is based on his life 😂

@Es_Three He did that in 2001; it's called the Invasion Angle, where Vince leading the WWF takes on Shane and Stephanie, who in storyline owned WCW and ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling, which was the last member of the "Big Three" wrestling companies of the era). The angle culminated in an Winner Takes All Elimation Tag Match, where the winning side would take control of the losing side's company/companies, with WWF winning and thus putting the boot into both of their competitors for good, in storyline. In real life, Vince had bought up both companies earlier in the year. It's the last dying breaths of the Attitude Era, or alternatively the brief zombification of it if you subscribe to the idea of the Attitude Era ending at Wrestlemania X-7, which was the Wrestlemania event during 2001 in April.

I can honestly see Vince trying this out as a match. Vince vs Vince. Which McMahon will take control of WWE once & for all.

J. Sal that’d explain him going ahead w the Beaver Cleavage character.

He invented the time machine and traveled back in time to fufill his legacy. Madness. Awesome, madness.


The fight between Mankind and the Undertaker will always make me remember my childhood.

Same here, not because I was alive but because I used to watch it with my dad on the dvr


I grew up watching raw. I remember turning the TV down to 1 so my mom and dad wouldn't hear me watching when I was supposed to be in bed....... SUCK IT!


I enjoyed this E-Lem ty for the spot-on recap of an era that was rare as it was unique! Cheers fam!


I would love to see an entire video just covering the phenomenon of D-Generation X


And now, just under 24 hours ago the WWE Pay-per-view; Hell In A Cell 2019 ended with fans booing, chanting for a refund and calling for AEW - The first real challenger to WWE's monopoly in a decade.

I hope you're cataloguing this Emp.

@iLLBiLLsRoastBeats Yet. The company has only been around for a year, and they don't look like they're going out of business anytime soon.

@Artwr Archer has two losses in his AEW career. And those two losses have only built to his character now, that is if you watch dark. You don't have too, but it's worth noting it exists.

@MODXN Struggling? They're up by around 200,000 every week unless NXT is running a free ppv. On top of that, most casual people won't watch without a crowd.

@ANDON HOWARD the NWA was complicated, it was a alliance made up of hundreds of promotions in the territorial days, it really wasn't a "monopoly" people just left the alliance and the NWA when the regional owner thought they weren't profitable to continue with the NWA, after that, it started a snowball effect after one of the biggest promotions, the WWWF (WWE today) as well as georgia championship wrestling (which was previously Jim Crockett promotions, which then became World championship Wrestling, yeah, this shit is pretty complicated) them the NWA basically fell off almost completely with it's biggest players out of the picture as well as smaller promoters choosing to join the bigger boys.

iLLBiLLsRoastBeats Do you understand how businesses work then?

iLLBiLLsRoastBeats what promotion do You wrestle for?<br>You cant use that argument if you dont wrestle yourself

iLLBiLLsRoastBeats what promotion do You wrestle for?
You cant use that argument if you dont wrestle yourself

Infinity Stones ok smark wrestling genius. What promotion do you wrestle for again?

Slerpup I don’t think you understand how businesses work

iLLBiLLsRoastBeats considering they have a contract for at least a few more years that statement is already wrong

artaud well, the big names brought in the eyeballs, but the cruiserweights won them over, when the Radicalz and Jericho jumped (the Radicalz being the final straw) the fans they won over on Nitro moved to wwf to watch them.

@Artwr It's not the inability of accepting criticism. It's the point of stopping the spread of terrible misinformation. Backed it up with facts

@Existomalus only you can hate and also be right
And there is no hate
What there is a profound annoyance of fans like you who just cant accept critiscim and just call every thing as hate

@George Floyd If it was dead, then it wouldn't still exist. Especially on TV. Now what IS dead is the guy with your same name.

@George Floyd Not in the immediate future, no. It's silly to think a show that hasn't been on for a year can match a company that's been around since the early 60's. It takes time. I'm just glad wrestling finally has better alternatives again

@George Floyd It must be hard for you to accept something other than WWE as successful. Lol AEW will be around at least for another 3 years due to their TNT contract extension. And typically, you don't get extensions if you're bad. Hope you understand that. Haha

@Artwr Except you're wrong on practically everything. Biased hate doesn't make you right. Hope you can remember that :)

@Mojo JoJo 🦍 How long did it take TNA to get close to a million viewers? AEW has been close for many many weeks and they haven't been on TV for even a year

Aew as a challenger, they can't get a million views, tna was more of a challenge

@Wacky Name What do you mean struggling? They've been beating them every week. Lol and don't you dare pull that "they had a higher viewership though" bull. AEW consistently getting ranked #5 in cable while NXT getting ranked in the 30's is hardly " getting beat by their C show".

@Johnny Eyeball legitimate competition, while bringing in less than a million veiwers, and struggling to beat WWE's developmental show, yeah right, legit

@Johnny Eyeball Does AEW have a better product? Hell yes. Are they even close to becoming a WCW-like rival to WWE? hell no. Sometimes it's hard for us wrestling fans to realize that most people watching are casuals. Even a shitty match of part-timer vs part-timer will draw more people than a great AEW match, because people want to see familiar faces (at least the casual wrestling fan), which is a big reason why WCW was so big back in the day (the best part of WCW was the cruiserweight division, but the thing that actually made them big were the ex-WWF stars + Goldberg). AEW needs time to become a "thing" casual wrestling fans watch, right now it's mostly just hardcore fans watching. When they become more familiar to the casual fan, they'll have a real shot at taking WWE down.

@Corey Lineberry last time I watched WWE was in 2016 and only because of NXT because Nakamura debuted from Japan. Turned off the second they got rid of Balor's demon gimmick in the main roster. Never again. Came from NJPW because of Styles and Nakamura, waited for a bit, got back to NJPW with deep sadness seeing my idol becoming one of Vince's puppets...breaks my heart each time thinking back...

@Samantha Sadhmadhi First of all, you need to Know that the Fiend is like a slasher villain. You throw what you can at him, and he just sits up. His match vs Seth Rollins was meant to be his coronation... And he lost. And it's not just because of his loss, but the way he lost. He was brutalized with a toolbox, chairs, ladders, and a giant mallet from the Fiend's Firefly Funhouse. However, when Seth pulled out a smaller sledgehammer, the match was stopped by the referee... In a no-disqualification type of match like Hell in a Cell. Two years in a row of a bullshit finish to the Satanic Structure.

@TheGrayMysterious you say it like it's a fact, it isnt, its not that all there is to competition and i wouldn't say its the most important thing....sadly. So yeah, even with the suicidal booking of WWE, its still hard to beat a monopoly. Weird arguing you have here, its hard to beat a monopoly, end of discussion.

@Promis Nwekenta uhh... you kinda NEED to have a better product than WWE to dethrone the monopoly. Y'know, like how RAW used to be a better product than Nitro, so everyone started watching RAW instead of Nitro and WCW went belly-up? That's kind of how competition <i>works.</i>

@Promis Nwekenta uhh... you kinda NEED to have a better product than WWE to dethrone the monopoly. Y'know, like how RAW used to be a better product than Nitro, so everyone started watching RAW instead of Nitro and WCW went belly-up? That's kind of how competition _works._

@TheGrayMysterious now youre saying different things! Putting out better quality product than WWE and dethroning a monopoly is kinda different things. So you dont seem to believe it will happen.

@Promis Nwekenta when that "monopoly" thinks sending 3 part-timers to have 5 minute squash matches against all their new talent practically consecutively, I'd say it's not much of a challenge to put out better-quality entertainment than that.

@TheGrayMysterious tell me dethrowing a monopoly isnt a challenge and that has stood for like 2 decades as 1.

@Promis Nwekenta You're right. To be a "real challenger", WWE has to be an actual challenge.

AEW is not a real challenger.... dont over exaggerate.

he did say in a more recent video that after wwe copyrighted this video, he cant wait to tune in to aew on tnt


For whatever it's worth, Vince didnt inherit his dads company. He bought it off him.


Okay as someone who totally didnt get the whole deal of wrestling or how to watch it as a youngster, good god it would have been cool to know it was available in this form. but the ads did not mention, at all, how this "raw" was different from the other wrestling stuff I wasnt able to join in on.


2:30 I like wrestling as entertainment but lets be real, no one ever thought that Star Wars, Goku, The Avengers, or Homer Simpson was ever real. Wrestling at one point was billed as real, the rise of Hulk Hogan was the turning point of turning wrestling from a sport into sports entertainment. The days of Bob Backlund and Antonio Inoki doing catch wrestling with predetermined results were gone.

Kayfabe all but died by the time The Kliq did the "curtain call" and now wrestling was deemed fake on top of the fact with all the steroid allegations surrounding wrestling. It wasn't until the attitude era embraced the fakeness with over the top drama that it regained back some fame.


Most of my friends that do not watch wrestling will still know the big stars atleast from back then (maybe not Roman Reigns or Drew Mcintyre) but they all know Stone Cold, nWo, Hogan, Rock, Flair, Macho Man even like the Hardy boys or like more recent like John Cena. I think they may know CM Punk (maybe) but then theres a void. I have more friends that know X-Pac than Daniel Bryan. Some will even come over for a wrestlemania party the most memorable was when Taker lost to Lesnar that dead ass made 30 mid 20 year olds go dead silent. I just remember getting mad drunk and having king of the hill battle royal in my front yard at like 11pm at night to my neighbors thinking I am crazy


Vince: We took care of that strange looking creature good.
Video comes back up
King: What??? How did it came back???? Vince just took care of that pesky video!
JR: IT'S EMPLEMON! EMPLEMON! AND HE'S READY TO OPEN UP A CAN OF DOWNWARD SPIRAL!

Vince: We took care of that strange looking creature good.
*Video comes back up*
King: What??? How did it came back???? Vince just took care of that pesky video!
JR: IT'S *EMPLEMON! EMPLEMON!* AND HE'S READY TO OPEN UP A CAN OF *DOWNWARD SPIRAL!*

@Ethy Let's not forget to give Vince a nice headbutt on the go though! =)

Then Emp proceeds to throw King off the cage into the announcer's table and JR onto a pile of thumbtacks.


if I had a penny for every time a nice documentary channel made me mildly interested in wrestling id have two pennies, which isnt much, but its still weird it happened twice.

If you like anime then you’ll probably like wrestling


It always weirds me out that people point out that whole "wrestling isn't real" thing. Cause bumps and alot of spots are definitely real and dangerous lmao if they meant pre determined then they'd make more sense i guess. Rehearsed, i don't think works either given the beautiful material Botchamania provides.


Under a minute in and I have a renowned appreciation for manatees. Well done sir.


If you look at the South Park season 13(I believe) episode "W.T.F" it actually gives a pretty damn good example of how Prefessional Wrestling should be viewed vs Athletic Wrestling and Real Fighting.

@EALS Lucha is a way of life. Part of life is death. Believe in El Santo

@Justin Berry Mexican pro-wrestling sucks. It's so unsafe.

It grinds my gears how people each time mistaken WWF/WWE as "Pro-Wrestling", yet never heard about the biggest, actual Pro-Wrestler and companies out there. RoH? Lucha Libre? NJPW? No one knows.....makes me sad...

@Grodd of War It was worse than that. The guy that got killed was merely setting up for the 619 with a drop toehold onto the second rope (Bret's rope, the most dangerous rope) when he fell wrong and caught his neck on the rope, snapping it forward and giving him such massive whiplash that he hemorrhaged his brain and died on the spot (from what I recall). Dude was a ten year veteran for the promotion with twenty years of work under his belt, and he dies from such a basic maneuver, relative to the other maneuvers these guys pull off daily. It's the reason I quit training to be a pro wrestler myself.

It is all one big stage act, but I still respect their athleticism, especially the high flyers like Rey Mysterio..You gotta watch out for Mysterio..He straight killed a guy with his 619 lol

@alfa01spotivo you're the one specifying the EXACT EPISODE, you could at least not be dumb about a quote from said episode


I don’t know if you’re a sports fan. But we need another video about “why there will never be a championship like super bowl 52” like go over the patriots dynasty, the Carson wentz injury, the true comeback story of Nick foles, the back and forth game. And the underdog mentality of the never before champs the Philadelphia eagles.


That undertaker Vs mankind match is easily one of IF NOT THE BEST wrestling match of all time


As a European...
This video was simultaneously disgusting, terrifying, and grotesquely interesting.

I cannot fathom the amount of safety regulations this show would break in the EU, lol.


“Half-naked, oily buff dudes pretending to beat eachother up.”  Never have finer words been spoken

people have been saying that for decades lmao

Barely any wrestlers are buff anymore most of them are like 200 pounds or lighter

Yeah it's always a handicap when you're trying to explain it to someone 😖

As King Ross used to sing.
Vince McMahon likes big sweaty meeeeen!
Vince McMahon likes big sweaty meeeeen!
Vince McMahon likes big sweaty meeeeen!


The Attitude Era of WWE was the most ridiculous thing on TV by a country mile. I mean that in the best way possible. I'd love to watch another doc just about this era


Legends of wrestling was my childhood lmao


Bro I didn’t want this video to end. You just gained a new follower ong


Yeah no I don't watch Raw anymore because most of everything you said in the video is not on screen anymore. I watch AEW more now because of Wrestlers like Stone Cold Mankind The Rock has hung up their boots and went quite as they grow older by the years.


Stone cold really made wwf what it was and undertaker kept it up over the years.


I’d love to see you do a video on the rise of AEW.


my favorite promotion is NJPW  . AEW is cool, ROH is trying to go back to its roots, Impact is learning from their mistakes and WWE has its moments but NJPW is still the best promotion in my opinion


Dude made this video a few months off from Dynamite launching lmao bc it definitely captured the classic attitude era Raw


I'm with the "it's still real to me " guy


I love these minimentaries. Please more?


Grew up with Thursday Night Smackdown, Dad didn't like Raw. This oughta be interesting.


14:37 that mask under the mask is hilarious


Quick, everyone download this video before the WWE takes it down again!

@blinded journeyman" seems like these companies are allergic to money?" Yet they're chasing it?

Yeah companies been stupid lately. Acting like theyre alergic to money.

It's like they literally don't want this unabashed love letter to WWE get them any more viewers. Fucking bizarre.

ngl, I actually did because I can't watch rn and definitely want to see this. It's sad that's a reality but 🤷🏼♂


By the time I got to college, I came to the conclusion that when our teacher's subjected us to reading Shakespeare scripts in high school, it was actually a sneaky way to get us all to despise Shakespeare.

I mean, what if decades from now, required reading in the English classes of the future consist of the scripts of video games?

If you play video games, you know intrinsically that the medium is the message, and you cannot separate one from the other without losing something vital. Forcing children to consume Shakespeare in literature form should be a crime. Shakespeare plays are genuinely great and I cannot help but think that the way the vast majority of children are introduced to his works is deliberate.


Can't believe you didn't credit Vince Russo for convincing Vince McMahon that the product had to change


Hunter is my favorite wrestler of all time. And DX is my favorite wrestling faction of all time.


Dude some of this brought me back in such a big way


There will never be another reuploader like EmpLemon.


“None of the smash bros characters are real” dogs, cats, crocodiles, doctors, monkeys, plumbers and frogs are rolling in their graves


It's one of the loudest there only two that rival it and that's the we're Goldberg won over Hulk Hogan for the title and Nitro but this one still louder and then there was a return back in 2018 where Vince McMahon says "nobody helped me I did it all by myself" and stone cold comes out. I have searched and searched and searched but I do believe in my humble opinion in this is the loudest pop in wrestling history


This was the exact moment I quit watching wcw 😂


30:45 the editing of that match was top notch


WWE is so ruthless with copyright. They're pathetic. But glad to see the video is back up. Even if its a re-edited upload.


I believe this is the one and only youtuber that truly, make magic


When you hear the glass break you know someone’s ass is getting whooped🤣


I kinda disagree, what's in the ring has also been part of the reason why wwe sucks today. nowadays I wait till the main event or 1 specific match to watch raw, so for me I pretty just tune in to watch bobby lashley and as soon as he's gone I go on and do something else, the same thing with smackdown, I pretty much watch it for roman reigns. the problem today is that a lot of todays wrestlers have no personality and mic skills. back then you had guys like the rock and stone cold who could cut a promo in their sleep and weren't dependent on script writers, but now barely anybody can talk their way out of paper bag. The rock and stone cold were able to grab a lot of peoples attention, not just wrestling fans, people who could care less about wrestling also knew these guys because of what they were saying in and out of the ring. theres nobody like that now, if you know who Seth Rollins and Kevin owens are then you're likely a wrestling fan.


25:18 "a literal tank"
continues to show a jeep with a piece of PVC piping

25:18 "a literal tank"
_continues to show a jeep with a piece of PVC piping_


You can tell this video was made with a lot of passion for something emp really loves. It really shows. I don't even watch wrestling but I was glued to my phone watching this. love this content.


A never ever on the undertaker or Eddie Guerrero would be sick


lol and just last night , Vince at 76, took another stunner from a 57 year old Stone Cold. Wrestling is awesome.

Man, that whole Wrestlemania was full of great & hilarious moments


I can only image how apeshit I would have gone if I was in the crowd the moment I heard that glass shatter.


I must have rewatched this video over 10 times, genuinely top 5 OAT on YouTube


Old wwe is up there with spongebob and Simpsons early seasons


“Welcome everybody to MONDAY NIGHT RAW!” Vince McMahon voice


The reason why Raw was so popular at first, was because it LOOKED like old wrestling that people liked.  Vince let go of the guys who were over, and let them work on there gimmick, do there own promos, and just give them a finish and let them call it in the ring.  Just like how it had ALWAYS been done.  Then he moved from commentary to the back were he started to try to dictate matches.  Along Russo trying to get involved, matches became more like plays, and people stopped watching again.  Now wrestlers have agents, and those agents have to go tell Vince EVERYTHING that the boys are going to do during the match or promo.  THIS, on top of guys not knowing how to work to begin with, is why wretling today looks "fake".  Its also because we are condtioned to just assume that a single punch wont even stagger a guy.  In "real life" we know that a single punch could kill someone".  Go watch Lawler in Memphis.  One punch knocks a guy down and out.  It looks alot more "real".  Raw in the early days also worked because werent handed scripts.  You can tell when a match has been "choreographed" vs, callin it in the ring.  It looks like an actual struggle.  Flair and Steamboat, or Austin and Hart if your too young.  Why do those look like actual struggles?  Be because they were!! They werent a play where everything is scripted.  Its 2 guys fighting for the next move, or spot.  They know the finish, but how they get there is an ACTUAL fight or struggle or contest.  Go watch some San Fransico battle royales, or Sputnick Monroe, or Lawler vs Funk.  Or Dynamite Kid in Canadaian Stampede.  Do some research of your own, not just copying and pasting what others have to say or type


When I heard millennium I had flash backs to when Chris Jericho first debuted


What if Donald Trump and Vince McMahon ran against each other in the 2016 presidential election? Shit would have been hilarious and terrifying.


When it comes to the WWE, your "context" needs context.


14:12 dude just straight pulls out a glock, points it at the dude behind him, chambers a round even though its an auto loader... all while having his finger ON THE TRIGGER.


The rock is a great actor!!! His role in Be cool is seriously slept on for whatever reason. His role as Eliot, Vince Vaughn’s gay, body guard/ cowboy/ singer/inspiring actor is absolute gold. When he does an entire scene from Bring it on, done in two person dialog while auditioning for a role, That’s acting at its finest. I’ll die on this hill everyday btw.


In order to be loved, you must beat the shit out of your boss

-Emplemom


ive never been interested in wrestling but this video was great


Coming back to this, Foley's endurance id still astounding


I absolutely love AEW but WWF/WWE Raw was the shit don't think really any outfit will ever fully reach the level of Raw in my opinion...


Pretty impressive you were able to make a 30 minute wrestling video that a person who's never even seen an episode of RAW before could watch all the way through.


So, to put it simply,

Pro wrestling is live action drama television, disguised as a sport

God I was so stupid how did I not see this until this video


Professional wrestling is the only business where a CEO can put their employees in the hospital on purpose and not have OSHA violations, Despite thousands of witnesses!


Wish there was an easy way to rewatch Monday night raw


This video is what got me back into watching wrestling. I used to watch it when I was a kid but stopped when I was a teenager. I don't know why I ever stopped, wrestling is fucking awesome.


11:00 to 12:16 sounds like a pretty familiar storyline that's going on right now between AEW and WWE


I would have given this video an 11/10 had you mentioned hulk hogan body slamming Yokozuma and Kain and the Undertakers weird off again on again thing.  Didn't Sgt Slaughter set hulk hogan on fire or someone else?

PS One of my friends from highschool was a rube in the WWF. He went by Steve Saint.


hahahaha dude this is so well done. i know i’m 2 years late but goddamn, this whips ass


Smackdown: I'm boutta end this man's whole career


I was in high school during the attitude era and me and about 7 of my friends were hardcore fans and so were my mom and dad and brother so we would order every ppv and all watch and get  drunk as hell and it was honestly one of the best things I can remember during that time of my life. I wish wrestling never lost that magic for me


"no one could hold the audience in the palm of his hands quite like the Rock could"

SCSA: What?


The Rock's intro clip made me lose my mind in the middle of the night. Next to the NASCAR vids this makes my night


Emp: no character in super smash bros is real <br>R.O.B.: am I a joke to you

Emp: no character in super smash bros is real
R.O.B.: am I a joke to you


Foley is insanely talented lol. He didn't get to the WWF by being a stuntman. If that was the case, backyard wrestlers would have been a much bigger thing.


In order to be loved, you have to go on a downward spiral 🌀.


The rock is a great actor . And walking tall, the rundown, faster , rampage , ff , hobs and shaw , scorpion king are all fantastic movies


Modernly, Mick Foley is down in the panhandle of Florida in the US, Such as nearby Panama Beach and other areas, hell my step-dad who was a really big fan of WWE when he was younger has even met him a few times by just bumping into him. He’s a really cool guy.


14:38 he took off his mask to reveal another mask...iconic

The entire backstory makes it so much funnier

@Eno Ukpong hes literally called "The Icon" lmao. In a world of bad on wcw, he constantly great.

kasrkinable lmao I don’t really know him but I just looked him up and I think I know what you’re talking about

Do you know Sting's character and used the term "Iconic" on purpose? Because if not you should know you probably just made the greatest wrestling pun of all time

He was wearing 3 masks... you just can't see the third :'( haha

@Aflay I mean, it's facepaint, not a physical mask, there's a bit of a difference

Publius Ventidius Bassus <br>Face paint is a mask on a fundemental level.

Publius Ventidius Bassus
Face paint is a mask on a fundemental level.


At the end when mick Foley won the title I beat a super hard level of candy crush I was stuck on. It was exhilarating to be cheered on by Jerry lawler.


Shakespeare['s plays] in his day had more in common with pro wrestling today than with modern productions of his work. It was blue-collar entertainment, complete with fart jokes.


The the mid to late 90s is the golden era of wrestling. Those characters that they crafted were so much more then dudes goofing around as you demonstrated with this video. Something about watching it, you knew it was dumb especially at face value but you didn't care because it was so absurd it demanded your attention.


My god, he defeated the evil empire! Well done.

Also, I used to be a wrestling fan myself. I don't follow it the way I used to, but I still have fond memories of relaxing on a summer day, going to the DVR, and watching the entire 3 hours of that wonderful Monday Night Raw or decent Friday/Thursday/Friday Again Smackdown. It was my thing from like 2013 to 2017.


14:34 This might be one of the funniest things I’ve seen out of context


Also, that's not a "literal tank."  That's a jeep with a cannon on it.


Should do a never ever be a comedian like norm macdonald again!


0:00 Professional Wrestling
1:28 Monday Night Raw
2:00 It’s Not Real, It’s Fake! 2:28 Neither is Star Wars or Smash Bros, they are works of fiction
3:47 Shakespearean Plays, Suspension of Disbelief
6:30 Vince McMahon 27:10
   8:01 The WWF
   9:00 Monday Night Raw Debuts 1/11/93
   10:31 WCW, 9/4/95 Monday Nitro Debuts
   12:24 The Monday Night Wars
   13:20 1990’s Counterculture
14:17 War
14:54 Mick Foley - The Unlikely Hero
16:20 The Undertaker - Deadman
19:53 The Championship
21:32 The Rock - Corporate Diamond
23:57 Triple H - Business Acumin
24:39 Degeneration-X
25:49 Stone Cold Steve Austin
28:50 Corporate America vs The Disgruntled Employee
30:40 OHHHH OHHH OHHHH
31:38 WWF’s Rise to Glory

33:00 Not bad for something that isn’t even real


I fucking LOVED WCW and Monday Night Nitro!


This should have been called “There will never ever be anything like the Attitude era”


This is so good I just watched it twice in a row.. this is after already seeing it 3 times before


Mick Foley. The kung fu panda of Wrestling


"The sound of The Unertaker's iconic Dong".... your words my friend. Great work all round


who else did a "son of the mask" deep grin when you heard the gong of the UNDERTAKER


That late 2000’s version of “My Time” 🤌🏻🤌🏻🤌🏻


I feel like I've stumbled upon a whole new world that was always there but I just never knew it existed.

@StormCloudTheory same with me but with SpongeBob

@Yuri Lopes Thought you giving a Stone Cold What? 😀

@Yuri Lopes Good one ! Thanks for the laugh!

@Crowns 99 dk wats confusing. He found a new interest.

KolonaRulez Wait I'm confused by your comment, what does it exactly means?

@Yuri Lopes I'm just echoing what KolonaRulez said. I mean that, both NASCAR and professional wrestling are two entire worlds that I feel like I never knew existed, that I've just discovered thanks to Emp.

One of us....

One of us...

One of us....

It's the same for me but with NASCAR in addition to this.


Eh, would have been more accurate to have “Attitude Era” in the title instead of Raw.


I would argue Raw is no longer "RAW" its over produced and diluted


I love this video but Emp’s point about the manatees always makes me sad because his name was fucking Snooty and he had friends and shit, really fucking sad.


There will never be another era of Wrestling like the Attitude Era. Which thankfully is where I really started getting into watching it. I remember RAW and I remember how The Rock created Smackdown.


At first:  "Okay, so we know wrestling isn't real."
A few minutes later:  "So here's Mick Foley getting thrown off the top of the cage, falling 2 stories, landing on a table, then climbing back up to the top, and then he gets choke slammed onto a thousand thumbtacks, and one of his teeth breaks off and ends up in his nose."
When does the not real part happen??????????


The only thing i dont like about pro wrestling is that it overshadows the wrestling sport. Of course, this isnt pro wrestlings fault, its the people who dont research into what pro wrestling is that is the problem.


Sadly this show is no longer Raw. It should be changed to something to meet the soft PG demographic that they are aiming their programming at.


There will never be anything like Monday Night Raw (pre 2010)* WWE has fallen off :’( and it’s sad to see


There's two very important things you left out in all of this.
1. The impact that ECW made on wrestling.
2. The realness (some think it's a work) of the Montreal screwjob against Brett Hart and how it created Corporate Vince.

Also the title should be more about WWF winning the Monday night wars, because you just stop once Vince bought WCW out. That show has been going on for 18 years ever since.  There's a lot to be said about the post Monday night wars you know?  Much of the beginning could have been omitted or shortened if you was dealing with time.

Great job with the narrating and editing, just a little lacking on the actual show Raw.  There's a lot of positive and negative post Monday night wars about Raw.

Also EmpLemon does research on these topics.  I’m surprised that he didn’t touch up on the Montreal Screwjob that much.

EmpLemon does show the aftermath of the screwjob, as well as screenshots of the “Bret screwed Bret” segments Vince did after SS 1997. But you’re right he didn’t bring up ECW. Raw (and eventually SmackDown!) play a pivotal role in storylines of the WWF/WWE. (As well as selling the PPVs on regular basis.) This is mostly a WWE focused video, but ECW did play a part in the Monday Night War.


I seen Mick Foley fall that night live, our jaws hit the floor


We need EmpLemon to make  a Never Ever on The Undertaker


I didn’t think I’d sit through a 35 min video about the WWE 🤣🤣🤣 good job man I sat through this 35 min video about the WWE


GREAT video. I was a teenager when all this was happening and it was just the best time to be alive. Actually looking forward to school on Tuesdays to talk about everything that happened was amazing. I still watch wrasslin, and probably always will, but I don't expect it to ever be this good again. Maybe AEW will do something and actually directly compete with WWE but I just don't know.

@Bleed Green it doesn't matter how many channels there are, it's what's on them. Plus, ratings are a percentage of cable users watching Raw at the time. If we were talking about viewers dropping, that wouldn't matter because of what you said, competition from streaming platforms.

Luke Rose The ratings are shit yes in part because the writing sucks but other factors play a large part too, such as cord-cutting cable, more channels than ever before to choose from, and the internet taking overall eyeballs off the TV sets

@Bleed Green all those streaming services never had other wrestling so your point is irrelevant

@Bleed Green then tell me why the ratings are the lowest they've ever been

Luke Rose Nope. Attitude Era didn’t have to compete with Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, YouTube, etc. for viewers

Too many entertainment options these days, wrestling will never have a large enough following like it did in the late 90’s

Anybody born in the 80s will abide by that statement brother. There will never again be anything quite like that.


God I remember watching stone cold making mankind win


If you were alive to see the Monday night wars then you saw some excellent tv


There are many people who became so popular that they became larger than the organization. Many people worship some of the legends of the sport without even realizing it


Love the video, Emp. As someone who has been watching you for years now, this is one of your best works yet. <br>So glad you beat the copyright game. I guess it is possible to overcome seemingly impossible odds. Eventually.

Love the video, Emp. As someone who has been watching you for years now, this is one of your best works yet.
So glad you beat the copyright game. I guess it is possible to overcome seemingly impossible odds. Eventually.


Never Ever: Yeah, there will never be another show like Monday Night Raw

NXT & Friday Night Smack Down: Bruh.


There will Never Ever be another channel like Emperor Lemon's channel.


No mention of how ECW changed the entire wrestling industry?!?


this is the video that got me into watching professional wrestling again, had to come back almost a year later to really give credit to it.


Eric Bischoff has said one of his greatest mistakes when running WCW was NOT allowing DX into the live show. DX went to the show yelling over their megaphones about Scott Hall and Kevin Nash (real life close friends with HHH and the greatest and most decorated wrestler of all time Mr. Wrestlemania, the main event, the Heart Break Kid . . . SHAWN MICHAELS!!!) HHH was saying Hall and Nash were being held against there wills and unfairly restrained by their contracts.

Difference in the audience? Yes absolutely BUT to say it's not because of the in-ring action being different is flat wrong. Some of that blame goes to the current talent just being sub par (Seth Rollins) at the same time though wrestlers with huge talent or newer guy with potential are restrained in their promo styles and held back with what they are allowed to do in the ring.


Not for nothing, I remember watching RAW when it first began, I remember the 1st episode and it was so much more entertaining when it was 1hr. Even when it went jumped to 2hrs it was still tolerable. NOW!? It sucks ass


You could probably do a whole video on how there will never ever be another pro wrestler like the undertaker.

And also Stone Cold saved the WWF.... So?


This is embarrassing to grown ups. Thanks for explaining Shakespeare to us


moral of the story: it's easier to become President of the United States or WWE CEO than to compete with the NFL


Luckily, now when the WWE is just a shadow of it's former self...

We got AEW, which is by far the superior product right now.


This is one of my favorite Youtube videos of all time


UFC is all we have left. almost as good as I remember wwf, even though its real.


Foley's 1998 KotR fall was before Mr. Socko. He still used the Mandible Claw.

Edit: There's so many things wrong in this video, when it comes to representing pro-wrestling. Still, a fair few things were also done right.


The 4 current well known wrestlers are the rock, bork laser, john cena and the only one who’s known purely because of wrestling, the guy with the mask Rey Mysterio


2:17 its at this very moment I remembered that this even happened 😂😂


Emp you can’t say they literally rolled up in a tank when they were in a Jeep.


“3000 years ago people didn’t have much entertainment to compete with listening to one dude talk”

I mean they also had sports competition, theatre, comedians, gladiatorial shows where they could watch the equivalent of wrestling except not fake and actually had people being killed for their entertainment, ancient rap battle equivalents which were basically two poets trying to top each other with improvised baudy poetry and yo mama jokes, musical concerts, etc.

People don’t give the ancient world credit. Shit was wayyyyy more crazy than you think. Just cause there aren’t movies and video games doesn’t mean everyone just say with their thumbs up their ass lol. If anything the modern world has homogenized its ideas of entertainment to the point that if a screen or digital interface isn’t there then it isn’t considered entertainment. Shits depressing honestly.


5:05 easily the best example you could have chosen


Even 3 years ago there were other wrestling companies, just not as big. And now there's a few. WWE, AEW & IMPACT. Lucha Underground was banging and it was around for a few