I agree w/Sean about the excitement thing. if there is alot of good build up for a match, the actual wrestling itself can become secondary.
As for the moves and stuff i think every generation has overall outdone the previous one and thus the expectations become higher and higher which is why I think alot of us dislike Cena and batista bc it seems like a step back. We went from guys who couldn't wrestle for shit like Hogan to Rock and Austin who could wrestle a little better to amazing people like Angle, Benoit, Y2J and now back down to lame wads who can't wrestle. It just doesn't seem right and its such a let down.
As for 95, yea it was horrible all around. Nitro was better even just for that one Benoit Vs Guerrero match bc on RAW the best you got was Taker vs Issac Yankem
Actually, 1995 wasn't a bad year for wrestling for those of us who gave up on WWF or WCW entertaining us. There was a little bingo hall company in Philadelphia who were putting on some damn decent bouts.
Dreamer and Raven were in the middle of their feud.
Taz was destroying bitches left and right.
Sabu had just come back. The Pitbulls and Shane Douglas were in a white hot feud.
The Gangstas and the Eliminators were having arena brawls with each other.
Plus some dude named Cactus Jack was cutting some legendary promos at the time.
I have a deep appreciation for all the work of Sarah Jessica Parker
Watching some (re: three) matches from Jake Roberts' DVD, I realize now his awesome skill in the wrestling. The match against Ricky Steamboat in that outdoor arena place was great, and Lanny Poffo's poem to Jake was easily better than any poetry-related shit in the WWE in the past 10 years.
Also, he had an afro and no beer belly in the early 80s, it seems.