Everyone involved deserves a high amount of praise.

But this was a very good Mania ups and down. That 98 stat isn't all that bonkers, because all three guys did some truly great work long after 1998.

Hunter built an immense career after that, helping cement two top tier generational stars in the process.

Shawn's work was so exceptional that you could argue HBK had two separate hall of fame level careers- with his post-98 body of work being superior.

And Taker was already a great character, but also had his best run long after 98.

I think the more appropriate demarcation line is Brock/Taker, because the way Brock dominated the top of the card after that sucked a lot of.air out from the rest of the roster, and it became apparent after that that Hunter and Taker hung on far too long

Vince's myopia with Reigns was another, equally impactful choice. But in my estimatin, the bigger issue by far was Vince's heavy reliance on those old heads at the expense of better developing an exceptionally talented roster into bigger stars.