Attitude Era 1998: One of the Stupidest Booking Ideas Ever

[fouldsy91]

I've been watching some of the late 98 Attitude Era on the WWE Network recently, during November - December. I never watched wrestling at this point as I was only 6 years old, so it was all quite new to me.

At the Rock Bottom pay per view Mankind beat The Rock via The Rock passing out. However, Vince stated the title couldn't change hands unless the match ended by pinfall or submission. I thought this was stupid to start with, but I understood that it made Vince more villainous and that Mankind had a legit claim to a rematch.

The next night on Raw is what got me though. The New Age Outlaws faced Shamrock and Bossman for the tag titles. Shamrock and Bossman won the titles that night. How did they win? Billy Gunn passed out to the Ankle Lock. I wouldn't have been so annoyed if they made mention of it on commentary that it was abuse of power by The Corporation since Mankind did the same thing the night before and didn't get the titlem but there was no mention of it, and they were the new champions.

I feel insulted by WWE by the way they treat the fans of being "stupid" at times, but this is probably the worst incident I've seen. Who's going to forget that the title match the night before ended in the exact same fashion but titles couldn't change hands due to pass out?

Just thought I'd point this out and wondered if this was ever followed up on as I haven't seen anything of it yet, and do you have any other incidents similar to this that you remember?

 

[gooseholla]

There was a lot of rubbish back then gimmick wise, match wise and storyline wise. But people like to remember it as 100% pure gold. Don't let it concern you because 17 years on WWE still makes little sense and contradicts itself all the time! We just have to live with it.

 

[Sexcellence of Sexecution]

Really? That's your best example of something stupid during the Attitude Era?

The Rock was a heel for the Corporation, so when he loses like that Vince says it doesn't count. Bossman & Shamrock are also heels for the Corporation so when they win like that it's fine. Yes, that is an injustice. Yes, that isn't fair. They are heels. I understand that the announcers didn't make the explicit connection by talking about it but that's not a big deal, it's still pretty clear.

 

[fouldsy91]

Really? That's your best example of something stupid during the Attitude Era?

I don't know if you read what I put at the top or what, but I clearly stated I never watched the Attitude Era as I was only 6 years old at the time.

 

[Savior of Silence]

Bottom line is a heel faction did something that you didn't like and it caused you to dislike them. Mission accomplished.

Mr. McMahon said that the WORLD title could only switch hands in THAT match by pinball or submission. Therefore, it holds no bearing on any title matches going forward unless otherwise specified.

I agree that the announcers should have made a bigger deal of it but logically it still made sense.

 

[Nate DaMac]

I don't know if you read what I put at the top or what, but I clearly stated I never watched the Attitude Era as I was only 6 years old at the time.

But you did say it was one of the stupidest booking decisions ever. That's a ballsy claim for someone who hasn't seen most of one of the most popular eras in wrestling.

As has been stated, it wasn't even a stupid booking decision. Do you also get angry when Triple H punishes faces for interfering in matches yet he has no problem with Rollins' cronies doing it all the time? It's hypocritical, sure, but it's also what makes him hateable. Which is, you know, what he's kinda going for.

 

[fouldsy91]

Obviously missing the point. They never even mentioned the fact of it being a blatant disregard of the rules set out the night previously, if Michael Cole was blasting them and Vince was bragging about it, saying he's the boss and he makes the rules, I wouldn't have had a problem with it.

It just came across as insulting to the intelligence to do it the next night without even mentioning the ruling the night before.

 

[Makaveli31]

It's called HEELS and BABYFACES. The heel ALWAYS cheat to win it's a way of keeping THE HEAT. This sort of finish was booked ALL THE TIME in the old territory days as a way of keeping the babyface STRONG but keeping the heel WHITE HOT. Check out the Dusty Finish from the old JCP days or when Kevin Sullivan booked the NWO. It keeps the fans PISSED in a good way because they WANT to see the babyface eventually beat the HEEL and it keeps the storyline going.

As far as acknowledging it. There is no need too.

 

[fouldsy91]

It's called HEELS and BABYFACES. The heel ALWAYS cheat to win it's a way of keeping THE HEAT. This sort of finish was booked ALL THE TIME in the old territory days as a way of keeping the babyface STRONG but keeping the heel WHITE HOT. Check out the Dusty Finish from the old JCP days or when Kevin Sullivan booked the NWO. It keeps the fans PISSED in a good way because they WANT to see the babyface eventually beat the HEEL and it keeps the storyline going.

As far as acknowledging it. There is no need too.

Fuck me someones learnt how to use their caps lock button. I obviously understand all that but at least have the faces complain about the decision, but they didn't. It came across as they thought "screw it, they won't realise". I have no problem with it being used if they used it to advance the story in some way, but they didn't. It just came across as a very lazy way of getting the titles into The Corporation.

 

[oneofakind318]

There was a lot of rubbish back then gimmick wise, match wise and storyline wise. But people like to remember it as 100% pure gold. Don't let it concern you because 17 years on WWE still makes little sense and contradicts itself all the time! We just have to live with it.

That's the truth. And you're right about people treating the Attitude Era like it wasn't littered with awful/weird booking decisions. Perhaps this angle achieved the goal of putting heat on McMahon and the Corporation and all that, which is great, but the same finishes in today's wrestling get crapped on. I always wonder if social media and these sites had existed back then if people would have complained about everything like they do now, because aside from having the freedom to use more violence and sex to sell the product, the booking has always been bleh.

 

[DetectiveZelix]

Sorry OP that everyone's treating you like you're stupid.You're not, you're just a regular person with sense as I am and many of us are. Which is probably why wrestling isn't the best thing to watch with our common sense glasses on. Pretty much to mirror what everyone said it was clearly a heel thing as it has been done before and after. It's always been that way, but I can concur every time they do it it's stupid.

It's like when the heel uses a weapon it's considered cowardice by the face announcers; however, when a face uses a weapon he's considered justified or intelligent. Same for when a face says I can beat you any time, the announcers indicate he is a brave and confident wrestler yet if a heel says the exact same thing they say he's a pompous asshole

Wrestling, my friend will never EVER make sense but ultimately yes I agree with you, that was a stupid booking decision

 

[fouldsy91]

Sorry OP that everyone's treating you like you're stupid.You're not, you're just a regular person with sense as I am and many of us are. Which is probably why wrestling isn't the best thing to watch with our common sense glasses on. Pretty much to mirror what everyone said it was clearly a heel thing as it has been done before and after. It's always been that way, but I can concur every time they do it it's stupid.

It's like when the heel uses a weapon it's considered cowardice by the face announcers; however, when a face uses a weapon he's considered justified or intelligent. Same for when a face says I can beat you any time, the announcers indicate he is a brave and confident wrestler yet if a heel says the exact same thing they say he's a pompous asshole

Wrestling, my friend will never EVER make sense but ultimately yes I agree with you, that was a stupid booking decision

Thank you haha. I would have not have thought anything about it if they used it as an actual story advancement because then it's just Vince getting heat. They didn't mention it was an abuse of power, they jsut swept it under the carpet and concentrated on Shawn Michaels interfering.

I agree with you that there is a lot of wrestling that doesn't make sense, which I'm fine with, but this just seemed lazy and insulting.

 

[Savior of Silence]

They didnt treat it as "screw it, they won't realize". Your logic is completely flawed. The fact that McMahon specifically stated it could only change hands via pinfall or submission is all you need to know. That explains the finish and helps continue the storyline. Its gives the face a reason for a rematch. He has a clean victory over the dastardly heel champion and is entitled to a rematch.

Did anybody say that the tag titles could only change hands via pinfall or submission? Didn't think so. Couple that with the fact that Shamrock and Bossman were in the same faction as McMahon and The Rock and that should be all the explaination you need.

The issue that you should have is with the announcers not mentioning the heel faction's underhanded tactics.

 

[Nate DaMac]

Obviously missing the point. They never even mentioned the fact of it being a blatant disregard of the rules set out the night previously, if Michael Cole was blasting them and Vince was bragging about it, saying he's the boss and he makes the rules, I wouldn't have had a problem with it.

It just came across as insulting to the intelligence to do it the next night without even mentioning the ruling the night before.

It seems to me that your problem is with the commentary failing to put the story over correctly, not the booking decisions. On that, we can agree. Remember a few weeks ago on Raw when Orton and Reigns had a match and the entire Authority was at ringside doing various jobs? Well if you watch, Reigns was trying to convince Orton to say fuck the match and just help him go after the Authority because they were obviously being set up to get jumped. It was very smart storytelling on Reigns' part but the dipshit announce team totally failed to put it over.

There are other more prominent examples too. Like when Goldberg kicked out of like 3 fucking HOGAN LEG DROPS in rout to beating him for the WCW World Title and the announce team completely no sold it because erhmaged KARL MALONE IS HERE!!11!

 

[fouldsy91]

Did anybody say that the tag titles could only change hands via pinfall or submission? Didn't think so. Couple that with the fact that Shamrock and Bossman were in the same faction as McMahon and The Rock and that should be all the explaination you need.

Vince stated the night before that titles can only change hands by pin, submitting or saying I Quit. Titles is a plural just incase you're wondering. That means WWF, IC, European, Women's, US and whatever other belt they've promoted over the years. It has nothing to do with the explanation, it is to do with the fact why not capitalise on it? .

It seems to me that your problem is with the commentary failing to put the story over correctly, not the booking decisions. On that, we can agree. Remember a few weeks ago on Raw when Orton and Reigns had a match and the entire Authority was at ringside doing various jobs? Well if you watch, Reigns was trying to convince Orton to say fuck the match and just help him go after the Authority because they were obviously being set up to get jumped. It was very smart storytelling on Reigns' part but the dipshit announce team totally failed to put it over.

Yes I agree that is the main point of it as we all know what Michael Cole's like when someone gets screwed, and he didn't even mention that part, he mentioned Shawn Michaels interfering. The commentators do it a lot and I didn't realise they did it just as much back then too (maybe it's because Cole's on, not JR where I am watching). I just thought also that even if the commentators didn't mention it Vince would be laughing about how he makes the rules, or The Outlaws mentioning it since they had a grievance. If the whole point was to subtly do it and hope the fans realised, it didn't work as the fans looked like they didn't understand what just happened.

 

[toddmb]

Bottom line is a heel faction did something that you didn't like and it caused you to dislike them. Mission accomplished.

Mr. McMahon said that the WORLD title could only switch hands in THAT match by pinball or submission. Therefore, it holds no bearing on any title matches going forward unless otherwise specified.

I agree that the announcers should have made a bigger deal of it but logically it still made sense.

Agreed, sir. Way sillier things happened during the Attitude Era.

Sweet sig. by the way.

 

[Makaveli31]

Fuck me someones learnt how to use their caps lock button. I obviously understand all that but at least have the faces complain about the decision, but they didn't. It came across as they thought "screw it, they won't realise". I have no problem with it being used if they used it to advance the story in some way, but they didn't. It just came across as a very lazy way of getting the titles into The Corporation.

First all no one wants to see a whiny babyface. Babyfaces don't complain. As fans we want to see them overcome and persevere against all odds. Not complain about decisions.

Secondly it DID advance the storyline. Mankind has been screwed out of the WWE Championship twice now and it set up perfectly the match in which Mick Foley won his first WWE Championship on Monday Night RAW. It drew HUGE rations because EVERYONE wanted to see Foley finally won the championship and screw Vince and The Rock.

So by that token it was one of the BEST booking decisions of ALL TIME.

 

[fouldsy91]

First all no one wants to see a whiny babyface. Babyfaces don't complain. As fans we want to see them overcome and persevere against all odds. Not complain about decisions.

I'm getting beat into oblivion with caps lock here fuckkk me. Even if they don't complain have them come out pissed off about and challenge them to fight, didn't do that either.

Secondly it DID advance the storyline. Mankind has been screwed out of the WWE Championship twice now and it set up perfectly the match in which Mick Foley won his first WWE Championship on Monday Night RAW. It drew HUGE rations because EVERYONE wanted to see Foley finally won the championship and screw Vince and The Rock.

Yes, it setup perfectly with The Rock and Mankind match. It wasn't needed with the New Age Outlaws match if they aren't going to use it to acknowledge it since the crowd just looked like "WTF?" more than anything else.

So by that token it was one of the BEST booking decisions of ALL TIME.

Best booking decision of all time? Even Ray Charles could see what was wrong with that....

 

[enviousdominous]

Rock and Mankind traded the world title back and forth many times over that era, it translated to good tv and ppv for the time.

The New Age Outlaws dropping the belts? Yeah, they had to unwrite that one. I remember the internet at the time was livid that The New Age Outlaws had to drop the belts to anyone. The Outlaws had been the champs for a really long time with a lot of title defenses, so dropping the belts seemed to make sense. Billy Gunn and Jesse James earned the intercontinental and hardcore belts (respectively) before eventually beating The Rock and Sock Connection (of all people) to get the tag titles back.