Going back and rewatching it... the Attitude Era sucked balls

[Hollywood Naitch]

As much as I love wrestling, if this trend continues, I will never let my son watch this crap. Never. I don't want to make my son stupid and/or brain dead by subjecting him to the kind of crap on today's WWE TV.

But you would let your son watch the blood/violence/sex of the Attitude era? lol

The AE did not suck, it was better than the stuff we are seeing right now. But that is because the product is marketed to a different audience and we are older than we were during the Attitude Era. I was younger then, and was enjoying a product based at teenagers/young adults. Now I am a young adult and the WWE is aiming the show at kids...which is why I dont enjoy it as much

I am happy watching the occasional bit of WWE, more of TNA and re-watching and buying more of the Attitude Era dvds.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

The storylines and matches were just so much more varied during the AE especially on TV.

I agree that there's no need for blood in every match like the AE used to have, but on the flipside, we don't need matches being stopped for a minor scrape to the forehead either.

Gratuitous violence and nudety is also not neccessary, but then again neither is treating us ALL like we're below the age of 16.

I can see what the OP is saying, but i personally don't enjoy this era of wrestling to the same degree that i used to love AE WWE.

I used to stay in and watch Raw an SD religiously. Now i couldn't even tell you the last time i sat through an entire episode of either.

Like IC (i believe) said, each era has it's high points and its low points.

 

[Minnesota Connection]

But you would let your son watch the blood/violence/sex of the Attitude era? lol

I have a 9 month old son. I would let him, yes.

The AE did not suck, it was better than the stuff we are seeing right now. But that is because the product is marketed to a different audience and we are older than we were during the Attitude Era. I was younger then, and was enjoying a product based at teenagers/young adults. Now I am a young adult and the WWE is aiming the show at kids...which is why I dont enjoy it as much

I still enjoy the attitude era segments. The product as it is today is bland and plain not entertaining. I don't laugh. It's very serious, all the time. What happened to the comedy?

Every now and then.. Whatever. It's ok, but not on a consistent basis like it was. It's not that the product is being geared towards a different audience so much as I just don't like the direction we are heading to... Perhaps in the future, it'll change again.

 

[X]

Another thread in which people realize something wasn't quite as awesome as they thought it was in hindsight. While these threads all hold a grain of truth in them (the Attitude Era did in fact have many extended periods of TV and PPVs that could only be described as "shit"), the fact is this same critical hindsight can be applied to any one of your favorite eras in wrestling. You loved the Hogan 80s era? Yeah we got Steamboat-Savage, but we also got a whole lot more Uncle Elmer/George Steele/so many other terrible gimmicks/wrestlers/matches. You think old 80s NWA is untouchable? For every Flair classic we saw, we had to sit through just as many Jimmy Valiant matches.

The thing about these eras though, they were about more than just match quality. They were about larger-than-life angles, characters, feuds, and events that transcended wrestling and broke into the mainstream. I'd gladly trade in a slew of great in-ring matches for a single feud as important and monumental as Rock-Austin or Hogan-Savage.

 

[theHeadliner]

Totally agree. The Attitude Era was just shock and sleaze TV, pushing the limits on censors and taking ideas from ECW cus they knew WCW couldn't pull any of that cheap sleaze due to Turner's regulations, and ECW didn't have the capital to seriously compete. There were plenty of interesting angles and matches before that time which didn't include any of the extra stuff, and didn't need the the seedy material to be entertaining. The WWF did what they had to do to survive, but it doesn't mean it was the holy grail of wrestling eras or periods.

 

[The Idiot]

To me, the "Attitude Era" began around Wrestlemania 13. The Austin-Bret feud WAS run on nothing but attitude. It was a time with meaningful feuds inside and OUTSIDE of the ring. It was around this time that Michaels and Bret started to get into it...Shawn forfeiting the title so he wouldn't have to drop it to Bret at WM 13. Things were getting personal and it would spill over onto live TV where they would take shots at each other.

The attitude era attracted so many viewers because things were changing. It wasn't the "same old WWF" with good guys against bad guys. Steve Austin..here's a guy that was suppose to be a top heel but ended up being cheered by the fans because of how he acted. Vince Russo had finally taken full control over the booking and the edgier storylines were now in full effect. Things were new, fresh and exciting. Sure...the weekly Monday shows weren't 100% wrestling...but that didn't mean there weren't any great matches. Some people say HHH/Cactus Jack Rumble match was one of the best hardcore matches of the decade...and that was pure violence from bell to bell. Tell me you didn't like that match.

I don't know why you say this era "sucked balls"...because some of the greatest stars in history were created during this time. You compare Funaki and Tajiri to John Cena and Randy Orton? Come on...that doesn't even make sense. If that's the case why don't you compare Heath Slater and David Otunga to Steve Austin and the Rock?

You can say the Attitude era was "hype"...but the numbers don't lie.

 

[Serious Jones]

It really depends on how you look at it, and what it is that you enjoy about wrestling today. The Attitude Era wasn't about technical wrestling, it was about larger-than-life superstars and the angles they immersed themselves in.

If your favorite aspect of professional wrestling is the actual pure wrestling talent, then the Attitude Era looks like nothing more than a cesspool of the "five moves of doom." The crowd wanted to see the biggest stars hit their biggest moves, and that's what the Attitude Era delivered. No more, no less.

If you immerse yourself in the storylines and the characters, the Attitude Era probably didn't look too bad. If you were genuinely interested in the Cena/Nexus storyline because of what was happening onscreen, for example, you would probably have more respect for the Attitude Era. The Attitude Era was more about the stories and angles than how they actually went down in the ring.

In my opinion, the overall product is much better today than it was in the Attitude Era. It's much more polished, and a much more respectable product than it was. However, a gritty product is what the viewers wanted back then. The WWF was just playing to its demographics, much like the WWE is doing today. This same type of thread will be common in 10 years about the current era, because the demographics will always be shifting, and so will the product's focus. Whether it was good or bad just depends on your opinion on what's most important in wrestling.

 

[The Idiot]

It really depends on how you look at it, and what it is that you enjoy about wrestling today. The Attitude Era wasn't about technical wrestling, it was about larger-than-life superstars and the angles they immersed themselves in.

If your favorite aspect of professional wrestling is the actual pure wrestling talent, then the Attitude Era looks like nothing more than a cesspool of the "five moves of doom." The crowd wanted to see the biggest stars hit their biggest moves, and that's what the Attitude Era delivered. No more, no less.

If you immerse yourself in the storylines and the characters, the Attitude Era probably didn't look too bad. If you were genuinely interested in the Cena/Nexus storyline because of what was happening onscreen, for example, you would probably have more respect for the Attitude Era. The Attitude Era was more about the stories and angles than how they actually went down in the ring.

In my opinion, the overall product is much better today than it was in the Attitude Era. It's much more polished, and a much more respectable product than it was. However, a gritty product is what the viewers wanted back then. The WWF was just playing to its demographics, much like the WWE is doing today. This same type of thread will be common in 10 years about the current era, because the demographics will always be shifting, and so will the product's focus. Whether it was good or bad just depends on your opinion on what's most important in wrestling.

I respectfully disagree.

So many people make it seem like nothing happened in the ring during the attitude era when in actuality...they couldn't be further from the truth.

HHH vs Cactus Jack - (Royal Rumble)
Austin vs Bret (WM 13)
Benoit vs Jericho (RR 01)
TLC matches
Michaels vs Taker (HIAC)
Taker vs Foley (HIAC)
HHH vs Austin (No Way Out 2001)
Austin vs Rock (WM 17)
Jericho/Benoit vs Austin/HHH (Raw)
Undertaker vs HHH (WM 17)

That's just to name a few. Those will go down in history as all time classics. I will always defend the attitude era when someone claims that nothing great happened IN the ring. Completely untrue. It may have been a different style of wrestling...with a bit more blood and extreme rules, but the outcome was exciting matches from start to finish. This is coming from the biggest Old School wrestling fan EVER.

 

[Serious Jones]

I respectfully disagree....with what you said in the highlighted part.

So many people make it seem like nothing happened in the ring during the attitude era when in actuality...they couldn't be further from the truth.

HHH vs Cactus Jack - (Royal Rumble)
Austin vs Bret (WM 13)
Benoit vs Jericho (RR 01)
TLC matches
Michaels vs Taker (HIAC)
Taker vs Foley (HIAC)
HHH vs Austin (No Way Out 2001)
Austin vs Rock (WM 17)
Jericho/Benoit vs Austin/HHH (Raw)
Undertaker vs HHH (WM 17)

That's just to name a few. Those will go down in history as all time classics. I will always defend the attitude era when someone claims that everything happened outside the ring. Completely untrue. It may have been a different style of wrestling...with a bit more blood and extreme rules, but the outcome was exciting matches from start to finish.

I absolutely agree. There were plenty of classic matches in the Attitude Era. I was just making generalizations about the two eras. I guess I should've phrased parts of it differently.

I don't think that technical purists were the demographic that the Attitude Era was trying to reach. That isn't to say that there weren't classics. I was just saying that in the grand scheme of things, I remember the Attitude Era for the iconic moments, like Stone Cold's beer bath on the Corporation and beating up Vince in the hospital.

I think we'll agree that most of the Attitude Era we remember are spots and moments, as opposed to bell-to-bell pure wrestling action. I won't call some of the matches you named "spotfests", because that's degrading to what they were, but we think of Foley falling of the cell and Edge spearing Jeff from atop the ladder. We think of Austin staring down The Rock, as opposed to most of the actual match. It's not that nothing happened in the ring, or that nothing good happened in the ring. It's just not what I (and I imagine, others) remember most vividly.

 

[The Idiot]

I absolutely agree. There were plenty of classic matches in the Attitude Era. I was just making generalizations about the two eras. I guess I should've phrased parts of it differently.

I don't think that technical purists were the demographic that the Attitude Era was trying to reach. That isn't to say that there weren't classics. I was just saying that in the grand scheme of things, I remember the Attitude Era for the iconic moments, like Stone Cold's beer bath on the Corporation and beating up Vince in the hospital.

I think we'll agree that most of the Attitude Era we remember are spots and moments, as opposed to bell-to-bell pure wrestling action. I won't call some of the matches you named "spotfests", because that's degrading to what they were, but we think of Foley falling of the cell and Edge spearing Jeff from atop the ladder. We think of Austin staring down The Rock, as opposed to most of the actual match. It's not that nothing happened in the ring, or that nothing good happened in the ring. It's just not what I (and I imagine, others) remember most vividly.

It's all good...I'm more irritated with the original poster saying this era "sucked balls" when he obviously never watched any of the matches...or perhaps he wasn't a fan back then.

You mention that it was the iconic moments such as the beer bath that you remember more vividly than the in-ring action. Fair enough. But what I remember most vividly is WANTING to tune in to Raw week in and week out. Wanting to order the PPVs because they were built up so well and not knowing what I was going to see next.

I know Russo is considered by many to be the Devil in sports entertainment...but he had a hand in alot of what was going on back then and deserves credit for giving the stars a vehicle to perform.

For me it was an interesting time with great unpredictable storylines building up to great battles in the ring...and not only on PPV, many great matches on Monday nights. I guess it was a good thing that it finally ended because now we (or me) can go back and remember it for how great it truly was...

 

[Serious Jones]

It's all good...I'm more irritated with the original poster saying this era "sucked balls" when he obviously never watched any of the matches...or perhaps he wasn't a fan back then.

You mention that it was the iconic moments such as the beer bath that you remember more vividly than the in-ring action. Fair enough. But what I remember most vividly is WANTING to tune in to Raw week in and week out. Wanting to order the PPVs because they were built up so well and not knowing what I was going to see next.

I know Russo is considered by many to be the Devil in sports entertainment...but he had a hand in alot of what was going on back then and deserves credit for giving the stars a vehicle to perform.

For me it was an interesting time with great unpredictable storylines building up to great battles in the ring...and not only on PPV, many great matches on Monday nights. I guess it was a good thing that it finally ended because now we (or me) can go back and remember it for how great it truly was...

I'm imagining that with a name like "Fabulous Rougeau," you've been a fan for much longer than me, and were a much more competent person at the time of the Attitude Era, which is definitely a factor in one's enjoyment of it. I was younger than 10 years old for most of the Attitude Era, so I didn't appreciate the athletes. I just wanted to see the big guys go at it. That's another thing everyone has to take into account. The OP is 19, apparently, so they're basically in the same boat as me. It all depends on what you had an appreciation of during the Era, as well as after.

 

[Trill Co$by]

It's all good...I'm more irritated with the original poster saying this era "sucked balls" when he obviously never watched any of the matches...or perhaps he wasn't a fan back then.

I was a fan back then... when I was 10 and surrounded by violent cartoons. But the thing is, comparing it to today's world, to me it's just not good. Sure some matches were great, the TLC (which is my favorite of all time) was built in the attitude era, but in the end it just had too much of the same shit every week. People say that it had a shock value, what shock?

Every week you KNEW there was going to be a beat down, you KNEW there was going to be a turn, you KNEW Kai and Tai were gonna come out claim to be "EEEEEVIL!", and you KNEW that by the end of the show Jim Ross would be having a massive orgasm and saying "Look at the carnage!" every single night... or Micheal Cole on Smackdown with "Bodies are laying every where".

Honestly, WCW put on interesting programs back at that era and was doing great for themselves, but they didn't end every week the same way Raw did. I get it, I was young so I didn't get the "prestige" behind everything but now I'm older and I can clearly see that the Attitude era was nothing more than immaturity. Again, good matches came from there, but the negatives out weigh the positives.