The Period Following the End of the AE

Well WWE didn't downgrade into mid 1990s territory where the company taped TV in HS gyms, small arenas. For a "17-year" slump they manage to have growth every year and have fans attending WrestleMania in football stadiums.
 
The Rock becoming a part timer was a big factor too. Austin was the guy when WWF came "back" and broke through. The Rock took it to the next level and he was the guy when the WWF was at its absolute peak in popularity. People who had stopped watching wrestling years ago came back for The Rock, non wrestling fans even became fans for awhile because of The Rock. Once he started leaving to make movies, a lot of non-diehard wrestling fans left too.
 
I consider 19 the end of the attitude era if for no other reason that 18 gave us the ultimate attitude era match.

The rock vs hogan has to be considered attitude era, as does jericho /hunter.

The Attitude Era didn't really end until SummerSlam 2002, when Brock beat Rock for the title. That's when I feel like the torch was passed to the Ruthless Aggression Era. That era in my opinion ended at WrestleMania XX, when Brock, Rock, Goldberg, Foley, and Austin left WWE.
Signaficant notes:
-We was seeing the slow pushes of Batista, Randy Orton, John Cena, Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, and Edge among others.
-Brock Lesnar/Kurt Angle shared the crown as the Top babyfaces, while Triple H had the crown of Top heel
-We saw the WWE debut of Goldberg
-We saw Rock officially retire from the ring.

2005-2011, I would consider the Brand Split Era. I'd say that era started at WreslteMania XXI when Batista beat HHH for the World Heavyweight Championship, and Cena beat JBL for the WWE Championship.
Signaficant notes:
-We saw the rise of Edge, Batista, Jeff Hardy, John Cena, Randy Orton, Christian, Sheamus, and Triple H become a Top babyface once again.
-We saw slow pushes of CM Punk, Matt Hardy, MVP, Kofi Kingston, Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, Chris Masters,
-John Cena/Batista shared the crown as Top babyface with Triple H, The Undertaker, and Shawn Michaels not far behind, while Randy Orton had the crown of Top heel with Edge not far behind.
-We saw the full-time retirements of The Undertaker, Triple H, Shawn Michaels (completely), Edge (completely), Batista (completely), Kurt Angle (from WWE), Jeff Hardy (from WWE) among others.
-The Rock returned to WWE, Bret "The Hitman" Hart returned to WWE, Kevin Nash briefly returned to WWE
2011-2015, I would consider the Reality Era which started with a Pipebomb and ended when Seth Rollins got injured.
Signaficant notes:
- John Cena shared the crown as Face of WWE with CM Punk, and later Daniel Bryan, while CM Punk also shifted to being the Top heel at times and later taken over by Seth Rollins.
-Brock Lesnar returns to WWE, Batista returns to WWE, Sting FINALLY debuts in WWE, Then Face of Independent scene Kevin Steen debuts in WWE and defeats John Cena, Hulk Hogan returns to WWE, The Ultimate Warrior returns to WWE, Bruno Sammartino returns to WWE.
-John Cena vs. The Rock FINALLY happens!!
-The Rock wins WWE Championship one last time
-End of the brand split, WWE and WHC unified (effectively retiring the World Heavyweight Championship)
-The Undertaker's WrestleMania Streak ends.
-The rise of The Shield, Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, Ryback, Sheamus, Bray Wyatt & The Wyatt Family, among others.
-Slow pushes of Big E. Langston, Fandango.
-Triple H turns heel again
-Daniel Bryan wins WWE Championship
-CM Punk walks out on WWE for fake and for real
-Wrestling greats Shinsuke Nakamura, James Storm, Bobby Roode, Austin Aries, Prince Devitt (Finn Balor), KANA (Asuka), and Samoa Joe pops up in NXT
-Sting wrestles in WWE, competes for WWE Championship, get's inducted in the Hall of Fame and retires
2016-present, I'd consider the NEW Era which started when Roman Reigns beat Triple H for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 32 and really got cemented when he defeated AJ Styles at Payback.
Signaficant notes:
-Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins took the crown as the NEW Faces of the WWE with AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose not far behind, while Kevin Owens and Bray Wyatt took the crown as the Top heels.
-The Undertaker retires completely
-John Cena retires from full-time competition
-Kurt Angle returns to WWE (get's inducted in the Hall of Fame), The Hardy Boyz returns to WWE at WrestleMania and wins the RAW Tag Team Championships, Goldberg returns to WWE, AJ Styles FINALLY debuts in WWE, Samoa Joe FINALLY debuts in WWE clubbing Seth Rollins,
-Brand Split returns
-Women's Championship returns, as does focus on Women's Wrestling!!!
-THE (BULLET) CLUB IN WWE!! (well somewhat)
-Cody Rhodes leaves WWE
-Ryback tries to be CM Punk but it backfired BIG TIME!!
-Debut of Universal Championship
 

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