What -really- killed the attitude era.

[Sedated]

I know that the attitude era gets so much praise. There are many who view this era as the absolute pinnacle of wrestling. I myself am with out doubt one of these people. Also, I will freely admit that I was and always will be a HUGE Austin mark.

The man literally changed wrestling for me. Wrestling was something I watched with my father since I was a little kid. It was fun, exciting, unpredictable. Then wrestling hit a lull, WcW a program that even at its peak I felt was run poorly(Conversation for another time though). Then someone emerged, grabbed wrestling by its throat and dragged it kicking and screaming out of the gutter and into the lime light. That man was Stone Cold. The attitude era was many things, there were many wrestlers who played a part. Yet, I can't help but feel that sometimes, other peoples roles are over emphasized. In my opinion when it comes down to it the attitude era was driven by two men: Stone Cold and The Rock.

Again, I would argue that Stone Cold was the bigger of the two, that he started it but w/e that's also for another conversation and the fact of the matter is The Rock played a huge role as well, both of these men were amazing at what they did.

I think there's a few reasons why the attitude era is still talked about so much.

1. People loved it, why wouldn't you wish for it back and want to talk about it?

Now that we got that out of the way, let's move on to perhaps the less obvious...

2. I think a lot of people feel the attitude era ended before its time, that it should have went longer.

3. I also believe that people (Myself included.) have a really hard time understanding how a lot of these huge starts are gone from wrestling. These weren't old men, age wise they were in their prime. Physically, some of them were as well.

#3 is what I'd like to focus on. How is it that what may well be the two greatest wrestlers of all time are gone from the business? Mean while for better or for worse there are people we just can't get rid of...

How many years had Ric Flair wrestled for? Hacksaw STILL comes out what feels like once a month. Hulk Hogan has just recently talked about wanting to step back in the ring. Literally, the list goes on and on..

Various wrestlers who we once had fond memories of almost seem to insist on tarnishing any past deeds by leaving us with impressions of wrinkly, flabby, battered and bruised old men. Who seem like they'd be better off catching a early bird special then stepping foot into a ring.

How did this happen? Was Steve Austin just too beat up? Did The Rock just say "To hell with you all!" "I'm going hollywood and you can all kiss my candy ass?"

Or was there something more? Something perhaps staring us all right in our faces that we were too blind or too unwilling to admit? That being - maybe, just MAYBE the attitude era didn't die. Well, let me rephrase that. The attitude era didn't die a natural death of old age in its sleep. It was murdered. It was taken in the prime of its life, it wasn't even a quick and painless death. It was a slow, brutal torture until eventually it could take no more.

There are many different opinions on when the attitude era died. Was it the invasion/alliance angle? Was it when Austin turned heel? Was it when Austin stopped becoming a regular on the roster? So on and so forth. I'd argue that it was all of those things. The build up of so many various fuck ups it created the perfect storm to kill off something larger than life.

So who's to blame for all these mis guided decisions? Who's fault is it? That's simple: Vincent K McMahon.

Let's bring up something else that killed the attitude era. Something I've rarely seen mentioned or talked about: The unification of the WWE/WcW titles.

You may be thinking "Wrestling is fake, it's all scripted!" "Who gives a fuck about this stuff?" To that I'd say: If nothing more and if no one else: the people who shed their blood and sweat to get wrestling to that pinnacle did. Maybe the story line building up to these belts sucked, maybe there wasn't even anyone in WWE who really made WcW what it was. Well, whatever. You can only work with what you have and for better or for worse, we got there. There were plenty of mistakes made along the way but it's okay, we've fixed it. We now have:

The WWF champion: The texas rattle snake, the toughest SoB, the raiser of hell and the drinker of beer, "Stone Cold Steve Austin"

and

The WcW champion: The brauma bull, The great one, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT HIS CATCH PHRASES WERE, "The Rock"

It's finally going to happen, we all know the Monday night wars were huge. A story of David and Goliath almost. The battle raged for years. Eventually, it came to an explosive conclusion and the WWF emerged victorious! Now? The two leaders of the WWF will clash, at the end of the night one of them will be crowned the undisputed champion.

So who was it with their hand held high? Two belts per hand, one of which belonged to the company who suffered defeat? Austin 3:1... Wait, it wasn't Steve Austin? Oh, so it was The Rock? That's cool, not my pick but.. No? Wait, so who the hell was it? It was a draw wasn't it?? No.....? Well don't keep me waiting, out with it! Chris who?! Chris fucking Jericho? Are you shitting me?! *face palm*



Let's back up for a second, this isn't about what you think of Chris Jericho as a person, a wrestler, his potential or anything. The fact of that matter is that Chris Jericho worked for WCW. Hell, he wasn't even nearly as big of a part in WcW as many of the other wrestlers. This isn't about if he was under utilized or didn't get the credit he deserved or w/e. This was about saying THANK YOU, we did it! and Vince puts the belts on Chris Jericho?

I'm sorry but if you were Austin or The Rock, how could you not feel betrayed by this? How could you not feel betrayed almost? Like everything you've done, the image you've created is being torn down right before your eyes?

I could go on and on but it's getting late.. perhaps I'll make a part two to this and elaborate a little more and tie in the things I'm about to say a little better but we'll see. Sometimes I'm just in ranty mood and sometimes I'm just not... I'll see how the reaction is, so I'm going to try to sum this up a little quickly so sorry if at this point it's kind of abrupt.

We all know the reasons given as to why Austin and the Rock aren't wrestling. Austin is too banged up and The Rock went on to make movies. Yet what was the exact point Austin stopped wrestling? How many returns and one more matches were talked about? For years it was this on again off again thing where he was too banged up and then he was fine (Or good enough to wrestle at the least). Then let's look at how many times Austin "took his ball and went home". Am I the only one who sees a connection? That maybe, just maybe. If there were a lot of things handled better he would still be in the ring today? At the least would have had a few more years in him?

Again, sorry I cut this short if you actually care. If there's decent response I'll try to pick this back up and elaborate/fit that crap in better/hit new points.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I wouldn't say Chris Jericho becoming the first undisputed champion was the death of the Attitude Era. I wouldn't have put the belt on him anyway but they probably wanted a new option before HHH came back. It's hard to pinpoint the death of the Attitude Era but I would say it would be somewhere after WM 18. You started seeing programming being toned down a bit and you didn't have the outrageous moments of year past. There were some remnants here and there in 2003 and 2004 and in 2005 it started being geared towards the kids.

 

[bioshock]

Nice read for the most part, but you fail with the whole bitching aboyt Y2J part, the guy for the better part of the whole Invasion angle was the most of face in the whole company, he was on the rise big time, and was having nothing short of great matches.

Not only that he was in the mist of becoming the top heel, in place of HHH who was gone on injury, your forgetting HHH had been injured just after WM17, and my bet is hes the one who beats Austin and Rock, history is all changed. But Y2J was there, and was on the rise, and way over with the crowd as a tweener feuding with the Rock. And hell the guy was way over in WCW as well, so no he wasnt the problem.

Your forget, every single era in wrestling just gets played out, guys get older, some move on, some get injuries and set backs, and feuds play them self out, look at history, and not many real eras lasted long, just look how different wrestling in the WWF was for 1985, 1990 then 1995, it was still PG, but man was it different. By 2000, 5 years later it was nearing the end of the attitude era, someone no one every thought of in say 1995. By 2005, who hell knows what era were in, then by 2010 who knows, my best guess is were right in the middle of the WWEPG era. Just face is, eras do not last that long, its just not possible, wrestler wise, fan wise, and ratings wise.

 

[avi01]

The invasion was the death of the attitude era. In many ways, the end of the monday night wars just ended it. WWF was peaking until they came up with invasion. WWF was never the same again. 3 brands merged together, which lead to brand extension etc...

 

[Y4J]

I can honestly tell you the 2 points of the attitude dying. People might not agree, but if they got off their mark trips, then they'd understand.

I'll say it once and i'll say it again, turning Austin heel at Wrestlemania 17 was what put the attitude era to waste.

Now I understand people going "What are you talking about? it went on for a LONG time after that. And Austin as a heel was great!" Face facts people, WWE was getting 6's and 7's in the ratings.. Half of those numbers were from us wrestling fans, half were from MARKS that tuned in during the NWO/Austin era of wrestling. So when Austin turned heel, those marks out there were left without a hero and there was no one left for them to watch.

I was in school back then, and I remember so many casual wrestling fans going "I don't even want to watch anymore because Austin is a bad guy and The Rock is gone." When they left, we had Taker, (Who we all know is great but isn't Austin/Rock draw) Kane, Jericho, and Benoit. (And Benoit and Jericho were still trying to reach that one point) But you know they weren't going to go over Austin. Then they turned Angle face and had him feud with Austin.

Now don't get me wrong. I think the invasion angle was very entertaining. I personally loved it. Yea people can talk about how it hurt WCW/ECW's image, but from a standpoint, we saw great matches and great feuds. Austin/Angle, Austin/Angle/RVD, Jeff/RVD, who's turncoat, and then Rock returning (however months later) and so on and so on.

Bottom line, Austin turning to a bad guy was what made things turn for the worst. And THEN, after survivor series, they turn him face instantly with Flair, and by the time that happened, it was too late, and since it was done in such a bad way, there wasn't that build up for him turning face again. It was basically like "Oh, Austin is face again because Vince is heel and he just stunned Vince." Everything back to normal.

Wrong..

Second, I personally think the nail in the coffin was when Brock Lesnar left WWE. I know people might think he started the Ruthless Agression era, but I think that is being lead by John Cena, and now it's the "Rebuild era" which is why everything is PG. But Brock leaving had WWE bouncing off the walls with what to do.

But yea, that's what I think. Austin turning heel is what stabbed the era in the heart, and slowly things started turning for the worst, and when Brock left, Cena came in.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

I really think people are over analyzing this topic.

The Attitude Era didn't die over a certain angle gone wrong. The Attitude Era died after a corporate move .... when Vince bought WCW. That's plain and simply what it was. After that point, his programming was downgraded in the edginess factor of what the Attitude Era was. Sure, there were still some edgy moments, but it wasn't as edgy as the actual Attitude Era.

Combine that with Rock and Austin both working part-time schedules, and both ultimately leaving the company, and that deteriorated some interest in the product. WWE was caught with their pants down with no major stars to take their places. Hence why John Cena was pushed to the moon, which proved to be a good short term move, but ultimately a bad long term one, as fans felt he did not pay his dues and was pushed entirely too hard way too soon.

 

[andymcg]

I have to agree with Lord Sidious, the Attitude Era died due to WCW running out of business. Think of it, a whole wrestling companys jobs were on the line during the Monday Night Wars, at the end of the battle either WCW or WWF/E would lose, and not in a wrestling scripted way, but actually lose there jobs and way of life.

That is why the Monday Night Wars/Attitude Era was what it was. Both companies had there creative men trying to up one and other, not for the sake of it, or to say were better than you, but to keep there company alive and keep there employers employed.

Once WCW ran its course, Bischoff conceded, and Vince bought them over, that was the death of the Attitude Era. No longer did Vince have to worry about WWF/E being ran out of business, no longer did he have to worry about him and everyone else losing there jobs, he knew it was done and WWF/E could cost along as everything was fine again.

That my friends was what killed the Attitude Era, WCW were bought over and Vince didnt have to worry.

 

[BernacK6]

The Attitude Era did not die. It transitioned to a new era. The Attitude Era simply ended because there was no longer a War on Monday Night. The Invasion angle signalled the end of this era because the WWE had won. The Attitude Era will probably be the greatest era of wrestling because the WWE pumped out more Main Event Talent in this era than any era before or since. What still goes unrealized by the IWC is that the Attitude Era is OVER and will never come back. 1997-2001 was an edgier time where ratings were the key to winning the War. We are past the edgy times and into a kinder, more gentle WWE. Unfortunately, due to the PG Rating, we do not see an edgier product. The thing about this is that WWE no longer has competition, so the edgy product is no longer necessary.

 

[thesaw24]

The final knife to kill the attitude era was deffinitley when cena became champion and became "invinsible". This is true because he lost his rapper image and became more of a bland hero and we really saw that he is not the great of an in ring competitor when he lost the best part of his mic work, his rapping. After all of this the attitude era became non-existant and wwe became a family show to just destroy any little hope they had at obtaining the attitude era once more

 

[Monkey_Mania]

Jesus Fucking Christ People. NOTHING KILLED THE ATTITUDE ERA. Wrestling is cyclical, it has really hot periods, and really low periods. Things change in the wrestling business, and with change comes....you guessed it NEW THINGS. The attitude era didnt die, it just simply evolved into a new era of wrestling, simple as that, please stop asking these moronic questions.

 

[school-of-hard-knocks]

I would say that the Attitude Era was cut off once Vince bought WCW. One thing that was driving the Attitude Era was competition. Vince wanted to outdo WCW and vice verse which made them push storylines and angles to the edge. But once WCW went under there was nothing left there to motivate Vince to keep doing that and WWE went back to being a PG product.

Also, to the original poster, I am also a big Austin fan and he was definitely the #1 guy during the Attitude Era. However, I think you might be giving him a little bit too much credit. You are forgetting the impact of DX, Mick Foley, Undertaker and especially McMahons.

 

[Highway Boots]

Y4J wrote:
"Half of those numbers were from us wrestling fans, half were from MARKS"

What do you think a mark is? It is a wrestling fan!! we are all marks!!!

Until you actually get trained and work for an organization, you are considered a mark or a smark (smart mark) and if you are trained, you wouldn't even bother posting a line like you did as it is a tradition to keep things kayfabe when responding to marks.

The Attitude era ended at the end of the "McMahon-Helmsley era" and then the new era began when Taker became a biker dude. You can also use the music Anthology as a reference point, that is, if you even remember that 3 CD set

 

[Vivantus]

I think everyone that has posted on this topic has touched on a number of factors that ended the Attitude Era of the then-WWF.

1. The Death of WCW

The first sign that there would be a new era in wrestling was after WCW was purchased by Vince McMahon. It wasn't said what the era was, and we didn't think at the time that much was changing, but it was a matter of time before things would be different. Mind you, the sale of WCW became worldwide news 1 week before.....

2. Wrestlemania 17

Without a doubt, the greatest Wrestlemania of all time. But it made no sense that Stone Cold Steve Austin would rely on Vince McMahon's help to beat The Rock and take the WWF Title. It made zero sense, UNLESS The Rock was coming back to feud with Austin. If he feuds with Austin immediately after this PPV, the WWF will continue to make as much money as they did in 1999-2000 (their peak). But, instead...Rock leaves to make movies and much more money (can't blame him at all)....and we're stuck with...

3. The Power Trip/HHH's Injury

The reason I think this had a factor in the death of the Attitude Era was because of the ascension to power for HHH. When the Power Trip was formed, they took on Kane and the Undertaker in a main event feud. Sorry, during the Attitude Era, these guys didn't draw even close to the levels of face Austin and face Rock. So finally Benoit and Jericho get a shot at the titles, and we end up with one of the great tag matches of the decade. Unfortunately, we also get HHH ripping his quad. This is very important, because during his injury, HHH became incredibly entrenched in the McMahon family, having a hand in backstage meetings, bookings, etc. When HHH returned and became the top face in the company, he wasn't the same worker that he once was. He progressively got worse and worse as he bulked up. However, because of his political clout, it was a matter of time before he would carry the company again. His power shifted the focus of the WWE Product, whether people want to believe it or not...

4. The Invasion (Part I -- Stephanie McMahon. Owner of ECW.)

With HHH gone and a heel Austin as champion, the WWF tried to re-create the magic of the Attitude Era by having WCW launch sneak attacks on the WWF guys. Originally, the crowd popped huge for this, but then we were forced to believe that WCW were the bad guys. So they were built up as such, and on July 9, 2001, the WWF delivered its most insane episode of Raw that year. In 2 hours, they dropped about one year's worth of storylines down the drain, culminating with the most idiotic storyline twist ever: Stephanie McMahon owning ECW. Watching Paul Heyman glee with delight as all of this is happening makes me sick to my stomach thinking of it now...once again, this is something that many fans don't think about now, but when it was happened, many fans collectively said, "What. The. Hell." There was enough McMahon oversaturation on the television at this point, and this didn't make matters better...this wasn't the only problem with the Invasion, just a small piece...a bigger one involved...

The Invasion (Part II -- Sara pins DDP)

For those of you unfamiliar with Sara, the Undertaker's wife....she is infamous for pinning DDP on an episode of Raw during the Invasion storyline. This event alone did not kill the Attitude Era, let's be clear. But wins like this were just an example of what was going on during this time. McMahon gave people no reason to watch this "Invasion" when all it was....was the WWF guys beating down on the WCW guys at every turn, making them look weak and inferior as a result. What would've made money for the WWF is if they actually LET DDP get a couple of huge wins over names like the Undertaker and Kane, and not just cheap wins either. Actual, clean pins. However, that was not the case....instead, WCW was raking up cheap wins with the likes of Booker T, RVD, and....Test?

The Invasion (Part III -- Man, These Dudes Look Familiar)

While Goldberg, Hogan, and Nash were enjoying their fat checks from Time-Warner, the Invasion was being played out by mid-card talent who couldn't draw with the likes of Austin, Rock, and HHH. So instead, the ECW and WCW rosters filled up with WWF guys. What is the point of that? Don't get me wrong, it's great to see teams like the Dudley Boyz go back to their ECW roots, but they have been WWF guys for the last two years. Rhyno wasn't even in the company for 6 months, but already he's back to being ECW? There was a lot of head-shaking decisions that, while they made sense, didn't have the gravity that a Ric Flair would or a Sting would. This made the competition look weak, and adding the WWF guys to their rosters watered down the product.

So, if you ask me, a lot of the fanbase dwindled with the Invasion storyline, especially with Austin as the heel leader. The Invasion PPV drew huge numbers, but that ending with Austin turning heel AGAIN was like another slap in the face. I think all of these factors are what made the Attitude Era die in many peoples' eyes, and that's why they turned to other programming.

 

[kennedy1994]

wwe is shit now dese days without the rock stone cold the nwo goldberg brock lesnar kurt angle ddp paul heyman.dey need more extreme rules matches hellin a cell blood tlc better storylines

 

[byrnside]

Stone Cold has had nagging neck and knee injuries for years, and I'm pretty sure the Rock just wanted to get out while he was on top and start acting. Flair was lucky he was never seriously hurt.

 

[TheRock47100]

It could have been a new era with classic matches such as sting vs undertaker, hogan vs austin, nwo vs dx etc

Vince ruined wrestling by making wcw wrestlers jobb to wwf I mean if they had

sting, goldberg, nwo, vampiro, lex luger, kronic, scott steiner and many more all at the time of teh invasion fighting wwf ratings would of been at its highest.

blame vince and his ego oh and thats why sting neva joined wwe.

 

[JoeDubb]

Look, the whole reason that the Attitude error came about in the first place is because of the WCW threat. WWF had to keep up and that is why we got the Attitude era. Once WCW was bought, the war was over and there was no need to fire scud missles anymore because there was no more enemy. Plan and simple.
As for Austin and the Rock. Look how many times since Austin's last match he has been back. Do you not think if he could he would have wrestled? Do you think if he could, Austin would not have wrestled on Wrestlemania 25 in his hometown in his last match? Austin has a bum neck. That is why he does not wrestle. As for the Rock, Dwayne Johnson wants to be an actor plain and simple. While I think it sucks that he does not come back every now and then to the fans who MADE him, he does not need wrestling anymore and honestly, when you look at all the people we lose way too early to the business, I can't say I blame him too much.
Eveybody always pines for the Attitude era to come back, but I for one am glad it ran it's course and is done? Why? Look how CORNY DX has become. I dig HHH and I love HBK, but when they get together and do their stale DX routine, I'm sorry, seen it all before. WWE pushed it to the max with the attitude era, to the point of where else could they possibly take it.
In closing, I'm sure if there is ever another challenger to the throne, they may have to pick up the pace, but I for one would rather see better in ring action than May Young giving birth to a hand. Again.

 

[travoltage]

What was the end of the Attitude era?...dropping the ball on the "invasion" angle was it in my opinion...that should have been the ultimate climax to the Monday Night Wars...the winner (WWE) getting the opportunity to repay the fans by selling us the ultimate dream stories...proving that they could tell the best story having all the toys to do so...it became a limp dick right before orgasm....I really thought unifying the WWE and WCW titles was the best idea and making Jericho the 1st undisputed champ made sense seeing as he chose WWE after being one of the 1st to not only recognize WCW's utter incompetence (props to Big Show for actually being the 1st but i digress) but taking the chance on WWE using his talents to make him a main eventer...WWE rewarded that by giving him the strap and eternal bragging rights...but once again, and this has been repeated ad nauseum, the Invasion should have been the equivalent of blowing up the Death Star...instead it was a pod race victory.

 

[ProWrestling'sBrain]

Let me put it this way; the Attitude era was about stepping up to compete and wipe out the competition, WCW. Without the existence of WCW, the Attitude era would never exist and because of the fact Vince bought them out, the purpose of the Attitude era was over with.

Not only that but guys such as Steve Austin, The Rock, DX, etc. symbolized the Attitude era. Because they were all aging and they already reached their prime it was time to make new superstars for a new generation. Guys such as Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, John Cena, Deacon Batista and such were stepping up to the plate and changing the entire WWE environment. The Rock was getting more involved with making films so he wasn't someone who the WWE could rely on anymore, there were personal and physical issues with Steve Austin. All of the mid carders either got released or got repackaged. The superstars who symbolized the Attitude era, the guys who were the heart and soul of that time period eventually left. The newer superstars after 2002 changed the environment and set new standards.

 

[Paradox]

In my mind there were to things that killed the attitude era. No it wasn't Jericho winning the belts. When wcw went out of business Vince had no one to go against. He wasn't losing in the ratings to anyone. He didn't have to push the envelope. It was at that point that he started pulling back on his creativity. He didn't go to the extremes that he need to go to to beat wcw.

Vince has been at his best when he had to beat someone. Or prove someone wrong. Like he did when wrestling boomed in the 80s showing everyone that wrestling can become mainstream. Then in the 90s when he had to beat wcw. To be honest I think that Vince is ideal for his show is to be pg. When wrestling first started it was pg, before the attitude era it was pg. It is was when wcw was beating that Vince showed that he is willing to do whatever he needs to do to get ahead. He's not going to hold back. The attitude era showed that. Look at the level he went to. Now look at where he is? Right back to the pg era that he likes.

Now the other thing that I believe killed the Attitude era was the invasion angle. This could have been amazing. If Vince would have used the big names that made wcw right away in the invasion angle. It really could have been huge. Imagine if it was goldberg stalking taker's wife.(don't know why i though that in there. I just though it would have been amazing) The fact is that in that angle Vince let his ego get in the way and buried the midcard of wcw not letting them succeed. Vince had every chance to make this the biggest angle in wrestling history. Instead it never developed into anything major. Just a waste of time.


I agree with you that Austin or Rock should have won the belt that night, but it wasn't the what killed the attitude era.

Thats just my thought on it.

 

[CuddleBuns84]

Chris Jericho needed that push, sure HHH could come in to wrestlemania as a face, and it showed the heel talents of Jericho... Please throw that stupid theory at the window. Now are you guys ready for a scary and silly idea. Attitude wasn't an era, it was a marketing ploy to push their superstars over with the fans. It was easy to spread, that WWE attitude, better catch it! The era you guys are talking about, is Austin vs. Vince. The champion that Vince never wanted to see happen, became the champion. So what was Vince going to do. It made great television the back and fourth fights. With Austin going against Vince's schemes, it open the roaster to new feuds. HHH/Rock feuds were amazing! Mick Foley becoming hardcore legend. Great midcard wrestlers from top to bottom. Well, after 3 or 5 years of attitude, people got tired of it. Stupid immature sayings over and over. The midcard moving up to main event. The attitude marketing ploy didn't have what it takes anymore. Eras are what the wrestlers produce. You had Hulkamania for a ten year stretch. You had The Kliq, then the nWo... What you people call eras are marketing. Eras are created by the wrestlers.

 

[pthbass89]

I think many already have it spot on with Vince buying out WCW (And then subsequently having it robbed from under his nose by his own son, self-indulgent much?). But alongside that I'd say the premature death of ECW also contributed to the Attitude era's death.

Of course Vince was always fighting the WCW for the better story lines and general star power, but when ECW was starting to gain interest at the start of 2000 and the PPV's were starting to sell pretty well (And the product was at it's finest IMHO) Vince also pushed for a more hardcore edge as well, from the very tail end of 1999 up until the end of 2000 to be precise.

From Royal Rumble 2000 until Armageddon 2000 the WWE was on fire, to me that is quintessential attitude year. The feuds, matches, promo's we're far superior in every way to even 2005's product, even the mid card matches of the 2000 PPV's such as Backlash & Fully Loaded, are much more entertaining than most of the main events from over the last 7 years.

Still, back to the point. Throughout that year the WWE were really was keeping a close eye on the competition and it shows, but as soon as ECW faltered, the WWE tamed a little in the space between Royal Rumble 2001 and Wresltemania 17. The general grit/attitude of the whole product seemed less and as such the Hardcore division would steadily lose prestige over the next 2 years until ultimately becoming a fad.

I'm probably one of the few true fans who isn't a big fan of Wrestlemania 17, I'd say Wrestlemania 16 has it beat on each level, still, only being 12 at the time I just felt that after all the years of Austin vs. McMahon, we get the most unpredictable heel turn you could think of. The shock value persisted until he switched back to a face by the end of the year, but still, the true fans knew it wasn't right and generally a kick in the teeth.

 

[The Dewbliners]

I saw somebody mention earlier was saying that pro wrestling is cyclical. That is spot on. Listen, Vince didn't want the Attitude Era, he just wanted a way to beat WCW. That's why he gave full creative powers to the IWC's favorite whipping boy, Vince Russo.

There's noone to blame for the end of what some would call the "greatest period in wrestling history" (you won't find me in that crowd, as I've always found it to be overrated). It ran it's course, and the industry needed to cool down. It wasn't because the Rock left, or because of Austin needing to retire. And it certainly wasn't because some indy promotion from Philly went out of business because of their owner not being able to balance a ledger.

In short, who's to blame for the end of the AE? NOBODY! That's just how the business goes. You have a boom, then you have a lull. Don't worry though, kids, I'm sure Vinnie will eventually start pushing the envelope again. I mean, he will eventually need to garner some more fair weather fans, right?

 

[BillAlfonso]

Where to begin? I think what killed the Attitude Era was the fact the lack of attitude in the WWE, you can't have an Attitude Era if you don't have any attitude. Let's wind the clocks back ten years, all of the guys from the period had a little swagger about them, they found new and exciting ways to do things. For example, "..and that's the bottom line 'cuz Stone Cold said so!" "If ya' smeeeellllll what The Rock is cookin'!" "I am that damn good." were all different ways of saying the same thing. "What I just said is the truth and there's nothing you can do about it." Another example is the first time Stone Cold stunned Mr. McMahon. After pleading with Stone Cold to calm down and work within the system and telling him the then WWF cared about him, what was Austin's reply? "I respect the fact the people in the WWF care about me but I also respect the fact that, hell, you can kiss my ass." and proceeds to give him the stunner. He then lets the cops cuff him and as he walks away, he shouts to the camera "Ain't nobody gonna tell Steve Austin what to do, not even Vince McMahon." Go watch it on the Raw 15th Anniversary DVD. Now everyone says the exact same thing but they try to make it seem awesome by adding some intensity to it so they can seem angrier, I mean come one Cena, this is the first time you've faced RKO in about a year and you already that intense? Austin, Rock, Foley weren't the most intense guys on the mic but they got their points across because of the attitude they conveyed, how many times have we seen Austin or The Rock shout when they already on a microphone? The PG thing isn't the problem, it's the spirit. Once again, the Attitude Era and for that matter, the original ECW wasn't about violence and scantily clad women. It was about a certain spirit.

 

[rajkaregakhalsa]

wut started the attitude era= bret hart. remember bret made austin at WM13 w/ the double switch- this propelled austin to stardom. dx for the most part rode on the coat tails of austin but dx shud be credited for pushing the boundaries... what killed the attitude era= hunter and hbk. hunter and hbk have been so selfish in that they help themselves at the expense of burying a lot of up and coming talent. when hunter and hbk bury a lot of the up and coming talent, they hog tv time w/ their lame antics. as a result wwe programming is stale and the ratings are down. don't get me wrong, if dx do their antics at times then they wud be funny. but to hear 'em do it over and over again is just lame and viewers are tuning away in droves as reflected in the ratings. fact- triple h and hbk have never been top guys and never have been draws. vince needs to assert himself and tell triple h and hbk that they can't keep burying talent.