What was the best year of the attitude era "98 or "99?

[CM Steel]

The infamous Attitude Era didn't really start until the birth of WWF chairman's Vince McMahon "Mr. McMahon" charactor at the Survivor Series pay per view in 1997. Heading into the new year of 1998 with the push of Stone Cold Steve Austin. And of course the reign of D-Generation X.

Those two elements along with the rise of the Rock later on that year were the highlights of the attitude era that year. And in 1999 we saw the debuts of former WCW talent in the WWF, like The Big Show (The Giant), Chris Jericho, and the Radicalz around the end of '99.

So with that history being said. What was the best year of the attitude era "98 or "99?

 

[dman1373]

neither it was 1997. The first year of the attitude era really. It had better matches and stories than 1998 or 1999, that is partially to do with shawn michaels and bret hart being there.

 

[RJJ]

IMO, overall 2000 has always been the best year in the attitude era. Between '98 and '99, I would choose 1998. Alot of great stuff happened that year, Tyson-Austin-Michaels, Austin-McMahon, Kane-Taker, Mankind-Taker, Dude-Austin, DX-Nation, and many more.

 

[Chicago1989]

Although there were some great things that happened in 1999, I would say in hindsight, that 1998 was better.

1998 was the year when the Attitude Era was at it's peak. Stone Cold Steve Austin was handed the torch to him as the man to carry the WWF into the future, The Rock was on the rise, The Undertaker Vs. Kane feud was larger than life, D-X was at it's prime, and Vince McMahon established himself as one of the most hated heels of all time.

So much was shaping up in 1998, that 1999 and onward wouldn't be what it is without the events of '98.

 

[Lowdown]

I'll go with '98, mainly due to the Stone Cold vs. McMahon rivalry. DX was hitting its stride without Shawn Michaels, and the Rock was steadily evolving into the most electrifying man in sports entertainment. While '99 was good, especially after Summerslam, 2000 was a little bit better, particularly due to Triple H. But the peak of the AA was '98.

 

[Owen 3:16 says I just stole your Slammy!!]

I say 1998 was a better year then 1999. '98 had the incredible Austin-McMahon feud, As I watch the old Raw's today, I cannot wait to see what comes next in that feud. D-X was awesome during '98, they also had a great feud with the Nation Of Domination. 'Taker vs Kane was also memorable.

'98 also had the most memorable moments in WWF history. Austin-Tyson shoving match, Tyson knocking out Shawn Michaels after that classic match at WM 14 with Stone Cold. 'Taker and Kane also at WM 14 was great, I especially loved the Pete Rose segment. 'Taker throwing Foley of the cell. D-X invading WCW, parodying the Nation Of Domination. And to top that off, The whole Austin-McMahon feud was must see during 1998.

1999 had some great moments. But I don't think that year was better then 1997 or 1998 or 2000. Also, That was the year that Owen Hart tragically died. I'm a big fan of Owen Hart and that makes my heart broken.

 

[WWEIsLife2]

I will say 1998 with Austin vs Mcmahon,DX taking off big time after Wrestlemania,the Undertaker/Kane saga,DX vs The Nation,Mankind getting thrown off the HIAC at King Of The Ring,The Rock getting his Main Event push,etc. 1999 is not a bad year but it had too many Title changes,Storylines involving sexual overtones,Owen Hart's passing,etc.

To me though the Attitude Era started in 1997 and still remains the best overall year in WWF/E History. 2000 I would put slightly above 1998 & 1999.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

1998 all the way. The Austin/McMahon feud, Austin Vs. UT at Survivor Series., DX Vs. The Nation, The Rock's turn at Survivor Series, Undertaker/Mankind in Hell in the Cell, Mankind wins the World Title (a big turning point in the Monday Night Wars as well).

Some of these bled over into 1999 with the Austin/Rock payoff at WM, and the Austin / McMahon steel cage match, but these were stories that started the year before.

If you look at 1999 post Wrestlemania, it was really lackluster.

 

[ryder123]

For me I'd have to say 99'. My reason, I started watching WWE round Wrestlemania 15 time so Austin was once again the Champion but you had the Rock taking his spot has the companys prime Babyface with matches against The Ministry and The Corperation. 98' was arguably the best year for Attitude but by 1999 WWE was comfortable in its position and more and more Superstars began to come out of themselves except for Billy Gunn who won the King Of The Ring and went nowhere. Jericho was brought in and Mick Foley finally won the big one. Lets not forget early 2000. Great build to Mania but a terrible Mania at that

 

[HBsam31]

98 for me. Actually it was one of my favorite years of all time. You had the Austin McMahon feud going on and DX was in it's prime. It was the year that I couldn't wait for Monday night to come around. 99 was good, and I would say the match quality was even better, but as far as must see tv goes it was 98 for me.

 

[braveh]

99 for me. DX are overrated. I want to forget about DX. Kurt Angle and the Hardy Boyz came in, in 97...that was really the attitude era for me......what happened in 97 and 98 was the pretext for the real attitude era to me.

 

[wooooo]

1998 all the way. The Austin/McMahon feud, Austin Vs. UT at Survivor Series., DX Vs. The Nation, The Rock's turn at Survivor Series, Undertaker/Mankind in Hell in the Cell, Mankind wins the World Title (a big turning point in the Monday Night Wars as well).

Some of these bled over into 1999 with the Austin/Rock payoff at WM, and the Austin / McMahon steel cage match, but these were stories that started the year before.

If you look at 1999 post Wrestlemania, it was really lackluster.

I wouldn't say it was lackluster at all, The Rock turned into a huge face and the Rock n' Sock connection formed, Undertaker won the title, Austin and Vince were still feuding and Triple H broke through.

I do think 98 was bigger though, everything Austin did that year is memorable

 

[Rockyfolifebo!!!]

I'll have to go with 1998. This is the year when everything really started taking shape to evolve into the product we see today.
Let's look:
DX- they were basically a 3 or 4 party team before Shawn left. Then, the night after WM14, X-Pac and the Outlaws joined making DX whole. From there, we'd see an invasion of Nitro, a skit mocking the Nation, etc.

Undertaker - in 1998, his gimmick began to become very demonic. Yes The Undertaker always had a dark side, but it was really starting to show. Not to mention the addition of the Ministry. Strolling into '99, they were the most dominant faction in the WWF.

The Rock - the cocky, young heel leader of the Nation. He wasn't just the leader, he was the group. The Rock was a heel, but he made people want to pay attention to what he was saying. Everything he said or did was so fresh, something we hadn't really seen. Plus, in 1998, he began to come up with his many catch phrases. If I'm not mistaken, his first "If ya smell what the Rock is cookin'" was in 1998.

Mankind- he began to transform from the dark, twisted, tortured soul into the fun-loving, Mr. Socko wearing character who would go on to win the WWF title in that persona and tag team with The Great One.

I could go on. 1998 was also the year of debut/repackages. Val Venis, Test, The Godfather, Hardcore Holly, Al Snow, X-Pac, Blue Blazer, Faarooq (into Acolytes with Bradshaw), etc.

 

[The Jeff]

2000 was the best year in wrestling. Each Raw and SmackDown had stacked cards with great stories and developments. 1998 was god awful. I can barely watch because the undercard was a fucking joke. You know that last part is true

 

[theBusiness]

I've always thought that the last half of 1999 was the worst part of the Attitude Era. Basically when the Austin-McMahon feud officially ended at Fully Loaded. Austin was in and out of the title picture and eventually left for surgery, Undertaker wasn't around, the Rock wasn't in the title picture for much, etc. It wasn't until Armageddon when the McMahon-Helmsley era began that things started to get interesting again.

Also, when it came to match quality (overall), 1999 was horrible. Quite possibly the worst year in the past 15 years. 1998 was better but it wasn't until 2000 came that we were seriously treated with loads and loads of high quality ppv matches. I'd say 1998 was the most memorable year (at least for me). Main reason being that it was the peak of the greatest feud in WWE history, Austin vs. McMahon.

 

[CuddleBuns84]

98 is the year of choice. A lot of new boundaries were broken. You didn't have the Satanic Undertaker with magic powers and kidnapping people. 99 had some amazing moments though. But, I do believe that was the birth of the hand story line. Then Triple H's rise to power.

98 was a blast. You didn't know what was coming to come next. It was amazing. Plus that was the peak of the Monday night wars. You didn't know who was going to show up on which show.

99 was pretty predictable. It was fun, but so predictable. Plus towards the end of the year, Russo jumped ship to WCW. So the competition copied the Attitude Era, which was just crap.

 

[CuddleBuns84]

I've always thought that the last half of 1999 was the worst part of the Attitude Era. Basically when the Austin-McMahon feud officially ended at Fully Loaded. Austin was in and out of the title picture and eventually left for surgery, Undertaker wasn't around, the Rock wasn't in the title picture for much, etc. It wasn't until Armageddon when the McMahon-Helmsley era began that things started to get interesting again.

Also, when it came to match quality (overall), 1999 was horrible. Quite possibly the worst year in the past 15 years. 1998 was better but it wasn't until 2000 came that we were seriously treated with loads and loads of high quality ppv matches. I'd say 1998 was the most memorable year (at least for me). Main reason being that it was the peak of the greatest feud in WWE history, Austin vs. McMahon.

You hit that right on the head. You had Taker and Austin that had to go out. That crappy storyline with Triple H and Stephaine. Hell Vince vs. HHH headlined a main event. Very bad time for pro wrestling.

 

[theBusiness]

98 is the year of choice. A lot of new boundaries were broken. You didn't have the Satanic Undertaker with magic powers and kidnapping people. 99 had some amazing moments though. But, I do believe that was the birth of the hand story line. Then Triple H's rise to power.

98 was a blast. You didn't know what was coming to come next. It was amazing. Plus that was the peak of the Monday night wars. You didn't know who was going to show up on which show.

99 was pretty predictable. It was fun, but so predictable. Plus towards the end of the year, Russo jumped ship to WCW. So the competition copied the Attitude Era, which was just crap.

Great point on the Monday Night Wars. I forgot to mention that.

1998 was HANDS DOWN the best year for those rating wars. I credit this to the Austin-McMahon feud and the rise of Goldberg. I really believe if WCW hadn't "created" Goldberg, then the nail in their coffin would have came sooner. There were SO many iconic moments throughout 1998(Mankind falling off the cell, Austin and Tyson, the cement truck, the zamboni, etc.)

Something else I forgot to mention were the big 5 PPV's were great that year with very memorable moments in each one (much better than 1999). Royal Rumble had the climax of the HBK-Taker feud, the beginning of Austins title hunt, and HBK's infamous injury. WrestleMania 14 is a top 10 WrestleMania and one of the most significant ones of all time. The build up was amazing with the focus on Austin-HBK and Taker-Kane (one of the best storylines of all time IMO). And when it comes to SummerSlam, I think this build up was just as good, if not even better. To this day, I believe that was the most hyped SummerSlam of all time. The main event delivered and we got an outstanding ladder match that stole the show (best crowd of the year too). I skipped KOTR but that will be forever be known for THE NUMBER ONE spot in WWE history. It was also the very brief ending of Austins first reign. Survivor Series had the great tournament concept for the vacant title and finished off with Rock becoming the youngest champion at that time. GREAT year overall. The big 5 in 1999 were SHIT compared to 1998.

 

[CuddleBuns84]

Great point on the Monday Night Wars. I forgot to mention that.

1998 was HANDS DOWN the best year for those rating wars. I credit this to the Austin-McMahon feud and the rise of Goldberg. I really believe if WCW hadn't "created" Goldberg, then the nail in their coffin would have came sooner. There were SO many iconic moments throughout 1998(Mankind falling off the cell, Austin and Tyson, the cement truck, the zamboni, etc.)

Something else I forgot to mention were the big 5 PPV's were great that year with very memorable moments in each one (much better than 1999). Royal Rumble had the climax of the HBK-Taker feud, the beginning of Austins title hunt, and HBK's infamous injury. WrestleMania 14 is a top 10 WrestleMania and one of the most significant ones of all time. The build up was amazing with the focus on Austin-HBK and Taker-Kane (one of the best storylines of all time IMO). And when it comes to SummerSlam, I think this build up was just as good, if not even better. To this day, I believe that was the most hyped SummerSlam of all time. The main event delivered and we got an outstanding ladder match that stole the show (best crowd of the year too). I skipped KOTR but that will be forever be known for THE NUMBER ONE spot in WWE history. It was also the very brief ending of Austins first reign. Survivor Series had the great tournament concept for the vacant title and finished off with Rock becoming the youngest champion at that time. GREAT year overall. The big 5 in 1999 were SHIT compared to 1998.

I forgot about that King Of The Ring that year. That was one of the best Pay Per Views. The famous Hell in The Cell with Mankind vs. Undertaker. Plus Austin vs. Kane was pretty impressive as well.

On top of that, so many superstars got over during that time period. With all companies to be correct. Jericho got over in ECW and WCW, Goldberg was getting hot. The Mid-Card feud was good.

I have to admit though. 99 started off hot. You had the Finger Poke of Doom vs. Mick Foley's upset over the Rock for the world championship. Then, everything got really weird. Both companies got weird with storylines. Hell, WCW had a whole hour dedicated to angles. No wrestling what so ever.

98, was the way to go.

 

[HBKperfect23]

The best year of the attitude era and my 2nd personal favorite year in WWF history was 1997. But since the question asks between 98/99 ill easily pick 98.

1999 was my least favorite year in pro wrestling. This was the start of everything becoming so rushed. Doing shit for shock value became the norm. Nothing was built over time. Mania sucked (I was there and still hated just about all of it). Championships started to be passed around like hot potatoes. Enhancement talent to build wrestlers was completely eliminated.

1998 was pretty solid. Especially enjoyed the lead into summerslam. Great stuff from Austin/Taker/Kane/Foley and DX/Nation. The beginning of the year with Tyson/Austin/HBK was very well built with a solid payoff. I loved the tournament at Survivor Series for the title, no one saw the Rocks heel turn coming. KOTR was a great ppv.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

The best year of the attitude era and my 2nd personal favorite year in WWF history was 1997. But since the question asks between 98/99 ill easily pick 98.

1999 was my least favorite year in pro wrestling. This was the start of everything becoming so rushed. Doing shit for shock value became the norm. Nothing was built over time. Mania sucked (I was there and still hated just about all of it). Championships started to be passed around like hot potatoes. Enhancement talent to build wrestlers was completely eliminated.

1998 was pretty solid. Especially enjoyed the lead into summerslam. Great stuff from Austin/Taker/Kane/Foley and DX/Nation. The beginning of the year with Tyson/Austin/HBK was very well built with a solid payoff. I loved the tournament at Survivor Series for the title, no one saw the Rocks heel turn coming. KOTR was a great ppv.

There is no need for me to do a write up because you have captured exactly how I feel about the OP's question. I wouldn't be as harsh on 99 for the sole fact that we got the beginning of main event Rock v Austin and the great buildup it had going into Mania 15.

 

[HBKperfect23]

I wouldn't be as harsh on 99 for the sole fact that we got the beginning of main event Rock v Austin and the great buildup it had going into Mania 15.

You are right, it did. Rock/Austin certainly delivered. Ill even give you the entire first 3 months being good with the Austin/Vince/Rock stuff.

 

[theBusiness]

There is no need for me to do a write up because you have captured exactly how I feel about the OP's question. I wouldn't be as harsh on 99 for the sole fact that we got the beginning of main event Rock v Austin and the great buildup it had going into Mania 15.

Yes, the build up to the main event at Wrestlemania was GREAT. I feel like it can even be considered the peak of the Austin-McMahon feud. Unfortunately, it was the only match that delivered. Everything else besides the main event was just thrown together for filler. And man, I can still remember how great it felt as a kid to see Austin with the title once again.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

Both weren't really impressive, but if I have to choose from the 2, it would be 1998.. 99 was just too much going on, a lot of title changes, couldn't keep up with the stories, titles were being thrown around, only one good thing came from the 99 year, and that was the Ministry of Darkness...

98 was a good year, we say some good matches, the WrestleMania was okay, Royal Rumble was good IMO, SummerSlam was yet another good ppv and I really enjoyed The deadly games was it called at Survivor Series? I never really watched the IYH's..

Out of all the Attitude Era years, 2000 is my favoiurite!

 

[Nicky Midss]

undertaker and kane in cahoots was one of the most underrated story lines WWF ever had.

KOTR to philly a week before summerslam when they finally walked out together was the best television i can remember. i was at that philly raw. the WWF was so good that year.