What was the worst year of the attitude era?

[amazing_blue]

I have seen a lot of polls on this site asking which year of the attitude era was its best, and each year had its case. I have also seen a lot of attitude era hate on these forums; many people are suggesting that it wasn't as great as it's cooked up to be. This thread is to determine which year of this era was the worst (or least best). I know each year has a case of its own.

1998 - I have seen this year get hated in different ways by different people. Many old school fans disliked this year because the focus was being put more and more on shock value and less on in-ring wrestling. Matches on RAW were shortened to make room for long in-ring segments. The year's biggest rivalry was of course a non-wrestling rivalry between Austin and McMahon. Many fans from the 70s and 80s saw this as a mockery of the product.

On the other hand, many modern fans have been critical of '98 for being a "3 man show." I have heard people here on WZ say that RAW in '98 was all about Austin, Undertaker and DX, and everything else was filler.

1999 - This is definitely the year that I see getting the most hate. People complain about the record low amount of wrestling that took place on RAW, lousy PPVs, countless swerves and nonstop attempts at shocking the audience. This is a year where main events more often than not spilled out of the ring, and even PPV main events were often brawls that took place in the aisle and other areas.

2000 - A year that mostly gets praised, but gets some hate as well. I have heard people complain that the McMahon/Helmsley regime was one of the most obnoxious storylines of all time. Many people hate the Undertaker's biker gimmick that debuted this year, while many others loved it. Another complaint I have seen is that Austin's return was underwhelming.

2001 - The year it came to a close.

 

[The Brain]

Easily 1999. It was not only the worst year of the attitude era but the worst year since I started watching in 1986. You said in your op what I’ve said many times here. The main event ppv matches were terrible. I hated matches that took place in the aisle and crowd. Why couldn’t they stay in the ring? How about all the constant title changes? There were twelve world title changes in 1999. That’s ridiculous. The Intercontinental title wasn’t much better with eleven changes. And of course there were all the swerves. I never understood why people like swerves so much. They are usually full of plot holes and ruin whatever investment you’ve put into a storyline. They are good in moderation but when swerves happen on a regular basis you start to expect them which defeats their purpose. Then they just become annoying. Thank goodness Vince Russo left at the end of the year and Chris Kreski stepped in. What a turnaround. 2000 was just awesome and made up for the terrible 1999.

 

[Mantis]

When I read the title, 1999 instantly popped in my head. I agree with the hot potato-ing and the ridiculous storylines (even by WWF standards). Additionally, the centerpiece of that era got hurt that fall, and there was that Owen Hart thing.

 

[strasaphere]

The Whole attitude era was a clusterfuck, and you're right, it was a three man show.

I personally couldn't pick a year, but if I had to, I'd say 1999. If Eric was right and ''controversy creates cash'' then Vince was trying to make gold fucking bullion out of the scripts every week.

 

[beastman]

Don't get mad at me, just my opinions.

1998 was clearly the best attitude year thanks to 1997 for shaping it. The drama! The conspiracies! New ideas brought to the table. DX's popularity risen, Kane/Undertaker feud, The Rock rose to the top. Hell in the Cell on Raw. Birth of the Inferno matches. It wasn't all about SCSA vs Vince, there was far more to it than that. Best matches was great. Always left a huge ? at the end of each broadcast.

1999 first half of that year was great, MOD was a great idea until it merged into the corporate ministry which quietly disbanded. After Summerslam it sort of went over done. Heel Triple H to the top was a great idea, but the ideas/storyline became too clustered. Did a horrible job for teasing HHH Vs Rock VS SCSA and not having SCSA wrestle & give Big Show the belt in which he wasn't ready at the time but part of his contract. I knew the writing for these scripts changed. Too many 6...8 way matches.

2000 was a good year, but the the worst in the era. Why? Storyline wasn't as great as the previous years. Dragged HHH/Rock feud longer than what it should have been. Wrestlers were coming & going, the gimmicks started to become watered down and a tad bit over the top cheesey. SCSA return wasn't epic like felt. Started bringing in outside talent and had no idea how to use them for that year. (except for Eddie) Benoit wasn't getting over, but still getting the push at world title matches (thankfully they didn't give him the belt). Biggest let down was Wrestlemania 2000. Yes, TLC match was great but all the matches had horrible heel endings with a survivor series like card.

Don't get me wrong. All three years were great overall.

2001.....i don't even want to start. Not attitude era as a whole. A very nerdy year. Storylines that hardcore fans would find fascinating. Alienated the average fan in this cluster crap of a mess. The invasion! Barf on this idea. Downsized the industry.

 

[DanTheMan3:16]

I would 2001 because of the invasion but i dont count that as the attitude era.

1999 is easily the worst, just about every ppv was garbage and every raw and smackdown was trash, there was way too much sex, and swerves hell even the owen hart tribute show felt like jerry springer show. (not saying they didnt mean what they said it was just that there was lang. and some outfits that werent needed for this show)

Also i dont really get why people say the attitude era was the best, it was nothing but sex, swerves, brawls and over the top angles that werent needed. Its like what bret hart said once "Wrestling is meant to be a wrestling show, i dont think people want to watch wrestling for sex".

 

[Lowdown]

I voted 2001 since the Attitude Era started to die down little by little after WM X7. However, 99 was an up and down year, at least the first half of it was. The death of Owen Hart overshadowed the majority of what was going on leading up to that summer. But the year got better after Summerslam 99. It wasn't the breakthrough that 98 had been, but it was far from terrible. But I agree that compared to 98 and 2000, 99 was lackluster

 

[HBKperfect23]

1999 is easily the worst.

I think 1997 was a part of the attitude era and I consider that possibly the best year in WWF history, 1998 not being to far behind.

My take on 1998 is pretty interesting. Great ppvs but will be remembered for how great tv was. Easily the best year for RAW. Austin/Vince was amazing. DX made it big. Match quality was pretty good for 2 straight hours each week. It took wrestling mainstream. But I feel it ruined TV for pro wrestling. Every match was a main event. How can you build for feuds without enhancement talent? Why would I pay for a match on pay per veiw when I saw it two weeks ago on RAW? Everything was hot shoted and angles were finishing before they even got started. This was very cool when they started it but it had no longevity, hence 1999 being horrible. Also they started having pay per veiws every month around this time which made them not as special any more (problem goes back to the IYH ppvs, which I hated). So I loved the year but to me it was a huge overkill.

2000 saw great matchs with Benoit, Angle, Jericho entering the main event scene. HHH did a decent job as champ.

2001 I enjoyed. PPVs had great matches. Austin/Rock feud, Jericho/Benoit, and even the Invasion angle. Yes WWF vs WCW could have been so much better but the angle did make me really look forward to RAW for the first time since 98.

 

[ShinobiMusashi]

I have to agree with the majority that 99 was the worst. As much as I loved the WWF, and WCW, their expansion into 2 & 3 hour long broadcasts, and multiple shows a week really watered them down heavily by 1999. The mediocrity in the WCW, and WWF in 99 really started in the last half of 98. By Sep/Oct of 98 it started to show how thin both companies were really spread between monthly blockbuster ppvs, and 6+ hours of weekly television programming. It was just too much at the time. By 99 it really started to take effect on both companies product.

Both drove me into the arms of another fed in 99, the ECW. 99 was far from the ECW's best year, but they still had a better year than the WCW, and WWF. As far as quality is concerned, ECW was the #1 promotion of 1999 in my opinion. For some reason when someone says the two terms together "Pro Wrestling", and "1999" the first thing that pops into my head is an image of Test, and Stephanie Mcmahon together, or Jeff Jerrett wearing that huge WCW world title belt.