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The Hate on the Attitude Era

15K views 130 replies 88 participants last post by  -XERO- 
#1 ·
Just one question.....why so much hate? The AE produced the greatest stories, the greatest stars, the biggest matches, best matches and of course The highest ratings seen in wrestling......


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#4 · (Edited)
The herd can't resist Cenazism forever. They're finally starting to like the PG Era, and suddenly, "Bring Back The Attitude Era" is a meme.

That's the secondary herd, mind you. The group of people who act like they only hate Cena for fun or because it's cool.

Once they're converted, the only critics left will be those who were thoughtful all along.
 
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#92 · (Edited)
This.

Everyone who actually witnessed the attitude era as it happened knows it was an amazing period in wrestling. But then you have all the ruthless aggression/pg fans who come on forums talking shit about it.

Usually they make comments like

"Most of the matches were bad"
"The attitude era was full of stupid things like Mae Young giving birth to a hand"
 
#20 ·
People hating on the attitude era, saying it wasn't all that great, all the time true or not;

Difference is, if the show was crap back then you'd know about it & be disappointed, think wtf they could do better than this, then next week they'd be right back on it.

Today, it's 90% SHIT & people lap it up with the following:

"It's better than 2009"

"It's getting better"

"It's only been 2 weeks, give it time"

"It's past WM season, what do you expect"

The final one .. "Take off your nostalgia glasses, AA Era wasn't that great"

I'd take a bad ep of RAW in 1999 than the 'best' they could do in 2014.

I don't get this idea that the matches are better now?, technically & the smoothness yes it's apparent but is that better? I prefer a mix of the two.

People rave up stuff like the first Brock v Cena match on their return, also Ambrose matches with Rollins; it's pure aggression, whenever a Stone Cold match started he'd be on the opponent in seconds, smacking his head into turn buckles, throw him out the ring, chase him smack em into the barrier, constant fighting; now it's more spot monkeys more than ever with their perfect camera shots (That fail half of the time), and taking too long to pull off a move you can see isn't going to land.
 
#43 ·
Not everyone who enjoyed the Monday Night Wars watched and liked the Attitude Era. WCW had it's fan base and I'm sure there's a sizable crowd that's still bent that they were behind the wrong team. So in return they hide behind that the Ruthless Aggression had better matches even though it was dominated by one of the longest, most boring reigns of terror in the history of wrestling (HHH).

It is a fair point to say the wrestling was subpar until late 1999. WCW had the lions share of talent. WWF just had a p*** poor roster and adapted a style to hide that. There was not a match that went uninterrupted. Great storylines and character development but the overall shows really are not something you can rewatch.

I think if you're more inclusive and say the Monday Night Wars more people are going to herald the era. WCW had it's flaws but they put some great tv too and some of the best angles of all time.
 
#55 · (Edited)
I think the hate comes mostly from ppl that never experienced the AE as it was happening and only seen clips of it on YouTube.

Those of us that experienced the AE as it was happening we know how truly awesome it was. The characters, storyline's, pretty much everything mattered back then and each week was must see tv.

The WWE apologists will always try and argue that the AE was overrated but at the end of the day they have no argument. The AE was not perfect but it was damn close to it. Their is a reason the AE is fondly remembered and that is because it was truly AWESOME. And it's not just nostalgia I can go back and watch any show/ppv from the AE and be just as entertained as I was back then.

Nothing in the current product compares to the greatness that was the AE. And deep down the PG Era fans knows it's true as well.
 
#76 ·
Just personal taste. Attitude era was a real low for me. Cheap shock factors no real depth or originality. My biggest problem is that it honestly didn't do anything for wrestling. Made huge money for a bit but didn't create long term wrestling fans.

To me it's like saying saw movies where better horrors than Hitchcock bc it got more attention.
 
#86 ·
It had some of the best storylines in WWE history (including the single best storyline in WWE history imo, the Kane/Undertaker feud and formation of the Ministry). Ring work - excellent. Hey, great storylines and ring work to go with it, especially during the latter period of the era. Can't complain.

I think the RA Era edges it out IN TERMS of ring work, however.
 
#121 ·
WOW just spent the last 45 minutes reading through this thread.

I don't know where to start really.

I am going to list the stuff I enjoyed about the attitude era at the time then the things I didn't enjoy at the time.

Then I shall do the same but only as of a fan now and what I think of it.

As over the years my opinions and views have changed quite sporadically, I apologise in advance if this post is long its just to me personally this isn't an open and shut case,

Also its a Saturday night here in the UK and the Weather is rubbish so its not like I have anything better to do :D:



Things I enjoyed about the Attitude Era at the time are as follows.

It was different whether you are a Pro Wrestling purist or Blood thirsty big fight feel kind of guy the Attitude Era had a bit of everything it wasn't It wasn't ECW lets just kill ourselves crazy but it wasn't 1950s European 2 out of 3 falls Wrestling either.
It had a cacophony of different styles, Flavours and tastes for every viewer it is just sometimes you had to sit through bits you didn't like to see the bits you did.

It was fresh, WWE had finally got rid of the old guard and was focusing on a different style and generation of Professional Wrestler.

Raw always had a mini storyline which seemed to run the duration of the show, So we always had a payoff or climactic finish to the show.

I loved the Gang warfare almost of WWE at times we so many stables and groups you just new that they all couldn't get along under one roof, So you could feel the tension in the air when 2 opposing stables/groups/factions met.

To me anyway the Attitude era embodies the words SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT it was more than Pro Wrestling but still not classed as a movie or drama.


Things I didn't like about the Attitude Era at the time.

I was never a Rock fan and I always felt like what ever he did felt contrived, His rise to the top almost felt more manufactured than what Stone Cold's was.
Whether the fans where behind him or not it always felt like to me that he was going to be number 1 whether we liked it or not.
Austin always felt more organic to me. (just my opinion though)

To much talking. The Attitude Era to me was when talking really took over the show it seemed almost never ending sometimes.

Below the Main eventers match quality was less than impressive.
I don't think we really had a strong mid card until early 2000's

The Who ran over Stone Cold storyline as well
That could have been one of the greatest pieces of storytelling in WWE history but it was just all a bit fpalm I think.



Looking back these days as a fully grown adult and much more aware about the product as a whole my opinions are very different.

I cringe at chair shots to the head now because I have so much more understanding of what damage they can cause, I am glad not every other match is NO DQ this or thumbtacks that.

When I watch Attitude Era Raw's I think yea they are ok but the match quality has not got a patch on what we watch now in 2014.

The Product is so much more crisper, Slick and more Professional in my opinion...

A lot of the segments back then where pretty chaotic and not in the good way that people often say they where.

The Attitude Era had a lot of plus points and the WWE needed it to happen but the Attitude Era wasn't as great as what people say it was a cornerstone a changing of the guard a repointing of direction call it what you will but that's all it was.

That was WWE with its back against the corner having to fight and survive but it did have to end because you cant go at that speed forever otherwise you become sanitised from the product.

Someone being driven through a table or the boss getting hit. Those moments need to be a rarity otherwise we become to used to them and before you know it everyone is trying to have a Mankind VS Undertaker moment and we are left with a depleted injured roster before their time, who have pushed the envelope so much that what ever they do will not be good enough because we have seen it all before.

We all have Nostalgia and rose tinted glasses about periods of times in our lives about everything, I mean I swear blind that Wrestlemania 9 is the greatest of all time.
Even though people unanimously tell me it was one of the worst.

I think its great though because it was the first Wrestlemania I watched.
So it has a lot of memories tied to it for me.

Its the same with the Attitude Era.


I am not saying the Attitude Era isn't great because it was I mean HHH is in my top 3 of all time a guy who was one of the most important parts of that Era.

What I am saying is though that WWE changes and evolves you ask a guy in his 60s what was his favourite era of pro wrestling he will not say The Attitude Era I can assure you...

Its all subjective to your generation specifically.

The Attitude Era was the greatest period for sports entertainment and unpredictability without a shadow of a doubt.

That doesn't mean that it was the greatest period in Pro Wrestling history though.

All because something is more popular doesn't make it better than what was before it.


For those who to this day scream from the rooftops that you want that period of WWE back...
I am afraid I've got some bad news.

Its not the product you want back its your younger self you want back.

Look at ECW they bought it back and it was never the same.

Guys where older, fans had changed, society had changed, the WWE had changed it just was not the same. That was not WWE's fault for not doing this or not doing that it was just not the same as it once was.

You had to be in the moment at that point in society where at that time in the world we where surrounded by an ECW society the same way as at that time we where living in an attitude era. We are not no more though its the next generations turn to mould the product as they see it just as the fans did in the 60s 70s and 80s

Hell I am never going to be a John Cena fan and I do miss a bit of blood from time to time but that does not mean I am going to switch off or not be a WWE fanboy.... I am still a fan and whether its Ruthless Agression, The Attitude Era, WWWF days or this current reality Era.. We will all watch because not one Era is bigger than the WWE.

WWE was successful long before the Attitude Era and has been successful after it.

If we was still in my Era of WWE Yokozuna would be WWE champ and the nearest thing to Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas would be I.R.S :ex:


Least now with the WWE network we can watch any Era of Pro Wrestling we like for just $9.99 :hhh2

Thanks to anyone who reads this.
I know I go on a bit I am just not very good at paraphrasing.
I also like to explain my reasons because I don't like to offend people.

Because I love y'all guys :Frankie

Have a good evening guys and girls.

Catch ya later :bow
 
#8 ·
Did the AE really produce the best matches? I think the in ring product as a whole has been much stronger since it died. I can't think of more than a few that were really all that great. Nevertheless, it is the single best era in the history of wrestling for all the other reasons you mentioned, however, like every era (except this one), the strength lies at the top of the promotion. If you take away the top stars, it's just trash tv that isn't very compelling. The problems people talk about are probably more centered around everything that wasn't Austin, Rock, Undertaker, Kane, DX, the 3 major tag teams, Kurt Angle and etc. Goofy shit like Head Cheese, Bossman cooking Al Snow's dog, Val Venis getting his dick chopped off, etc.
 
#21 ·
Did the AE really produce the best matches?
HHH vs Foley
Benoit vs Jericho
TLC I and II
HHH vs Rock
Rock vs Austin

Just to name a few. And LOL at the ppvs being crap. The Attitude Era wasn't just 98-99. So X7, the ppvs in 2000, Rumble/NWO 2001, Survivor Series 98 were all crap till the ME?
 
#28 ·
This has to be the stupidest post I've read today. So everybody who hates the AE has never watched it? You barely give any argument as to this statement "it was entertaining as hell", fantastic support for your short sighted post.

Fact is the AE is overrated as fuck and the only people who still talk about it as if it was some Golden Era of wrestling (which it wasn't), are the sheep who still want a TV-14 wrestling program when that's no longer viable in today's world. Kids have been the primary focus for the last decade of TV at least and will remain as such. Yes the AE had it's moments, but there was a lot of shit between the good and the decent.
 
#24 ·
#1. Attitude/NWO era ruined the local jobber format that wrestling needed character development and pay per view build up

Before that era you had Razon Ramon (heel) beating jobber on tv free tv , HBK beat jobber on free tv (babyface) OMG now Razon vs HBK on PPV oh shit what going to happen next..Guys this day wrestle eachother soo many time the PPVs don't feel special anymore

#2. Everybody love RAW vs Nitro so what WWE does now that Nitro is gone or yeah a stupid Brand split RAW vs Smackdown

#3. The lost of WCW, Do you really think we' be getting all this crap if Nitro was still around today? Having jobbers winning a briefcase to became world champion? The same guys wrestling each other over and over?

#4. It Ruined what the WWE was going with women wrestling. Go watch Survivor Series 1995 women match
 
#27 ·
I think the AE was vastly superior to the product today. However, I think that the world of 1980s wrestling was vastly superior to the AE. 1980s wrestling still to this day has the highest rated wrestling show ever in North American television history with the Hogan and Andre rematch. The misconception that a lot of the younger fans who grew up in the AE keep failing to realize is that the AE was not the first time wrestling has ever had a boom period. Wrestling was astronomically popular in the 1980s with the WWE, the Jim Crockett NWA, the AWA and various promotions such as World Class, and the GWA. In fact the 1980s were the best time to be a wrestling fan because the variety and different styles of wrestling to choose from was off the charts.
 
#30 ·
Agree with all EXCEPT best matches. I completely disagree with you there. I have to say many Attitude era matches were severely overbooked or spent more time fighting in the crowds than working in the ring. There were exceptions and some of the more high spot ladder matches were classics, but overall, the wrestling was down from the mid 90s and starting around 2002.
 
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#32 ·
I didn't hate the Attitude Era but I honestly didn't care for it as much as most. I grew up during the Golden Era and watched a lot of 80's wrestling and to me that was vastly superior.

-You didn't have PPV's every month and oversaturating superstar vs superstar matches because they had as someone stated the superstar vs jobber format. Not to mention too many of those matches on free TV kind of ruined the hype and excitement for those superstar vs superstar matches.

-Titles had some meaning and weren't just a "prop" that changed hands every week or every month or two.

-Most wrestlers were involved in some storyline or angle that was engaging and exciting. (Attitude Era did do a decent job at this also)

-You had more focus on actual wrestling with psychology instead of 5 minute matches hastily thrown together with little or no meaning.

So AE had its ups but it also had its downs IMO and I would gladly take 80's Golden Era wrestling over any other wrestling any day.
 
#35 ·
I would take 1980s wrestling 10 times out of 10 over the AE myself. 1980s wrestling just felt more epic and the matches felt more important because titles meant something and there was a very established card structure in all the promotions.
It just had a sense of meaning.

The reason that the AE beats today's product is that at least the AE had a sense of unpredictability. Today's wrestling suffers most from a lack of an established card structure.
 
#39 · (Edited)
If anything, the AE gets too much love here. It made all kinds of money, but that kind of frantic button and envelope pushing absolutley can not last forever. Even a lot of the wrestlers themselves look back on it and have said things to the effect of "man, I wish we didn't do that".

A lot of great things happened during that time, but so did a lot of shit and that's what seems to be forgotten most often. The worst is when some 14 year old claims that today's product is for kids and that WWE should bring back massive blood loss and lesbian sex scenes to make it suitable for mature audiences. Then, I have to wonder how "mature" you really are if character development and performance quality take a back seat to your apparent pleasure derived from people spilling blood and making terribly juvenile innuendo.

Then there are the people who claim that the Attitude Era was "wrestling" whereas what we have now is "sports entertainment". Do I even have to explain just how incredibly moronic that is????
 
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#42 ·
None of you have actually made it clear what you mean by the Attitude Era. You can't just include everything that happened in wrestling within the chronological set of dates that most people consider a part of it. That's ridiculously arbitrary and allows people to refer to the 'bad parts' as if they weren't simply mistakes of which the only difference between then and now is that they're more frequent now.

An era of wrestling is surely something comprehensive, encompassing both the business element of things and the show itself. To me an 'era' is an overall state that affects everyone. With that in mind, I think most people would agree that the Attitude Era is defined by the rising monopoly of VKM on the one hand and Hollywood-style theatrics on the other.

In my opinion, these trends were great, even if they led to the stagnation & casualisation that followed their lead. One single big league of wrestling, where anything goes and everyone has something special - that idea, realized in the Attitude Era, appeals to me.
 
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#44 ·
I don't think that anyone hates the Attitude Era at all, really. Unless you bring up angles like 'Katie Vick' and the whole Mark Henry and Mae Young fiasco (which was supposed to be worse than it was if you can believe that.

I agree that the Attitude Era (and by extension the Monday Night Wars) were indeed the best times for wrestling as a whole. If anything, I think more people hate on the rabid fans that feel the need to compare each and everything to the AE, something that cannot ever be replicated again. Not calling anyone out, by the way.
 
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#46 ·
I don't think that anyone hates the Attitude Era at all, really. Unless you bring up angles like 'Katie Vick' and the whole Mark Henry and Mae Young fiasco (which was supposed to be worse than it was if you can believe that.
Katie Vick was Ruthless Aggression in 2002.
 
#47 ·
I agree
 
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