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Why is the Attitude Era so fondly remembered?

5K views 46 replies 41 participants last post by  Dismember 
#1 ·
While I invite everyone to post their own answers to the title's question, I actually have my own theory. Here's a hint: It's NOT because it was edgier or because it had boobies.

Sure, wrestling was edgier during the Attitude Era. But so was 99% of pop culture at the time! Pop culture in general, at the time, was undergoing a "shock value for its own sake" and "anti-authority for its own sake" movement. Shows like Fear Factor, Jerry Springer, MTV's "Jackass." The list goes on and on. Even shows that had relatively wholesome content would still often have anti-social main stars, like Inquisition or The Weakest Link.

There were commercials for things like "Bubble Tape" (bubble gum in a tape-measure style container) or "squand" where the whole selling point of those commercials was that the grown-ups DON'T like it!

In the movie "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers," the villain Ivan Ooze tried to enslave the parents by giving his magic ooze to the kids. His selling point was "Take it home in boxes; take it home in cases! If you're parents try to stop ya, just throw it in their faces!" Hell, one of the kids even asked Ivan what they were supposed to do with the ooze, and Ivan didn't have an answer for that! But your parents wouldn't approve of you having it! What more do you need?!

So yes, wrestling was edgier during the time period that happens to be labeled "the Attitude Era." But that doesn't explain why it was at the top of the ratings charts every week. They had to do something different than everything else on TV at the time ... and everything else on TV was just as edgy as WWF was.

But you know what isn't a product of its time, but is in fact timeless? People love good stories. People look well-developed characters. People like those characters to have complex and relateable conflicts and to undergo character development.

And that's something the Attitude Era did in spades that everyone seems to gloss over. The Attitude Era was a time period where storytelling in wrestling was at the height of its quality. This is also the time period when wrestling itself was at the height of its popularity.

Think I'm looking too deep into this? Well, to prove that the storytelling was so good, I'm going to list some wrestlers from that time period. However, I'm not going to tell you their names or any of the moves they did in their matches. Instead, I'm going to focus exclusively on their personalities and backstories. Let's see how many of these Attitude Era wrestlers you instantly recognize.

- The leader of a satanic cult who would often hand other wrestlers to his crucifix and therefore brainwash them into joining his cult.

- A masked man who believed he suffered severe burns as a child, and wore a mask to hide those burns. He entered the WWF in the hopes of avenging his older brother, who he blamed for starting said fire.

- A part-time porn star who would often flirt with the women in the audience before his matches. He would enter the ring appearing to wear nothing but a towel, but much to the censors' gratitude, he would disrobe to reveal his wrestling trunks underneath.

- A pimp who wold offer the services of his prostitutes to his opponents in exchange for forfeiting their matches against him.

- A pair of reformed satan-worshippers who would offer to protect anyone on the roster who paid their fee.

- A pair of Japanese wrestlers who were a parody of poorly-dubbed Japanese monster movies. Their promos would consist of them moving their lips around randomly while a pre-recorded promo would play over the sound system.

- A guy who always spoke in third person who, at one point, complained to Vince McMahon that the $100,000 bonus he was supposed to receive amounted to a mere five new shirts for him.

So as you can see from these examples, the Attitude Era was chalk full of colorful characters with fully fleshed-out, instantly recognizable personalities, despite all of them having to be "edgey" in one capacity or another due to the pop culture demands of the time.

Now compare that to a guy who never really got himself over during the Attitude Era: Dan "the Beast" Severn. Listen to this blog about why that guy never really got over with the fans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRCvHpFNshI

Compare that to the wrestlers of today. If I told you I was thinking of a moder-day wrestler, and I said his personality was "a triumphant babyface who doesn't understand the meaning of the word 'quit' and will fight on despite impossible odds," then who am I talking about? John Cena, Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan, or AJ Styles?

So my personal theory about why the Attitude Era is so fondly remembered by fans isn't the edginess ... it was the attitude itself! Aka the personality that was injected into the wrestlers!

Your thoughts?
 
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#2 ·
Very simple: Entertaining characters in an environment that supported creativity and freedom.

Competition between 2 major companies that forced them both to raise the bar and change the rules about what pro wrestling could be.

Edgy content and stories that were grounded more than ever in reality and culture.
 
#33 ·
The nostalgia explanation is cheap and without merit. We can go back and watch RAWs from '95 and '96, just prior to the start of the Attitude Era, and they're absolutely dreadful; in some ways, worse than today's product. If it were nostalgia, that wouldn't be the case.

The actual explanation, as others have said, is that it was simply a far more entertaining product. The Attitude Era earned it's legacy.

An enormous collection of great characters to build your storylines around. Think of the Simpson's, and how much of that show's greatness was built on its huge assortment of characters. The Attitude Era was the same way. Great characters + great plots = great product.

On other thing that doesn't get brought up as often is the unpredictability of the era. Never knowing which wrestler would show up on RAW or Nitro, guys jumping ship, etc. That's the sort of thing wrestler hasn't had since WCW's death, really.
 
#43 ·
High quality characters from top to bottom with a crazy amount of charisma that connected with the audience. Great promos with very good content that came off as natural. They were good enough in the ring to draw the fans in and you could tell they were extremely competitive with one another for every spot that was available on the roster. Even the lower carders had a character and a storyline that they made matter to the fans. The Hardcore Title, which meant pretty much nothing, and with the 'matches' being hit and miss, was even something that fans looked forward to every week because they were just fun/entertaining. That title made fans care about guys like Crash Holly. They were just clicking on all cylinders in that time period and that is mostly because the wrestlers, the owner, and the bookers were all HIGHLY motivated to not only save the company, but come back from behind and start beating WCW; and that's what they did.
 
#4 ·
Quite frankly because it was the first experience that most of the IWC had with professional wrestling as adults. It literally represented professional wrestling coming of age, just as they themselves were doing the same. The vast majority of wrestling fans whether they be the older smarks or younger fans that have come along in the last decade are for the most part too young to have experienced the golden era as adults so therefore their first sophisticated experience with professional wrestling was watching the Attitude Era. There is an old saying regarding "first times" or "first experiences" and that is applicable here as well. The Attitude Era is held in high reverence large in part due to the fact that a great number of fans associate it with them embracing professional wrestling as a legitimate passion rather than some childhood fad you got into because all of your mates were tuning in.
 
#40 · (Edited)
Great OP. Shame it went over most heads.

If I could add 1 point.

Russo has a totally different mindset to McMahon. He wrote the show like a TV show with an emphasis on cliffhangers and nightly storylines that resolved themselves that night (or next week).

He also considers things like "a big NBA final is on at the same time as Raw. We MUST start the show with a huge story to make people stick around until the end". Today, they can have a 20 minute opening segment and you still won't know what's the point of it. Then you'll just have a random tag match announced for 2.5 hours later for no reason. They used the Undertaker during half time of a big NFL match earlier this time (it was timed to perfection), but that type of planning is rare these days.
 
#25 ·
From the few responses that I've read here, people seem to be missing some key points about pro-wrestling and life in general. So I'll start from the top...

The late 90's was a very edgy time, counter culture had become cool and it was more acceptable to the public to push the boundaries in search of artistic expression. Stuff like hip hop was really coming to the fore, after spending it's history as a subculture.

Now pro-wrestling's landscape had changed in the mid-90's when WCW decided to go head to head with WWF. This launched an actual battle for ratings because now you have 2 companies aiming to attract the same niche audience. WCW struck first, they wanted to build their show around surprise, so they started bringing in WWE guys to shock the audience into tuning in, so they didn't miss any other surprises. WWE reacted to this by trying numerous different things until they stumbled upon an anti-hero in Steve Austin. The crowds were loving it, no longer were they having to support the cheesy good guy, they now had a cool guy who was really sticking it "to the man." D-Generation-X at the same time also picked up on fans wanting the cool bad-guy characters and really launched the career of Triple H.

The fans were getting exactly what they wanted, the same anti-hero's who were their heroes in other forms of media were now becoming their heroes in the WWE. It was cool to like pro-wrestling again and this is why it's looked upon so fondly. WWE really hit the nail on the head, getting on board with what was popular at that time with the 18-30 crowd (what the 18-30 crowd like, is always what's seen as cool.)

Then if you want to talk about actual pro-wrestling, in the ring. It was a time when there was a ton of seasoned guys working in the top 2 companies (while ECW was doing all kind sod crazy shit on their end.) They were the last guys to come through the territories and really learn to work, working more often in front of decent sized audiences.
 
#39 ·
The Attitude Era happened to be lightning in a bottle. So much came together at that time to really be an important watershed moment in wrestling history. It was a time where wrestling was in the mainstream consciousness, people would talk around the break room or anywhere to talk about what happened on RAW.

The WWF had several top stars, not just one. Austin, Triple H, the Rock, Kurt Angle for starters. All of them had the ability to carry the company by themselves, but they came together to create something special.

Almost everyone had a role to play, and they played their parts well. Even a large number of mid-card talent (Goldust, Val Venis, Godfather, NOD, NAO, etc)...all had the chance to play important roles. Many of them managed to shine where in the past most of them were buried.

The writing was very well laid out there. Vince Russo was very smart, but of course he was a little over the edge and had Vince McMahon have to rein him in on multiple occasions.

In reality...Vince also had to do what he did out of necessity. He was getting his ass kicked, so he had to find a way to get viewers to watch and butts in the seats. He was in real trouble during the Monday Night Wars, so he pushed the envelope and it worked.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Nostalgia, simple as that. Plus many of us were kids so we were able to suspend our disbelief. 20 years later, I tried to watch 1998-99 and couldn't binge watch shows like I can with other series. One episode of Monday night raw would exhaust me unless I fast forwarded through the unimportant stuff.

Year 2000 was great though. I watched every raw,sd and ppv
 
#17 ·
It gave kids growing up at that time something awesome to latch onto. It gave someone like me who was late teens when it happened a chance to once again see my friends that had long since walked away and even older people I worked with everyday enjoying something I've always enjoyed once again. There was almost an odd sense of validation I felt for sticking with it. I'm sure that sounds odd but that's the best I can describe it. The late 90's were a time of pushing boundaries in entertainment further than they will likely ever be pushed again. Which is what wrestling needs to truly thrive in the mainstream. It was the perfect storm. I've always wondered what it's like to be one that grew up after it was over and going back and watching it.
 
#19 ·
I've always wondered what it's like to be one that grew up after it was over and going back and watching it.
Well, I am currently in the middle of a rewatch of 1999. Just watching the Raws and PPVs. Firstly, I don't understand how some people can casually disregard the Attitude Era and chalk it up to nostalgia. That's everyone's go-to explanation for literally anything older than five years. "Oh, it's just nostalgia. It's not really that good." That's not to say that nostalgia doesn't play a part, because it definitely does, but it's not the prime factor for anything.

I was 8 years old in 1999, and I have obviously forgotten A LOT of that time period in wrestling. Some things that were awesome that I completely forgot about, but then little things I happen to remember. Your brain works in funny ways sometimes.

A good ~30% of the show I can't believe what I'm watching. Pushing the envelope for shock value. The whole storyline with D-Lo pushing Terri Runnels down, causing a miscarriage. PMS, Sexual Chocolate getting a blowjob from Chyna's trans friend. That stuff is nonsense. But... pretty much everyone had a storyline. Everything felt like it had a purpose in the show. All the branching storylines wove together, some feuds got involved in other feuds. It felt chaotic. It was more well-written in that regard.

There's so much good stuff from where I'm at. The Ministry storyline, The Union is actually fun, the Rock/Foley feud was phenomenal. Hell, the first episode of 1999 features the greatest Raw moment in history when Foley won the championship. Val Venis (though his stories were ridiculous in a fun way, of course) actually feels important. He has credibility. He's in the midcard and is booked accordingly. So he shines in his role.

Matches rarely end in a clean finish, which I can understand why some may find it annoying, but it's leagues better than 50/50 booking. And sometimes, the match doesn't happen at all. To put it simply... the show feels alive. It feels like these characters are alive.

That's why it is remembered fondly.
 
#24 ·
A lot of it was absolutely due to the edginess. It was quite shocking to see the WWF repackage itself so drastically from Doink The Clown to that.

But beyond that, it was also the strength of the writing, having big time talent like Austin, Rock and Foley, and also the excitement of having two big wrestling shows going head to head on Monday nights.
 
#26 · (Edited)
It had 2 of the best years in the WWE over the last 20 years (1997 and 2000). 2 once in a lifetime stars in the same era at the apex of their primes. Stacked Mid-Card and Main Event stars that were transcendent. It was timing and the stars from that era did have more freedom...But i wanted to point something out. Chris Jericho had an amazing year last year with the same rules of the current younger wrestlers of this era, and he STILL was more entertaining than most of the roster, under those same rules. He's from the Monday Night War/Attitude Era.


Is that a coincidence? The stand out stars and talent from that era are just on another level in parts IMO. 99 overall aside from the Rock and HHH's rise was trash wrestling wise though.

Nostalgia always helps too. There's a strong chance that in 15 years people that love this era will think back fondly to "The PG Era" - I'm serious.
 
#27 ·
As others have said it was most people's first experience of wrestling (not mine).

But unlike the Golden Age (84-92) it doesn't hold up when rewatched now. True, some of the main events and characters (Austin, Rock, Mr McMahon) were entertaining but almost everything outside of that was utter trash, it also began the dangerous trends of treating the sport as a joke, hotshotting matches, storylines etc., all promos being done live and in ring and discarding the heel/face dynamic.

It was fun at the time but did an incredible amount of long term damage to the sport and as I said upon rewatching very little of it stands the test of time unlike the Golden Age which for the most part does.
 
#30 ·
Disagree almost completely.

Plenty of stuff was good in the AE other than Rock, Austin and Vince. Hardy's/E+C (loved their shit the best of 7 series and on to the TLC), Angle was great, Foley winning the title and his whole character evolution, Jericho's debut and first few years were entertaining, APA was great, Crash Holly with his 24/7 Hardcore Title was great (6'6'' over 400lbs) and so much more.

Funny is how ppl say AE was so tasteless yet it was Ruthless Aggression that had Hot Lesbian Action and Katie Vick. HHH literally HANDED the WCW belt and the Reign of Terror began.

I agree some of the Russo shit was retarded.
 
#35 ·
I personally enjoy 02-05 more. Especially smackdown. The attitude era in the 90s had a pretty crappy roster aside from the 4 or 5 maineventers they had. The undercard was trash. Todays roster and the one in the early 2000s is way deeper top to bottom
 
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#36 ·
All the stars aligned. I'm slowly working through raw from 97+ and 75% of it is either garbage or mundane but the 25% that isn't is really really special.
Great characters, fun storylines, solid stables, proper booking decisions and the whole edgy edge stuff.
 
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