Those were the days ; Bring back The Attitude Era

The Attitude Era was a period in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and professional wrestling history that began as a direct result of the Monday Night Wars and culminated with the conclusion of the Wars in 2001.

The Attitude Era was a surge in the popularity of professional wrestling in the United States from the late 1990s to early 2000s, as television ratings and pay-per-view buy-rates hit record highs. The Attitude Era was defined by a radical shift in programming content. In contrast to the more traditional, family-friendly content that was common in WWF programming, the Attitude Era sought to attract the young adult demographic by transforming the product into an edgier and more controversial form of entertainment.

Origin


The official date of the Attitude Era was between March 29, 1998 when Stone Cold Steve Austin became the WWF Champion at WrestleMania XIV to April 1, 2001 at WrestleMania X-Seven, days after World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was bought out by the WWF. However, the Attitude Era's origin is attributed to events that took place in the mid 1990's. One of these notable dates was the 1996 King of the Ring when Stone Cold uttered the famous catchphase of "Austin 3:16" and began the WWF's transition to an edgier product

Leading up to the event, Jake Roberts was as a fan favorite and considered the probable winner of the event as his character had successfully defeated alcoholism and drug addiction and was now trying to live life as a constructive member of society. Roberts was defeated by Stone Cold Steve Austin, whose character was that of a heel redneck. With an upset victory over Roberts, Austin mocked his opponent for constantly referencing John 3:16, culminating in the phrase, "Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass!" Austin's defiance of authority and social mores proved to be popular amongst the fans, and "Austin 3:16" became a marketing juggernaut for the WWF.
The dominance of anti-heroes and villains was further cemented by the Montreal Screwjob. Vince McMahon used fans' knowledge of the real-life politics behind the incident to create the "Mr. McMahon" character, a corrupt businessman fixated on destroying the lives of disobedient employees. The resultant feud between Austin, portrayed as a working class everyman, and Mr. McMahon became the central storyline of the Attitude Era, propelled by Austin's profanity-laded tirades against McMahon and McMahon's increasingly violent and corrupt retaliations against Austin. Against this backdrop, other adult-oriented stories and characters were introduced, including D-Generation X, a crew of lewd frat boys prone to innuendo, and The Godfather, a pimp who came to the ring accompanied by a variety of prostitutes.

A Glance at the Storylines


Austin vs. McMahon

On the Raw after Austin won the WWF Championship, Mr. McMahon presented him with the newly designed WWF Championship belt and informed Austin that he did not approve of his rebellious nature and that if he didn't conform to society and become his image of what a WWF Champion should be, Austin would face severe consequences. Austin gave his answer in the form of a Stone Cold Stunner to McMahon. This led to a segment a week later where Austin had pledged a few days prior in a meeting to agree to McMahon's terms, appearing in a suit and tie, with a beaming McMahon taking a picture of himself and Austin, his new corporate champion. The entire thing was a ruse by Austin who in the course of the segment proceeded to tear off the suit, telling McMahon it was the last time he'd ever be seen dressed like this. Austin punched McMahon in the "corporate grapefruits", and took another picture with McMahon grieving in pain.

The following week on April 13, 1998, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Mr. McMahon were going to battle out their differences in an actual match, but the match was declared a no contest when Dude Love interrupted the entire thing. On that night Raw defeated Nitro in the ratings for the first time since June 10, 1996. Meanwhile, several popular characters emerged on Monday Night Raw that would establish consistently high viewing from fans: The Rock, after not winning over the fans as the face Rocky Maivia, was making a new name for himself as a member of the Nation of Domination, and later as a singles performer, and Triple H, who after Shawn Michaels left due to back injuries took control of D-Generation X and recruited The New Age Outlaws and X-Pac, who had just returned to the WWF after his two years tenure with WCW as a member of the nWo, into his new "D-Generation X Army".



The DX Army and The Rock


With the newly formed "DX Army", D-Generation X participated in numerous segments causing chaos and leaving wreckage wherever they went. On April 27, 1998 Nitro was held at the Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia, while Raw was held nearby at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia. With the ongoing war between the WWF and WCW, the DX Army decided to initiate an immediate "invasion" of Nitro. The DX Army drove to the Norfolk Scope in an army Jeep, challenging WCW head Eric Bischoff to come out and face them or to let them in. The fans outside the arena for the show began chanting "DX" as they joined the DX Army, helping them attempt to enter the arena and invade the Nitro broadcast. Soon after, the DX Army even appeared at CNN Towers to call out WCW owner Ted Turner. Like Austin, D-Generation X were embraced by fans, with their mischievous antics and defiant attitude, as their popularity continued to grow.

Perhaps the only individual to rival Steve Austin in popularity during this time was The Rock, a third-generation star who was originally introduced to fans as Rocky Maivia and pushed as a major face upon his debut. The fans began to turn against Maivia, as they didn't appreciate him being constantly overemphasized as a good guy and forced into the role. Aggravated by the fans' extreme dislike for him and feeling under appreciated and underestimated, Rocky himself turned against the fans and began to verbally insult them on a weekly basis with various trash-talking promos while referring to himself in the third person.

Through his in-ring abilities and tremendous skills on the microphone, The Rock gained a huge fan base as he continued to grow immensely popular despite every attempt The Rock made to be a heel, even interrupting fans as they repeated The Rock's catch phrases in unison with him, reiterating "This isn't sing-a-long with The Rock!" With his engrossing and funny promos, The Rock became one of the most popular WWF superstars of all time.


We want those Good Ol Days back...or Else We Riot!

Bring Back Attitude Era

RPG-13 Sucks.