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LTTP: The WWF's "Attitude Era"

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S

Sinatar

Official GAF Bottom Feeder
So I used to watch wrestling religiously as a kid (80's kid) but kinda got over it around '92, so I missed the whole attitude era.

Recently I've gotten back into wrestling, but the current crop of WWE stars are unbelievably bad, so I figured why not go back to what most consider the best era of Wrestling and give it a go.

As for a starting point, I chose mid 97 when The Rock stopped being Rocky Maivia and started developing his more well known persona, as well DX started at the same time.

I've gone through a few episodes of RAW and just watched my first PPV "In Your House: Ground Zero" which had a match between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker that might be the most entertaining match I've ever seen in my life. Just utter chaos for like 40 minutes, great great stuff.

So far I'm having a lot of fun, it's already a million times better then what they are putting out now.
 
notworksafe

notworksafe

Member
Sinatar said:
the current crop of WWE stars are unbelievably bad
Click to expand...

BVbv7ZY.gif
 
S

Sir_Crocodile

Member
It's not the current stars that are the problem. In the late nineties, everyone cut their own promos.

Now almost everyone is forced to read scripted promos written by vince. And up until a few months ago, they weren't even allowed to sell the damage of moves.
 
T

TarpitCarnivore

Member
You're still in 97 which means things were still OK, but it goes downhill really fast come late 97 and into 98

Sinatar said:
So far I'm having a lot of fun, it's already a million times better then what they are putting out now.
Click to expand...

This is 50/50 (see what I did there?). The promos and overall stories are memorable and legendary but there is A LOT of terrible wrestling then.

By time the NWO splits and Mike Tyson comes in is when you it's about to get bumpy
 
M

meppi

Member
Sir_Crocodile said:
It's not the current stars that are the problem. In the late nineties, everyone cut their own promos.

Now almost everyone is forced to read scripted promos written by vince. And up until a few months ago, they weren't even allowed to sell the damage of moves.
Click to expand...

Really? I've been out of the loop for a bit as it just hasn't been enjoyable to watch after they basically gutted NXT.
This actually was a thing?
 
S

Sir_Crocodile

Member
meppi said:
Really? I've been out of the loop for a bit as it just hasn't been enjoyable to watch after they basically gutted NXT.
This actually was a thing?
Click to expand...

Yep.

Vince's thinking was that the fans paid money to see the star's entrances and victory poses etc. When someone's selling injuries they normally don't do that stuff, so vince basically told people to do their poses etc even if they were supposed to be injured.

A particularly bad example was apollo cruise being beaten up backstage then coming out for a match like nothing happened. Just cringe to watch. Thankfully that's no longer the case.

vince gets hung up on weird crap sometimes.
 
S

Syder

Member
If you want the whole Attitude Era experience you may have wanted to start with the genesis of Austin 3:16.

Sinatar said:
the current crop of WWE stars are unbelievably bad
Click to expand...
They actually have the potential to exceed all previous generations but unfortunately the booking has never been worse and WWE don't make new stars anymore, see: Lesnar and Goldberg main eventing Survivor Series.
 
triplestation

triplestation

Member
Shits overproduced now

I wish they went back to the crude style and let wrestlers be more free with their craft

That's where all the heart and guts were that made wrestling great

faruq.DAMN
 
M

meppi

Member
Sir_Crocodile said:
Yep.

Vince's thinking was that the fans paid money to see the star's entrances and victory poses etc. When someone's selling injuries they normally don't do that stuff, so vince basically told people to do their poses etc even if they were supposed to be injured.

A particularly bad example was apollo cruise being beaten up backstage then coming out for a match like nothing happened. Just cringe to watch. Thankfully that's no longer the case.

vince gets hung up on weird crap sometimes.
Click to expand...

Sheesh. We as wrestling fans go on about how out of touch Vince is, but things like this just goes to show it's actually worse than we though, well most of us anyway.

It's no wonder I have a hard time watching a show without just fast forwarding to a match I'm somewhat interested in. And I actually want to love it...
 
T

TarpitCarnivore

Member
meppi said:
Sheesh. We as wrestling fans go on about how out of touch Vince is, but things like this just goes to show it's actually worse than we though, well most of us anyway.

It's no wonder I have a hard time watching a show without just fast forwarding to a match I'm somewhat interested in. And I actually want to love it...
Click to expand...

Watch Smackdown
 
N

Net_Wrecker

Member
Noooooo you skipped 96 and early 97. Austin was absolutely killer in 96, and watching the way the Bret/Austin/HBK feud gradually swallows the entire company as their characters change is like the best part of the Attitude Era build.
 
I

ironmang

Member
Best era. Imo HBK is the best wrestler ever and his prime years were simply amazing. He not only brought it but made his opponent look great too.
 
S

Sir_Crocodile

Member
meppi said:
Ah, I'll give it a try then.
Click to expand...

Catch "talking smack" afterwards if you can. It's a 30 min show after smackdown hosted by dbry and renee where wrestlers can cut promos without being scripted by vince. Probably one of the reasons smackdown is so much better then raw, wrestlers get the chance to come out of their shell.

Net_Wrecker said:
Noooooo you skipped 96 and early 97. Austin was absolutely killer in 96, and watching the way the Bret/Austin/HBK feud gradually swallows the entire company as their characters change is like the best part of the Attitude Era build.
Click to expand...

Austin's promos were raw back then, so good. Also shows you just how good a wrestler Austin was before the piledriver screwed him up.
 
CaptainofIndustry

CaptainofIndustry

Member
ironmang said:
Best era. Imo HBK is the best wrestler ever and his prime years were simply amazing. He not only brought it but made his opponent look great too.
Click to expand...

Agreed. That guy was the best wrestler until the day that he retired. The stuff he was doing in his forties, after all those injuries, was incredible.
 
O

oneofthose

Banned
Sir_Crocodile said:
It's not the current stars that are the problem. In the late nineties, everyone cut their own promos.

Now almost everyone is forced to read scripted promos written by vince. And up until a few months ago, they weren't even allowed to sell the damage of moves.
Click to expand...

Disagree alot of it is on the guys. The guys from back in the day most of them were cutting good promos prior to coming to wwe. What good promos were guys like sami zayn, cesaro balor etc cutting prior to wwe. The guys now think they will get over putting a good fake match.
 
B

bjork

Member
Sinatar said:
So I used to watch wrestling religiously as a kid (80's kid) but kinda got over it around '92, so I missed the whole attitude era.

Recently I've gotten back into wrestling, but the current crop of WWE stars are unbelievably bad, so I figured why not go back to what most consider the best era of Wrestling and give it a go.

As for a starting point, I chose mid 97 when The Rock stopped being Rocky Maivia and started developing his more well known persona, as well DX started at the same time.

I've gone through a few episodes of RAW and just watched my first PPV "In Your House: Ground Zero" which had a match between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker that might be the most entertaining match I've ever seen in my life. Just utter chaos for like 40 minutes, great great stuff.

So far I'm having a lot of fun, it's already a million times better then what they are putting out now.
Click to expand...

You should stop at Survivor Series 97. It's all downhill after that.
 
S

Syder

Member
oneofthose said:
Disagree alot of it is on the guys. The guys from back in the day most of them were cutting good promos prior to coming to wwe. What good promos were guys like sami zayn, cesaro balor etc cutting prior to wwe. The guys now think they will get over putting a good fake match.
Click to expand...
A lot of what up and comers do in other promotions will never work in WWE, see: Jon Moxley.
Also, Finn Bálor was a decent promo in NJPW but he'll never be able to do what he did there in WWE. Look forward to WWE are sticking with Face Bálor for a sickeningly long time.

The Zayn/Owens feud was entertaining in NXT and translated pretty well to main roster, giving us one of the matches of the year.

Cesaro feels like a lost cause now.
 
A

Autumn Wind

Member
I do not feel the Attitude Era has aged well. I much prefer watching old episodes of Nitro but only because of the cruiserweights. I did not start watching WWE regularly until mid-2000.
 
T

TimeEffect

Member
Syder said:
If you want the whole Attitude Era experience you may have wanted to start with the genesis of Austin 3:16.

They actually have the potential to exceed all previous generations but unfortunately the booking has never been worse and WWE don't make new stars anymore, see: Lesnar and Goldberg main eventing Survivor Series.
Click to expand...

Not as good as the genesis of mcgillicutty
 
Fox Mulder

Fox Mulder

Member
I tried to watch wrestling, and the shit is just horrible now.

They actually gave reasons to care in the attitude era and wcw. Everyone had stories and payoffs, regardless of how awful they may be. Characters stood out due to charisma and talent instead of scripted promos.
 
B

Bruce Springsteen

Member
People forget that the attitude era was at its most extreme during 1997, the race angle alone between DX/Hart foundation/Nation eclipses everything austin and corporate rock ever did
 
K

Kornflayx

Member
Attitude Era was awesome. I'd rather watch mediocre wrestling with people I care about than good wrestling with people who bore me to death

Of course, WCW had good wrestling with people I care about. So WCW > everything else
 
R

RecRoulette

Member
Sir_Crocodile said:
Catch "talking smack" afterwards if you can. It's a 30 min show after smackdown hosted by dbry and renee where wrestlers can cut promos without being scripted by vince. Probably one of the reasons smackdown is so much better then raw, wrestlers get the chance to come out of their shell.
Click to expand...

Isn't it pushed back an hour now because of the cruiserweight show?
 
R

Ronin

Member
The build to the attitude era is a lot better than the actual attitude era. A lot of it has not aged well and is super edge lord cringe.

It has its moments for sure, but there's a lot of trashy Jerry Springer style stuff to wade through.
 
K

kiguel182

Member
WWE has tons of amazing wrestlers. The reason Raw is unwatchable is because the direction and writing is beyond terrible.
 
K

kirblar

Member
The end of the attitude era is the first HHH/Angle match. Chris Kreski left and Stephen took over as head of creative. This was a problem.

Kreski s run from about the start of Smackdown till then is godlike.
 
Z

Zach

Member
The Attitude Era was the worst (aside from Foley/Austin/Rock/sometimes Vince McMahon).

I guess it's fine if you can't handle Where the Big Boys Play.
 
D

DustyVonEric

Member
NoRéN;225515681 said:
Nostalgia is a hell of a drug.

However, the wrestle thread will fit you just fine.
Click to expand...

OP is right though.

Compared to 80's and Monday Night Wars, today's main WWE main roster is crap with a few bright spots, unfortunately. Great athletes; boring personas, storylines overall, story-telling in their matches, little reason for fans to invest in the wrestlers or matches.
 
B

Bruce Springsteen

Member
Sinatar said:
So I used to watch wrestling religiously as a kid (80's kid) but kinda got over it around '92, so I missed the whole attitude era.

Recently I've gotten back into wrestling, but the current crop of WWE stars are unbelievably bad, so I figured why not go back to what most consider the best era of Wrestling and give it a go.

As for a starting point, I chose mid 97 when The Rock stopped being Rocky Maivia and started developing his more well known persona, as well DX started at the same time.

I've gone through a few episodes of RAW and just watched my first PPV "In Your House: Ground Zero" which had a match between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker that might be the most entertaining match I've ever seen in my life. Just utter chaos for like 40 minutes, great great stuff.

So far I'm having a lot of fun, it's already a million times better then what they are putting out now.
Click to expand...

The current crop is trash. It's not because they're not technically gifted or athletic, they're far more than the attitude era actually. It's that they have no personality and charisma

Wrasslin isn't real folks, it's about having a good character an story to connect with the crowd, actual wrestling is secondary

That's why it's so hard to give a shit when anyone does anything in the WWE today
 
M

meppi

Member
Sir_Crocodile said:
Catch "talking smack" afterwards if you can. It's a 30 min show after smackdown hosted by dbry and renee where wrestlers can cut promos without being scripted by vince. Probably one of the reasons smackdown is so much better then raw, wrestlers get the chance to come out of their shell.
Click to expand...
Ah, was that where the Miz went off on Daniel Brian a couple of months ago?
Didn't know this was actually a thing. Just thought it was a one off.
 
S

Sane_Man

Member
Even the least entertaining wrestlers in the attitude era are better than the shitty crop that are in the WWE now. Unwatchable.
 
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