When you consider the start of the New Generation?

[Manute Bol]

I could be wrong on this, but I don't believe the term New Generation was said on television until after Bret Hart won the Championship at WrestleMania X.

I think it can be argued that the New Generation may have started as early as SummerSlam 1992. Bret really started to be a focal point of the company at that point and guys like Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage all started being phased out more and more by then.

If you look at the main events between SummerSlam 1992 and WrestleMania X, you can definitely see the company starting to go with a mix of Hogan Era stars and New Generation stars.

So when exactly do you consider the start of the New Generation Era?

SummerSlam 1992 - British Bulldog vs. Bret Hart, Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage

Survivor Series 1992 - Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels, Randy Savage & Mr. Perfect (subbing for Warrior) vs. Ric Flair & Razor Ramon

Royal Rumble 1993 - Bret Hart vs. Razor Ramon

WrestleMania IX - Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna, Mega-Maniacs vs. Money Inc.

King of the Ring 1993 - Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna

SummerSlam 1993 - Lex Luger vs. Yokozuna

Survivor Series 1993 - Lex Luger, The Steiners & Undertaker (subbing for Tatanka) vs. Yokozuna, Ludvig Borga, Jacques & Crush (subbing for Pierre)

Royal Rumble 1994 - Undertaker vs. Yokozuna

[kidglov3s]

I guess I consider it when Bret won the title from Flair in 1992. Bret having the world title marks the sea change for me. A vanilla midget WWF champion was a shocking, shocking development in 1992, and it was the first crest of the wave of repercussions following the steroid trials that would come to be known as The New Generation. I think of Summerslam 1992 with Bret and Bulldog going on last as an England thing. Warrior and Savage were still on the poster, video cover, etc, and in my opinion that's what WWF promoted as the main event of the show.

[Unocal 76]

SummerSlam 1992 was the start, IMO.

First PPV at the time without Hulk Hogan- it was a success and proof the WWF could thrive without the red and yellow.

[rnrk supports BLM]

Definitely around late '92. Within a span of a few months, Bret won the world title for the first time, Shawn won the IC title for the first time, Razor Ramon and Yokozuna both debuted and started getting built up as major stars, and Ultimate Warrior, the guy who'd previously been intended to be Hogan's successor and WWF's new top headliner, vanished from pro wrestling again for the next few years.

I'd consider Survivor Series '92 to be the first PPV of the New Generation.

[Hit Girl]

Wrestlemania VIII

[Manute Bol]

Sept 3, 2011 2:41:09 GMT -5 Hit Girl said:

Wrestlemania VIII

Great answers so far and there definitely seems to be a consensus that it started sometime between SummerSlam 1992 and Survivor Series 1992 despite WWE not officially coining the term until after WrestleMania X in 1994.

But WrestleMania VIII? That seems a bit early considering Hogan was still in the main event, plus you still had Ric Flair, Randy Savage, Roddy Piper, Jake Roberts, Big Boss Man, The Nasty Boys, Sgt. Slaughter, Ted DiBiase and several other names more associated with the Hogan Era rather than the New Generation.

[Madagascar Fred]

Survivors 92

out with Hogan, Warryah, LOD, Bulldog (the roid 5) & soon Flair & Savage

in with Bret, Shawn, Razor, Yoko & soon Steiners & Luger (all of them weren't that young, but yeah, faster style mostly, new faces, less roided *coughLugercough*)

[Hit Girl]

Sept 3, 2011 2:53:45 GMT -5 Manute Bol said:

Sept 3, 2011 2:41:09 GMT -5 Hit Girl said:

Wrestlemania VIII

Great answers so far and there definitely seems to be a consensus that it started sometime between SummerSlam 1992 and Survivor Series 1992 despite WWE not officially coining the term until after WrestleMania X in 1994.

But WrestleMania VIII? That seems a bit early considering Hogan was still in the main event, plus you still had Ric Flair, Randy Savage, Roddy Piper, Jake Roberts, Big Boss Man, The Nasty Boys, Sgt. Slaughter, Ted DiBiase and several other names more associated with the Hogan Era rather than the New Generation.

I consider it the de facto end of the Hogan era of dominance. Yeah technically he hung around for another year, but I think the tide had begun to turn at Wrestlemania VIII.

[I *still* ✡ Johnny]

I'd say Wrestlemania IX.

In 1993, the WWF brought in a lot of new faces, and wrestling was nowhere near as popular as it had once been at the height of Hulkamania. Then came the steroid trial and the fall of the WBF, and the WWF hit a low creatively as well as financially. The first use of the New Generation logo, I believe, was in mid to late 1994. I tend to associate eras with their logos, but I'd say the New Generation started sometime shortly after Wrestlemania IX.

[Paco]

How about the debut of Monday Night RAW?

[Deleted]

I always felt the end of the Hulkamania Era was WrestleMania 6. The end of the 80's Era was WrestleMania 8.

The New Generation beginning? I think WM 10 is a good start. First WM without Hogan, Savage was a mid-card novelty act at that point, Warrior was long gone, Andre passed away a year before, Piper was a guest ref, etc, etc. Definitely a huge change.

[wildojinx]

And what would be the ending of the New Generation? I'd say either KOTR 96 (Austin 3:16 promo) or WM13.

[Manute Bol]

Sept 3, 2011 11:33:32 GMT -5 wildojinx said:

And what would be the ending of the New Generation? I'd say either KOTR 96 (Austin 3:16 promo) or WM13.

Great question. I've put more thought into this than necessary, but I pretty much have it broken down like this:

January 23, 1984 - Hulk Hogan wins the belt from The Iron Sheik and starts what is often considered either the Hogan Era, The Golden Era or, for the less imaginative viewers, the 80s era. I consider The Rock & Wrestling Connection a component of this era, rather then a separate entity like I have seen others do.

Summer 1992 - This is the trickiest one, which is why I started this thread in the first place, but I believe the New Generation Era started sometime around here. The WWE didn't coin the term until Spring of 1994, but there was a definite change of the guard that began around this time. Bret Hart was now the man on top, soon to be joined by Shawn Michaels.

March 23, 1997 - I think the Attitude Era begins with the Austin/Bret double turn at WrestleMania 13. We had seen traces of a new direction prior to this with Austin's KOTR win, the controversial Goldust character and The Nation of Domination. I think this point, however, is where they consciously made the decision to run in a new direction.

June 25, 2001 - The Invasion begins. I know many people don't consider this a separate era, but I think it deserves it. For the majority of 2001 almost all storylines were dropped and the Invasion was the sole focus of most WWE shows at the time. Although WCW wrestlers started doing run-ins in late May, I say this date is officially the start of the Invasion angle, thanks in part to Jim Ross announcing it as so on RAW on this night.

November 18, 2001 - Team WWF beats Team Alliance at the Survivor Series, ending the Invasion and starting what has become known as the Post War Era. On the Internet, however, we refer to this period as the Triple H Reign of Terror. Just ask Chris Jericho, Scott Steiner, Booker T, Kane, Goldberg, Shelton Benjamin and many others who saw their careers drastically affected by him during this time. The silver lining of this era is that, thanks to Smackdown, we got to see Eddie Guerrero and Brock Lesnar featured prominently.

April 25, 2005 - John Cena wins the WWE Championship and Batista wins the World Championship at WrestleMania 21 beginning what many refer to as the WWE Universe Era, the Cena Era or the PG Era. I don't think WWE was officially PG at this point, but this was where Cena and Batista, along with Edge and Orton (who both had prominent roles at this WrestleMania as well) became the focal points of the company.

June 27, 2011 - I hope I don't get flamed for this one, but I think when we look back at things a year from now, we will pinpoint CM Punk's now legendary promo as the beginning of our current era. His promo really served as a huge catalyst of change. So far we have seen Vince McMahon written off TV, Triple H introduced as the new man in charge, a potential end to the brand split, a potential revival of tag team wrestling, and CM Punk added to the main event mix. Perhaps I'm being too quick to call this one, or I need to take off my rose tinted glasses, but I can't help but feel a sense of change while I watch RAW these last two months.

Unfortunately, there is no concrete answer to this and I'm sure we all have our own timelines and logic behind them. I'm excited to read some of them and hear some comments/criticisms on mine.

[rnrk supports BLM]

Sept 3, 2011 11:33:32 GMT -5 wildojinx said:

And what would be the ending of the New Generation? I'd say either KOTR 96 (Austin 3:16 promo) or WM13.

This is a weird one because so much of '97 felt transitional; Bret and Shawn were still headlining and most of the major guys we think of as Attitude Era stars were still down in the midcard, but the overall tone of the product had already shifted dramatically towards something far more adult.

I know most people will say the New Generation ended quite a bit earlier, but I've always thought there was a nice bit of symmetry between Survivor Series '92 and Survivor Series '97: Both were headlined by Bret Hart defending the world title against Shawn Michaels, who was holding a secondary belt that he'd won from British Bulldog. One was Bret's first PPV match as world champion (and Shawn's first title shot), the other was Bret's final WWF match for over a decade, and the beginning of Shawn's final WWF championship reign.

[thegame415]

Here's how I always kind of looked at it:

1984-1992: The Rock N Wrestling/80's Boom/Federation years

1992-1997: The New Generation

1997-2001: The Attitude Era

2001-2002: Invasion Era

2002-2007: Ruthless Aggression Era

2007-Present: WWE Universe Era

[cabbageboy]

This is wild because I don't exactly know when the New Generation began or ended precisely. I would put the NG much later than others here. I don't think it really began until Diesel won the belt after Survivor Series 1994, since that was when I really recall the WWF branding itself as The New Generation. I equate it with Kliq era stuff.

Quite honestly I don't think the WWF had a real marketing campaign from 1992-94. It was just sorta what it was. Bret Hart was far too much the veteran to be any sort of "New Gen" type guy, which is why I think of it more as a Diesel era deal.

I'm not entirely sure when it ended or when they stopped running those ads. I wouldn't say Austin 3:16 ended it at KOTR, but maybe slightly before it. Once Mick Foley debuted as Mankind and attacked Taker in psychotic fashion, it wasn't the cheerful and lame New Generation stuff anymore. People forget that Foley got a big push before Austin did.

[Manute Bol]

Sept 3, 2011 23:12:02 GMT -5 cabbageboy said:

This is wild because I don't exactly know when the New Generation began or ended precisely. I would put the NG much later than others here. I don't think it really began until Diesel won the belt after Survivor Series 1994, since that was when I really recall the WWF branding itself as The New Generation. I equate it with Kliq era stuff.

Quite honestly I don't think the WWF had a real marketing campaign from 1992-94. It was just sorta what it was. Bret Hart was far too much the veteran to be any sort of "New Gen" type guy, which is why I think of it more as a Diesel era deal.

I'm not entirely sure when it ended or when they stopped running those ads. I wouldn't say Austin 3:16 ended it at KOTR, but maybe slightly before it. Once Mick Foley debuted as Mankind and attacked Taker in psychotic fashion, it wasn't the cheerful and lame New Generation stuff anymore. People forget that Foley got a big push before Austin did.

Not attacking you, but there are a few inaccuracies in your post.

1. The WWE started using the term New Generation almost immediately after WrestleMania X. In fact, if you watch King of the Ring 1994 they must say the phrase New Generation at least 100 times. In one of the funniest segments of the night, Todd Pettingill is interviewing the Mayor of Baltimore and asks who is favorite wrestler is, to which he replies Hulk Hogan. Todd's reaction is priceless as Hogan had just signed with WCW and the entire theme of the night was how WWE had the youngest, newest talent.

In fact, I recall the WWE playing that stupid New Generation commercial with the kid in the hallway screaming "Breeettttt!" nonstop over the course of 1994.

2. Foley did not get a big push before Austin did. Foley debuted the night after WrestleMania XII, April 1, 1996. Austin debuted in late 1995 but didn't get a real push until he won the King of the Ring in June and started taunting Bret Hart almost immediately after. Mankind didn't really take off until SummerSlam 1996 when Paul Bearer turned on Taker and joined him, but even then he was not even close to being in the main events. In fact it would be QUITE a while before that happened. So while both of their pushes started at about the same time, Austin definitely got the harder push and took off in the main event scene much, much earlier than Foley did.

Austin had a Number One Contender's match with Bret at Survivor Series and won the Royal Rumble while Mankind was still a supporting act feuding with The Undertaker.

Again, not attacking you, just correcting those inaccuracies.

[MolotovMocktail]

King of the Ring 93. Yes Hogan was out of it for most of 92, but there was always the feeling he could be brought back. With him being tossed out for good at KOTR, you knew Bret (and Luger in the weeks to come) would take the WWF in a different direction.

[repomanfan]

Even as young 10, 11, 12 year old mark I realized that the new generation was major step down. The WWF went from being filled with bigger than life stars(Hogan, Warrior, Dibiase, Perfect, LOD, Demolition etc.....). In its place we got a bunch of lame stars with less talent and a lot less charisma. Shawn and Bret were great, but they had almost nobody to work with. Yoko, Diesel, Narcissist, Jeff Jarrett, 123 kid......really?

I still watched the product, but definitely with less excitement and anticipation.

The getting rid of the old(so called old) started around the summer of 92 after wrestlemania 8 and was fully complete sometime after wrestlemania 9.

[probable]

When the WWF started running on Diesel power.