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Post by karl100589 on Jun 26, 2022 6:39:03 GMT -5
A commonly asked question among wrestling fans, but I want to try and find a general consensus. It's strange that most of us can point to an end of the era (WM17) but not it's beginning.
I've put together a shortlist of suggestions, but feel free to list your own.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Jun 26, 2022 6:46:32 GMT -5
I'm inclined to think Goldust and Mankind heralded it, since that's when you have an undeniably sexually provocative character in a way the WWF simply wasn't doing prior, and a psychologically darker character that was more disturbing than, say, your Kamalas or Yokozunas in terms of monster heels. The WWF had crossed the Rubicon.
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FinalGwen
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Post by FinalGwen on Jun 26, 2022 6:53:03 GMT -5
It's a hard one to draw a line for, but the Bret heel turn isn't a bad shout. The defining star of the New Generation turning in an edgier direction in response to the rise of the figure who'd define the Attitude Era.
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msc
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Post by msc on Jun 26, 2022 7:27:47 GMT -5
I think it started at Mania 13 with Austin turning face (and Bret turning heel) and ended at Mania 17 with Austin turning heel again.
But that 1996 had a lot of foundation for it - Austins KOTR, Pillman, Goldusts stuff, Foley etc. The New Generation and the Attitude era both sort of organically formed into each other.
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Post by Can you afford to pay me, Gah on Jun 26, 2022 7:33:30 GMT -5
Attitude over all was like Goldust and stuff in 96 was the seeds where planted and than started growing. Beyond just Goldust character, edgy but it was the first seed I see it as but I look at 96, Like I got as soon as 96 Royal Rumble why? Diesel gave Taker the middle finger which was something not seen before. Than how that all went down. After WM 12 Shawn and Diesel feuded for the belt the stuff Diesel made reference to Vince. Kind start of Vince being known as the owner on TV. The match itself the bumps. The promo the language was up there. Than we had Austin 316 promo and than the language he started using. It just kept going from there and the seeds just started growing.
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Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on Jun 26, 2022 7:38:25 GMT -5
I haven't seen the Bret heel turn suggested as it previously but I think that may be the exact moment. Everything started moving towards being edgier then and it marked a paragon face character changing little but still being a heel
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Bo Rida
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Post by Bo Rida on Jun 26, 2022 7:55:47 GMT -5
Bret's heel turn. There'd been heels I liked before but this was the first time they essentially gave permission to cheer them. Cool heels and anti-heroes then dominanted the rest of the era.
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ghost
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Post by ghost on Jun 26, 2022 8:14:25 GMT -5
“Frustrated isn’t the goddamn word for it”.
Definitely around Bret’s teased and then full on turn. That was also the time Austin was rising so it was a perfect blend.
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Post by SmashTV on Jun 26, 2022 8:53:31 GMT -5
Survivor Series 95, Diesel launching Bret through the announce table. It seemed edgier than the rest of 1995 put together, and to me was a subtle sign that the WWF was changing gears slightly.
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Post by johnnyk9 on Jun 26, 2022 10:56:59 GMT -5
Bret really started good worked shoots promos
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Post by Cyno on Jun 26, 2022 11:04:39 GMT -5
I go with the Screwjob. It was the end of the Bret Hart Era in WWF and it ended in such an infamous way. It was also the beginnings of the Mr McMahon character.
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Post by koreycaskets on Jun 26, 2022 11:35:54 GMT -5
I actually think it was before the screw job with Brett going off on McMahon in the ring.
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john84
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Post by john84 on Jun 26, 2022 12:31:03 GMT -5
For me they start doing the build for Attitude Era in the lead up to Bret's heel turn and it is then made official when he turns heel.
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Post by The Rick Jericho on Jun 26, 2022 12:33:13 GMT -5
Sable's breasts at the 1997 Slammys. Seriously. Before that we had nothing that risque until then.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 26, 2022 14:31:20 GMT -5
If you're talking "Something different than the 1995 new generation" type of stuff: sunny doing the "too hot for tv" warnings at the beginning of the show and focusing on her butt the first few months of 1996, and 1996 goldust, followed by austin saying ass every chance he got, warrior's "he's a real life guy now" change, ahmed johnson and farooq racial/gang style feud.
if you're talking the tone of the on screen show changing: when raw is war started in early 97 after the germany owen/bulldog raw, with the current set that they're still using and going from taping 4 shows at once to being live, saying "we're competing with wcw now"
if you're talking the owner taking the company in a new direction: vince's "the audience is tired of good guys and bad guys and having your intelligence insulted!" speech he did in late 97, the owner of the company telling the audience that the show was fake and scripted, and we're going in a new direction.
and lastly, if you're talking "wipe the slate clean, start fresh from here": the raw after wrestlemania 14 in 1998, shawn was gone, dx was restructured, full board with "austin is now our guy" feuding with vince, and "where are we now?" storylines changing week to week, set the tone of the show for the next few years. it was already building through 97 and bret leaving, but that was the "shawn is gone, we're starting fresh from here" clean start.
stuff started changing in 96, big changes were in 97 to change the set and mission statement of the show, and then full speed ahead in 98
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Post by The Thread Barbi on Jun 26, 2022 16:38:14 GMT -5
Diesel flipping the bird at Undertaker, Royal Rumble 96.
No one disrespected the deadman.
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Post by Triangle Lancer on Jun 26, 2022 19:38:13 GMT -5
Faarooq going from powder-blue Centurion to Jim Brown clone/Nation leader after the 1996 Survivor Series may not be the top date people will think of, but it is when Ron Simmons took charge of his character and wanted it to be a person more reality-based and unique. Anybody can lead a stable. But Ron took it upon himself to create an early form of the NoD; even contacting higher-ups in that following to promise that it will not be offensive to the cause. Yet still make them feared and respected.
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Post by nakedmideon on Jun 27, 2022 15:10:33 GMT -5
If you go back to one of the first episodes of Raw in 97 in the lead up to the Royal Rumble i think you can notice a change.they literally use the word Attitude 4/5 times in the show. While obviously not full blown Attitude era you could definitely notice the shift in direction
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Post by Wardlow on Wardlow 54 on Jun 27, 2022 15:41:18 GMT -5
Either the Bret promo after the cage match or Austin stunning Vince for the first time. Suddenly, Vince wasn't just the unbiased voice of the company, he was as much a character as anyone else on the show.
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Post by James Fabiano on Jun 27, 2022 17:46:01 GMT -5
'96 was kind of a cross between New Gen and Attitude, and it began the tail end of 1995...with Goldust, as well as table spots starting to show up in WWF matches, some blood, and the start of pushing Sunny as a sex symbol. And you even had a quasi-shoot promo when Diesel decried the corporate suits after Survivor Series.
When the MNW started, both companies were already starting to take ECW influences, but didn't quite go all in yet.
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