wwf attitude - overrated

[ilikeRusso.]

stevieraymark said:

Now then im going to try my best as to explain why i think the attitude era is overrated (please dont kill me lol)and i apologise in advance because my punctuation etc isnt the best so please dont jump on me for that ok so here goes

THE MCMAHONS- these days anytime the mcmahons appear on tv they are blasted by the iwc well back in the attitude era they were one of the focal points of the show you had stephanie being abducted by taker can anyone honestly say this wouldnt get crapped on by todays wrestling fans. you had shane mcmahon as european champ if that happened today (and the title wasnt defunct) people would say bla bla bla workrate this workrate that and how it devalued the belt. and worst of all vince being world heavyweight champion now remember when vince won the ecw title the iwc acted like hed raped their grandmother and thats only 3rd most important belt in the company at best.

IN RING QUALITY - yes at this time you had guys like austin rock etc putting on stellar matches but look lower down the card even at ic title level you had guys like big boss man billy gunn road dogg the godfather val venis chyna hardly great wrestlers are they

CRUISERWEIGHTS- people go on about the lack of cruiserweight divison today well attitude era didnt have one at all until 2000 when essa rios came in gillberg held it for about 2 years or so
can you imagine today how bad the iwc would go on about the belt being devalued.

STORYLINES- now this for me was why attitude wwf was enjoyable you had SOME fresh storylines today we talk about getting sick of seeing cena overcome the odds every week well you didnt back then because thats what was happening austin overcoming the odds against the mcmahons/ministry/nation/insert heel here.

anyway in closing i hope my post has been readable. and while i loved wwf at the time i think while yes the storylines right now are pretty stale (except save us x29) the in ring work at least lower down the card is of a higher level than it was then please give me your thoughts cheers .kyle

Raw 98, BG james and Kip had put on Awesome singles matches with the rock / corporation which gave them singles pushes whilst owen and jeff held the Tag titles for a while. Your logic is flawed and the attitude era made the wwe survive through one of its shittest down swings ever in ratings and attendance.

[ilikeRusso.]

kiddobradley said:

The Attitude Era was a very good era, but yes, it is very overrated. I mean, it'd have to be.

Don't think it did any wrong?

1. Chyna/Mark Henry/Tranny. 'Nuff said.

2. Ho Train as an acceptible finisher.

3. Often a lot more promos and segments than actual wrestling.

4. The origin of attempting to use Billy Gunn as a solo star.

5. Trainloads of Dusty finishes.

6. Such brilliant choices for Women's champ as Hervina, Kat, and
Debra.

After calling hoetrain a finisher i doubt you really watched anything during the Attitude era it was called the Pimp drop and it helped Papa Shango win a IC title.

[Mozenrath]

jessie4950 said:

kiddobradley said:

The Attitude Era was a very good era, but yes, it is very overrated. I mean, it'd have to be.

Don't think it did any wrong?

1. Chyna/Mark Henry/Tranny. 'Nuff said.

2. Ho Train as an acceptible finisher.

3. Often a lot more promos and segments than actual wrestling.

4. The origin of attempting to use Billy Gunn as a solo star.

5. Trainloads of Dusty finishes.

6. Such brilliant choices for Women's champ as Hervina, Kat, and
Debra.

After calling hoetrain a finisher i doubt you really watched anything during the Attitude era it was called the Pimp drop and it helped Papa Shango win a IC title.

I know he pinned people with the Pimp Drop, smart ass, but they acted like it was a devastating maneuver.

[Loki]

The Attitude Era is overrated like any other supposed "golden age".

Compared to the current product, the storylines looked new and fresh, the midcard had a bit more of credibility and airtime, and some groundbreaking characters/angles were originated.

It looked exciting because they "burned" 10 years worth of storylines in 2 years, going full-throttle under every possible aspect. The results are the jaded crowds and the somewhat lackluster angles we have today.

For all the Good Stuff we had during the Attitude Era, I think the price was too high:

Constant title changes devalued the prestige of the belts, especially the Intercontinental one, that has never recovered from years of being held by everybody and their grandfathers.

The title scene was an organized clustersmurf, with insanely amounts of run-ins and interferences: a World Champion can win under "dodgy" circumstances, but that should not happen every other week, and with half a dozen different Champions.

Too much emphasis was put on outside-the-ring action, and Superstars kinda became walking catchphrases.

My take on Attitude Era is quite negative, as it priviliged the "here and now" factor, but in the long run made more harm than good.


//edit: about gazillions of "new" fans watching... Spice Girls and Take That had people flocking in to their concerts, but were those bands GOOD for music?

[HMARK Center]

Ignoring for a second the impact that the MNW/Attitude era had on pro wrestling as a whole, I agree that the time of about 1998-2000 was vastly overrated.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I was 13 around that time, and I got back into wrestling because everything felt so different, so new, that I couldn't look away.

By the time I was 14 in 1999, I barely cared about either WWF OR WCW anymore.

That, to me, was the biggest issue concerning that era. There were some moments from back then that stick out, but to someone like me (and your mileage may obviously vary), it all had very little lasting power.

[I'm The Cool One]

drthv8r said:

Not gonna do a point by point...but i was way more excited to tune in during the Attitude days than today. Back then I HAD to watch...today, i'll catch the 2nd half after heroes.

that says it all right there...
amen

[i.Sarita.com]

I perfer the time right around when they "Got the F out" more than the Attitude era...it just wasn't my kind of show...I was a die-hard WCW fan...

[#Classic Hi-Definition X]

I preferred the latter part of the Attitude Era (2000-early 2001) over the earlier years (1998-99). That was when WWF was at its best (from what I've seen, anyway).

[BayleyTiffyCodyCenaJudyHopps]

hitmandx said:

I preferred the latter part of the Attitude Era (2000-early 2001) over the earlier years (1998-99). That was when WWF was at its best (from what I've seen, anyway).

The tail end of Attitude was my favorite period too, next to the early 90s WWF (due to that being the point in which I first got into wrestling).

[DiBiase is Good]

jessie4950 said:

stevieraymark said:

Now then im going to try my best as to explain why i think the attitude era is overrated (please dont kill me lol)and i apologise in advance because my punctuation etc isnt the best so please dont jump on me for that ok so here goes

THE MCMAHONS- these days anytime the mcmahons appear on tv they are blasted by the iwc well back in the attitude era they were one of the focal points of the show you had stephanie being abducted by taker can anyone honestly say this wouldnt get crapped on by todays wrestling fans. you had shane mcmahon as european champ if that happened today (and the title wasnt defunct) people would say bla bla bla workrate this workrate that and how it devalued the belt. and worst of all vince being world heavyweight champion now remember when vince won the ecw title the iwc acted like hed raped their grandmother and thats only 3rd most important belt in the company at best.

IN RING QUALITY - yes at this time you had guys like austin rock etc putting on stellar matches but look lower down the card even at ic title level you had guys like big boss man billy gunn road dogg the godfather val venis chyna hardly great wrestlers are they

CRUISERWEIGHTS- people go on about the lack of cruiserweight divison today well attitude era didnt have one at all until 2000 when essa rios came in gillberg held it for about 2 years or so
can you imagine today how bad the iwc would go on about the belt being devalued.

STORYLINES- now this for me was why attitude wwf was enjoyable you had SOME fresh storylines today we talk about getting sick of seeing cena overcome the odds every week well you didnt back then because thats what was happening austin overcoming the odds against the mcmahons/ministry/nation/insert heel here.

anyway in closing i hope my post has been readable. and while i loved wwf at the time i think while yes the storylines right now are pretty stale (except save us x29) the in ring work at least lower down the card is of a higher level than it was then please give me your thoughts cheers .kyle

Raw 98, BG james and Kip had put on Awesome singles matches with the rock / corporation which gave them singles pushes whilst owen and jeff held the Tag titles for a while. Your logic is flawed and the attitude era made the wwe survive through one of its craptest down swings ever in ratings and attendance.

The Road Dogg, Billy Gunn and awesome matches in the same sentence.
Wow!
Unless the sentence is Road Dogg and Billy Gunn never had an awesome match.

[amaron]

What's the difference between the Attitude Era and now?

Competition.

The Attitude Era had to be fresh.

[Slammywinner]

One of my big complaints of attitude was the lack of in ring action and the short matches on a nightly basis. Right now, the in ring product is definately more showcase, but as a result, the PPV's are more genecic now, because not only has the wrestling focus on RAW improved, but they slowed down the dangerous sports so no one is really going down in flames like Mick Foley, Austin and HHH with crazy highspots.

Attitude was awesome because anything could happen. Even if there was dumb stuff, like Mae Young giving birth to a hand, and Bossman pulling Big Show's dad's casket around the cemetary behind the blues bros. car, that was funny stuff. If you didn't like it, you just had to wait until after the commercial and there would be something completely different. I think wrestling is missing that right now.

[humorousled]

There was definitely far more good in the Attitude era and the Monday Night Wars than bad. That being said, there were some problems with the "golden era" that have remained in the sport right now.
First, too often there are screwy finishes in matches, especially title matches. This started during the Monday Night Wars and the Attitude era and it stopped being fresh and exciting quickly.
Second, there is far too much backstage stuff and way too much catchphrase chaining together in the sport right now. Back during the Monday Night Wars and the Attitude years some of those segments were entertaining but more often than not we got truly stupid stuff like giving birth to a hand or the higher power. I was a WCW fan back then and I prefered to see more in-ring work than backstage skits but some of the were funny. Today, there are too many skits and not enough in ring work.
Third, there are too many performers who are nothing but catchphrases back to back. Some of the performers today use too many phrases (Morrison for example) and are nothing else. The only guy to be able to get away with using twenty chatchphrases was the Rock (because he was the only guy great enough to make that work). We know that guys are overscripted today and need to be freed up to be themselves.
Finally, the biggest problem that was created by the MNW/Attitude years was storylines being rushed through as if they only had two weeks to do two years worth of material. Some of the Attitude storylines were rushed through but on the other hand the NWO angle went too long and couldn't be killed off. Today, angles are either simply dropped too quickly or are stretched out for too long.

[x]

Meh. The Attitude Era had great non-wrestling and bad wrestling. When I was 11 I loved it. But now I'd hate it.

I'll take 91-94 as my favorite time. (Since I wasn't alive in 85)

[Count Creepyhead]

The only thing worth watching during this era was Vince/Austin and DX. The rest was just something to watch during commercial breaks on Nitro.

[Jiren]

Back in the Attitude era the IC/tag titles meant something & the main event scene wasn't boring as f***

Attitude > Today

[DeuceDominoMark]

Oh thank God!! I thought I was the only one who knew it was overrated...

I'll take the Summer of '97 over the Attitude Era any day!

[jamofpearls]

macdaddysquid said:

drthv8r said:

i'll catch the 2nd half after heroes.

Is that because the E sucks or because Heroes is so good?

Well, heroes this season hasn't been that good, but just cause I haven't been that interested in what goes on raw. They usually do a recap at the top of the second hour anyways.

[erik316wttn]

molson5 said:

Amen

And the thing is, people were bitching about the product on the internet all through the Attitude era, just like they are now. And now suddenly it's remembered as some glorious time long gone.

But 9 years from now, I doubt people will be longing for the days of Cena's yearlong title reign.

[Mozenrath]

erik316wttn said:

molson5 said:

Amen

And the thing is, people were bitching about the product on the internet all through the Attitude era, just like they are now. And now suddenly it's remembered as some glorious time long gone.

But 9 years from now, I doubt people will be longing for the days of Cena's yearlong title reign.

You'd be surprised.