DISCUSSION - When was the "exact" time period of the WWE "Attitude" era?

[Heyman]

DISCUSSION - When was the "exact" time period of the WWE "Attitude" era?

There seems to be some disagreement as to when the exact "time period" of the WWE Attitude era was.

My opinion is as follows:

It started at Wrestlemania 13 with Austin/Bret. It ended at Wrestlemania 18 with The Rock vs. Hogan. That was the "definitive" Attitude era in my opinion. The "peak" of the Attitude era, was from Wrestlemania 14 to Wrestlemania 17.

So in other words, if "The Attitude Era" was a city, Wrestlemania 14-17 would be the "downtown city center", while Austin-Bret at Wrestlemania 13 to Rock-Hogan Wrestlemania 18 would be the "downtown city center + Suburban/Metropolitan areas."

[Big Vic]

Was the product edgy between WM13 and KOTR 97?

[Evil Vito]

I'd agree that WM13 was the real start of the product getting edgier.

I'd go as far as to say that the Attitude Era continued until June 2002. They still used the "Attitude" opening until the company changed from WWF to WWE, and Vince himself coined the Ruthless Aggression tagline right around that time period.

[Mr. USA #1]

I hear that Rock vs Hogan match at WM X8 was really good. Wonder if anyone from here was there in person?

[Mr. USA #1]

Oh and the attitude Era ended on September 27, 2002.

[Mr. USA #1]

At 2:18pm

[Jordan]

It's a good argument..

I think that the water started to boil after Summerslam 95. But the company didn't get behind the whole concept until just before WM 13. They realized they had nothing with that card, and the only way to make it special was to make it bloody. By that point you had Chyna killing Terri, Goldust in full force, Austin doing his thing, Bret being a bad sport, Shamrock, The NOD...

I'd say it ended about the time the Ivasion started. There is that "Ruthless Agression" era which is similar, but the difference is that era was corporate, the attitude era came from the real "attitudes" of the fed up workers.

I think the first "attitude" era star was Diesel. After the lost the title to Bret at SS 95, he was one bad mother fucker. Very much like Austin. Goldust could also be considered the first "attitude era star".

[Emperor Smeat]

Mania 13 till Mania 18 seems about right for the actual era.

Could push it back to mid-96 with Austin's rise and the Pillman incident and a few months after Mania 18 when the Invasion storyline starts. Any earlier or later and you start getting the era mixed into other eras going on.

[DAMN iNATOR]

November 9, 1997 - May 6, 2002, IMHO

[Mr. USA #1]

September 27, 2002 at 2:18pm is the ONLY correct answer

[Mr. Nerfect]

Wikipedia tells me that the Attitude Era spanned from November 9, 1997 - May 6, 2002.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Do you define the era by the content or by the success? If we're going by success, I'd say that Attitude died with the Austin heel turn, which coincided with the end of The Rock as a full-time WWF attraction. When it comes to content? I suppose that when the WWE jobbed to pandas is when it happened. You can't say you're edgy after that. There's a part of me that wants to define it as the beginning and end of Stone Cold too. At least from a WWF perspective.

I think you have to go back and include Austin's King of the Ring promo somewhat. But things didn't really heat up for them. Looking at PPV buyrates, it really seems like things start to jump with SummerSlam 1997. Television ratings imply that eyes went to Stone Cold Steve Austin after WrestleMania 13, but they would fade in and out. There's a big pop for something unopposed on 7/21. But business really picks up in the second half of the year, and would then rise tremendously in 1998.

So, in terms of success, I'd probably have to say that it starts with the Survivor Series Screwjob, really and goes through to Vince screwing Rock in 2001.

[Triple A]

November 9, 1997 - May 6, 2002, IMHO

Wikipedia tells me that the Attitude Era spanned from November 9, 1997 - May 6, 2002.

What happened on those days (2 lazy to check, eating)

[Jordan]

I think it's over when WWF buys WCW, or Lance Storm super kicks Saturn (I think that's who he hit)). Like when you realized that Hogan, Goldberg, Flair, Steiner, Nash, Jarrett... nobody was coming over.

[Emperor Smeat]

What happened on those days (2 lazy to check, eating)

Montreal Screwjob and WWF officially became known as the WWE.

[Jordan]

All of the boiling points from Deisel and Goldust in 95, to Austin's KOTR speech in 96, NWO opposing Raw, it's all finally embarrassed the night after Survivor Series 97.

Final answer. Nov-97 - March 2001

[harmsway]

For me it wasn't until November of 96 it started. It was pill man 9mm to me that lit the fuse scsa sparked with the Austin 316 promo.

[hb2k]

It's an interesting one to try and quantify, because like Noid, even though they did edgy stuff after WrestleMania X7, there was a desperation to it, an element of trying to recapture a past dynamic, that limited what they did. It no longer felt in the moment and as authentic.

Similarly speaking, while there is edgy, cool stuff like Diesel, Goldust and the Austin/Pillman stuff going on in late 95/96, they don't go full blown in that direction and are constantly pulling back to old habits all the time. When I think back to it, WrestleMania 13 feels like when the show picked up in going balls out to be different. They still had their old habits and outdated ideas, but the show felt different from the general malaise of 1996.

Honestly, when you think about it, to me it starts and ends with Steve Austin as babyface king. He wasn't champion until Mania 14, but he's the anchor of Raw from Mania 13 with the Hart Foundation story running through the summer, and champ Taker is secondary.

[DAMN iNATOR]

Montreal Screwjob and WWF officially became known as the WWE.

And also, Survivor Series '97 was the first time the "WWF ATTITUDE" logo and "scratch" WWF logo (as part of the aforementioned "WWF Attitude" logo), which would begin to be phased in more around 6 months later, were seen.

[Nicky Fives]

To me it started at Mania 13 and ended with the name change to WWE.

[Mr. Nerfect]

What happened on those days (2 lazy to check, eating)

I honestly think it's just the period where the intro said "WWF Attitude."

[Mr. Nerfect]

It's an interesting one to try and quantify, because like Noid, even though they did edgy stuff after WrestleMania X7, there was a desperation to it, an element of trying to recapture a past dynamic, that limited what they did. It no longer felt in the moment and as authentic.

Similarly speaking, while there is edgy, cool stuff like Diesel, Goldust and the Austin/Pillman stuff going on in late 95/96, they don't go full blown in that direction and are constantly pulling back to old habits all the time. When I think back to it, WrestleMania 13 feels like when the show picked up in going balls out to be different. They still had their old habits and outdated ideas, but the show felt different from the general malaise of 1996.

Honestly, when you think about it, to me it starts and ends with Steve Austin as babyface king. He wasn't champion until Mania 14, but he's the anchor of Raw from Mania 13 with the Hart Foundation story running through the summer, and champ Taker is secondary.

I think defining it as Steve Austin's run as babyface king is about as close as you'd get. WrestleMania 13 and onwards is really the Stone Cold story, and you can't expect people to instantly cotton on and throw the WWE all its money at once. You can point to things before that actual Mania, like Diesel swearing and Bret getting upset at losing the Cage Match, but it really feels like Austin's crimson mask is the incendiary moment.

[harmsway]

I'm curious what about mania 13 makes you guys say that was attitude? That card was fairly tame outside of bret/austin.

And Nov 9,1997 just because of the screw job birthed attitude?

I think stuff leading into ss97 had attitude

[DAMN iNATOR]

I'm curious what about mania 13 makes you guys say that was attitude? That card was fairly tame outside of bret/austin.

And Nov 9,1997 just because of the screw job birthed attitude?

I think stuff leading into ss97 had attitude

A lot of fans cite KotR '96, which birthed "Austin 3:16" as a starting point simply because of the famous promo Austin delivered after winning.

[rockman725]

When someone says "Attitude Era" I always think of 1998, 1999, 2000. IMO, the era officially started in December 1997 with Vince's "intelligence insulting" promo and it ended in March 2001 with Vince buying out WCW. The edginess of the content doesn't really count for me. The state of the federation is what I look at. If you go by content, that would mean that the Trish/Mickie lesbian angle and the Edge/Matt Hardy feud, among other stuff years later was part of the attitude era!?! Content was edgy before 1998 and content was edgy after 2000, but defining a specific era, those 3 whole years is what I go by.

[Mr. Nerfect]

There was "attitude" heading into WrestleMania 13 too. Not all over the card, but it was there with Austin/Bret/Taker/Sid.

[Big Vic]

Did bret flip out on vince before mania 13?

[The Condor]

Personally, I always viewed it through the prism not of just content and success, but also the excitement and urgency that defined the era. Most of 1996, crowds were dead and the product had no buzz, but Survivor Series 1996 with the Austin/Hart build-up and 5 star match, the end of the first portion of UT/Mankind, the debut of Rocky Maivia and the edgy Nation of Domination, as well as the explosion and euphoria of the anti-hero Sid just going postal and killing the putrid Shawn Michaels babyface run dead is, for me, the beginning. The MSG crowd was the most lively, excited, and animated crowd in years, and I believe that lit the fuse for what was to come.

As for the end, I always felt it was WM 19. The final Rock/Austin match, the passing of the torch in the main event to a new style with Angle/Brock, and Hogan's final WM moment. But WM 18 seems right as well.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

When they stopped calling it Raw is WAR!

[DAMN iNATOR]

When they stopped calling it Raw is WAR!

December 10th, 2001?