I Was Pretty Spoiled during the Attitude Era
 

I was thinking today about being a fan of wrestling during the Attitude era and how wrestling was just everywhere. My friends suddenly talked about it, I saw people with wrestling shirts everywhere, I saw wrestling as the focal point of TV Guides, magazines, talk shows ect...., I saw wrestling merchandise being distributed as prizes at fairs and theme parks. Hell, even my teachers in school talked about wrestling. And the thing is, I didn't even question for a second that wrestling was popular again. It was like I just assumed it had always been.

I was about 14 at this time, so it was really just a case of blind ignorance. I didn't once say to myself, "well he never talked about wrestling before, so why is he now?" Maybe I just assumed everyone had always been a wrestling fan inside, but now it was ok to talk about it. I mean, I had friends here and there that talked about wrestling before that, but a very small portion. Suddenly, what happened on Raw or Nitro last night was the main topic of conversation Monday morning in homeroom. I even remember my homeroom teacher asking us, "who do you think is the higher power?" He said Jake Roberts and I agreed. To bad for us :nono:

Kids were ordering the PPV's all the time and we'd all watch it at somebody's house. It was like a dam party for a wrestling PPV. Today, I'll be lucky to find someone who taped it for me.

I guess it's that old saying that applies here. You don't know what you have until it's gone. And looking back, that's sort of how I feel about the Attitude Era. Today, I know maybe a handfull of people that still talk wrestling and I didn't even see it coming.

Anyone feel the same way?

Yeah, I miss those days. It was everywhere, it was huge then. But if you look at the writing then and compare it to now, you'll see why todays isn't nearly as big.

but did you guys ever say or think to yourself during this time that "Wrestling is popular or wrestling is the cool thing?" Cause I never once did.

We even started our own promotion during the Attitude Era. I miss those good times. :(

Not really. Wrestling is a niche thing nowadays.

<font color=goldenrod>Same thing here...granted, at the time of the Attitude era I was in 4th, 5th, MAYBE 6th grade.....but still, a lot of people talked about it

Now, entering 11th grade, I can probably count the people I know that watch wrestling by hand</font> :-\

YES.

I was pretty ":wtf:? This is trendy alluvasudden?"

Same, and by same I mean the entire thing.

Man, we used to do that shit all the time. We used to rotate houses so one family wasn't buying them all the time. It was always a blast. My friend's parents would get into it and shit. My dad nevered missed a Raw or Nitro back then (we would tape Raw and watch it later... we were huge WCW marks back in the day)

It was funny when I worked downtown during the height of the era, you would see lawyers and high money day traders wearing wrestling t-shirts on casual days.

During the beginning of the nWo days in WCW, my friend's and I at work (we wore yellow clerk coats @ the Chicago MERC) would tag our jackets with the nWo logo, and everyone know what it was and loved it.

God... those were the days.

My friends watch RAW and Smackdown together every single week at my friend Johnny's house STILL. We got alot of our friends into it and girls actually show up most of the time as well. So, it isn't completely on the verge of dying yet IMO if we can get 18 year old girls to sit and watch ladder matches with us.

We also order every PPV (we each put in like 3 bucks)

Yea, it was like the major thing people discussed at school every time there was Nitro/RAW and Thunder at the time, and at the beginning of Smackdown!s time. We would watch every episode, and go to the local sports bar for every PPV because it only cost 4 bucks to get in. It was awesome.

I watch every episode of SD and RAW and go to Buffalo Wild Wings to order the PPV's. But when I recall the attitude era, it was Mankind vs Rock as DX and the Corporation watched from ringside. People started brawling and then Austin came up to the biggest ovation ever. If you did that with let's say Cena, he probably gets half the pop Austin got back then. A big thing was that during the attitude Era, crowd reaction was a huge thing.

Before the attiude era, all my freinds was like, why do you wanna watch that fake, stuff, it's for kids,

Then the attiude era kicked in and suddenly there were 4 or 5 people that i didnt know before going, wow did you see raw on friday.

Back in the attiude era, i wouldnt miss a show, id be there on my couch ten olcock on ss, and wouldnt move til the end, in between every commercial i was hooked, and i even would tape a ppv, lend them to about 3 or 4 guys, who didnt have sky. I think the attitude era really brought wrestling to the adults, with its maturity, and storylines, every adult so austin in themselves wanting to go into work and give there boss hell.I think now though its a done a role reversal and because everyone complains about something, you have to becareful, take John Cena, he's still majorly over, but what if he had been around in the attitude era, how bad ass his character and rhymes would have been, also, back on the subject title, i think we were spoiled not only because the wwf(e) was so brilliant, there was always something on the other side ecw or wcw, to continue to maintain intrest and push the wwf to its limit

Yeah too bad the internet killed it :shifty:

Hahaha yeah I was 15 when people in school started picking up on it. Me and my friends formed our own little "Wolfpac" group and we wouldn't let this one kid join so he formed a one man "Latino World Order" group.

We would wear nWo shirts, he would wear his LWO shirt. :lol:

All my friends used to come over my house and we'd all chip in to pay for the PPV's (the ones that were on PPV here in the UK) and every Friday we'd gather round at someone's house and watch RAW. I was like 10 at the time, and we had our own little fed in school, and we'd have championship matches at lunch time and stuff, and our own little stables. :D Wrestling will remain a big part of my childhood, and the attitude era helped create that. Now I have only one friend who is a real fan like me and then maybe two others who catch The Bottom Line or something if they're flicking through channels. Everyone else has moved on or just lost interest. Happy days.

oh man, I remember those days all too well, and yes I miss those days so much.

I remember how the talk of Tuesday morning before class and during class would be what happened on Raw and Nitro. Everyone knew who all the wrestlers were, and like LC said, even teachers knew about Stone Cold, Vinny Mac, and the Rock.

When you went to the mall, a large number of people wore wrestling shirts....especially the infamous nWo shirts. I was always pro Black and White while others in my class were pro Red and Black. In home-ec class in middle school, the class had to sew something...so I sewed a pillow that wrote nWo 4 Life :lol: I don't know where it is, but it'll sure make me laugh when I see it.

One morning I'll NEVER EVER forget was the morning after Survivor Series. To those that didn't see it, I told them what happened. We were all too pissed to think about anything in class. How could Shane McMahon fool us all and screw Stone Cold?! How could The Rock be such a fraud and just join McMahon with his new Corporation?!

Wow, LC, you made me dig back into the good old memories.

I can only hope that wrestling achieves a state like that again...perhaps with competition it'll come.

Fecking yarders:foc:

Fecking yarders:foc:

Fecking yarders:foc:

You tell them Dave, you tell them.

Fecking yarders:foc:

Hell yeah man, me and my friends would even have matches and all that. We would always rent PPV's since we were younger and could never afford to actually see them and just completely mark out for the simplest things like Chyna getting the stunner. Those were the days, nowadays around here, I woulden't even tell anyone that I watch wrestling.. pathetic, but times change.

hahaha Exactly. I never tell anyone I watch wrestling weekly. It's a joke, and I normally get funny looks.

During the Attitude Era though...."wtf, you don't watch wrestling?! fuck off, cunt!"

LOL pretty much.

LOL, look at this kid. Doesn't even watch wrestling. Alright guys, let's teach him how DX does business.

*Beat down ensues on the pavement*

Ends with us laughing and kid just laying there

No crotch chops?

oh there was definately crotch chops. Crotch chops, nWo "Too sweet" thing and the occassional "Suck It"

Too sweeeeeeeeeet

actually, we were The Hart Foundation in my neighborhood for our stable. I remember days where we would just be sitting on the curb or something and some kid we knew would come by and we would just randomly attack him. Cause remember the Harts did beatdowns all the time? It was all fake and stuff, except when I accidently put some kid on crutches because I didn't know he had a knee problem :(

Got chokeslamed on a car once when we tried to attack one of our bigger and much older firend. It was only 3 of us, not the full 5, though :shifty:

I wish I had like all of 1997-2001 on tape and I could rewatch it. Not just wrestling I mean, like my whole life.

I was like that at highschool, I was nicknamed Goldberg because I nailed an awesome tackle on a 200 pounder while playing football :cool:

I got called "Undertaker" because of my size, trench coat, and tendency to hold down anyone who threatened my ego.

nice :cool:

No I was like eight years old then

Well my dad would always say "Man, wrestling has really took off," when he'd see a stand on the boardwalk just dedicated to wrestling stuff, or a t-shirt stand with tons of wrestling related shirts. But, I was only watching it for a few years, and I didn't really notice how big it was at the time, until now that I see how much it has decreased in popularity the past couple of years.

It was a legit fed. We had a trainer and had Montreal indy wrestlers come over.

I hate backyard wrestling. I swore I would take training before doing anything and I kept my promise. :kiss:

sadly, i got into wrestling right when the popularity died

but yeah, back them... i'd have these kids telling me to turn something sideways and shove it up my ass, and like ask me my name and slap me, everytime i went out in public

and when i was younger, people sang about how they weren't boy toys, and just sexy boys, and how they were the best there was, the best there is and the best there ever will be

in like the past 2 - 3 years, ive only had one wrestling reference in public, and that was some guy saying i wasn't cool like him... he was holding an apple too =\

It was big here in the UK too during the Attitude days. I think the product has a lot to do with why it is not as popular now. I remember Vince Russo once stating that at the time there was Austin-Rock-Mankind that had such appeal that you will never again have three characters like that again in the same company at the same time.

I was 18 in 1998...I knew by then that wrestling was getting more popular and thought that it was cool to see. I recall a lot of people in school or anywhere really insulting others by performing crotch chops. T shirts were also much more popular. Of course, 80 percent of them were Austin 3:16 shirts, but yeah. Hell, in our arts class, the teacher had a tv in the room and allowed a guy to record the shows or ppv's, and we'd watch them in class.