[XL]

It's impossible to pinpoint one moment where it started to slide downhill, just as it is to pinpoint an exact moment where it started to improve.

Some might say that the boom started with Austin's KotR win but realistically events before that are what lead to that that moment happening (WCW's rise to prominence, then their dominance leading to WWF's subsequent "pushing of the envelope"/pushing new stars).

Honestly, a lot of the reasons mentioned here form part of why WWE started to suck - WCW buyout, InVasion angle, 'Who ran down Austin?' angle, etc.

But I think one of the main reasons is simply panic. It seems to me that Vince panicked when he couldn't get TV time for WCW and so booked the InVasion angle sooner than he planned. It seems he panicked during the angle leading to it being sewn up within 4 months. If Vinny could have held on we might have seen a WCW that included Flair, Hogan, Nash, Hall, Goldberg, Mysterio and being led by Bischoff (of course that is all speculation as some of those guys may not have wanted any part of the InVasion angle).

Another time Vince seemed to panic book was - as others have said - when Lesnar left. But I think that's only part of a bigger picture.

This was around the time that Austin and Rock where winding down their careers, for retirement and moving into acting respecfully. In this you were loosing the two biggest characters that had been created during the Attitude Era. The two most well known, most marketable wrestlers from that era where on their way out or already gone.

Then, the man they lined to replace one of them (Lesnar) also jumped ship. Vince panicked and had to rush Orton / Cena into the Main Event scene. More often than not the fans don't like guys being pushed "too soon". This combined with some really poor booking for the two men (both turning into bland babyfaces regardless of the fact that their heel characters got them over in the first place) really affected WWE TV.

In a way they suffered from the same thing as WCW - not building new stars consistently enough.

- Rock, Austin, Lesnar, Hogan, etc leave.
- Benoit, Edge, Guerrero, RVD, Orton, Cena were arguably not ready (due mainly to the way they were booked)
- Which left us with...HHH.

Anyways, thought I'd drop my 2 cents (especially as I've just rewatched InVasion, SummerSlam '01, Unforgiven '01 and Survivor Series '01 again over the last week) even if I'm not telling you something you didn't already know...