Quote:
Originally Posted by HTrain90
Not sure. I think it is impossible to make wrestling as hot as it was in the attitude era, because right now there is no Stone Cold - esque babyface. Everyone from every walk of life could relate to the Stone Cold story - flip off your boss, fire out expletives, beat the hell out of people, and get away with all of it while drinking a half dozen beers. That story was iconic, and can never be replicated.
I think they are on the right track to getting their old fans back, though. With the return of HHH, the development of CM Punk (which is easily the most interesting character they've had in a LONG time), and the general unpredictability that comes with having no WWE Championship around, the interest will gradually come back. Will it reach Attitude-era highs? No, not until another truly iconic figure comes along.
As another discussion, there are only two people I could call iconic in the traditional term of WWE - Hogan and Austin. These two were bigger than WWE at their peak - they were each the sole reason the company took off. They were helped by great undercard work, no doubt - but their characters, image, etc. was a rocket from which the business launched. For as good as HBK, Bret Hart, and Ric Flair were (greatest in-ring of all time), they did not expand the viewership like Austin and Hogan did.
So, in short, what can they do? Nothing. Until you get a once-in-a-lifetime story with a once-in-a-lifetime character, you can't manufacture lightning. However, you can use interesting and business-altering plots such as Vince leaving, the championship being gone, and developing CM Punk's epic heel persona (which will translate very well into a face turn within two years) to build back the base, hoping that when lightning strikes you'll have the pieces in place to take full advantage and become more mainstream.
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I tend to agree with this...though I mean add in that The Rock was/is still larger than the WWE even still to this day with his relative success in major Hollywood motion pictures...say compared to WWE produced movies.
I don't think we'll see the WWE achieved Attitude Era numbers ever again...mostly due to the climate of television viewing which is more fragmented then ever before...especially compared to the late 90's/early 2000's. Even the most popular of shows today don't get the same ratings as top shows did in the mid to late 90's and early 2000's just because there's so much more ways for the TV audience to be split.
I also tend to agree that we won't see Attitude Era type attention and media coverage until the perfect storm hits....the perfect superstar with the perfect storyline with the perfect compliment of top-card and mid-card wrestlers. The Attitude Era wasn't just Stone Cold...we had The Rock, HHH, Mankind, along with the tag-team division, a women's division that people cared about (at least comparatively speaking), along with the rest of the undercard.
To have all that happen again will take a lot of hard work from the WWE, but also a little bit of luck.