WWE Generations

One thing that I know and learned about being a wrestling fan and most definitely a WWE fan is that even though some things have changed, some remain the same. This is the case of the WWE and it's company. Throughout the years, the WWE have graced us with some amazing eras in the history of wrestling. We've seen some out of this world characters in wrestling when it comes to the WWE. Some are too hard to forget and some you just want to forget. But no matter, each generation and era of the WWE has had it's high point and lows. Some were better than others. I'm going to break it all down to you the amazing eras in the WWE that has kept all of us as fans till this day. You have to admit, you may have left at one point, but there was something that had drawn you all back. These eras are broken down as the following: The Golden Era, The Rock N' Wrestling Era, The New Generation Era, The Attitude Era, The Ruthless Aggressive Era, The Modern Era and the PG Era.

The Golden Era of the WWE (WWWF) was the mark of the true beginning. Though it was already established, it was breaking through big time with champions like Bruno Samartino, Pedro Morales, Terry Funk, Rocky Johnson & Tony Atlas and Bob Backlund. Other stars on the rise at the time was Jimmy 'Superfly' Snuka, The Iron Sheik, The Wild Samoans and a huge 7 footer by the name of Andre the Giant. These are just some of the stars that had ushered in the Golden Era of wrestling. But it was the next Era that would bring the WWE to it's highest platform. The Rock N' Wrestling Era.

This era was ushered in the moment Hulk Hogan had defeated The Iron Sheik for the World Title. You couldn't go anywhere without hearing the name Hulk Hogan during the 80's. Not only did it attract more fans, but stars as well. Celebrities such as Cindi Lauper and Alice Cooper had gotten involved with the WWE. This era also marked the beginning of what would become the Mecca of Sports Entertainment shows till this day, Wrestlemania. The Wrestlemanias of this era were a hit as they mixed the concept with rock music with wrestling, and threw in top stars of that time from both television and the silver screen. The matches of that era were great. Hogan vs. Andre, Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat, The British Bulldogs vs. The Hart Foundation. Speaking of Hart Foundation, one member would be one of the tops stars to lead the era called: The New Generation.

This era was more known for its crazy and zany looking wrestlers (Doink, Skinner, Giant Gonzalez and Bastion Booger) than anything else. Still, this era had made stars out of Bret 'The Hitman' Hart, 'The Heartbreak Kid' Shawn Michaels, Big Daddy Cool Diesel and Razon Ramon. But one superstar would emerge and would go on to become one of the greatest superstars of all time. That would be the phenom, The Undertaker. Despite the weird characters, one of them would be The Ringmaster. That 'Ringmaster' would go on to win the King of the Ring and would become the face of the next era, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin.

The Attitude Era will probably go down as the most popular era of the WWE, ever. People till this day will talk about it and would wish that it would come back. This era would push the envelope and would show you some of the most 'Not For TV' scenes of all time. Stone Cold would lead the way and would make himself an icon. Another star from this era would make a name for himself and would take himself to the next level as one of today's Hollywood's leading man. Dwayne Johnson, AKA 'The Rock'. You will also witness the birth of D-Generation X, the creation of Hell in the Cell, one of the greatest tag team rivalries in WWE history between The Hardy Boyz, Edge & Christian and The Dudley Boyz. But you will also see the evolution of the man would I think had lead the way of the next era of the WWE. That would be Hunter Hurst Helmsley. AKA: HHH.

This era would come right after the defeat of WCW and saw a whole lot of old faces coming to the WWE (Rey Mysterio, Rob Van Dam, Booker T) and saw some new faces coming in as well (John Cena, Batista, Randy Orton) and would break the federation into two separate shows. For Raw and Smackdown are now shows of their own due to WWE Draft. This also marked the end of an era for Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock, but marked the return of HBK himself, Shawn Michaels. This era, HHH ran the show. Whether it was with his faction Evolution, by his sadistic self, or even returning with HBK to form DX again. What also came out of this era was the return of ECW. Out of those new faces, two of them would go on to lead the next era of the WWE and they are John Cena and Batista.

The Modern Era was still known for some crazy moments, but it will mark as the beginning of the end for every was to be toned down to make way for the current PG era. Cena lead the way on Raw with DX and Randy Orton while Batista has held his own on Smackdown, along with the Undertaker and Rey Mysterio. Orton would have a group of his own during this era in the form of Legacy. Forming with second/third generation stars Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase Jr. This era was known also for bringing in some more new faces like The Miz, John Morrison and Kofi Kingston. We've also seen stars living their dreams and becoming heavyweight champions like Edge, CM Punk and Rey Mysterio. But this was the blueprint of what was to become The PG Era.

The PG Era is not liked by a lot of people, but it benefits those that have children and would finally want to show them what they loved watching when they were kids. Still leading the way is a more toned down John Cena. As we see a lot of rookies coming in like Evan Bourne, Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger and Shamus, we've seen the ending of careers of Shawn Michaels and Edge. Also seeing the stepping down of future legends such as The Undertaker and Triple H to paved way to the future stars of the business. But that doesn't stop old vets like Booker T and The Rock from returning to the WWE, even though it's only part time wrestling. Just mixing them in with the new crowd gives the rookies an even brighter future. What is to be said about the next era? No answer there, we'll just have to find out but until then, let's enjoy and appreciate what we still have while we still have it.