WWE The Attitude Era

The Attitude Era will go down as probably one of the greatest eras of the WWE both financially and popularity. During the height of the Monday Night Wars with WCW, this era have brought back fans that haven't seen the WWE since the days of Hulk Hogan. This era came right around the time Stone Cold Steve Austin was coming to his own and when HHH and HBK (along with Chyna) went to form Degeneration X. They have taken the company to new heights and have pushed the envelope as far as possible. You would even get a 'stinkface' or two from Rikishi. But in the end it was worth it for they have gotten more popular than ever before. This era have brought out stuff like the Hardcore Title, the infamous Hell in A Cell, Inferno Matches and have brought in rookies such as Edge & Christian, The Hardy Boyz, Val Venis and have brought in guys like Taz and Chis Jericho. But here are the stars that made The Attitude Era what it is today.

There wouldn't even be an Attitude Era with out the Texas Rattlesnake. He single handedly put the WWE back on the map and has lead them to defeat WCW in the ratings wars. Since his crowning of Autin 3:16 back at King of the Ring, he has been taking opponents apart bit by bit. His feuds with the Rock are still one of the greatest but his feud with the CEO Vince McMahon will go down as the most prolific and most talk about feuds in wrestling history. Whatever wasn't done in the WWE at that time, he did it.

Initially, he came in as Rocky Miavia, 3rd generation superstar. His character was supposed to be good, but people started to hate on him for being too good. So he did what needed to do and that was to become the total opposite of what he was and that was probably one of the best moves he's ever done. Since then, he's become 'The People's Champ'. Held a couple of WWE Championships. Had some great feuds with Stone Cold and HHH. Even has lead the Nation of Domination (with D'Lo Brown, Mark Henry, The Godfather and Owen Hart) at one point. But the more he evolved, the bigger he had become. From wrestler to one of the biggest Hollywood stars of today. He's the 2nd biggest star to had come out of the Attitude Era.

Only in the Attitude Era would you find Mick Foley come out as three entities. First was the Hardcore Cactus Jack, then the girl chasing Dude Love and finally the most popular entity of his. The violent but yet lovable at times Mankind. Mrs. Foley's baby boy came from the depths of the old ECW and brought that style of wrestling into the WWE to help usher in the Attitude Era. With his insane I Quit matches with the Rock to the unforgettable Hell in a Cell match with The Undertaker, he has always taken his matches to the next level of hardcore. Heck, even Vince himself handpicked him to become the first WWE Hardcore Champion.

Formed in late 1997 by Shawn Michaels, HHH, Chyna and Rick Rude, DX took down all foes and didn’t have any remorse for it at all. This era of DX was probably the raunchiest group ever made. Even as Rick Rude left for WCW and Shawn had to promptly retire due to his back injury, HHH took Chyna and added X-Pac and the New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn) to form the DX Army and carried them all on his back. HHH had evolved from the snotty rookie from the New Generation into this brand new character that every one loved and hated. When he branched off on his own and “married” Stephanie to merge with the McMahon’s to make the McMahon – Hemesley Regime, he had only gotten stronger and has held the title for as long as his DX buddies could save him.

He may have been good in the previous era, but The Deadman had come to his own in this era for he had held the WWE Title a couple of times. He’s the founder of the Ministry of Darkness group the ran rugged in the WWE and giving Stone Cold and the Rock some hard times. After taking some time off, he went off and evolved into the “biker” Undertaker. Giving his character a more ‘Attitude’ feeling. When Deadman Inc. came into the ring, everyone who was in his yard had to answer to him. Even giving the WCW/ECW faction from late in the era problems.

Since his introduction at the Bad Blood PPV in the first ever Hell in a Cell match between HBK and his ‘brother’ The Undertaker, Kane has made a big impact whenever you saw him in the ring. No one wanted to step face to face with the masked one. He was the one that was responsible for the first ever Inferno Match with The Undertaker, a type of match we would never see again. He even took on a softer side when he began to speak a little his old partner X-Pac. But nothing was more vicious than when he paired with the ‘Deadman Inc.’ Undertaker to form the indestructible tag team of The Brothers of Destruction.

If there was a time where you could say when was the last great era in great tag teams? That would probably be this era. You’ve had some of the greatest teams ever to assemble here during the Attitude Era. The Hardys, The Dudley Boyz, Edge & Christian, Too Cool, The Radicalz. There was always a good tag team that was out there to win the title. But there were three that stood out and they have fought in some of the most innovative matches ever to be seen. Edge/Christian, The Hardys and The Dudleys took it to the limit with the triple threat ladder match at Wrestlemania 2000. Then took it to the limit with the first ever Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at Summerslam 2000. Hands down, you will never see tag team matches like this again.

Yeah, his squeaky clean image was different from those from this era, but he was at the same time sneaky. Being the first ever to hold both the Intercontinental and European Title all at once. He’s beaten The Rock for his first ever WWE Title. He’s even had some of his funniest moments when hanging with Edge & Christian. But nothing was more funnier than when he came out with a milk truck and sprayed the entire WCW/ECW Alliance with milk. It was shades of Stone Cold all over again. Only this time it was done to Austin.

Till this day, he’s probably had one of the biggest introductions in WWE history during the Attitude Era (or any era for that matter), interrupting The Rock. You know Y2J was going to do big things and that he did. He’s had plenty of great matches with Kurt Angle and HHH. But he was always at his funniest putting down the bosses daughter, Stephanie. When he defeated Stone Cold and The Rock the unified the WWE and WCW titles, that probably signaled the end of the era and the beginning to what was become the Ruthless Aggression Era.

How can you ignore what Chyna has done during this era. The 9th Wonder of the World shocked everyone by defeating Jeff Jarrett to become the first woman’s Intercontinental Champion. She was the first woman to have entered the Royal Rumble and she was part of DX for a while. She was what future divas had to look up to as far as wrestling went. She even dominated when she held the Woman’s Title. There’s still till this day no diva as strong or as powerful as Chyna.