WWE: The New Generation Era
The New Generation Era
The New Generation starting to come along when you saw the passing of the torch from Hulk Hogan to Bret 'Hitman' Hart. Two wrestlers from the previous era that have come and shined on their own in their prime (or close to it) and till this day still makes an impact whenever they grace the WWE screen. Those two are Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. We've seen big guys dominate such as Big Daddy Cool Diesel and Razon Ramon. We've also seen guys that we would like to forget such as Doink, Skinner and the Berserker. Tag Teams and Factions still ruled the WWE these days as all was not too bad. Here are some of the stars that (despite the weird characters) kept the WWE afloat.
Bret 'Hitman' Hart
He was probably one of the head leaders of the New Generation. He went from tag team specialist, to Intercontinental Champion all the way to becoming the Heavyweight Champ. He proved that size didn’t matter when it came down to capturing the title. It was all about wrestling techniques and his mastery of the Sharpshooter. His great matches is why everyone till this day will call him ‘The Best There Is, The Best There Was and The Best There Ever Will Be’.
Shawn Michaels
Before he became Mr. Wrestlemania, the Heartbreak Kid was coming onto his own as a singles wrestler. Breaking away from The Rockers and his old partner Marty Janetty, he never looked back and started to capture gold within an instant. But is wasn’t until he became a fan favorite where he grew even more and even won two Royal Rumbles during this era. He finally made a name for himself when he fought Bret Hart in their infamous 60 minute Iron Man Match where HBK won the WWE Title in overtime. This was only a sign of greater things to come.
The Undertaker
He came right in between the end of the previous era and the beginning of this era. Made a big name for himself defeating Hulk Hogan to capture his first WWE Title. With Paul Bearer and his urn by his side, The Undertaker seem unstoppable. He defeated the likes of Kamala, Giant Gonzalez, King Kong Bundy, even a twin version of himself. He rose to the top of the mountain when he defeated Psycho Sid for the WWE Title. He remains one of the only active wrestler on the roster today that is from this era.
Big Daddy Cool Diesel
Before he went and made history as Kevin Nash with the NWO, Diesel was the bodyguard to HBK and even scored the IC and tag titles while being with his buddy. He would then break away from Michaels and would go and surprisingly defeat the legend Bob Backlund to win the WWE Title and would go on to hold that title for more than a year. Till this day, there isn’t no one besides Hogan and Sammartino that held the title for that long without losing it.
Razor Ramon
He was cool, he was cocky, but he always backed his word up when he came into the ring. Before going to WCW to become part of the NWO as Scott Hall, Razor Ramon took opponents apart piece by piece. He’s held the IC Title on numerous occasions. His IC Title Ladder Match at Wrestlemania X with Shawn Michaels till this day still stands out as one of the greatest matches of all time.
Owen Hart
You can call him ‘Bret’s Little Brother’ all you want, but the late great Owen Hart was more than that. He’s made a name for himself without the help of Bret and he let the fans know it every chance they got to. Where Bret was the technician, Owen was the high flyer. Before Rey Mysterio, Owen was the one you wanted to go check out for some of that action. He was even more powerful when teaming with either ‘The British Bulldog’ Davey Boy Smith or Yokozuna to win the tag titles. A little match with Bret at the beginning of Wrestlemania X also helped as well.
Yokozuna
You could probably call him the most dominate force in the era. With the size of a sumo wrestler, he was too great for others to pick him up. He was so strong, opponents feared at the sight of him. Together with his manager Mr. Fuji, he was unstoppable. As the WWE Champ, there was no one that could contain the late Yokozuna. There’ll probably won’t be another wrestle that’s as dominate and powerful as he.
Legion of Doom
‘Ohhhh! What a Rush!’ When you heard those words shout out, you knew someone was in for a quick beat down. That’s when the Legion of Doom’s Hawk and Animal came through with their spiked-filled outfits to take out their opponents and go home. As a tag team in the old NWA, no one wanted to mess with them and when they got to the WWE, the feelings were the same. No one wanted to mess with these guys.
Goldust
There were plenty of weird characters that came within the New Generation, but there was only one that came out successful and he came in the form of Goldust. Formerly Dustin Rhodes, son of legend Dusty Rhodes and brother of current star Cody, used his Hollywood oddball antics to his advantage by winning his matches with his finisher ‘Shattered Dreams’. Even gaining the Intercontinental Title in the process. He’s another superstar from this era that’s still on the roster today.
The Million Dollar Corporation
Every era had great factions. This era had the Million Dollar Corporation. Led by ‘The Million Dollar Man’ Ted Dibiase, the group has wrecked shop from within the WWE. With guys like IRS, Tama, King Kong Bundy, Tantanka and Bam Bam Bigelow, you know you were in for a long night. At the tail-end of the faction came a youngster by the name of ‘The Ringmaster’ aka Stone Cold Steve Austin.