10 things PG era fans won't understand about Attitude era

Attitude Era is considered as one of the best time periods for someone to be a wrestling fan. Everything about it was controversial and interesting that it often blurred the lines between kayfabe and reality. And it was the same tactics which saved WWE from running out of business after locking horns with WCW.But once WCW died and WWE ended up as the sole power in professional wrestling which left them with no need of producing such controversial or top notch product to stay afloat.Slowly, WWE set foot into the PG era and we could never see the great things that we used to enjoy again.The WWE network has been working as a time machine ever since the inception and since its going strong here is a look at the things that sets the Attitude Era apart from the PG Era.

#10 Vince McMahon himself

For all the PG fans Vince McMahon might be a regular old guy who is the CEO of the company and makes rare appearances on Television, but in the Attitude Era, he was the synonym for evil.

McMahon was the top heel in the company without being a regular wrestler and his feud with Steve Austin was the actual highlight of the glorious era. The Attitude Era literally kicked off when Vince delivered a real life screw job of Bret the Hitman Hart which made everyone hate him.

While most people try to turn the table and make others like them, Vince did the exact opposite and made a character out of the hate he attracted.

It went on to become a huge success as at times the only thing that the fans wanted was to see Steve Austin beat him up.

#9 Women knew how to wrestle

The Women’s division in PG era hasn’t been nothing more than a joke for most of the time. The fact that WWE didn’t even give the Divas title a spot in WrestleMania for almost five years is enough to see where things stand.

Instead of making them wrestle, what the WWE does now is put up reality shows and sign some good looking girls who wouldn’t even know the basics.

But back in the Attitude Era, things were entirely different. Though there was a lot of eye candy involved, the girls in the promotion actually knew how to wrestle.

Names like Trish Stratus, Lita, Victoria, Ivory and many more had some great matches which put the women right up there with the men.

Though WWE is in an attempt to revamp their division with the introduction of Paige, it’s never going to replace the aura that the girls back then had.

#8 SmackDown

When WWE acquired the talent from WCW after the company diluted, they were faced with a danger of the roster overflowing with so many wrestlers. And the solution that they came up with was a brand split which had its meaning.

It proved to be the birth of SmackDown which was head to head with Raw when it came to the ratings. They even hired Paul Heyman to be the head writer of the brand and under his leadership SmackDown had some memorable feuds.

The Kurt Angle- Brock Lesnar one in particular stands out along with the matches that legends like Rock, Undertaker and Triple H had in the show.

Nowadays, the fans are only given a SmackDown which can be classified as a “B” show and the chances of us seeing something significant happen there is as short as El Torito.

#7 The Commentary was about the match

Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler back in the heydays used to call matches down to the wire. The writers were able to add more dimension to their storylines and characters with the help of them and they were simply two expendables for the promotion.

But once we stepped into PG things certainly changed. The WWE ended their long term relation with JR and promoted Michael Cole as the top commentator.

There is no doubt about the skills that Cole has and how funny JBL is on the mic, but what they really miss is the play-by-play commentary that made the Attitude Era so lovable.

Often when calling matches, the PG Era commentators have a tendency to spin off and promote certain stuff or even talk about some other feud while there will be a match going in the ring.

And the technical terms and oh my god moments that JR used to shout out will be something that the current fans won’t understand.

#6 The titles meant something

Looking at the champions in WWE at the moment, keeping apart the new champions, we have Big E Langston who didn’t have an opportunity to defend the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania. Then the Usos who were relegated to the pre-show and of course Dean Ambrose who defends his US title like Undertaker makes his appearance.

It doesn’t make sense does it? The whole point of a wrestler getting into WWE was to win the WWE title back then because it was so prestigious.

And the midcard titles were used to groom young talents since it had the history of being held by legends like Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart.

The women’s title was also hot while the battle for the tag titles gave us some awesome TLC matches. People were ready to put everything on the line to get the title which is an emotion that we don’t see nowadays.

#5 The pleasure of having a choice

When WWE brings out their weekly flagship show on Mondays, all the fans tunes into it because we apparently don’t have any other choice than Raw.

We are bound to see what the company offers to us whether we like it or not.

But it wasn’t like that in the Attitude Era; the whole beauty of the thing was that there was a competition to WWE. It meant that the fans could simply change their channel if they weren’t happy with what they see.

This forced both the promotion to come up with some exciting action that made the fans rooted to their seats. It’s not something that we will be able to do in the PG Era unless a promotion comes up and gets the same timeslot as RAW which is highly unlikely.

#4 Hot Women and Eye candy

No matter how much we deny it in the public, all of us enjoyed when the WWE divas used to come out for a bikini contest or a strip match.

Most of the angles surrounding the divas had a huge amount of eye candy vested in them and WWE was reaching their target audience without much effort. The valets and the wrestlers equally impressed with their looks while there would be some themed matches which rose the temperature.

The backstage segments of Vince McMahon getting involved with the divas and some great relationship angles further pushed the envelope.

the amount of eye candy that we have in PG era is significantly toned down because now WWE doesn’t need to follow the motto “Sex and Violence always sells” since they don’t have any competition.

#3 The blood and the violence

Blood is never a good thing for a wrestler, it usually takes a toll on his body and the old blading techniques were a bit over the limit to be precise.

But Attitude Era and ECW will be remembered for the same. The two of the most loved things in professional wrestling will be remembered for the risks they took, the amount of blood that the wrestler shed.

When Mankind fell of the cage against Undertaker, we all stood numb for a moment and later appreciated the effort he took. Foley got tagged as the hardcore legend and fans embraced him because he did stuff that no one else would.

At the same time when a bloodied wrestler fights out of the chair shots and attempt to win the match it shows us how much the match is worth.

Randy Orton taking an attitude adjustment or Daniel Bryan taking a Batista bomb is not going to get them the respect that the Attitude Era wrestlers used to get, because the fans knew that they were putting every cell in their body on the line for the company.

#2 Controversial and Innovative storylines

The hottest story line that WWE had over the past year was that of Daniel Bryan going against the evil authority. Now change Daniel Bryan with Steve Austin and increase the amount of charisma and controversy, it seems the same doesn’t it?

WWE has been recycling toned down version of the storyline in Attitude Era to keep the clock ticking. The sparks of innovative story telling isn’t anywhere to be seen since they only give us things that we’ve seen before.

Back in the Attitude Era, Steve Austin coming down in a monster truck and giving Vince McMahon a beer bath was a hit because it was something we hadn’t seen before.

The invasion was cool because we hadn’t seen something like that before. It was fresh content that we would’ve died for.

And the main reason why we turn our face to PG Era might be the lack of innovative thinking that the writers bring to the table. From what they are doing, a kindergarten student could pull off better stories which will sound fresh.

#1 A Roster where everyone had a story

Back in the Attitude Era we had Main eventers like Rock, Triple H, Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Undertaker, Kane, Mick Foley. Midcarders like Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho. Tag teams like Edge and Christian, The Dudley boys, the Hardy boys. Women wrestlers like Trish Stratus, Stephanie McMahon, Lita.

Fast forward into the PG Era, we have main eventers like John Cena, Randy Orton, Batista, Daniel Bryan, Shield and Wyatt Family. Midcarders like Alberto Del Rio, Zack Ryder, Santino Marella, Fandango. Tag Teams like Rybaxel, Usos, 3MB. Women like Bella twins, AJ Lee, Eva Maria.

The difference is right there to be seen.

Though it’s not easy to replicate the star quality that the Attitude Era roster used to have, one thing that the WWE excelled in was to give some direction for almost all the wrestlers in their roster.

In an interview, Steve Austin said that “not only did we have a deep roster, but Vince used them right, he knew every ones creative Three years out, there was a plan for everyone”.

And that’s a vision which the current creative team lacks, they don’t even think about what they should do with the roster for next pay-per-view and often ends up giving random matches and storylines.

The Attitude Era was a golden period indeed for wrestling fans and the ones who started seeing WWE after it turned PG clearly missed out on something damn big.