Top 5 current WWE Superstars and their Attitude Era reflections

CaptionThe Attitude Era is a nostalgic time in wrestling, which changed the entire complexion of it. WWE had to go to extreme measures to try to match its dominant competition at the time, World Championship Wrestling, and what they did was something that blew away all that everyone thought about wrestling. Effectively starting with the infamous Montreal Screwjob, a blurred incident in which Vince McMahon became the villainous backbone of the late 90’s. He was despised all around for screwing Bret Hart out of the WWE Championship, and a new hero rose to attempt to take him down. He wasn’t anyone’s typical good guy, he was a beer-drinking, finger-raising, foul-mouthed rebel, who used to stun people for fun, even his boss. Stone Cold vs Vince McMahon was the base of what was the most wild time in all of sports entertainment history. Coming up is a slideshow of current Superstars compared to the legends that defined the Attitude Era. One condition to be noted is that all current comparisons need to be full-time wrestlers.

#1 The Rock - John Cena

This is an unpopular comparison, as there are quite a lot of people who loved the Attitude Era that hate John Cena. One of the Attitude Era’s most popular wrestlers was the People’s Champion, and who would ever forget the chills and excitement there was for his Once In A Lifetime (twice) match with John Cena at WrestleMania XXVIII (and 29), which was built up over a whole calender year. And this is where it is truly amplified that John Cena is a lot like a modern-day Rock, because when they were together in the ring, something just clicked every time. There are other comparisons that are noteworthy as well. In the ring, both of them are pretty much as versatile as the other, no matter what any “five moves of doom” critic says about Cena on the internet. They’re both great talkers on the microphone as well. Something about both of them simply made them destined to clash.

#2 The Undertaker - Bray Wyatt

This is a comparison that seems blatantly obvious in many ways. For one thing, Bray Wyatt has gone ahead and compared himself to The Undertaker, self-proclaiming himself to be the new face of fear, taking the throne from The Deadman himself. These two individuals have also faced each other at WrestleMania, at this year’s event, where The Undertaker picked up his twenty-second WrestleMania win. However, there is no denying the similarities in both characters. However, where The Undertaker had a mouthpiece in Paul Bearer, Bray Wyatt is entirely self-made, and he is considered one of the best talkers in the industry. Perhaps he could go on to be better than even The Undertaker was in the future.

This is the only comparison where the two have actually met in the ring. The following can be considered dream matches.

#3 Stone Cold Steve Austin - Dean Ambrose

Although Dean Ambrose might not be on the same level of insanity as Austin was, he’s on his way there. Despite what many people on the internet say, he is not being ignored. The man is only twenty-nine, he’s got a long way to go in his career. He still has time to develop into another Stone Cold.

Stone Cold was an evil heel, just like Dean Ambrose was in his main roster debut with The SHIELD. Then he morphed into a highly popular anti-Authority figure who didn’t care about anybody’s well-being, including his own, just like Dean Ambrose. Somewhere along the line he ran into a dark character, just like Dean Ambrose. Then he went on the become arguably the biggest star ever. Is there something like that on the way for Ambrose too? If he remains as over and as talented as he is, there is quite possibly a huge payback for Ambrose after losing every pay-per-view match he’s had as a singles competitor.

#4 Edge - Seth Rollins

Technically, this is actually the post-Attitude Era Edge that is being compared. That was the Edge who was a heel that everyone loved. Seth Rollins is the same. He is quite possibly the greatest heel in the company, but there are some fans who just cannot hate him. Rollins was only the fifth heel to ever walk out of WrestleMania World Champion, but everyone celebrated the moment rather than hate on him. There are only some heels who are capable of doing that.

The other thing to note about Seth Rollins’ title win is the way it happened, something Edge was famous for. He was always known as the “Ultimate Opportunist”, because he would take advantage of any situation to his advantage. Seth Rollins cashed in when Brock Lesnar was dripping buckets of blood and Roman Reigns was as strong as a limp cloth. This is a comparison that seemed to be written in the stars.

The last one, however, simply seems to be unbelievable.

#5 Shawn Michaels - Dolph Ziggler

There’s something about these two that just seems to be fate. Both of them have extremely similar characters, almost identical figures and are as charismatic as can be. Both Shawn Michaels’ and Dolph Ziggler’s wrestling styles are almost the same, and would it be coincidence that Ziggler uses a superkick so often?

The biggest selling point here (pun intended) is how both men sell moves. Delivering a move is one thing, being able to take the move effectively is another. At one point everyone thought nobody could do it better than Shawn Michaels, who used to sell Irish whips by falling over the ring-post onto the floor, until Dolph Ziggler came along.

Dolph Ziggler takes selling moves to an entirely new level. He sells moves like nobody else can. If Dolph Ziggler was wrestling himself, he would still be able to put on a great match. And that was something that Shawn Michaels could do as well.

While everyone else on this list were compared for maybe one or two similarities, Dolph Ziggler and Shawn Michaels are practically identical. Some could say Dolph Ziggler is more like Billy Gunn, but Shawn Michaels seems to be the obvious number one candidate.