10 important events that kick-started the Attitude Era

Now, what can be said about the Attitude Era that hasnt already been said? Not much, I guess as it is still the benchmark for a WWE product out there. It was the period when WWE enjoyed a boom in almost all the areas and though we know almost everything about the glorious era, ever wondered how all it started?In short, Vince McMahons realization about shock value, violence and sex being the best sellers is what kick started the Attitude era but since Vince was a slow man, he needed a lot of catalysts on the way to light up that bulb. And this list is going to take a look at those catalysts. Vince McMahon announced the Attitude Era in 1997 December and some factors which happened before it deserves a mention.So, tighten the seat belts because some of the superstars you tagged as irrelevant might turn out to be some of the most important characters.

#11 Honourable Mention: Formation of DX

A lot of people might not be aware of this but DX was formed just months before the announcement of Attitude era. And since most of their best moments came after it, DX only gets an honourable mention in the list.

#10 Madusa throws Womens title into the trash

Back in 1995, Madusa was signed by WCW when she was the reigning women’s champion in WWE. So when Madusa came to WCW, she brought the WWE title along with her and Eric Bischoff convinced her to throw it in the trash on live television.

Madusa throwing the WWE Women’s title into the trash was probably WCW’s way of saying that it was going to be an all-out war. The angle was Bischoff’s idea of devaluing what WWE stood for and he convinced Madusa that it would be best for business.

Once this happened on live television, Vince was furious, but above that, he came to realize about the potential of such angles on television and the way in which WCW was going to play out their cards in the near future.

#9 Debut of Goldust

Didn’t I talk about surprises coming your way in the list? This is one of them. Goldust is now known around the world for being an underrated veteran who excels beyond his age, but in reality he was one of the superstars who sowed the seeds for Attitude Era.

After a forgettable stint in the WCW, Goldust made his return to WWE back in 1995. He came up with the idea of the gimmick which was sexually suggestive and got thumbs up from Vince for some reason. Goldust then went on to do some over the top mannerisms with the gimmick and though he was getting a lot of criticism within the business, the fans loved him.

No one would have imagined a taboo gimmick like Goldust turning out as a success within the fans, but it did and gave Vince an idea about what everyone wanted.

#8 Brian Pillman and Steve Austin Segment

This is one of the angles that changed the entire wrestling business. Austin and Pillman were running a feud back in 1996 and WWE decided to put together a segment in Pillman’s house. The segment started with Austin trying to break into Pillman’s house and threaten him. The fans were at the edge of their seats seeing what was going down, but the game flipped upside down once Austin finally got into the house.

When Austin entered, Pillman pulled out his gun and all of a sudden the screen blacked out with a gunshot. It was a segment that blurred the lines between reality and kayfabe and WWE got some immense amount of heat from the Network. The fans, however, loved it – another indication that they needed some real stuff.

#7 Sunny and Sable goes eye candy

The increased amount of eye candy element was one of the mainstays of Attitude Era. The women were often involved in some matches that were only meant to raise the temperature and though we only tag Attitude Era for showing skin, WWE had tested these waters back in 1996 itself.

With Sunny and Sable leading, WWE was urging the women to slowly shed off their regular clothes and wear something which would improve the ratings. Both women ended up as big success stories in doing this and Sable even went on to achieve a lot of superstardom equal to the likes of Rock and Steve Austin at one point.

The way in which fans jumped into the idea of near-naked women impressed Vince and he started throwing in more similar angles.

#6 Kevin Nash joins WCW and forms nWo

The Monday Night Wars looked destined to run the WWE out of business because Eric Bischoff was pulling all the right strings back then. He changed the wave in WCW’s favor by bringing in Kevin Nash and Scott Hall into WCW.

Once both wrestlers were signed, Bischoff played the best card in his arsenal. He painted Nash and Hall as WWE superstars invading WCW and the fans couldn’t tell what was real and what kayfabe was. And after some time, Bischoff gave a leader to the two wrestlers in Hulk Hogan. Hogan’s heel turn and the formation of nWo turned the waves in favor of WCW and Vince McMahon was feeling the heat.

He was struggling to get the ratings back in his favour and there was a sheer sense of desperation from Vince at certain points. He needed something new to take out WCW and unlike most of his career; Vince was open to anything that could have save him. It was this openness that made him ready to take the risks that he did during the Attitude Era.

#5 Bret Hart spews profanity

Bret Hart was hands down the biggest babyface back then. Though he had some heat from the American crowd for his Anti-American antics, Bret was known to be a clean man who would always keep his principles with him.

This image of Bret was sent to the trashcan in March, 1997 when he faced Sycho Sid in a match for the WWE championship. Surprisingly, Bret lost the match and in the post-match segment, Vince McMahon tried to interview Bret.

Instead of standing in between the ropes and giving an interview, Bret would shove Vince onto the ground and spewed out a lot of profanity. Someone swearing on live television proved to be a new experience for the fans. And once again, Vince noted this.

#4 Austin 3:16

One of the biggest success stories of Attitude Era was the lack of distinction between baby faces and heels. WWE did not categorize a person as a completely into either of the side as the concept of one person being purely good or evil didn’t exist in the real world.

What lead to the rise of such gimmick was Steve Austin’s 1996 King of the Ring win. He defeated Jake the Snake Roberts in the final of the tournament and the speech that he gave after the match went onto become a global phenomenon. The fans embraced him as an Anti-hero and Austin would go onto remain the same throughout the Attitude Era.

#3 Vince McMahon and Vince Russo join hands for Crash TV

A lot of fans out there wouldn’t know Vince Russo while the others have already tagged him as a failure in the wrestling business. In reality, the man deserves a lot of credit. He was one of the main reasons why Attitude Era boomed and it was his concept of Crash TV that served as the foundation.

What is Crash TV? It is the idea of having short matches, shocking television and a whole lot of backstage interviews. If you dissect the Attitude Era, most of the memories that we have is about the angles rather than the actual matches.

The era was more vocal than action and it was Russo’s Crash TV concept that went on to become a hit. Russo left the WWE in 1999 for WCW, but that move produced no memory worth remembering.

#2 The Montreal Screwjob

Attitude Era need a villain, someone who was bankable and was able to be the backbone of a major angle throughout the years to come. It was a tough task for Vince McMahon to build up a wrestler into such a character but fortunately for him, the Montreal Screwjob did the job.

Now, the question whether Montreal Screwjob is real or not real is a topic for another day. But what it did was, it gave birth to a character that WWE wanted for the Attitude Era. It gave birth to Mr. McMahon, the evil boss who would go to any limits to be successful.

The fans found it easy to hate Vince after what happened in Montreal and they realized that anything could happen in professional wrestling which, by the way, was the motto of Attitude Era in the first place.

#1 Extreme Championship Wrestling

And the biggest factor that contributed to the Attitude Era: Paul Heyman and ECW. Although Vince McMahon was aware of the fans loving edgy content, he didn’t know how successful it would be in a wrestling promotion. He lacked the talent that could pull off such an angle and he also had the lack of ideas on how to execute them.

ECW, on the other hand, had been thriving with their edgy content ever since Heyman took over. ECW did have a lot of violence and sexuality, but Heyman presented all these in such a way in which the fans could enjoy.

He had reality rooted storylines and characters throughout his promotion. And it was this system that Vince merely copied for his Attitude Era. Vince did tone down the content a bit since he was on Prime-time national television, but to this day, he still credits ECW for being the biggest catalyst of Attitude Era.