10 Rare photos from WWE's Attitude Era that fans need to see

The Attitude Era is one of the most iconic periods in the history of pro wrestling. WWE and WCW waged a battle every Monday night over the ratings, a war that was eventually won by Vince McMahon's company.

With everyone at home right now, we decided to roll back the clock and take a look at the Attitude Era and some rare photos fans may not have seen from the period. From the 'Big Red Machine' Kane wearing a cape to Daniel Bryan's first WWE appearance, let's take a look.

#10 The Rock during Halftime Heat

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The first-ever half-time heat match took place in 1999 during Superbowl XXXIII. The Rock defended his WWF Championship against Mankind in an empty arena match with Vince McMahon on commentary. They brawled all across the arena and the match went out into the parking lot where Mankind pinned The Rock with a little help from a forklift.

In the photo, we see The Rock talking trash into a phone in one of the offices in the arena. This was towards the end of the match and The Rock and Mankind went out into the parking lot soon after this.

#9 The Lion’s Den

One of the most unique matches we’ve seen in WWE is the Lion’s Den match. The match was fought inside a steel cage, similar to what is seen in MMA, and was brought about to get Ken Shamrock over. In the photo, we see Ken Shamrock about to enter the Lion’s Den to face Steve Blackman.

Speaking about the Lion’s Den concept in an interview years later, Shamrock said the following:

“It was groundbreaking. To be able to have an opportunity to do something that nobody else has done and be able to pull it off I thought was tremendous.”

#8 Butterbean at Mania XV

There has been a lot of talk about the Brawl For All, recently, thanks to the Dark Side of the Ring documentary. Despite winning the Brawl For All, Bart Gunn’s career was going nowhere and he ended up facing professional boxer Butterbean in a boxing match at WrestleMania XV in 1999. Butterbean ended up knocking Gunn out cold, which was also effectively the end of Gunn’s career.

In the photo, we see Butterbean at WrestleMania XV just before his match with Bart Gunn.

#7 ECW ringside at a WWF In Your House in 1997

Sandman, Paul Heyman, and Tommy Dreamer at ringside

In 1997, WWF started a working partnership of sorts with ECW. As a part of this, we saw Paul Hayman and ECW wrestlers Sandman and Tommy Dreamer at ringside at WWF In Your House: Mind Games. In the photo, we see Sandman, Paul Heyman and Tommy Dreamer at ringside during the Caribbean strap match between Savio Vega and Bradshaw.

Speaking about the incident to WWE.com, Tommy Dreamer revealed what it was like before the ECW contingent entered the arena:

We didn't know what we were getting into. We all met up in the parking lot. We had The Eliminators in the crowd as backup in case we got into a fight. I found out later that Savio Vega was the only one who knew. Bradshaw didn’t even know about it. He was ready to fight and Savio cut him off.

#6 Early promo shot of Edge

When Edge first started in WWE, he played the character of a loner who hung around in subways and entered the arena through the crowd. We also had vignettes, at the time, showing Edge wandering the streets aimlessly and sometimes attacking pedestrians.

In this early promotional shot of Edge, we see him on the street trying his best to look like a loner. It’s been almost 22 years since this photo was taken and Edge went on to become a multiple-time world champion and sure-shot Hall of Famer.

#5 Stone Cold with the media

Stone Cold Steve Austin is one of the most recognizable WWE Superstars of all time and one of WWE’s torchbearers during the Attitude Era. Austin and Vince McMahon’s feud catalyzed WWE during the Monday Night Wars, helping the company eventually beat WCW.

However, as one of the faces of the company, the media was as important back then as it is now. In this photo, we see Austin before a show, taking some time out to talk to a reporter.

#4 That time Kane wore a cape

Glenn Jacobs' WWF career hadn’t exactly been going well when he was repacked as the 'Big Red Machine' Kane. Before Kane’s legendary television debut, he made an appearance at a house show to gauge the reaction of the audience. In that appearance, Kane wore a cape for one of the only times of his career.

Although the cape itself looks cool, it doesn’t suit the Kane character at all. WWE made the right call to remove the cape when Kane finally debuted. In this rare photo, we see Kane coming out to wrestle during the said house show, wearing a cape.

#3 Backstage photo of Stephanie McMahon and Trish Stratus

Stephanie McMahon and Trish Stratus feuded several times during their WWE careers. The most memorable of these was when Trish was having an “affair” with Vince McMahon. However, despite their feuds on-screen, Stratus and Stephanie are friends behind the scenes. In this photo, we see Stephanie and Trish Stratus backstage, just hanging out.

#2 A young Daniel Bryan

Some fans may not know this, but Daniel Bryan’s first matches in WWE came as early as 2000 where he worked a handful of Jakked tapings. He worked Jakked tapings as Bryan Danielson as well as American Dragon.

The future WWE Champion appeared as an enhancement talent but WWE decided against signing him and he went on to become, in time, one of the best talents not signed to the company.

In the photo, we see a young Daniel Bryan right before his match at a Jakked taping.

#1 The Rock and Big Show

When the Big Show signed with WWE, he was not a popular figure backstage. Not only had he come from WCW, but, he was also on a big contract which caused some tension in the locker room. One person who Big Show said helped him get through this time was The Rock. Here’s what Show said on Broken Skull Sessions:

Rock was good to me. Rock was very nice to me. And Rock was doing his own thing and building himself as well. It was too lightning rod hot to be friends with. I was a new guy. I was a big guy. I got in that big contract and all that stuff that pissed everybody off.

The Rock and Big Show went on to be good friends and in the photo, we see Rock and Show enjoying some downtime before a show.

Edited by Kaushik Das