WWE thrives on audience response, be it in the form of ratings or merchandise sales. In its several decades of existence, WWE programming has adopted characteristics which would endear the product to the thousands partaking of it. Having transcended the sole category of sports into beamed entertainment, particularly with the boom of cable television, the program has morphed into a communicative exercise whose features, look, packaging and performers anticipate audience ratings and consequently, financial profits.
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Marked with period-specific cultural paradigms, WWE’s extensive history can be divided into separate ‘eras’. Each of these had its own understanding of talent, marketability, writing, management and spectacle. For instance, in the Golden Era of the late 80s, wrestlers embodied flashy, larger than life characters that, echoing contemporary popular culture, not only fit into the scheme of television broadcasts and garnered ratings but also left rival promotions in the dust.
Similarly, the advent of the Attitude Era in the late 90s saw gritty, violent, story-driven, segment-based wrestling develop in a bid to outmanoeuvre fellow company WCW.
It might be difficult to pinpoint any one event that laid the seeds for a particular era to flourish in the WWE. Such changes usually come as a consequence of multiple factors and episodes. Yet, because of a pattern that can be discerned in the way the company has shaped up over the years, one can narrow these episodes down to milestones. The following is an examination of those events which were instrumental in having the WWE adopt a different stance and colour.
The eras to be discussed are the Golden Era(1982-1994), the Attitude Era(1997-2002), the Ruthless Aggression Era(2002-2008), the PG Era(2008-2016), and the New Era(2016). This article is not strictly limited to five moments. I have examined the origins of five Eras by talking about two particular moments each, except the Golden Era.
It was nigh impossible to mention just one and posit it as having ushered in an era. There had to be a second moment to justify it.Thus, in this case, one incident had sparked the change, while another had rooted it within the workings of the company.
The Golden Age (1984*-1993)
Hulk Hogan pinning the Iron Sheikh for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship - January 23, 1984.
Vince McMahon Jr’s takeover of the WWWF from his father set in motion the direction that the promotion would eventually take. Seeking to escape the territorial restrictions imposed by the National Wrestling Alliance and expand into a national promotion, Vince got working to bring WWF programming onto syndicated television across the United States. In order to generate sufficient revenue to secure television deals and recruit more talent, Vince adopted a mainstream approach to wrestling where he smudged the line between sport and entertainment. One of his decisions which bolstered the company in such a direction was the signing of Hulk Hogan.
Hulk Hogan’s popularity had soared post Rocky III. Though the role was limited, Thunderlips’s involvement in a major Hollywood franchise augmented his popularity, which shot to unprecedented heights. Despite being a mediocre ring worker, Hogan’s charisma, and audience drawing abilities were staggering. Vince had found the ideal candidate on whose shoulders to steer the company to television success. When contacted by the WWF, Hulk Hogan was still the top face at American Wrestling Association, a role he happily relinquished for a similar babyface gimmick at WWF.
Bob Backlund’s image makeover during the fag end of his WWF World Heavyweight Championship reign did not sit well with the audience. Seeking a substitute whom fans could idolize, the company looked no further than Hogan. Muscular, tall, and infinitely more charismatic, Hogan was a welcome change in the world title picture. To further increase viewership, WWF decided to cast the Iron Sheikh as a destructive foreign heel, whose camel clutch was impossible to escape from. Making him a transitional champion after getting Backlund to lose was the first step towards cementing Hogan’s legacy as the definitive redeeming hero.
Inside a jam-packed Madison Square Garden on the 23rd of January 1984, more than twenty thousand screaming and shouting fans witnessed the greatest six minutes in wrestling history. Having made a promo reeking of anti-American tirades and vainglorious assertions, the Iron Sheik with his manager, the Ayatollah Blassie, had already stirred the crowd and incurred the wrath of thousands. The selection of “Eye of the Tiger” as Hogan’s music further added to the storytelling. With Rocky III being the most recent addition to the American pop culture phenomena, WWF capitalized and pushed Hulk as the newcomer replacing and avenging an injured face (kayfabe). As Hogan sprinted to the ring, his veins pulsating and arms quivering, he seemed to be locked in a trance, feeding off the energy of every single fan that had been slighted by the Sheik’s spite. However, Hogan burst before the two heavyweights could lock horns and attacked Sheik while the latter was still in his ring gear. The arena erupted in a deluge of cheers.
Although most of the match saw either man pounding the other against the mat and the turnbuckle, with occasional kicks and jabs thrown in, it was also a display of some carefully arranged spots. Two of the most effective of these were Hogan’s countering of the Sheik’s Boston Crab as well as the unbeatable Camel Clutch. Previously, the camel clutch had conquered Bob Backlund’s reign. Coming in as a replacement and written as he was, it was incumbent on Hogan to reverse the clutch in the most striking manner possible. Having created some space between himself and the Sheik, the Hulkster proceeded to lift him on his back while standing erect and eventually shoved him onto the nearest turnbuckle. There was nothing to top this remarkable feat of strength and Hogan sealed the match with an atomic leg drop as the arena reverberated in a fever pitch. In the words of Gorilla Monsoon, “Hulkamania is here”.
This match would lead to the creation of one of the most recognizable performers to ever step between the ropes. Not only that, Hogan came to be seen as a benchmark for the way characters were supposed to be written. Over the top gimmicks, unbeatable baby faces, black and white characterization, spectacular rather than technical matches, and a fair share of moralizing on national television, were the hallmarks of the Golden Era. By the end of the decade, WWF had become a phenomenon in itself. With a roster full of exuberance and flash, such as Macho Man, Ultimate Warrior, Ric Flair and Roddy Piper, the company had strengthened its place at the top of entertainment charts. The rest of its history is about how it strove to maintain that position.
*Although the history books officially date The Golden Age to have begun in 1982, 1984 is a more accurate date.
The Attitude Era(1997-2002):
Stone Cold Steve Austin, having won the King of the Ring,1996, delivers the thrilling and now iconic ‘3:16’ speech.
Mr. McMahon cuts a backstage promo explaining the course WWF is going to take and officially initiates the Attitude Era on live television.
Rising from the dregs of Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), helmed by the brilliant Eric Bischoff, began outclassing WWF in a ratings war. With a host of successful creative decisions such as the introduction of Monday Nitro to cable television, hiring of former WWF main eventers and the game-changing formation of the NWO, WCW made WWF sit up and take notice of its antiquated programming policies. This led to an event dubbed the “Monday Night Wars”, as Vince McMohan, in a bid to stay afloat, began to drift from WWF’s family oriented mainstream content and adopt an edgier outlook towards packaging the product. In a booking style called Crash-TV, WWF assumed a violent, grittier and more dramatic character which began to appeal to the young adult demographic. After a lengthy tussle, the odds turned in Vince’s favour particularly with the rise of Stone Cold’s anti-hero, anti-authority gimmick which spiked television ratings and resuscitated the fading WWF from television squalor.
Stone Cold Steve Austin, a former WCW and ECW wrestler, had broken onto the scene as Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar Champion, “The Ringmaster”. Sporting a buzz cut and clean shaven face, Austin cut a promo where his thick, intimidating voice seemed to sit in the wrong physical form. Austin went on to shave his head and grow a goatee, thus laying stones for the Stone Cold character, which was to take full flight at King of the Ring 1996. Having gotten rid of DiBiase, Austin began to chart out on his own. His opponent in the final round of the King of the Ring tournament, Jake the Snake, had sustained an injury during the previous round at the hands of Vader. This led to the initially well-booked match to be cut short and Austin was handed the win. When led to the literal throne in the middle of the ring, Austin cut a blistering promo deriding the Bible preacher gimmick of Jake the Snake and shooting one of the Attitude Era’s most iconic catchphrases in “Austin 3:16”.
There were many things done right with Austin’s brilliant promo. The brashness coming from a relative newcomer had animated the arena. Built into his brawler character, the promo ridiculed Jake the Snake as a has-been whose religious invocations and “Bible thumping” fell short of seeing him through. Blatantly proclaiming his dominance, Austin overturned the biblical trope of a prophet into his stead, declaiming that “Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass”. The humour and crudeness stuck well with the fans and Austin’s catchphrase became the most marketable element in WWF’s stable.
The character had evolved into deadlier proportions by the next few months. Most of Stone Cold’s 1997-1998 run saw him engage in a feud with Bret Hart, culminating in a major face turn for the Rattlesnake at Wrestlemania 13 after passing out from a sharpshooter by not submitting to it. His first major face turn, this would go on to have audiences root for him especially when he took on the malicious character of Mr. McMahon post the Montreal Screwjob. A characteristic of the Attitude Era was the thin line between traditionally accepted notions of good and bad. No one embodied it more than Stone Cold whose disdain for authority and rules, particularly those helmed by Mr. McMahon, elicited some of the most resounding support from fans.
Replete with engaging storylines told more through backstage segments than in ring action, the Attitude Era saw its official inauguration on an episode of Monday Night Raw on March 10, 1997. Believing that a product capable of dismantling WCW has been created, Vince cut a backstage promo on the December 15, 1997 edition of Raw, officially declaring the onset of the Attitude Era and delineating everything that fans can expect from such a creative decision. He talked about a need to escape the confines of a wrestling ring and present viewers with a product hinging on entertainment more and sports less. There were radical changes in every facet of WWF production, from the vignettes to the storylines to the expected audience demographic.
In a decade whose cultural ethos promulgated action as the most convincing element of storytelling, particularly with the rise of the short video format and an exploration of previously untouched moral conditions to bring novelty to the entertainment industry, the WWF could not be far behind. Seeing both WCW and ECW incorporate these in their matches and characters, the company appropriated it, only to be backed with better finances and more breakout stars. The Attitude Era was a byproduct of the MTV Generation as much as it was the WCW-WWF rivalry. Eventually, Vince would bring to fruition the “cure for a common show” and “sports entertainment” became a pop-cultural extravaganza.
The Ruthless Aggression Era(2002-2008)
The WWE brand split following its acquisition of WCW and ECW.
The hiring of Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff.
Declining ratings had forced WCW into bankruptcy at the close of the millennium. With no way around this cul de sac, most WCW wrestlers settled for a WWF contract, ushering in a hotbed of talent which remains unrivalled to this day. The period from 2002 to 2007 marked the growth of incredible performers within the roster, both former WCW and ECW stars as well as company amateurs who would go on to attain main event status. Such an influx called for a split in the product, leading to the brand extension of WWE into Smackdown besides the already existing Raw. This would remain the primary structure till ECW was incorporated in 2005 as a separate brand under WWE’s auspices.
One of the elements which set in chain the events that would lead to the Ruthless Aggression Era was the Invasion storyline. Initially a secondary option, this angle was decided upon after WWF’s failed attempts to get WCW off the ground. No TV Network was willing to touch WCW, whose propensity for losing money had it rolling in the mire of its own disrepute. Even getting WCW a separate twenty-minute slot after one episode of ‘Raw is War’ (July 2, 2001) did not ruffle any feathers with the fans. WWF’s next resort was having WCW wrestlers attack their WWF counterparts throughout the next several months, essentially “invading” WWF. While this storyline created ample space for accommodating the recently doubled ranks of wrestlers, it met its untimely death at the 2001 Survivor Series in a winner-take-all match.
The conclusion of the Invasion angle necessitated the splitting of WWF into two separate brands. Smackdown was reborn as a brand, instead of continuing to be just another WWF program. It was given its own roster, onstage as well as offstage talent and authority figures to make regular appearances on the show. In terms of storyline, Raw came to be owned by Ric Flair who had become Vince’s business partner after buying Shane and Stephanie’s WWF shares which they had sold to a “consortium”, owned by Flair himself. With Vince owning Smackdown and Flair Raw, a draft lottery was initiated.
The pick was held on the March 25, 2002 episode of Raw, where a coin toss was used to determine the first pick. Vince chose The Rock, who went on to memorably turn the crowd at Penn State against Mr. McMahon after the latter had imposed a stop on several of his catchphrases as conditions for staying at Smackdown. Ric Flair’s first choice as the Undertaker came as a shock, mostly because of his storyline feud with the American Bad Ass. Each person got to choose thirty members in total for their respective brands, essentially exhausting the pool.
Such a scheme led to some of the most entertaining storylines and segments of the 2000s. The exclusivity offered by each brand led to the proper utilization of a roster stacked full of performers. From the Undertaker putting over Maven to a debuting John Cena’s “ruthless aggression” before Kurt Angle to cruiserweight wrestlers such as Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit and Rey Mysterio gradually moving towards heavyweight championship reigns, this era saw radical ways to involve a wrestler’s talent in ousting the rival brand. Numerous stables, tag teams and the introduction of hardcore matches seized the fancy of viewers across the world. It became possible to involve a number of wrestlers in a match and not have one moment of it drag or bore. Intra-brand feuds, clashes with authority figures, shocking debuts and returns, and brilliantly technical matches became hallmarks of this new period, while the annual draft pick ensured that feuds and lineups never grew stale.
Yet, none of this would have been possible without the mettle that some have exhibited in their creative capacities. During the Invasion days, the WWF commentary table was home to one Paul Heyman . He had recreated the ECW stable and merged it with Shane McMahon’s WCW to form the Alliance. Needless to say, after Survivor Series Heyman was fired from the company (kayfabe). This was in cognizance of his incredible acuity in recognizing talent and building engaging storylines around them, utilizing them to the best of their capacities. Therefore, after the brand split. he became the head writer of Smackdown from July 2002 to February 2003. This period saw the brand surpass Raw in their tussle for ratings and merchandise sales, and set benchmarks which the product follows even to this day. Heyman is often credited with being responsible for the success of the ‘Smackdown! Six’(Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Edge, Rey Mysterio, and Chavo Guerrero), all of whom went on to change the face of the WWE.
Likewise, Eric Bischoff’s managerial acumen had seen WCW soar during its heyday. A man who had revolutionized pro wrestling, his debut on Raw as General Manager started with a continuing heel persona. Though limited to an onscreen role, Bischoff still pitched ideas some of which included the “Raw Roulette” and “Elimination Chamber”. Yet, his involvement in actually advancing the product is slightly ironic, given that he was responsible for a majority of the Monday Night Wars. Much like Joey Styles and Paul Heyman, Bischoff had to bow to the might of the WWE, however disconcerting the state of the product might have seemed to him. Before of course, the man took his leave with a pipe bomb.
The PG Era (2008-2016)
Chris Benoit’s murder-suicide.
John Cena’s rise as the face of the company.
A sudden change in the nature of WWE’s content came after Chris Benoit’s murder-suicide in 2007 which brought the company under intense media scrutiny. Following Eddie Guerrero’s death and subsequent steroid trials, WWE had gradually veered towards an audience-accommodative product which was further fanned by a number of other factors. Besides Benoit’s tragedy which led to the company’s complete disavowal of the wrestler from their records, there were also major sponsorship deals such as those with toy manufacturers and Linda McMahon's senatorial run which prompted WWE to undergo a massive content re-evaluation. Slipping away from the shock value of the Attitude and Ruthless Aggression eras, this new style endeared to a larger audience demographic by removing all elements of blood, gore, sexuality, coarse humour and general indecency from its broadcasts.The PG Era officially took flight with a public announcement on WWE’s website.
The Benoit family was discovered inside their home by the Fayette Country Sheriff’s Department on June 25, 2007. Nancy Benoit and their son had been strangled, while Benoit had killed himself by breaking his neck using a weight machine. Benoit was slated to perform at the Raw tapings of that day and WWE, upon hearing the news, put up a statement informing the Universe of the same. Instead of the three-hour long live show, the company put up a tribute to the former champion which contained among other things, excerpts from several wrestlers and announcers. However, once the grisly facts of Benoit’s involvement came to light the next day, WWE was quick to alter their stance on the matter. In a statement aired right before that week’s ECW broadcast, Vince McMahon declared the complete removal of Benoit’s name from that night’s show. This would lead to a further distancing of WWE from Benoit, as they deleted all proof of his association with the company, including public mentions, merchandise, and even archival video footage.
This was one of the factors which spurred WWE towards a carefully examined creative decision. Of course, most of it was to ensure better audience reception and sponsorship deals. The product began acquiring a cartoonish, impractical, over the top character in order to make up for the discrepancies left behind by the absence of any violent or stimulating programming. This reached an all-time high with the meteoric rise of John Cena and the company’s adoption of him as the face of the promotion. Burying his lock and chain, Cena went from the leader of ‘Cenation’ to the most booked performer in WWE’s newest era. Portraying a character which he had himself described as a “goody two-shoes Superman”, the fifteen-time world champion began donning colourful, childish ring gear replete with inspirational quotes. The point here is, Cena’s character post 2010 embodied in a microcosm everything that WWE wanted to endorse. It had become more intrusive than ever, reaching out to fans in a capacity far beyond that of a wrestling show, such as through charities and foundations. Cena’s mirthless sermonizing and unbeatable reputation came to have a resounding echo of Hulkamania ringing through its veins. The formation of his larger than life personality, thus, was essential to the further development of the PG Era.
The New Era (2016 – )
CM Punk's pipebomb promo in 2011
Shane McMahon's return in 2016
Within the rigid confines of a morally correct, sales minded PG Era product, it would ideally take someone with the reputation of an outsider to usher in change, if any at all. WWE had become a stagnant cesspool in its most recent form, chiefly due to a complacency that assured returns generate. It had become routine, bland and a massive drag that was forced down viewers’ throats twice a week. Terrible booking, lackluster segments, and a thin roster had stamped all the life out of a thriving, breathing product. John Cena’s exaggerated heroism, which failed to impress anyone over twelve, instead acted as a foil to hardened, edgy characters such as CM Punk who were deemed rightful heirs of the main title.
On the June 27, 2011 edition of Raw, Punk delivered a historic promo that went on to create considerable furore for a period. Though it was a worked shoot, the promo was presented to be accidental and unscripted and therefore, allowing Punk to air his grievances about the current state of things, without WWE so much as batting an eyelid. Walking up to the ramp armed with a microphone, Punk seated himself in the centre of the platform and went on a rant about how inefficient things are behind the walls of the stage. Intensity oozed from every word he spat out as the Straight Edge Society founder went on a rant, denouncing the hierarchisation of talent behind the scenes and the numerous backstage politics that every WWE performer had to make himself privy to. From “kissing Vince’s ass” to a jab at USA Network to even calling out Stephanie and Triple H (“ idiotic daughter and doofus son-in-law), Punk scandalized the entire audience within the span of eight-odd minutes. It was riveting because the WWE, particularly in the PG Era, had persisted on a clean reputation and to allow an insider’s perspective, that too not a very positive one, to be aired on live television was unexpected. It was a trump move by the company which, under the guise of an expose, brought the product back to its moorings and made Punk either every fan’s idol or a killjoy.
Five years after this incident, WWE had made ample progress concerning characters and storylines. It had become at least somewhat engaging. However, a major overhaul occurred with the surprise appearance of Shane McMahon on an episode of Monday Night Raw, one month before Wrestlemania 32. With most of its top card Superstars out due to injury, the show felt desperately and hastily tailored. Having been absent for eight long years, he returned as the prodigal son out to redeem a sinking company from its inept management. An Attitude Era star known for his fearlessness inside the ring, he was admired by fans for pushing his body to the most extreme of circumstances in order to fill a spot. The Universe asserted its faith in Shane’s ability to bring entertainment back to WWE by a thunderous chant, which would only be rivaled during his insane leap off a steel cell at Wrestlemania 32. Riding high on the nostalgia of old timers and pleasant admiration of the new, Shane signaled a major shift in the flow of WWE booking. It was evident that the PG Era had seen its dog days and a new time had come. Since a handful of callups to the main roster from WWE’s developmental NXT and the eventual brand split in 2016,audiences have revelled at the sight of actual talent and mature content return to the show.
