WWE: Did Attitude Era Hurt Today’s Product?

When it comes to wrestling, the once WWF was thrust into a new generation dubbed the Attitude Era spawning the newly dubbed WWE. With a name change and a rebrand distancing themselves from the older days of wrestling, WWE made its mark in the late ’90s and early 2000s.

Arguably one of the best generations of wrestlers in history, the Attitude Era took wrestling back to the glory days of Hulk Hogan, Macho Man, and Ultimate Warrior. But in their push to win the Monday Night Wars, did the WWE set the bar too high for the current roster of WWE Superstars?

Taking nothing away from the bigger names of today, go back to the WWE Attitude Era talent. Some of the biggest names to come through the sport came from this generation and they all seemingly knew how to put each other over with a crowd.

To a fan, nothing was more exciting than the sound of glass breaking and Jim Ross shouting “STONE COLD, STONE COLD” and watching him beat the piss out of the McMahons.

Or “If ya smell .. what the Rock .. is cookin”.

Even the antics of whatever D-Generation X was getting into that week.

Whatever it was, fans couldn’t get enough of it. And it wasn’t just great entrance music and kick-ass finishers. One of the biggest defining moments that separate the Attitude Era from today isn’t just a more adult tone. No, the one thing missing from today’s WWE was the promo work.

Every week there was what seemed like a career-defining sound bite coming out of the latest back and forth. From “Austin 3:16 says ..” to “Ladies and Gentleman, Boys and Girls, Children of all ages ..” almost everyone had a catchphrase that fans were on the edge of their seats for.

More WWE: The Wild Card Isn’t Helping the Product

There were very few moments that you couldn’t wait to see what would happen next.

Everything was so over the top to the point where every event seemed like a smaller version of WrestleMania.

But somehow that changed.

Nothing against today’s wrestlers, as there are some great performers in the ring, but maybe there’s a reason the WWE keeps having to go back to the well with older legacy wrestlers to try and get certain people over with the fans.

If only they’d invest their time into characters and storylines the way they did when they were trying to win the Monday Night wars. Wrestlers like Goldberg and the Undertaker wouldn’t have to be relied on in their 50s to be the main draws.

WWE is still putting out a decent product, but a lot of fans will tell newcomers to start with NXT. There’s a ton of young talent trying to make a name for themselves that isn’t getting overshadowed by aging legacy wrestlers. If they want to get the WWE back on track, it’s time to invest effort into a product fans want to see more of.

It’s hard for today’s wrestlers to succeed while they’re constantly living in the shadows of the men. The bright spot in today’s WWE is the Women’s Division finally getting the love it deserved. If only they could get more of the men back on track.