10 Most Influential Moments That Were Precursors To The WWE Attitude Era

10. Bret Hart Crashes Through A Table

When one thinks of innovators of WWE's Attitude Era, several superstars are likely to come to mind.

Of course you have Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Mick Foley, The Undertaker and D-Generation X, and then, on a mid-card level, characters like Val Venis, The Godfather, Hardcore Holly and The Brood. One name that isn't always considered an Attitude pioneer despite having a huge impact on the period that preceded it is Bret 'The Hitman' Hart.

Perhaps it's because Bret was a vocal detractor of the new direction the WWF was headed in shortly before he parted ways with the company in November of 1997, even going so far as to call RAW "smut TV". Regardless of his opinion, Bret had numerous moments and matches that set the stage for WWE to take on a more edgy approach.

Bret's first major contribution to a more physical WWF came during his 1995 Survivor Series main event match against Diesel. Towards the end of the championship contest, Diesel launched Bret off the outside ring apron and sent the Hitman crashing through the Spanish announce table. Piled under monitors, electrical boxes and headsets, Bret had just executed the WWF's first crashing table bump of the modern era and it was extremely violent for the time.

This spot was unprecedented in the promotion and it lead to Bret ending Diesel's yearlong championship reign, with Hart winning the company's crown jewel for the third time.