10 Reasons WWE's Worst Era Is Secretly Its BEST Era
Those heady days of WWE's New Generation.
To some, WWE's New Generation Era stands as one of the worst periods in company history. Sure, there is plenty of low-hanging fruit from that period should you want to poke fun at it, but if you take a step back, the New Generation was absolutely phenomenal.
Was business as crazy as the Attitude Era or Rock 'n' Wrestling Era for the New Generation? Of course not, but that's not to say that this vibrant, neon time in WWE history wasn't a genuine bright spot that had so many positives to it.
There's no set date when the New Generation began, with WWE itself first starting to use the phrase in June '94, but the roots of the NG being seen as far back as WrestleMania VIII in '92. Likewise, there's forever a debate about the definitive endpoint to the New Generation. Was it the ushering in of the Austin Era at WrestleMania XIV? Was it Bret Hart being shafted at Survivor Series '97 on his way out of the company? Was it the Bret and Austin double-turn at WrestleMania 13? Was it maybe Brian Pillman pulling a gun on Stone Cold on a November '96 edition of Raw?
Regardless of the specifics in terms of dates, the New Generation truly is an underappreciated period which offered up so much for which wrestling fans should be grateful for.
10. Stepping Out Of The Shadow Of Hulkamania
For those watching in real time, the New Generation was a complete breath of fresh air when it came to the WWF Title picture and the wider main event scene.
Throughout the Rock 'n' Wrestling boom period of the '80s, the top of the card forever had one permanent fixture: Hulk Hogan.
Once Hogan defeated the Iron Sheik in January 1984 to win his first WWF Championship, the Hulkster remained the guy across the rest of the decade and into the '90s. Of the 2,169 days which separated that inaugural title win and the end of the '80s, Hulk was in possession of the company's top prize for 1,748 of them. Not just that, but Hogan was positioned as the top attraction even when he didn't have the WWF Title - such as when he and Sid Justice headlined WrestleMania VIII while Ric Flair defend the WWF Title against Randy Savage in the middle of the card.
Not even the biggest of Hogan detractors can say that Hulk wasn't a truly monumental draw, with the two-time WWE Hall of Famer undoubtedly one of the most pivotal people in WWE history. The thing is, by the start of the '90s, some had started to become tired with the formulaic schtick of taking vitamins, saying prayers, training hard, and Hogan Must Pose.
While the fan reaction was starting to cool for Hulk, Vince McMahon was hesitant to veer too far from what had worked so well for him in the '80s.
Granted, the steroid scandal of 1991 somewhat forced McMahon's hand from a PR standpoint, but October 1992 saw Vince take his first steps of stepping away from Hulkamania being the be-all, end-all, as the WWF caught everyone off-guard by having Bret Hart win the WWF Title from Ric Flair at a Saskatchewan house show.
It would take until the summer of '93 for WWF to completely move away from Hulkamania, with Hulk exiting the company at that point, but at least the promotion was finally exploring a brave new world.