10 Reasons WWE's Worst Era Is Secretly Its BEST Era

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.