10 Alternative Takes On Hated Wrestling Moments

1. The New Generation

Nexus II
WWE

The New Generation era is remembered, reductively, as those few years in WWF history, between the eras of Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin, when the company was bereft of star power, popularity and quality.

While there's a hint of truth to those accusations - the WWF really did promote some p*ss-poor excuses for main events in 1995 - the in-ring body of work assembled by the more talented players, at its best, was seminal. The influence was as seismic as its quality was immense.

Bret Hart dedicated himself to the realism of his craft, injecting the WWF with a strategic bent - a sorely-needed respite from the comically awful occupational gimmicks so beloved of the time. Shawn Michaels reset the classic David Vs. Goliath mode in an unbelievably great and athletic match at In Your House: Good Friends, Better Enemies in April 1996. His timing was so perfect that it held up to freeze frame scrutiny. He found a perfect balance selling for the much larger Diesel while obscuring just how much work he was doing in there.

The first tables were broken. Blood was spilled transgressively. The exaggerated, cartoonish selling deployed by Hulk Hogan was a relic of an unrecoverable past.

The New Generation was the genesis of so much - the company's commercial nadir, but a crucial platform for the imminent Attitude Era.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!