10 Best World Champions Of The WWE Attitude Era

An era in wrestling history is often defined by the people holding the big belts during that spell. John Cena and Batista weren't exactly lacking in the "ruthless aggression" department, for example.

And in the case of the most successful and celebrated period in WWE history, the various badass characters found carrying World Championship gold at the time certainly came equipped with bucketloads of "attitude."

With so many legendary names lifting WWE's top prizes from 1997-2002, though, trying to figure out who ranks as the greatest ten of the time isn't exactly an easy task.

In fact, the era of "Attitude" was so damn stacked when it comes to World Champions, that the likes of the brilliant Booker T, Lita, Trish Stratus, and The Undertaker all had to settle for honourable mentions when deciding on the final rankings here.

But, it's hard to argue with the following names being the most successful, dominant, or just plain entertaining World Champions ever to make their presence felt during the most must-see period in WWE history.

So, crack open a can of "whoop-ass" or carton of milk, my friends, because it's time to celebrate the greatest to lift the big one during the time when "Attitude" ruled the world.

The one-time 'Giant' experienced quite the first 12-months as part of Vince McMahon's sports entertainment world.

On the back of his shocking debut in 1999 at St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House, bursting out of the ring and attacking 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin mid-cage match with Mr. McMahon, Big Show actually ended up finishing this barmy year as WWE Champion.

And while the reign itself wasn't in any way memorable, his actual title win was definitely up there as one of the most shocking Attitude Era moments ever.

After Austin had been pulverised by a car earlier in the evening, Show was eventually revealed as his substitute in a triple threat match boasting Triple H and The Rock at Survivor Series.

But rather than have either of those established main event stars walk out of Detroit as the champ, the one-time WCW monster unexpectedly conquered 'The Game' and 'The Great One', with a little help from the boss, to win his first-ever WWE Championship.

Again, this was about as good as it got for Show as world champ during the time of "Attitude", and Trips would regain his strap 50-days later. Yet, he still found himself at the centre of one of the most jaw-dropping title changes of the era. And for that, he just about scrapes onto this star-studded top ten.