10 Big Misconceptions People Have About WWE's Attitude Era

10. Steve Austin Ignited The Attitude Era

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin certainly led the Attitude Era as the top star in the industry at the time. For all of the beer drinking, finger-flipping, mud hole stomping and cursing, though, Austin was not the man that injected WWE with the edginess it would need to overcome former boss Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling. That notoriety goes to a second-generation star, once referred to as "the Natural," who would undergo a character change so drastic that few would ever be able to look at him the same way again. His face caked in gold and black, a blonde wig adorning his head and a long robe covering a far-too-tight bodysuit, Dustin Rhodes assumed the character of Goldust and introduced the once family-friendly World Wrestling Entertainment with controversy and homosexual overtones that would earn the company a great deal of backlash from parents. Said backlash was acceptable given the fact that attention was being paid to what Vince McMahon's promotion was doing. Business was down, ratings even lower but there was a buzz about the character. Goldust was unlike anything the wrestling world had ever seen. To some, the character was disgusting and immoral, the homosexual overtones too much to handle. For others, it was fresh, exciting and intriguing. He was flamboyant, yet mysterious. No one really understood what the character's motivations were but they did know that he had knack for playing mind games, developing the mental edge over his opponents in a variety of means. Goldust was entertaining and interesting at a time when the company was pumping out hot garbage such as The Goon and Mantaur. While his place in history has been devalued thanks to the rise of Steve Austin, the development of the Mr. McMahon character and the wild and chaotic writing of Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara, it was Goldust who got the wheels turning and indicated that there was success to be had in the war with WCW if WWE opted to stretch the boundaries it had put on itself by remaining family-friendly.