10 Big Misconceptions People Have About WWE's Attitude Era

9. Blood Made Everything Better

There is this belief that World Wrestling Entertainment took a page from Extreme Championship Wrestling during the Attitude Era, spilling boatloads of blood to enhance its matches. Truth be told, the amount of intentional bloodshed in its matches was far less than remembered. Instead, it was a story enhancer that was used on occasion and almost exclusively when necessary. Not overexposing blood made gimmick matches such as First Blood eagerly anticipated. The Brood's bloodbaths were incredibly popular but the liquid used for those segments was likely a mixture of water and red food coloring. In hard-hitting, weapon-filled hardcore matches featuring the likes of Bob Holly, Al Snow, Road Dogg and Big Bossman, the blood was often unintentional. The times that the blood did spill, either on purpose or by accident, it had very little effect on the overall quality of the match. The story and the action itself fueled the match while the blood only helped the audience understand the effect said action was having on the performers, something that could have been achieved with great selling alone. Yes, there are occasions in which blood does have an effect on the quality of an angle or match. Steve Austin bleeding profusely as he was trapped in the Sharpshooter did a great deal to win over the audience and was responsible for the perfect execution of the double-turn at WrestleMania 13. But for the most point, the same matches that were great during the Attitude Era would have been that way regardless of whether the guys involved got color or not.