10 Big Misconceptions People Have About WWE's Attitude Era

8. The Storylines Were So Much Better Than Today

Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara did a tremendous job of writing a program that people wanted to see during the Attitude Era and Vince McMahon demonstrated his brilliance by slightly adjusting whatever needed it. Together, those three visionaries wrote a show that became destination television. The characters were defined and every star on the roster had something interesting to do. With that said, there is this belief that the storylines 15 years ago were somehow better than they are today. In reality, the stories were disjointed, nonsensical at times and featured shock and awe for the sake of shock and awe. Steve Austin was arrested dozens of times in 1998 but somehow managed to either be released or escape police custody every time. Anyone who is in law enforcement or has ever been at the mercy of the justice system (or even seen an episode of Law and Order) knows that it does not move fast enough for a guy to be in and out of custody in time to get back to an arena before the end of a two-hour show. But that detail may be nitpicking. There is much more nonsense of an even bigger level elsewhere. Undertaker feuded with Vince McMahon, promising that there was a "higher power" that would come in and take over the company. That higher power? McMahon himself, in one of the worst major twists of all-time. Stephanie McMahon was married to Triple H despite being visibly unconscious, although that angle still managed to be quite awesome. Chyna feigned interest in Mark Henry, only to set him up with a transvestite. Val Venis...choppy, choppy. Those are only a few. Stories were started, then dropped for no reason. Characters were introduced, then shoved down the card. With the fast-paced nature of the business and the break-neck pace that Russo and Ferrara introduced to WWE programming, it was only natural that there would be a few continuity errors here and there and the occasional story that was dropped. But it did affect the overall quality of the shows, especially in 1999 when they became very difficult to watch at times.