10 Controversial WWE Attitude Era Moments You Totally Forgot About

4. Hang On, What's That Painted On The Wall There

Shawn Michaels Sunny
WWE Network

What was the biggest difference between the WWF of 1997 and the WWF of 1998?

Was it the strange oscillation between match quality and popularity?

The slow embrace of controversy and the subsequent balls-deep cheek-clapping of it?

Or was it the fact that, in 1997, racially abusing the heel Nation of Domination was still put across as a heel move in itself, whereas in 1998, it was a bit of blacked-up babyface banter to pop the lads?

Here's the thing: you probably half-remember in a troubled "...oh yeah" way that DX trashed the Nation's locker room with racist graffiti in an attempt to frame the Hart Foundation, but the actual graffiti itself is genuinely despicable. Mercifully, the 'N' word did not appear, but the booking committee appeared to have had far too much fun with it. An all-too enthusiastic "Hey what about this racism?!" leaps from that cursed image of a wall.

Along with the N.O.D initials, two further things were painted on the wall for the express purpose of being crossed out as a visual statement no-selling their power.

Those things were 'Malcolm X' and 'KFC', which, according to the booking committee as the Hart Foundation as DX, were...equal?

"That food you all eat, which is the racist thing here but we are too dumb and racist to grasp that...boo on you all for eating it! It is bad!"

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!