The blueprint for the success that carried the World Wrestling Federation from its "New Generation" doldrums to "Attitude Era" success and beyond involves numerous touchstones that for as much as they could be related to behind-the-scenes machinations, actually either were happy (or sad) in-ring accidents/tremendously executed in-ring moments that took these instances over the top and made them notable pieces of the folklore surrounding the very real evolution of the WWF from an also-ran competing with World Championship Wrestling to being a monolithic sports entertainment conglomerate. The reasons for WWE's success are as varied as Vince McMahon taking a more "hands on" role in the presentation of his product to the inclusion of grapplers never employed by the company (or without any pro wrestling background) taking on key roles that re-defined the pro wrestling industry. The players in WWE's ascension are a unique cadre of characters who, if you ever contemplated putting them together in a room, would appear to be as much of a "land of misfit toys" as Extreme Championship Wrestling could've ever been purported to have been. Are there more than ten incidents that "shaped success?" Of course. Are these the most significant ten of these hundreds of smaller moments that also benefited WWE's climb? Certainly. Click "next" below to kick off the slideshow;
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
