10 Most Successful Things WWE Borrowed From Other Promotions

The Attitude Era was Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock (and, to some, Mae Young giving birth to a Mark Henry-fathered hand), but it was also about taking wrestling to new, daring heights, doing away with traditional good and bad guy archetypes in favour of shades of grey (and sex and blood and cussing) - and that, many believe, originated in Paul Heyman's ECW.

Granted, there were one or two signs that WWE was starting to shake its family-friendly vibe during the early part of the 1990s - of which Undertaker, Mankind, and Goldust were at the forefront - but Vince McMahon's product only began to explicitly identify with it after being emboldened by the burgeoning success of their Extreme rivals. Or, alternatively, when Vince Russo started booking shows. You decide.