10 Reasons WWE's Best Era Is Secretly Its WORST Era

7. The McMahons (General)

WWE Vile Thumb
WWE

You can't watch the character back now with any of the old catharsis or entertainment value, but the Mr. McMahon character was priceless. A genius, really. Watching his menace recede into a conniption fit was a joy. (He was a monster at the time, of course, but much of the audience wasn't aware of the scope of his evil.)

What's often lost is that he turned face a lot sooner and more often than you'd think, it never worked, and he peaked in May '98. He was a fun caricature after the fact, but a caricature all the same. 

Shane McMahon was well-cast as the entitled, uppity little bastard, but he also turned, as virtually everybody did at an extravagantly meaningless rate, and that never worked either. The idea of rooting for any one of these rich, bratty subhumans was appalling. Stephanie was a shrill, effective heel, but every insult aimed in her direction is despicable through a 2024 lens and was witless at the time. 

Linda, a ghoul, was savvy enough to sit down and shut the f*ck up, at least. 

In 2000 especially, the administrative war for the WWF was convoluted, poorly-acted rubbish. The time period is lionised in retrospect, but many despairing fans at the time were bored and numbed by the relentless imposition of those horrible, boring people.

 
First Posted On: 
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!