10 Reasons WWE's Best Era Is Secretly Its WORST Era
4. The Undertaker Was At His Worst And Was EVERYWHERE
In the Attitude Era, the Undertaker was the WWF equivalent of current-day AEW Chris Jericho: he was on a career downswing, dragged down the show, and was very lame.
Worse still, there was no getting away from him. For much of 1998, 'Taker was programmed with Steve Austin in a dire storyline that spanned July to December - as part of which he attempted to embalm Austin alive, speaking in tongues. The feud resumed twice (!) and dominated much of the first half of 1999. It was spooky nonsensical drivel, so cringe-worthy that you'd hope your parents walked in while you were watching the incest bits instead.
'Taker would not leave Austin alone. This more than any boring metric about "drawing power" underscores how big a star Austin truly was.
'Taker himself knew this; that's why he reinvented himself as the 'American Badass' in 2000. Speaking to Ariel Helwani in 2023, he elaborated:
"In that time period, as cool as that Undertaker character is or was, I think it would have really struggled in the Attitude Era because you’re kind of handcuffed in what you can do. You’ve got all these guys cutting these incredible promos. I always felt like it was going to be really difficult for me to stay in the confines of what The Undertaker did and try and cut promos against The Rock or Stone Cold and all those guys."
It "would have" really struggled?
It did!
For over two embarrassing years, after which he treated Kurt Angle like a geek!